Low T3

[Lienden]

What is the best alternative/supplement treatment for low T3?

[shaws Administrator]

Welcome to our forum. It is helpful as you are a new member if you can you complete the profile so that members are aware of your thyroid background. i.e. What have you been diagnosed with i.e. hypothyroidism, hashimoto's etc and if you can get a print-out of your recent blood test results, with the ranges and post them for comments. To see another member's profile, you just click on their name and it takes you to the Profile page.

[greygoose]

Are you saying that you don't convert very well and have a decent FT4 level but low FT3? Do you have a diagnosis of hypothyroidism? Do you have copies of your latest labs? If so, post them on here.

The normal treatment for hypothyroidism is taking levo. Levo is T4 which has to be converted into T3. If you are a poor converter, then the usual treatment is adding T3 to a reduced dose of levo. However, it's getting more and more difficult to get this prescribed, so a lot of people buy their own. Or they buy natural hormone products like Armour, which contain T3. There is no other way of treating that I know of.

What do you mean by 'supplement'? If you mean vitamin or mineral, there isn't one specific supplement, they all need to be optimal. So, the best thing to do is get your vit D, vit B12, folate and ferritin tested, and supplement according to the results. We can help with that if you have trouble understanding the results. But, even when your nutrients are optimal, there's no guarantee it will improve your conversion, so you might still need to buy T3.

[Angel_of_the_North]

T3. There are no supplements, really - although optimal levels of B12, folate and ferritin can help with conversion of T4 to T3.