Trying to find T3/T4 balance- help!

[babou79]

Newbie here! Hello to everyone! Trying to find the optimal level of T3/T4. I used to take T4 alone (175mg). After pushing my doctor to try and add T3, we agreed to try to incorporate T3. He put me on 100 of T4 and 12.5 of T3. Does that sound like a normal conversion? Also, has anyone ever felt symptoms of anxiety and mild depression on higher levels of T3? Thank you for any feedback!

[SlowDragon Administrator]

That's a massive drop in Levothyroxine. You may now be under medicated

Usually Levothyroxine is only reduced by 25mcg when 10mcg T3 added

Can you add your last test results on just 175mcg Levothyroxine - TSH, FT3 and FT4

How long have you been on the T3?

Are you taking this as single dose?

Or as 6.25 twice a day, roughly twelve hours apart

Bloods should be retested 6 weeks after any dose change in Levothyroxine or T3

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, even if this means adjusting time or splitting of dose day before test

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

It's important to have good vitamin levels for Levothyroxine or T3 to work well

Has GP or endocrinologist tested vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12?

Add vitamin results and ranges if you have them

What vitamin supplements do you currently take?

Do you always get same brand of Levothyroxine?

Many people find different brands are not interchangeable

[babou79 in reply to SlowDragon]

Firstly, thank you so very much for your reply! It is greatly appreciated.

I have been taking the new dosage (T3/T4) for about 3 weeks now. Both T4 and T3 are from the same company: Uni-Pharma (I live in Athens, Greece). I neglected to say that I actually take something called Dithyron which is a combination of T3/T4 AND an extra 100mg of T4. So, to sum up:

1.) I take 50 mg of Levothyrosine (T4) and, 12,5 mg of Liothryonine (T3) - in the Dithyron tablet

2.) And I take another 100 mg of Levothyrosine as well.

So, I originally went from 175 mg of T4 to 150 mg of T4 plus 12,5 of T3.

I have always taken the same brand and I take everything all at once in the morning.

I hope I haven't confused you!

My doctor has not asked for blood tests as of yet. In fact, it was I who tried to convince him to start with T3 as I had been feeling off for a very long time with only T4. He told me to try it out but doesn't seem to be too interested in following up. I'd like to know what blood tests I should be doing, so that I can be proactive and check myself.

The last blood tests I did (on 175mg):

TSH= 9.4 μIU/ml

FT4= 1.070 ng/dL

(I don't think he's ever even tested for T3! As for vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12- I know my vit. D levels are checked regularly but not the rest (at least not regularly).

I should mention that I have been battling with thyroid cancer for 9 years and it is always necessary to keep my TSH as low as possible. The above test results were the third day results of being on thyrogen, so I'm not sure if these will be helpful to you. I believe I need to go get my blood work done now- though I have only been taking the new dosage for a few weeks. When it comes to working with the cancer, my endo is wonderful- but when I tell him I just don't feel 100 percent and perhaps we can adjust my meds, he always seem completely disinterested in even trying. Adding T3 was a first step I suppose but I feel a little lost as to where to go from here. Would you recommend I ask for a blood panel?

Any help would be so greatly appreciated! Thank you again for your time and effort!

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to babou79]

That sounds good ....you haven't had huge drop in Levothyroxine

Uni Parma is very good T3.

How most of us in UK wish we could get this

Getting blood retested after about 6 weeks to see where your levels are

Marz in Crete gets her FT3 tested easily enough. She may pop along with info on testing options

Yes TSH likely to be significantly lower on T3

TSH should always be under 2 on thyroid hormones. Lower after Thyroid cancer

[babou79 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you so much for replying- it is greatly appreciated! I had no idea Uni pharma wasn't available in the UK. It seems like it's the number one brand here and it's also incredibly cheap for some reason- I suppose I'm very lucky indeed!

A question- once I go in to get my blood test, what should I ask for exactly? And once I get the results would it be ok if I asked you to take a look at them?

Thank you so very much again for all your help!

[babou79 in reply to SlowDragon]

What would I ask for in an ideal blood panel now that I'm also taking T3? I always feel my endo is leaving out some important info! Also, I had previously upped my T3/T4 combination on my own which was not a good idea (and I certainly now know better!)- and after four days or so I felt panicky- I have since gone back to my original T3/T4 (it's been about 3 days now) and I still feel panicky and anxious...How long can I expect to feel this way until my body adjusts back to the original dosage?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to babou79]

Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after any dose change

Slightly longer wait if reducing dose

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also extremely important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if Thyroid antibodies are raised

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, even if this means adjusting time or splitting of dose day before test

[babou79 in reply to SlowDragon]

ps- I am taking a number of vitamins/ supplements, including B5 and B6, L-thyrosine, Vit D3, and selenium. These were started about a month or so ago based on my own research as I have been struggling with insulin issues and based on what I read, a combination of the above could help stabilize my insulin levels as well as help in terms of fine-tuning thyroid issues (I don't have a thyroid anymore).

[babou79 in reply to babou79]

sorry- and of course I take calcium. I need to take Vit. D and Calcium for life because of the fact I have not thyroid or parathyroid glands.