At last !

[Steni]

I had an appointment today on the spur of the moment with the most wonderful GP at our practice whom I had heard great things about and he has agreed to let me have a trial of T3. He’s written the prescription but I haven’t received the medication yet so I don’t know what dosage it is made out for- any advice would be very welcome, also do I keep taking my levothyroxine as well or cut this out/ down.

[Dippi]

is a private doctor in the UK?

[Steni in reply to Dippi]

No just my GP practice

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Steni

It's hard to believe that any doctor prescribing T3 doesn't give any information about how to take it, it's rather foolhardy to not instruct you whether or not to reduce your dose of Levo.

Have you even had new blood tests? Because those you posted 2 months ago showed that your conversion was good and that you needed an increase in Levo.

Did you get your vitamins and minerals tested as advised?

[Steni in reply to SeasideSusie]

Yes I did increase the disease as advised to 150 Levo - none of the symptoms showed any improvement at all. My levels of vitamins tested are only those shown on the previous results. I know it was a bit foolhardy not to instruct me at the time but I wan sure the instructions will appear on the prescription.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Steni]

Steni

The instructions on the T3 will probably tell you how much T3 to take, it won't tell you whether you should reduce your dose of Levo. I don't think this doctor knows what he is doing.

Did you have TSH, FT4 and FT3 tested 6 weeks after increasing to 150mcg? If not then again, what on earth is your doctor doing prescribing T3 if he doesn't know your new levels?

You posted some results over a year ago which showed Ferritin at 38 and Vit D at 71

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Both of those needed improving and you also need B12 and Folate testing.

SlowDragon advised you in your previous thread 2 months ago that you needed Vit D, B12, Folate and Ferritin tested. Your old results are no longer relevant. Ferritin needs to be half way through range, Vit D needs to be 100-150nmol, B12 needs to be at least 550, best at top of range and Folate needs to be at least half way through range. I think you should get these tested because it's very likely your problem lies here, it certainly doesn't appear to lie with a conversion issue.

[Heloise]

You need to know if you should increase anything at all and why you wanted to add T3. It is a lot more potent that T4 so in any case you would start with a very small dose. Being three or four times stronger than T4 you would split a 20 mcg. pill into four parts and each part would be equal to about 25 mcgs. of T4. Susie said your results showed you were converting which usually means you are doing ok even without direct T3.

[Steni in reply to Heloise]

I’m sorry I think I have confused everyone - this is something I asked the doctor to do- I was keen to undertake a trial of T3 even though I seem to be converting- I have come across two people who have done better on T3 than they did in T4 only. My doctor agreed to this on the basis that I had had no relief from my symptoms in the two years since starting medication and so he was prepared to give this a chance. It’s only a trial -

[Heloise in reply to Steni]

I think we were trying not to create more problems but if you want to try it I'll just repeat my advice. .... Start with a 1/4 of a 20 mcg. T3 and in about four days you will have some idea. At least, that's how quickly it acted for me (or NOT acted).

I didn't realize you were still quite symptomatic on Levo even with conversion. T3 can look good on paper but still not active in the cells. Since a combination of T4 and T3 seem to work for many people and you feel you need an increase, start as I said and if you don't feel hyper add another 1/4. This would be the equivalent of almost 50 mcgs. of levo. I'd be very careful after that and possibly wait a while. This is all guesswork but I believe in the body/mind and it may give you a clue.

[Steni in reply to Heloise]

Thank you for this it’s just so helpful and I will take your advice and post how I get on. Interestingly I seem to have picked up the idea on this site that T3 was what everyone wanted to be made available, I think I saw this as the Holy Grail of treatment and one that various campaigns are championing the use of. So I was quite genuinely perplexed when what I thought of as a positive was on the whole viewed as a negative. I have been searching posts on the efficacy of T3 and seen that one administrator at least said that for her she felt better on it than on T4 so maybe it will be the same for me.

Anyway thank you again for your help

I am excited do see what differences I notice.