Dosage

[Dollydaydream11]

Could someone tell me what ratio of levo to t3 is the usual amount please?

[Blossom13]

Hi there, I just saw your post. I am on combo therapy. From my experience it can be different for everyone. Over a 2 year period, my own doses changed dramatically, until I have settled on 100mcg T4 and only 5mg of T3 twice a week. That's why some people find it hard with NDT as I believe the ratio (in Australia at least) is 4:1 (T4:T3). So for me, that would be far too high, but for others NDT is a perfect fit.

[Dollydaydream11 in reply to Blossom13]

Thank you, I’m going to get some private blood tests done and go from there.. I’m in the Uk and can’t get t3 from my dr so am going to buy my own.. thank you for replying 😊

[shaws Administrator in reply to Dollydaydream11]

Whatever you decide, do it gradually.

25mcg of T3 is equal, in it's effect, to 100mcg of levothyroxine.

I give a link below which might be helpful and it is by one of Thyroiduk's Advisers (now deceased).

naturalthyroidsolutions.com...

Read 'safely getting well with thyroid hormones'.

The majority on this forum may take other thyroid hormones because they didn't improve with the 'guidelines laid down' i.e. T4 alone.

Some take a combination of T4/T3 (which saves money) and it is usually on a 3:1 or 4:1 combination.

naturalthyroidsolutions.com...

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Dollydaydream11

There is no usual ratio. We need what we need.

Some people do well on NDT which has a ratio of T4:T3 of approx 4:1

With T3 we start with 1/4 of tablet (either 6.25mcg or 5mcg depending on dosage tablet we have) and gradually increase by 1/4 of a tablet at a time.

Before you add T3 it's essential to have current results for

TSH

FT4

FT3

and that will show us how well you convert at the moment.

Before adding T3 it's essential to have optimal levels of

Vit D

B12

Folate

Ferritin

so they also need to be tested.

Then if we do need to add T3 we do it slowly. We may or may not need to reduce our dose of Levo, it depends on test results.

After many, many months of tweaking doses I found the ratio that suits me to be closer to 6:1 but every one is different.

[greygoose]

My perfect ratio is 0:1. T3 only. We're all different and have to find out what's best for us by trial and error.

[Angel_of_the_North]

There isn't a usual amount, It depends on the individual. All the resources that give figures like 14:1 and so on are based on a misreading of a study by Pilo, which actually showed that there was a huge variation in the amount of T4 and T3 output in healthy people and that there was no overall ratio - so people average it out and made up some rules. Exactly the opposite of what Pilo showed. NDT, I think has a ratio of 4:1, but what you need depends on your current free T4 and free T3 results and how you feel.

[Dollydaydream11]

Thank you everyone, my t3 arrived today from Bulgaria so I’ll purchase a medichecks blood test and post my results when I get them.. many thanks for all your advise 😊

[Dollydaydream11]

I’ve just ordered a medichecks thyroid test kit..

these are my last two test results, do you think it’s worth trying a small amount of t3 please? I’m not going to take any until I get my next results back but if they’re similar to these then is it worth trying? TIA

February 2019

TSH 1.35 (0.27 - 4.2)

FT3 4.23 (3.1 - 6.8)

FT4 23.2 (12-22)

May 2019

TSH 1.42 (0.27-4.2)

FT3 4.59 (3.1 -6.8)

FT4 22.8 (12-22)