Just received T3 in mail today, scared to try

[Savysofa]

My endo told me T3 is not safe and can cause heart attacks. I have hashis and used Levo, then Naturethroid, now NP thyroid- I have yet to feel good or lose weight. I take 2 grains on NP thyroid and not sure how to add the T3 25mcg. Should I try taking 1 grain of Np and half of the T3? I just don’t want to over do it

[radd]

Savysofa

Welcome to our forum.

A large excess of T3 that was not required by our body could cause a heart attack, but as we should only medicate the T3 amount we are deficient in, there should be no risk of any heart attacks.

If you have been medicating NDT, you have already been medicating T3 that is contained within the NDT.

As you have not achieved well being on the amount of NDT you are presently medicating, and to stay safely inside your T3 requirements, you will need to assess your T3 levels before medicating additional.

Ask your doctor to test TSH, FT4 & FT3, TPOAb & TGAb (thyroid antibodies). Also Vit B12, folate, Vit D and ferritin as adequate levels are required for good thyroid hormone synthesis. Post all results complete with ranges (numbers in brackets) for members to comment.

[Hidden]

"My endo told me T3 is not safe"

Nothing is safe in excess - even water!

Yes, you have to be careful with T3 because it is much more powerful than T4 (Levothyroxine). As radd said, you are already taking some T3 in the NDT.

In people without thyroid issues T4 is converted into T3 in the body, as and when needed. With us, that often doesn't work properly.

I have never taken T3 (soo far at least) so don't know about dosage. Hopefully someone else will be able to advise on that. All I know is that a much smaller dose goes a long way, so start with a tiny amount and work up gradually. T3 acts much faster than Levo and disappears from the body faster, so you should know pretty soon if you are taking too much.

[Hidden]

You are already taking 2 grains of NDT i.e. contains 18 mcg of T3 . So that your body should be used to T3. It's best to start very low and increase every 2 weeks or so. One quarter would be a good start.

[Savysofa]

Do you think I should only take 1 grain of NDT and maybe 1/3 of the 25mcg T3?

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to Savysofa]

No, you need bloods done first

[Hidden]

No not really, you require the blood test first. If you are in the UK your GP will probably only test your TSH. You can order private blood tests from Medichecks ( ThyroidUltraVit)

this one gives you everything, then post the results with the ranges on here for answers.

Take the test first thing, fasting and leave off your NDT for 10/12 hours prior to the test.

I don't know about any other countries apart from France where they only test the TSH.

You require TSH, T4, FT3, both Antibodies, B12, Folate, Ferritin, and Vitamin D.

Until you have these done we cannot judge. When you post state you dosage at the time.

If in the US someone else may reply for you.

[Clairewalker751]

I would want to know what my T3 blood levels are before adding T3 being over medicated can make you feel unwell and unable to lose weight

[Angel_of_the_North]

Your endo is scaremongering for no good reason. Healthy thyroids produce T3 all the time, every day. However, T3 is not a weight loss drug and will not make you lose weight. It will also make you ill if you don't need it. It is only useful if you need it. What were your last results on 2 grains of NDT for TSH, free T3 and Free T4 (WITH RANGES)?

[HashiFedUp]

Go to a private Endocrinologist and get their opinion. Don’t take T3 without medical advice. Ever! £150 to see a private Endo. Worth every penny if it changes your life. Plus you need T3 from a trusted source to make sure you don’t get ripped off or end up with a product that’s not even the real deal.

[Brendag23]

I took T3 for 9 months with no ill effects. 1 grain daily. Tablets given to me by my endo in an attempt to assist thyroxine in working for me. In my case it didn't help as apparently my body wasn't absorbing the meds. I'm now on NDT & getting better (long job!) No weight loss yet! Of course the endo didn't prescribe the NDT, just told me there was nothing more he could do. I must say though that he does continue to monitor my progress. This site, & a lot of research helped enormously.

Hope this helps

[radd in reply to Brendag23]

Brendag23,

T3 medication does not come in grains.

[LAHs in reply to radd]

Just what I was thinking.

[765nottyash]

The better way to go is change your diet, no gluten, dairy except butter an no soy or ready meals.

[Cats2018]

I take both Levothyroxine (0.088mg) & Liothyronine (t3) 5mcg and have for several years without problems. My Levothyroxine used to be a higher dose but my doctor decreased it after my last blood tests.

[Quaver in reply to Cats2018]

Hi Cats.... are you still on the same doses? What amount of levo were you on before you added the t3? I've been on 10mcg of liothyronine with 10pmcg levo for 5 weeks, felt great the last 2 weeks, but for the last 2 nights have had palpitations at night. Scary. Don't know whether to decrease the t3? Based on my last bloods 2 weeks ago, my t3 is low to mid range.

[Quaver in reply to Cats2018]

Sorry that was meant to say 100mcg levo!

[Andtired]

Be sure your iron & B12 levels are good or you will get side effects. Typically T3 added to NDT you would lower NDT dose. Also if you get an adrenaline dump you took too much. So you can start with a half tab and see how it goes. Then add the second half in the afternoon if needed. The half life of T3 is approx 8hrs. So if you do take too much the effects won't last long. Lastly T4 has a half life of 4 to 6 weeks (or more) & sometimes taking T3 causes T4 to convert more so in the beginning go easy with dosage changes but then as T4 goes away you may need more T3. I take T3 only & I'm not dead.

[Zelda123]

If I were you like others have said I would get your bloods done first as NDT contains both. You don’t want to overdose on T3. I wouldn’t take it at all. Your only supposed to dose based on your deficiency to replace what you should have.

You may find you have symptoms of another issues that isn’t thyroid related if you find your results are ok.

[Savysofa]

I went ahead and took 1 grain and 1/4 of T3 and I can feel it- I used to take Adderall but I didn't need Adderall this morning and less brain fog- wow

[LAHs]

As has been written above, get your blood tests done first (and post here). Assuming your T3 or FT3 is low then take your pulse first thing in the morning and go round to the chemist and measure your Blood Pressure (BP) to use as baselines. Take a tiny amount (1/4 of the smallest tablet you can find which will probably be 1/4 of 12 mcgs.). Observe how you feel that day and the following morning take your resting pulse and BP again. If no significant change, repeat. A week later do the same thing but use 1/2 a pill. If you get a significant change in your pulse rate or BP then stop and drop back to the previous dose, that is your critical point, anything over that will affect your heart as "they" say - but like anything else excess will harm you e.g. if we feel sick after three ice-creams we do not eat a forth. But if no significant change up the dose again and repeat everything for another week and so on and so forth - I would not go beyond about 24mcg even though you don't have significant changes in your pulse rate or BP, simply because that is a pretty high dose, I am not sure what to tell you beyond that.

So, basically that is how you do it. And, for what it is worth, I too felt scared to death to switch from Levo to NDT but, and I know this is no excuse, I felt so ill I felt there was no alternative. It worked like a miracle - and I hope you get a miracle too.

[NWA6]

Okay deep breaths. It’s not dangerous, you’ll feel ill before you ever have a heart attack! So first step is to calm the &&&& down 😉

Seriously, let’s all just take a breath and believe in ourselves. Anyone who is taking the wrong dose or the wrong medication will feel it, I bet you are very intune with your body, you are already feeling that whatever you are taking right now is not working for you. So get a blood test done, post the results and these lovely forum members will be able to give a good educated guess as to where you need to start or what may work. But you need a base line to work from. Let’s see where your FT4 and FT3 is at the moment. Then we can figure out if you need to add more grains or add T3. Maybe your vitamin levels aren’t good? B12, Vit D, ferritin, folate, Magnesium, thiamin? What are those levels? Have you tried gluten free to optimise gut health therefore absorption?

But under no circumstance believe that T3 will cause a heart attack! You’d have to be stupid or ignorant of your body screaming out ‘I’m over medicated’;fast heart rate, inability to switch off, shaking hands when outstretched, shorter period cycle, no periods, loose bowels, headaches ect there would be loads of symptoms to direct you to being over medicated before you’re heart would ever give out.