T3 alone better than Levothyroxine?

Hi, its been a wee while since I posted. Just under a year ago my new doctor (I moved) lowered my Levothyroxine dose from 125mcg to 100mcg and now I feel absolutely awful. I felt awful on the 125, but now I feel dreadful. I'd really like some advice. I did purchase some T3 Uni Pharma from abroad but that came in 25mcg (or 25ug) and from what I understand taking that with 100mcg of Levo would be a bit too much to take? I've read some of you just take the 25mcg of T3 and NOT any Levo, does this work okay, should I just stop taking the 100mcg Levo and take the T3 I have? I've an appointment (next month!) with the doctor at which stage she'll get my bloods tested, the same story, she'll say my levels are fine and won't do anything about it. I want to scream "just look at me, do I actually look over-medicated or okay on this T4 poop?" I wish they'd just look at me and see that I am struggling......sorry boring we've all heard it before and I know most of you on here are suffering the same. Crux is, and I know nobody knows me personally or healthwise, but what's working for people out there. I'm 5ft 8ins and very overweight. I've been doing shakes for the past couple of weeks and haven't lost a jot!

[MaisieGray]

Some people, including me, are happy and well taking 20/25 mcg T3 with their levo, others are definitely not, and need only a single smaller dose, or several smaller doses daily. There will be some, but I doubt there are many people who take only 25 mcg T3 if that is their only replacement hormone - it's more likely they need around 40 mcg or more. But really, you are approaching it from the wrong direction, and can't just randomly decide to stop Levo whatever the dose, and replace it with an arbitrary dose of T3, especially if you don't know that you need it The first thing to do is have a comprehensive set of blood tests carried out that will as a minimum, measure FT3, FT4, TSH and TPO & TG antibodies; and preferably also Vit D, Vit B12, Ferritin and Folate, and CRP-hs. It is unlikely that your GP will test all these, so you may have to test privately as so many of us here do - you can find details of the labs often used by members here: thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin... Your results will indicate if your symptoms may be due to simply being inadequately medicated on Levo, or perhaps have poor nutrition, or are inadequately converting T4 to T3 for instance, or all three; and will better inform your decision about what to do next - that may be that adding T3 is required or not.

[Hidden in reply to MaisieGray]

Thanks MaisieGray for advice. I did get my bloods on here last time and I take all the vitamins daily that are noted on the Thyroid UK website. I wasn't good on the 125 of Levo so even if she does put me back on that I doubt I will feel much better, these doctors simply don't want to go out of their way to help. I really do feel at rock bottom.

[shaws Administrator in reply to MaisieGray]

I take 25mcg of T3 daily and am well.

[greygoose]

Before making any decisions about your treatment, you need complete testing.

TSH

FT4

FT3

TPO antibodies

Tg antibodies

vit D

vit B12

folate

ferritin

Any form of thyroid hormone replacement is only as good as the person prescribing it. If your doctor does not understand the complexities of thyroid treatment, nothing will 'work'. It is not the fault of the treatment itself. So, belittling levo is somewhat inappropriate. Also, what works for one person, won't necessarily work for you because we're all individuals with different needs.

It could very well be that you are under-medicated, have an absorption problem, a conversion problem or thyroid hormone resistance. But, we cannot know without the correct testing. NHS doctors very rarely do all the relevant tests. Which is why many people on here have resorted to private testing. Details here:

thyroiduk.org/tuk/testing/p...

[Hidden in reply to greygoose]

Thanks greygoose, I'll be back once bloods done.

"So, belittling levo is somewhat inappropriate" - sorry about that, was not my intention to offend.

[greygoose in reply to Hidden]

I'm not offended. But it just doesn't help. A lot of people do very well on levo, and if they're new to all this, reading that can put them of. It's just not fair. x

[shaws Administrator]

You could try adding 1/4 tablet of T3 to your T4 and see if that improves your health. 25mcg of T3 is equal 'in its effect' to about 100mcg of levo so be careful. Take note of your clinical symptoms too and you could add another 1/4 about 2 weeks later if there's been no change. Once you have no symptoms and feel well that should be your therapeutic dose. I have read that a T4/T3 combination can work well for quite a number of people in a 4:1 or 3:1 basis (taking into account that T4 is inactive and T3 the active one, and that 25mcg of T3 is equal to around 100 mcg of T4 and that's why 1/4 increments are required).

[Hidden in reply to shaws]

Thanks shaws for this info. I think it would be impossible to cut these 25mcg tablets that I do have as they are so small in any event, unless you know of a way to cut them? I've felt bad for such a long time now I've completely forgotten what it feels like to be "normal" or well. I agree taking the whole 25mcg along with my 100mcg of levo would probably be too much. Would I have to try and source a smaller dose of T3 from somewhere as I expect the doctor will not be willing to offer me the chance to try it on the NHS?

[silverfox7]

Lots of good advice. I cut my NDT up into quarts and it has a hard shell on it so a good PILL cutter works well. I can't remember what mine was called now if if you ask I'm sure you will get some good advice and they don't cost a lot either.

Greygoose is right, a lot do very well on Levo, I did for about 30 years but help comes in other guises as well like getting nutrients optimal. So get the various tests done that are recommended and then supplement where necessary but only start one thing at a time and then the next a couple of weeks later and so on, nothing worse than swallowing several tablets then having a reaction and not knowing which ones the cause! Nurtents can take a time to build up but well worth the effort.

[Hidden in reply to silverfox7]

thanks silverfox7 all good advice, very much appreciated.