My experience of adding T3 and blood tests.

[Starlight1976]

Good morning everyone,

I hope you are all well and having a nice summer.

I started T3 about 5 weeks ago and intend to get blood tests done shortly. I have to say that my experience of adding T3 to my 100mcg of Levo has been life-changing. My bloods looked ok and within optimal range yet I still had brain fog, headaches, dry skin that no moisturiser would get rid and I felt like my life was falling apart (sounds dramatic, but true). All my nutrients were optimal (they weren't when diagnosed) but I still felt in on T4 only . I managed to source cytomel from Turkey with help from members of here and was given advice about introducing T3 for which I am very grateful.

The tablets come in 25mcg and I started on 6.25mcg and I'm now on 1/2 a tablet.

In the 5 weeks that I've been on Levo, the dry skin has completely gone. I used to have terribly itchy calves that would bleed where they were so dry and itchy no matter how much moisturiser I used. Since taking T3 it has completely gone. I am studying at the moment and for the first time in ages, my concentration seems better and I have more clarity of thought. Also people have commented that I seem to have a lot more energy.

My body temperature is now more normal, resting heart rate averages about 72bpm compared to around 64bpm before. I take my blood pressure weekly and in the normal range. So far so good, I've had no negative reactions whatsoever to T3.

I just wanted to write this short account for people searching for people's experience with T3 as I was doing a couple of months ago. What I've found most interesting is that I converted well and considered optimal yet I felt ill. T3 has changed that and I can't help but wonder why. Is it that we really do need direct T3 that doesn't need to be converted? Is it that our labs can look optimal but that they don't reflect what is going on in the cells? No doctor would prescribe me T3 based on my labs, even if it was easily available on the NHS but it is giving me my life back.

Anyway, I just wanted to end this with a question. I know that when you take T3 this can cause TSH to be suppressed and FT4 to fall. How concerned do I need to be about TSH and FT4 levels? Can I get away with just testing FT3? Do I need to be concerned if my FT4 drops out of the optimal levels or not?

Thank you in advance.

[Hidden]

I have not had below range FT4 levels myself (I'm on NDT), but many people take T3 only or very little T4 (like 1 grain of NDT = 38 mcg of T4) along with T3 and feel fine. There is some disagreement as to whether T4 has a role on its own, or if its only function is to be a pro hormone to T3 and thus is not active until converted to T3. Some claim the former, many more the latter.

In the end, I guess it's all about how YOU feel. I hope members on T3 only (with very low or unmeasurable FT4 levels) will chime in.

I have had a suppressed (<0.01) TSH for years, with no ill effects whatsoever. The TSH's role is to stimulate the thyroid gland to produce hormones (mainly T4 and a little T3). That works in healthy individuals. However, it won't work that way if your thyroid gland is not working properly, so once on thyroid hormone replacement, the TSH tells you very little and has no role to play. I know mainstream doctors disagree, but my TSH has never correlated with my wellbeing or symptom relief (nor back when I was on T4 only with an in range TSH, neither later when on NDT with a suppressed TSH). The only thing that seems to affect my wellbeing and symptom relief are my FT3 lever (and, to a much lesser extent, my FT4 levels).

Since going on NDT, my FT4 has been in the lower part of the normal range (0.9-1.0, ref 0.8-1.8). Some recommend it should be midrange so 1.1-1.2 when on NDT, but I cannot achieve that without getting out-of-range FT3 levels and hyper symptoms on NDT. I have tried adding a little T4 to NDT to raise my FT4 levels, but never noticed any improvement so just concluded my FT4 levels don't matter much now that I'm on NDT and getting direct T3 (I am a poor converter). Of course, that's highly individual.

When you have blood drawn at the lab they will only measure what's circulating in your blood, not what's happening on cellular level, which could explain why it looked like you converted well, yet were not feeling optimal.

It's up to your doctor to decide which tests to order. I doubt many doctors will agree to test FT3 only, but what is important to remember is that this is about how you feel and that you have no symptoms of being either over- or under medicated. When taking any drug containing T3, you can no longer use the traditional lab results to decide if you are optimally treated. As often pointed out here, those tests were developed for people on T4 only. And getting doctors to accept that can be a real challenge...!

Glad to hear you are feeling better on T3 and best of luck!