Tiromel T3 Dosage Question

[Haider5]

Hi, I have got a supply of Tiromel T3 which i intend to use from now on.

I was taking 50mcg T4 (Levothyroxine) half hour before breakfast daily so the question is do i use the exact same amount of T3 daily?

many thanks in advance...

[shaws Administrator]

No it's not exact - i.e. 50mcg of T4 is not the same as 50mcg of T3.

T4 is an inactive hormone and 50mcg is just that 50mcg.

T3 is the Active Hormone and 25mcg is equal - in its effect to 100mcg of levothyroxine.

Therefore 50mcg of T3 is equal to 200mcg of levo.

You should leave an hour before eating when you take any thyroid hormones as food can interfere with the uptake as can coffee.

You can split your tablets of T3 and start off with 1/2 tablet and every 2 weeks increase by 1/4. Always take note of your pulse/temp too and if either goes too high reduce to previous dose. Also your symptoms being relieved should be noted.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

50mcg Levothyroxine is only a starter dose of Levothyroxine

Your last post shows you were under medicated

Levothyroxine should be increased in 25mcg steps until TSH is around one and FT4 towards top of range and FT3 at least half way in range

Far easier to try a dose increase in Levothyroxine first

NICE guidelines saying how to initiate and increase. Note that most patients eventually need somewhere between 100mcg and 200mcg Levothyroxine

cks.nice.org.uk/hypothyroid...

If going to start on Timorel. Most people take Levo PLUS T3

You could ADD T3 to Levo. 5mcg initially in morning and 5mcg in afternoon

Retesting after 6-8 weeks. Do not increase further without full Thyroid and vitamin testing

But personally I would try 25mcg increase in Levothyroxine first. It's far easier to manage

The fact you were even considering just swopping 50mcg Levothyroxine for same dose of T3 shows you don't know enough and need to read up a lot more before even considering adding T3

[Haider5]

Thank you shaws and SlowDragon for your advice.

@SlowDragon: I was on 100mcg Levo up until 3 weeks ago and i thought may be i am over-medicating myself so reduced it to 50mcg. To be honest, i have not felt any difference after reducing the dose.

Today, i took half a tablet of T3, 25mcg (so 12.5mcg) an hour before breakfast as advised by shaws. Do you guys think i should add 25mcg of Levo (T4) to this dose? if so, should i take it at same time as T3 in morning or T3 in morning and Levo in afternoon?

[RockyPath]

Haider5, how long were you on the levothyroxine? I had to go off it entirely and go on straight liothyronine (T3). The LT4 was making me sick -- more hypothyroid. Is this your suspicion? The LT4 has a half life of 9 days and doesn't completely leave your system for about a month. If you quit the levothyroxine entirely, start with 12.5 mcg of the T3 (half of the tablet). I found this substitution in a clinical study in Texas and it worked for me. After about seven to 10 days off LT4, you can start increasing the liothyronine in increments of 6 mcg (half of the half). Stay on each increment for at least a week.

I went by resting heart rate, as it was easy to measure with one of those little finger-clamp measuring devices from Amazon. I already knew my resting pulse to be in the low 50s when hypo, and racing along in the 80s when I had too much hormone, so i used that as a primary guide. Then had tests while on 1-1/2 tabs of the 25 mcg T3. I felt pretty good, though my resting rate in the evening (when the circadian levels are naturally rising) was in the high 70s. Tests showed higher-than-reference blood levels of T3, and negligible T4, so I'm settling back down at 25 mcg T3 right now.

Good luck and take care of yourself.