Are Turkish T3 and UK Liothyronine equivalent?

Are Turkish T3 (Tiromel 25mcg) and UK Liothyronine (20mcg) equivalent? I currently take 1 and a quarter Tiromel split into 3 doses per day alongside Levo 100mcg. I have obtained a supply of 20mcg UK Liothyronine privately and was told to just take one 20mcg daily split into halves so two doses of 10mcg. Would this be ok? I’m currently taking 25mcg + 6.25mcg so 31.25mcg and feel the UK dose prescribed privately won’t be enough.

[Valeriu]

I need to start Liotyronine at 5mcg....Have you got a link / source where one can buy it from where it's a little less expensive then from <removed by admin> where I buy the NP from ? Thanks a lot & All the best

[Judithdalston in reply to Valeriu]

From your post earlier this morning...you don’t need T3, your FT3 is high enough as it is and RT3 is ok.

[Plantpot1 in reply to Valeriu]

Where can I buy t3

[Hidden in reply to Plantpot1]

You can’t generally buy T3 here in the UK, it can be bought over the counter in Turkey and sometimes in Cyprus. It can be prescribed here in the UK either by a private Endo or an NHS Endo but new patients getting it on the NHS is quite rare due to the cost most GP’s and Hospital Trusts won’t prescribe it.

[MaisieGray]

If one brand of T3 has 20 mcg of active ingredient and another has 25 mcg, they are different in that regard, not the same; but whether there is an equivalancy in effect which is the same for everyone, it's unlikely. There may be differences in manufacture that create a different response to different meds of the same type, and some people do report feeling that one brand works better for them than another, that it is somehow "stronger", but then others will report the reverse. So dose for dose, whether you did better or worse on a brand providing 20 mcg than one providing 25 mcg, is an individual thing, and can't be second guessed in advance of you taking a different brand. However, in terms of numbers, if you are currently taking 31.25 mcg, it doesn't make sense to prescribe you a dose of only 20 mcg, even if an assumption had been made that 25 mcg Tiromel was equal in effect to 20 mcg UK brand, because you aren't taking just 25 mcg Tiromel. Why did your prescriber decide on that? Regarding how to take your meds, whether you take it in a single dose or two or three, is entirely up to you and your particular need.

[Hidden in reply to MaisieGray]

Thanks so much for your reply. I’d seen the Private Endo who suggested taking T3 and obtaining it on a private prescription, I told him I’d self sourced from Turkey and he said take half a tablet twice daily. Initially I had to take a quarter tablet and build up to two halves per day. I felt it wasn’t quite enough so increased the dose myself under the watchful eye of an NHS Endo who agreed that was ok to do. After feeling somewhat better initially and then felt a decline in health the increase was to see if it helped which I felt it did. After running out of Turkish T3 I decided to cash in my private prescription which is only for 20mcg Liothyronine daily so was reluctant to try it in case it wasn’t enough at that dose.

[silverfox7]

I wastold by the pharmacy when I first started out that different brands can have different potency as the medication has a tolerance to work within within. Before I stopped taking Levo I decided to try and save the NHS money and add a prescription to my one of all 25's to one foe 100 mcg. I found that within the same brand 1x 100 mcg was very different to 4 x 25so I stopped trying to save money and go back to dosing with 25's only. But it's likely the brands come into play as well as itsoften recommended if you change brands to be retested after 6 weeks on the different brand. I also think the big buzz word in thyroid problems is consistency and adhere to it best you can.