T3 advice

[Mollyjess]

Hi all, I have been prescribed Liothyronine 10mcg twice a day, and told to reduce my levo to 100 from 125. I take my levo at night and was wondering what will be the best times to take the T3?

TIA

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Mollyjess

Experiment.

Some people take their T3 at night and find that's best for them.

Some people take it first thing in the morning in one dose. Some split the dose during the day.

Make sure you follow the same "rules" as for taking Levo - i.e. Take your T3 one hour before or 2 hours after food, with a glass of water, water only for one hour each side, away from any other medication/supplements (you can take with Levo) by 2 hours, some need 4 hours.

So decide what you want to try first, give it a trial, if not 100% happy, change it.

By the way, starting on 20mcg daily is too much. It's usual to start with 5mcg and increase gradually 5mcg each time.

[Mollyjess in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you Seaside Susie. Fortunately the tablets have come in 5mcg so will do as you said and start slowly and follow your advice

[sarahstevenson]

Hi Mollyjess, I am on T3 only and have found best time for me either

Early am for 2/3 dose eg 6:00

Followed by 1/3 dose early afternoon 14:30

OR

Early am for 1/3 dose eg 6:00

Late am for 1/3 dose eg 11.30

And about 16:00 for 1/3 dose

NB you can go back to sleep after early am dose and for quite a while on Paul R's protocol, I was taking it at 4:00 am, worked really well!

Check out Paul Robinson: Recovering withT3 and The Thyroid Patient's Manual.

And on Facebook Recovering with T3

Well done you for securing a trial. 🙂

[Mollyjess in reply to sarahstevenson]

Thank you Sarah. Will check out the fb group. As for securing the trial all I can say is what a battle it was to get gp to refer me.But, once I saw the Endo and had T3 tested 3 times over 18 weeks he agreed to start me on Liothyronine , much to my gp's annoyance.

[sarahstevenson in reply to Mollyjess]

Absolutely, my battle was over 7 years, then had 9months on combination trials, before endo reluctantly agreed to lio only. I kept meticulous notes which I presented to them rating..... symptoms: energy, headaches, muscle fatigue, emotion and cognitive skills alongside signs: temperature, blood pressure, blood tests, pulse whilst on different medication levels.

I had to be firm and clear, so tricky with brain fog hence all the notes and graphs.

You're doing brilliantly to have come so far, well done you!

[Murphysmum]

Hi Mollyjess ,

I hope you don’t mind me gate crashing your post!

I just wanted to ask how you got your trial of T3 - what were your bloods like and what symptoms did you have?

I would like to trial adding T3 to my levo but last time I saw the Endo he didn’t think there was a need. Levo was increased but is now too high, conversion isn’t brilliant (IMO) and symptoms remain.

I’d really appreciate being able to compare and contrast with someone who for who it’s been deemed necessary!

sarahstevenson i found your reply very helpful 😉

Thanks ladies 😊

[Mollyjess in reply to Murphysmum]

Hi Murphysmum

Trust me it wasn't an easy journey. After years of gp telling me it was all in my head! And levothyroxine was the only option and refusing to test anything apart from TSH. I paid for private blood tests which showed T3 at 1.8 and high reverse T3. I had great pleasure in showing gp these results and demanded to be referred to an Endo. My syptoms were pretty much classic hypo but the worrying thing was a resting pulse below 40.

I got lucky with my Endo, he had to do 3 separate blood tests over 18 weeks whilst adjusting my levo to prove that I was a candidate for a Liothyronine trial. I'm not optomistic that after the trial the CCG will continue to pay out though so fully expecting that if I feel better on the T4/T3 combo I will have to self source.

Have you had your T3 tested?

[Murphysmum]

I have had my T3 tested and thoughts on here were that my conversion wasn’t brilliant... albeit not awful.

Endo just said “your conversion is fine” and that was that! He went with an increase in levo but now it’s too high and I still don’t feel right. Or at least my muscles and brain don’t!

If you look at my profile you’ll see my latest results - Oct 18 and today 😉