CT3M (T3-only) protocol, what do you think about it?
I have take T4 since 2014 and T4 + T3 since July last year. I'm not getting better. I tried everything they advised me on Facebook groups, my Free T3 still low. My TSH is suppressed, my FT4 is low and Reverse T3 is bottom range. I'm thinking of trying T3-only now.
But some people and websites say there are consequences: tiredthyroid.com/rt3-8.html
How do you feel with T3-only?
Have you had any side effects or consequences?
I feel good with T3 only. I do have breathlessness and hair-loss, but I've had those all my life, whatever I was or wasn't taking. But, if I start taking any T4 - even a small dose of 25 mcg - I start to feel as if I'm slowly being dragged down.
I'm not getting better. I tried everything they advised me on Facebook groups, my Free T3 still low. My TSH is suppressed, my FT4 is low and Reverse T3 is bottom range. I'm thinking of trying T3-only now.
Beware of Facebook groups, they tend to have weird ideas. How much T3 are you taking? And, how do you take it?
You don't have to take much to suppress your TSH, but it doesn't matter. TSH, itself, doesn't make you feel anything. FT4 would be low when taking T3, have you tried increasing levo? RT3 at the bottom of the range is good, not a problem.
So, what in all that makes you think you need to take T3 only? I don't get it.
I have several symptoms: hairloss, very dry hair, low blood pressure, cold intolerance, fatigue, muscle aches, difficulty thinking (brain fog), mood swings, dry skin...
All this causes me a lot of problems, but what makes me sad most is the hair loss, which I can't hide.
I'm thinking of trying T3-ONLY because I don't know what to do anymore, it's my last option.
I don't know if it's T4 that makes me sick. Since 2014 I've been with it and never tried to be off.
I wake up at 3 am and take 10 mcg of T3 and back to sleep. I wake up again at 6 am and take 100 mcg of T4 and back to sleep until 7.
At 15 pm is my second dose of T3 (10 mcg). At 9:30 pm is my third dose of T3 (10 mcg).
So I take 100 mcg of T4 and 30 mcg of T3.
I've already tried
80 T4 + 20 T3,
80 T4 + 30 T3
And
80 T4 + 40 T3 (10/10/10/10) (this made me worse, my free T3 went down)
So I decided to increase the T4 to 100 and haven't taken any lab yet.
I'm tired of adjusting the doses and not getting better. A friend takes only T3 and it looks great, but I'm afraid of the consequences.
I'm type 1 diabetic and I don't know if I have adrenal insufficiency.
Do you always (everyday) monitor your signs and symptoms?
Gosh, well, having read your link, I think I'll stick with the T4/T3 I'm on now. I'm in a Facebook group that promotes T3 only treatment, and from what I can gather, a lot of people do very well on it, but they're not like me. They monitor their signs and symptoms carefully with taking their temperatures several times a day, taking their blood pressure too, either having an unusual GP or forking out a lot of money for regular thyroid blood tests. They also set their alarms for 4 or 5 in the morning to take their first T3 dose. I'm not that disciplined but I'm also not that well and feel significantly worse with even a slight increase of my modest dose of T4, so I'd been contemplating doing T3 only for a while. However, given the research findings in your link, it's a serious decision and would require a lot more discipline than I've got to not inadvertently makes things worse. I might just try increasing T3 very slightly and keep the T4. Thanks for the heads-up and good luck!
I researched a lot about T3-ONLY and found that link. Now I'm afraid to try the method.
I take 100 of T4 + 10/10/10 of T3.
My T3 times are 3 am, 3 pm and 9:30 pm
My T4 time is 6 am
I'm type 1 diabetic and I don't know if I have adrenal insufficiency.
I have several symptoms: thinning hair, very dry hair, low blood pressure, cold intolerance, fatigue, muscle aches, difficulty in thinking, mood swings, dry skin
What makes me sad most is the hair loss, which I can't hide.
I don't know what to do anymore, so I'm thinking about trying T3-only. I shared the link in the T3-only group and they deleted I don't know why.
I have been taking T4 since 2014. Never tried to be off.
I will still researching the risks of CT3M. Good luck to us.
I take T3 alone. Once daily dose when I awake. I feel fine. I follow Dr Lowe's method of once daily dosing. This is the protocol from Dr Lowe which I hope you find helpful. He didn't agree with splitting doses as he stated that the effect of once daily dose should relieve symtpoms. The following may be helpful:-
naturalthyroidsolutions.com...
He only prescribed NDT or T3 alone. He invented Thyro-gold particularly so it did not need a prescription.
I sort of do it. I read Paul Robinson's book years ago (when it was new) and decided to give it a go. But I was already taking T3 only. Only real difference for me was gradually moving "first" T3 dose from around 7am to around 1am. I got fed up of waking up for 1 am. so now I take a dose at around 10pm and another at around 4-5am. If I don't wake up for 4-5am, I just take it when I wake up. I do find that if my free T4 goes too low, I feel unwell and need to take a grain of NDT (on top of usual dose of T3) - then I feel fine again. I do this about once a month, perhaps less.
Hi, I’m not in T3 only, although I did consider it. I found like you with T4 and T3 I wasn’t getting as well as I’d hoped and I found that adrenal insufficiency was the cause. Just wondered if you’d had this checked? It is something that is mentioned in the article your link led me to as a consequence of T3 only.
Hi can I ask how you checked for adrenal insufficiency and what did you take to balance it as I take an adrenal supplement and still feel exhausted plus NDT
I took the Genova test via Thyroid UK website, and supplemented with nutri adrenal. I can’t remember the dose. This was on the advice of Dr Peatfield. That did the trick for me, but others have had to take corticosteroids to improve their adrenal function. I have ended up taking NDT for my thyroid and that has worked for me, but we are all different
Hi thanks for reply which nutri adrenal did you try I have tried the nutri adrenal but couldn't tolerate the max one with the other supplements in and how many pills of it do you take? Also what brand of NDT and dose are you on compared to what your where on levo ?
I just took the basic Nutri Adrenal, not the max and that worked for me. I wish I could remember now how many I took, but it was about 5 years ago.
I found nutri-adrenal unhelpful. For me, Adrenavive is much better
I don't know if I have adrenal insufficiency. I take hydrocortisone 14/7 mg for adrenal fatigue. Some people say that taking hydrocortisone without being diagnosed is worse as it can cause adrenal insufficiency.
I'm type 1 diabetic. I have tested aldosterone, ACTH, cortisol, sodium and potassium. I'm afraid of the ITT test, I don't even know if diabetic is allowed to do it.
T3-ONLY doesn't work for those with adrenal insufficiency, am I right?
It needs to wean T4, hydrocortisone, florineff and antidepressant (I take escitalopram).
I don't know what to do anymore 
I think it's just best to be cautious as T3 only can put a strain on the adrenals. And it's maybe good to get tested. I'm not an expert in this, but I was lucky that a few months on adrenal supplements, when the test indicated I was low, helped me out without adding hydrocortisone. Your situation is different, and I wouldn't like to advise. I hope others may be able to help.
Insulin stress test is awful! I think you are not supposed to have it if heart problems or diabetic. I was fine during the actual test: they take a blood sample and inject you with insulin. Then ask you to read a book until you can't focus, then they take blood about every 30 mins for a few hours. At the end of the test they give you a glass of flat lucozade and a biscuit. That's what finished me off - I collapsed in the car park with full on low adrenal symptoms: vomiting, dizziness, headache, back and stomach ache and had or lie there on the ground until I felt better. I lost 2 days' pay as I was too ill to work, too. I will never have another one
I found T3 helped my low cortisol.
After 16 years on thyroxine,I was lucky to get T3 prescribed.I bought Paul Robinson's book & followed his CT3M method for 2 years.It is suggested it might help restore optimal adrenal function.
I lost a lot of hair(it didn't fall out.I think my follicles shut down)
I now take 2 grains of NDT with 6.25mcgs T3 at 5.30 am.I have my first drink of tea at 7am.
I had a 2 year experience of severe anxiety/panic with depression after 14 years on thyroxine monotherapy.
It happened again on T3-only.This time I took SSRIs in very low dose for 18months.Been off them for 8 months.
With regard to T3:-I got worried about the info on SHBGs & long-term use of T3-only.
I didn't like the hairloss.I didn't like the unstable moods(I have a genetic predisposition to
mood problems.It wasn't caused by T3)
I have the DlO2 gene varient from both parents.I need some T3 & not too much T4 or I get tachycardia & ectopic beats.
For me its a balancing act.
Paul Robinson says in the book that T3-ONLY is the last option because it's a complicated treatment and requires discipline.
I'm thinking of trying the CT3M because some say get better than never. But it's very tiring and complicated.
I'm very sad about the hairloss. I thought that T3-ONLY would not have hairloss, but in the link
tiredthyroid.com/rt3-8.html
says it can happen!
I was thinking that T3-ONLY would change my life. Now I don't know what to believe anymore.
When did you do T3-ONLY had hair loss?
I'm afraid of testing CT3M, stopping T4, stopping Hydrocortisone, stopping antidepressant and getting worse.
Paul Robinson states his method of CTM is complicated. Dr Lowe's method isn't as it is a once daily dose, i.e. slowly inreased.
nebula.wsimg.com/e0c9c9ed95...
naturalthyroidsolutions.com...
At the beginning I checked my temperature,BP & heart rate regularly,but once I'd reached 55mcgs ,dropped back to 50mcgs & found above 55mcgs caused accelerated heart rate & also that I could take my T3 all in one go at 5-5.30am(having raised slowly)it became a simple regime.
The other issue I had with the CT3M method was that I never got the hang of the Facebook group!Paul Robinson tried to help me with how to start a thread etc.I gave up.This forum works SO well!
I did T3 only (worked slowly up to 75 mcg), recording basal temp, bp, pulse, how I felt daily... after initial improvement of adding T3 to levo. never felt much better ( also have fibromyalgia with hypo/Hashi, and insulin dependent diabetes), and discovered that T3 raised my blood sugar considerably so had to go back down to combo T3/T4, and still fine tuning. Also recommend you check your ferritin, folate, b12 and vit D levels, and raise to optimal if necessary before you increase T3. I checked my adrenals( 24 hour cortisol saliva test) and introduced high protein breakfast and ‘cocktail’ of salts/ vit C.( plus bought some ‘adrenalive’). So many things can be ‘off’ !
I have type 1 diabetes, Hashimoto and I need to test adrenal insufficiency.
I only tested aldosterone, ACTH, cortisol, sodium and potassium.
Have you ever tried ITT? I don't know whether is allowed to diabetics.
I talked to Paul Robinson and he said there is no problem diabetic be on T3-ONLY. But you got worse!
Yes T3 definitely mucked up my blood sugar levels as has rhub4rb’s who also posed a query re T3 ( and raising blood sugars as type 1 diabetic) on forum today. I had never heard anything about it before I went down Dr. Lowe’s protocol for hypo and fibromyalgia 18 months ago, and then came across an odd reference to it when still not getting any improvements to how I felt ... so known, but must be uncommon, as no one seems to mention it. I’ve come down from 75 mcg T3 only in mid April 2019, to 1.5-1.66 ( cutting pill a bit erratic!) of 25 mcg T3 pill with 100 levo. now, which seems ok, and blood sugar come down too( even reduced insulin), tho waiting 4 plus more weeks to test hba1c, and thyroid bloods. What sort of cortisol test did you have? I did the 24 hr saliva test and forum members suggested I try high protein breakfasts and take cocktail of sodium, potassium salts and vit C to improve early morning results. I have not had ITT test ...I am not sure how insulin resistance relates to diabetes when our pancreas is not working or compromised...gets a bit complicated. Have you found any research? On levo. only I could never(13 years) get my FT3 above c.33% range even with mins/ vits near optimal, so felt I needed some T3, but with fibromyalgia went down larger dose T3 only...never felt overmedicated on 75 mcg ( suggest you read rhub4rb’s post, as she suggests a reason for that), but didn’t want to keep having to up my insulin etc.
Margimet, Paul Robinson's book is still on my shelf waiting to be read 😳
But it sounds like you've reached a point of being overwhelmed and not knowing which way to turn. My response to that is always to get very systematic, and do the simplest, most plodding and straightforward thing. Get a full thyroid panel blood test, do the most straightforward adjustment. For example if your freeT3 is low, add 5-10mcg of T3.
And then 6 weeks later have another blood test and adjust again. If your freeT3 has never been high in range, just keep waiting 6 weeks and adding T3 till it gets high in range, and see where that gets you. I recomend trying that just because it's the most simple thing to do, and I always believe in trying the simplest things first.
It sounds like you're heading in the direction of thinking you may have thyroid hormone resistance. One of the symptoms of this is that freeT3 doesn't raise as more dose is added. I also have this and so do quite a lot of people on the forum. The only real solution is to take a very high dose, so there is no reason to avoid doing so.
If you get to the point where you've done the straightforward route, kept adding T3 till your freeT3 is high in range, and symptoms aren't resolving, at that point it's the time to investigate other avenues that are harder work! Only my personal view, so please take with a grain of salt if it doesn't suit you!
I’m currently at 25 mcg three times per day and increasing 5 mcg. Every 10-30 days due to as yet untreated underlying adrenal issues.
T3 only pregnancy 
Latest bloods on T3 only
Trying T3 only , 
Do many of you take T3 only??
