First time T3 treatment, help needed :/

[yasasasasa]

Hello everyone, this is my first post and I would like to start by saying thank you to everyone who posts here for so much valuable information, I felt so lost and it's so great to know there's a community here where people go through the same things, so thanks!

I have been taking NDT (1 grain) for over 3 months but remained hypo symptoms and still had high RT3 (no improvement after 3+months) although all other values went back to a "normal" range (thankfully my doctor says "normal" with irony in his voice as well). On my own request have been taking SRT3 (Slow release by this doctors compounding pharmacy) since a little over a week now.

I have been taking 10mcg at 8.30am and the second one (also 10mcg) at 5.30pm, both half an hour before food, as advised by my doctor. The first two days I had side effects (nausea and pounding heart) which slowly seem to subside, but most importantly I felt light and almost tingly in my body – it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off me. That gave me a great deal of hope!

I don't have that inital feeling anymore but overall I feel like my life quality has increased a little bit, anxiety and depression have already decreased a little bit as well. But I was hoping to feel this almost high on life feeling more intensely and troughout, but I take what I can get for now I guess.

I am also still having a few issues as I said I felt there could be more benefit in the way I feel overall but also my sleep is a bit disrupted (I wake up more and sleep less (I'm tracking my sleep with a Fitbit to make sure I can measure the quality of sleep as well). What bothers me most at the moment, almost to the minute at around 2.30pm I start to get so fatigued I need to take a nap (also feeling quite a bit of depression and negativity around that time) and at around 4pm I get a bit of nausea still.

The other day I went for a walk outside to try if movement helps and had to sit down on some stairs because I was too tired (too hot, which is something I almost never experienced before the SRT3) and nausea, I walked about 4km. I feel fine about 30 minutes or 1h after my second dose in the evening.

I'm supplementing with 1000mg Vitamin C and fish oil at lunch (to target possible adrenal issues) and some high quality BUffered Magnesium Bisglycinate before bed (seems to improve sleep).

Could anyone maybe help me try figure out what I could do to solve this afternoon fatigue and nausea or if I'm missing something here? Are my expectations too high?

I just felt so good on the first two days (haven't felt like that in almost 20 years!) I'm 35 and I feel like I slept and cried and dragged myself through most parts of the past decade of my life. So now that I know how I COULD feel, I am relieved but also hoping to get there again.

Any help and shared experiences would be very much appreciated!!

PS: I also lost almost 25kg a year ago in a time frame of 18 months, have about 15kg more to lose, but I have been on a plateau and gaining rapidly if I don't eat very healthy and carefully for the past year, I gained a few kg during the NDT treatment.

5 out of 18 months of my weight loss journey I was on a ketogenic diet, which apparently can raise RT3 very high. Just wanted to give you all the facts. Another big hope and goal was that T3 would help with the weight.

[Hidden]

You could do with a dose of T3 in the middle of the day I think, because you are clearly getting low on it at that point (I know, I take T3 only too!). I'm afraid dosing with T3 is very much 'suck it and see', with much recording of heart rate, BP and temperature to monitor how you're doing. There's really no hard and fast rules about it.

Have you tried regular T3 (i.e. not slow-release?).

[yasasasasa in reply to Hidden]

Thanks so much Jadzhia for your kind answer and sharing your experience (and not giving up half way through my massive wall of text :))

OK, I will definately try a mid-day dose, sounds like we have to rely on our own feelings with this...

I haven't tried the regular T3 but thinking I should (the doctor is going to retire soon so it would probably better anyway to have something more widely available.

May I ask how long you have been on T3 and how long did it take for you to see real change? I know this is very different for everyone, just so curious

[Hidden in reply to yasasasasa]

It's very much trial and error. I haven't been on T3 only that long, actually. I started as most do on Levo, that didn't resolve my symptoms, I tried NDT for a bit but ditto. So then I moved to T3 only and it has helped somewhat but I am very much still a 'work in progress' and am sorting out my adrenals and other issues. I do feel I'm on the right track now, though. I take my first dose somewhere between 4.30-5.30 a.m. and a second late morning. I am still very slowly increasing T3 (currently on 38 mcg daily). Have you read any of Paul Robinson's books? He's the go-to reference if you are on T3 only. His book, Recovering with T3, is very detailed and helpful.

[yasasasasa in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Jadzhia, looks like we are on a very similar path...thanks for letting me know how things are closer towards the finish line Hope you'll have even more improvement soon.

I'll definetely read the book you recommended. Hope to read from you again and how you are going.

[Caesard]

To me it sounds you are on the right track. I had the same "enlightenment" from the first dose of T3 from a combo pill but, like you learned, it didn't last more than two days, in the beginning. It took me two long years to get consistent results, with dose tweaking, testing, supplementing minerals and vitamins, ocassiinal crashes (especially during winter time)

I would say you need to find what works for you, but this response you had is really encouraging.

General guidelines that worked for me:

-be patient, make one change at a time and give it time to work.

-mind the diets, they can crash you if severe

-exercise is good but again, don't be excessive about it.

-might find that you need to adjust doses with seasonality

-absorbtion is also key. Follow the rules

-always test your levels, including key minerals and vitamins involved into conversion.

[yasasasasa in reply to Caesard]

Thank you very much for the advise, Ceasard!

It’s encouraging to read that there’s indeed hope to get there - even if the road to recovery can be long I’ll get a doc appointment today and ask to get the key vitamins and minerals tested.