T3 self medicating

[JBL312]

Hi, I am self medicating with t3 added to my prescribed Levothyroxine and have been doing so for nearly two weeks. I started gradually and am hoping to work up to 25mcgs. I am yet to feel any improvement, but have been feeling a little dizzy . My temperature is always around 35.5, but I am having hot sweats. Could this be due to the t3 and is it normal at first? What should I be checking for.? Thank you in advance.

[radd]

JBLOVELL,

How much T3 have you introduced so far and in what increments ? Did you reduce your Levo dose ?

Inner heat is a usual symptom felt amongst members when introducing T3. It is useful to test temps and pulse when introducing T3 to ensure you are not raising quicker than your body can tolerate.

Dizziness, vertigo and imbalance are also common as the body acclimatises to a newly introduced hormone. The rule to remember with T3 is low and slow.

[JBL312 in reply to radd]

I’ve reduced my levo by 25mcgs and started with 6.25mcgs for two weeks. I increased by another 6.25mcgs this morning.

[radd in reply to JBL312]

JBLOVELL,

You have introduced the equivalent of 37.5mcg T4.

As you plan on raising T3 to 25mcg, you may need to reduce Levo further unless FT4 levels were low.

If you post previous results, complete with ranges (numbers in brackets), members will comment.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

You need to test B12, folate, ferritin and both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies

Low vitamins are extremely common especially if you have high thyroid antibodies

Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies or all vitamins

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have special offers, Medichecks usually have offers on Thursdays, Blue Horizon its more random

Suggest you hold at 2 x 6.25mcg and retest in 6-8 weeks

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw). This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

If/when also on T3, make sure to take last dose 8-12 hours prior to test

Come back with new post once you get results and ranges

If thyroid antibodies are high this is Hashimoto's, (also known by medics here in UK more commonly as autoimmune thyroid disease).

About 90% of all primary hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto's

Essential to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12. Always get actual results and ranges. Post results when you have them, members can advise

Hashimoto's affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels

Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working

Poor gut function can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten. Dairy is second most common.

According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find gluten free diet helps, sometimes significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)

Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal and slowly lower TPO antibodies

Ideally ask GP for coeliac blood test first or buy test online for under £20, just to rule it out first




Trying gluten free diet for 3-6 months. If no noticeable improvement then reintroduce gluten and see if symptoms get worse

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

amymyersmd.com/2017/02/3-im...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

scdlifestyle.com/2014/08/th...

drknews.com/changing-your-d...

[HashiFedUp]

Sounds normal to me. Read the side effects leaflet or online if you don’t have one. I felt terrible when I started on T3 and had to start on 5 and work up to 10. Don’t over medicate - start small wait for an improvement and stop increasing the dose when you feel better, rather than saying ‘I want to get to this dose’. It’s a slow process! Good luck.

[Judithdalston]

It can feel like two steps forward, one ( or more) steps back when introducing T3. We are all different. On introducing T3 last Spring I seemed to reduce my levo. dose down too much ( from 125 to 75 mcg) as I was adding from 1/8 th of a 25 mcg pill to a whole one, and all my results including T3 went down. So added levo .back . Keep a dairy with bp, pulse and basal temperature and a note how you feel/ symptoms then if you have to fine tune T3 or T4 doses you have some idea where to go back to. It can be a very slow job, be patient.

[jallann]

Hi JBL 😊 I am new here, so please forgive me in advance as I am fairly sure I'm going to be saying one or more ignorant things in this post.

I read a series of posts yesterday where the person had been self-medicating with T3, but issues arose. Now the person needs help, but they can't tell their GP about the private T3 use bc it would cause even more problems. The person is in quite a tough situation now.

I am curious about your situation in part because I don't understand how people get hold of T3 (or other thyroid medicines) without a prescription, so that is part of my ignorance. It makes it sound black market and therefore dangerous. I wonder if UK medicines are controlled differently than US medicines?

JBL, I hope you get these things sorted. Wishing you great good health, J

[Angel_of_the_North]

It's an individual thing. When I started on NDT, I felt much warmer, but T3 doesn't have that effect on me. Other people describe exactly what you are feeling. I would just make sure that your vitamins are optimal and try some stress reduction techniques such as meditation to keep cortisol at a good level

[Tasker]

This is interesting to read, as I changed the timing of the small amount of T3 that I take recently, and have been experiencing hot sweats since then. I take 100mcg levo at night and was taking 5mcg T3 in the morning, but switched the T3 to bedtime also. That has had the benefit of making me feel much calmer and less anxious on waking in the morning, but I am having hot flushes quite often which were only occasional before. It's such a tricky balancing act, isn't it?!

My blood test results aren't helping much at the moment due to Hashi's fluctuations and what I think is the delayed impact of changes in blood results on symptoms, ie bloods and symptoms don't seem to correlate very well at the moment. So I'm waiting for a few weeks before retesting in the hope that things settle down, and then perhaps depending on results I'll adjusting the dose.

I'm a relative novice with T3, but as others here have said, small and slow seems to be the way to make changes.

[jgelliss]

It's Great to see that your improving on your timing of doses . If you find that dosing in the AM with T4 works well for you . Then that's great . How ever try to reduce your T3 To 1/2 of your 5mcg T3 before bed and see if that is enough for you and your symptoms are resolved . Little tweaking can make huge differences .

If your not on nutrients it would be very helpful too . Vitamin "D"/K2 , B-Complex , B12/folate, Iron if you test low , Vitamin "C" , magnesium , Celtic Sea Salt for electrolytes/adrenals .

Best Wishes .