I’m on 100 T4 and 25 T3. I did a very silly thing and reduced my T3 to 20mcg on 20/08. After 3 days I had a huge energy crash so I went back to 25mcg. I was on 10mcg a at 7 and 15mcg at 13.30. I saw back on my normal doses and then because I’d read here about not taking T3 with food I thought I’d take it the other way round. (28/08 to 31/08). After 4 days of this my heart rate when up to 140bpm at 23.00. This scared me - it was a weekend and so there was nobody to contact. I didn’t dare take my normal T3 so then I took the following:
01/09 5mcg
02/09 5mcg
03/09 10mcg
04/09 15mcg
05/09 20mcg
06/09 20mcg
07/09 25mcg and same to date.
So I’m a week on and I still feel so unwell. I can crawl through my day but early evening I feel so unwell and drained it scares me.
Do you think my body is still deplete from two weeks ago ?
How long until my normal dose is reinstated in body ?
And having messed around with my dose (which I will absolutely not do again) when should I take my next blood test ?
(I am under a NHS Endo who never calls me back)
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hobbycat
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I'm not quite sure what you're saying, here. Are you saying that you were taking your afternoon dose with food? After all that messing around with your dose, I'm not surprised you don't feel well. And, how long it will take to sort out is anybody's guess. Are you still taking your T3 with food?
Hi GG, so before I messed about, and now, I take 10mcg T3 on empty stomach with my T4 and then 15mcg T3 close to lunch. Before now I was doing really well on that dosing. Based on this mini experiment I suspect the food buffers my second dose but it did work ok.
Taking your T3 close to food will affect absorption of the hormone. So, you wouldn't have been getting a full 25 mcg of T3. If you changed round and took the 10 mcg close to food, rather than the 15 mcg, that would be the equivalent of giving yourself an increase in dose. I don't think it has anything to do with 'buffering'.
OK However, you do realise that the amount you absorb will depend on the nutrient content of your lunch. So, you won't be getting a steady dose that way. Seems to me it would be far simpler to just mover your second dose to another time away from food.
Hi GG. So this morning I took 15mcg as I felt so drained from 17.00 yesterday and even waking in the night which I’ve not had before. So now I’m not sure what to do later today. So these are the things I ask myself ...Do I now take 10mcg later away from food and risk being overmedicated? Or take 5mcg later away from food and risk being further under medicated (if I have less than now it feels like my body won’t function at all)?
Ideally I’d take 20mcg in one dose but I’m scared to do that.
I started adding t3 by a split dose at night ten early afternoon. I felt more tired in the evenings than before starting it. I changed it to only taking it at night with my Levo as instantly felt better, I've never reacted with a high heart rate to any dose changes. Now I've built the dose to 20mcg, which I take c.4am. There are people on here who take t3 in a single dose and those who split. It's worth trying a single dose to see how it works for you.
Thank you Sybilla14. Very interesting you initially felt more tired with your starting dosing. I wonder if I am confusing my body too much and a single dose would be better.
Could it be possible that you may be overdosed? For me personally, I don't seem to have obvious symptoms when I'm on too much, they all seem much the same. It does make it harder to decide on dose changes. I found reducing t3 by 6.25mcg was awful with terrible hypo feeling but reducing t4 by 12.5mcg seems to be making me feel better. I did not reduce my t4 with the addition of t3 until now.
What do you think will happen if you take 20 mcg in one dose? I've taken as much as 225 mcg in one dose and didn't feel a thing. I don't need that much, now, but I still take 68.75 mcg in one go. It's better for some people, but you won't know if it's better for you unless you try. If it doesn't suit you, you can always go back to splitting the dose.
Other than that, if I were you, I would take the risk of over-medicating, but taking 10 mcg this afternoon away from food. You might even find you're not over-medicated, but optimal!
Thanks GG. Yes 20mcg sounds like a baby dose compared to yours !! I certainly feel better for the 15mcg this morning. I think 5mcg no food might be my next baby step. Thanks for your support.
Just stay on the same dose that you think is the right one and you will gradually improve. Don’t beat yourself up about it, we all make mistakes. Be kind to yourself, rest, do things that make you feel better, keep calm, and keep taking the tablets. Sometimes you can feel so well it’s easy to forget that the wellness has such a fragile foundation. Don’t have a test until after six weeks on same dose. xx
Aurealis, a kind message, thank you, I need that. I have been beating myself up which, on top of feeling so unwell, is certainly not great. And I really haven’t come to terms with the ‘fragile foundation’ yet either.
Take a deep breath.....it sounds as if you can't see the wood for the trees! That's entitely understandable, we would all like a quick-fix cure... I rapidly learned that wasn't possible.
Do you know if you adequately convert T4 to T3 ? That could impact on your reaction to T4 or T3. You may need to change T4/T3 ratio.
Increasing from 5mcg to 25mcg in a week would be enough to make most people unwell! Did you not notice your BHR rising on a daily basis.....before it reached 140 bmp.
Why did you reduce your T3 by 5mcg on 20/08?
Monitoring both BHR and core temperature daily while titrating is crucial as I'm sure you know.
You are clearly anxious, this may be due to wrong dosage, and/or the anxiety may be adding to your state of health.
Focus on the thought that you will feel better.....determination plays a big part in recovery.
Personally I would carefully follow advice from TUK.....GPs and endos know woefully little about the thyroid, if it were otherwise this amazing forum would not exist!
I've been very unwell and now recovering - this is entirely due to the advice and support offered here. I'm 73 so it's never too late!!
You need to stay on one dose for 6 weeks before testing.....that's often the hard bit!
It might be a good idea to return to your last test results and your then dose/s ...post those here, including ranges, if you haven't already done so (sorry haven't checked your profile) and start again from there. There are people here with huge experience who will help you see the wood in your forest of trees!
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I don't need that much, now, but I still take 68.75 mcg in one go. It's better for some people, but you won't know if it's better for you unless you try. If it doesn't suit you, you can always go back to splitting the dose. 
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