Im a mess. I stopped my naturthoid due to price and was going to take tr man from thailand but freaked out about quality of the product. Im concerned about where the pigs come from.
i went 1 day on 1.5 grains and next day 2 grains of nature throid and then nothing for the 3rd day (im normally 3 grains). i took t4 this morning and thought i was better but I flipped and am now home from work petrified for whats going to happen to me. i got the t3 prescription and will take tomorrow morning or can i take some now or will it keep me awake? also can it really take such a small amount of time for symptoms to return? ive literally had one day no meds. any advice and kind words grateffully recieved right now
kornish
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KornishPiskie
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Right, second. How were you doing on Nature Throid? Were you taking 3 grains? What was your FT3 like on the dosage you were taking—good, ok, not great?
I ask, because I have a bit of a curveball to throw here. I also stopped taking Nature Throid recently—weaned off for a while then stopped completely. Long story, but the short version is that I’ve been taking NDT for years. My doctor doesn’t know I’ve been taking it (according to my GP surgery my raised TSH wasn’t a problem even though I felt terrible, so I went it alone and until last year when RLC Labs temporarily stopped production of Nature Throid I was doing rather nicely on it. I’ve been struggling more since they relaunched it. It definitely isn’t the same and its potency seems to vary from bottle to bottle.)
I’m now having tests for something completely unrelated and figured my doctor was probably about to spot my suppressed TSH... So I thought I might as well come off it. Yep, I know very well this is probably a terrible idea, but I figured now might be the time to get formally diagnosed. I already feel quite under the weather anyway after 7 months of dental problems that have now led to some form of facial/occipital neuralgia (I’m having an MRI on Monday).
Here’s the weird thing. I haven’t noticed any difference whatsoever. Nothing. I feel exactly the same as I did when I was taking it. I’m starting to wonder whether my Nature Throid was doing anything at all/had any potency at all—and whether in fact the reason I’ve felt very under the weather lately is because I’ve been taking 3 grains of something that hasn’t made much difference for quite some time.
So I’m wondering whether you’re struggling because for the first time in a while you’ve taken active thyroid hormones—ones that actually work...
I could be completely off track—kind of hope I am!—but so many people have reported that Nature Throid no longer seems to be particularly effective it would make a kind of sense.
But perhaps unlike me you’ve done blood tests more recently so know that Nature Throid was working for you?
I’ve sent off some bloods to BH this week but it’ll be a day or two before I get the results. It’s going to be fascinating to see what they say.
Anyway... back to you. Were you taking Nature Throid right up until the day you took 1.5 grains (1.5 grains of what—TR or Nature Throid?)
If 3 grains of Nature Throid was working for you, then in theory 100mcg of Levo and 20mcg of liothyronine would be a good place to start. But if Nature Throid *is* weaker than it used to be, then maybe 100mcg Levo and 20mcg liothyronine will be slightly too much.
How did the 100mcg of Levo make you feel? You thought you were ok to start with—what happened next?
I would say nature throid was working for me. I was doing well on it as far as i could tell. My bloods came back with suppressed TSH, low ft4 and a middling ft3 (cant remember exact numbers) I did feel that something changed in nature throid about a year and a bit ago but carried on and i started taking vit d, magnesium and vitamin k and thats when things got really good for me. It has to be the stopping of the nature throid. I only took the t4 this morning (120mcg) I felt better a couple of hours later and then I nosedived when I couldnt get hold of my partner to see if he got the t3 for me. Last night I couldn't sleep even though I was exhausted and I spent an hour almost hallucinating/sleeping. Yesterday was the first day I took nothing at all. It was saturday i took 1.5 grains and sunday 2 grains. of nature throid. I do think something changed in them though. But why would i hallicinate sleep? It was like I was awake but dreaming. Very frightening. It was like I had taken oxycontin which I was given once for pain and will never take again! any thoughts on it?
Poor you, sounds horrible. I suppose the first thing to remember is that the hallucinating thing could be completely coincidental. Or more to do with the fact that you’re worried about the change in medication. Or that your body simply missed the T3 from your missed dose yesterday.
Have you definitely ruled out taking the TR now then? Because if so, then probably the best thing to do is a straight switch to 100mcg of Levo and 20-25mcg of liothyronine. You’ve only messed about with your dosage for a couple of days so I’d say you should be fine to go straight back in at those doses. But if you’re worried about the impact of liothyronine and whether it’ll keep you awake you could divide the dose—break the pill in half and have half now, half in the morning?
I havent definitely ruled out TR Man but I definitely need to investigate more. I took 5mcg of t3 about 2 hours ago but I imagine that did nothing. Im thinking the same as you in that as Ive missed a few doses I could just go straight in at a similar dose. Ill spread out the t3 though into 2 doses. I was having awful heart palps last night too. Something I havent had in 6 years or more! I probably nosedived today because of tiredness. But I have definitely started forgetting words again
Hopefully it won’t last and it’ll just be for a few days at most while you switch over. I do think it’s probably something to do with you having a few days without having quite as much T3 in your system—your body will be used to having it readily available after being on NDT for so long.
Maybe a nice warm bath before bed, hot chocolate, a bit of pampering?
I'm just on Levo, but still slightly undermedicated.
However, I think problems sleeping and strange/vivid dreams could be to do with undermedication. Every now and again I wake up with the pulse pounding in my ears (it was so loud once that I couldn't hear external noises) and sometimes a headache. Almost always I've just been having a vivid dream. It settles down as I begin to wake up properly, but can take hours to feel more normal.
I would get your magnesium and potassium checked. Do RBC for both and blood serum levels. When I was hyperthyroid, I had to go off my thyroid meds, and then went up and down on a hypo/hyper rollercoaster for 10months. What I found is that when I was having 'hallucinations' blood levels of potassium and potassium were very low, but nobody said anything in the ER about that. People with thyroid problems do not absorb or manage nutrients well.
I really think it's up to our own GP'S & ENDO,S to help you. Keep pestering them. You shouldn't gave to feel this depressed. Go back and insist they refer you to whoever. I know about the depression side, it's not nice and you shouldn't have to put up with it. Good Luck. Great site this for information from other sufferers and it helps you to let others know about how your feeling.
Some of us find taking T3 near bedtime improves sleep
But everyone is different in how they react
Bloods are usually retested after 6-8 weeks after being on 2 x 5mcg before considering if need to increase dose
Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)
Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).
If/when also on T3, make sure to take last dose 8-12 hours prior to test, even if this means adjusting time or splitting of dose day before test
Are your vitamin D, folate, B12 and ferritin levels optimal?
KornishPiskie, the symptoms you describe are exactly how I would feel if I skipped a few doses or a day or hormone. Weepiness, anxiety, depression, fear, insomnia, these are all hypothyroid symptoms. I think a missed dose or changed dose can particularly bring on these kinds of symptoms because it's a big shock to the body.
When changing over to a new format of thyroid hormone I think it's best to do it in a way that gives the least shocking experience possible. Try to take one dose of your old hormone, and then at the time you would take your next dose, take an equivalent dose ofthe new hormone, so there is no break in the amount of hormone going in. Or you can even do it in a few stages, reducing the NDT and adding in an equivalent amount of T3/T4 for a while.
It will still take your body some time to adjust, and you may feel strange symptoms. Just be very gentle on yourself, rest a lot, and don't try to do any demanding activities for a little while.
I just recently switched to TR Man from Naturethroid. Overall I am happy with the quality. One of the fillers in Naturethroid had been irritating my stomach, and since taking TR Man for a week now it seem to be improving. I have also gone on a Keto diet which seem to be helping too. TR man is lactose and gluten free, and it's a sugar based pill that is supposed to bypass your stomach and dissolve in your small intestine. I was on Naturethroid by my own choosing but it goes through too many shortages and is expensive if you buy from overseas. And it's also hard to get doctors to prescribe it in the US and again the shortages hit here.
I live in the US and frankly am just tired of the prices. Generic levoxothrine and synthroid irritate my stomach, as does branded and generic cytomel. I need T3. I have tried Tirosint for a long time, but it's only t4 and outrageously expensive in the US. My former endocrinologist was a spokesperson for them and I feel he was pushing it because he gets payback and probably has stock in the company.
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I feel exactly the same as I did when I was taking it. I’m starting to wonder whether my Nature Throid was doing anything at all/had any potency at all—and whether in fact the reason I’ve felt very under the weather lately is because I’ve been taking 3 grains of something that hasn’t made much difference for quite some time. 
when to take T3 if already taking levothyroxine
Lowering T3 dose- feel really weird. (Take T3 only not T4)
Advice regarding when to take vitamins
Help with normal blood ranges when taking T3
When to take iron with T3 multi-dosing.
