T3 help

[shambavi18]

I am a 64 year old female who's been on Levothyroxin (75-87.5mg) since I was 44ish. I am recently reading and hearing about T3 and as I am constantly overweight and getting all kinds of health problems wonder how to get hold of T3 in UK is it the same as Porceine tablets?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

T3 is not the same as porcine tablets (Natural Desiccated Thyroid - NDT). NDT is a mixture of T4 and T3. T3 is just sythetic T3 on it's own.

T3 is not a weight loss drug.

To know if T3 will be of benefit, you will need to test TSH, FT4 and FT3 at the same time. The results will indicate whether or not you convert T4 to T3 well enough. If not then T3 may be beneficial.

But also, for thyroid hormone to work properly we need optimal nutrient levels, so you should also test Vit D, B12, Folate and Ferritin.

You may not be able to get all these tests done with your GP. If not we have private labs who do many different tests you can do at home either by fingerprick or venous blood draw. Please ask if you'd like details.

[shambavi18 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Oh Ive have the blood tests done I'll have to look at them. They don't mean much to me as a layman.

[shaws Administrator in reply to shambavi18]

Are you aware that all blood tests for thyroid hormones have to be at the earliest possible, fasting (you can drink water). Also allow a 24 hour gap between last dose and blood draw. This allows your TSH to be at its highest as all doctors seem to only take notice of the TSH and rarely test FT4 and FT3.

A Full Thyroid blood is:-

TSH, T4, T3, Free T4 Free T3 and thyroid antibodies.

GP should also test Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate but the labs may not do the 'frees' and they are important to enable members to comment upon them.

If GP wont do it, there are private labs - and I'll give you a link - that offer finger pin-prick blood draw. Many members have used them. Make sure your hands/arms are warm on the morning of the blood draw.

Many people gain weight and when we complain, doctors and professionals assume that we eat too much. That's not the case. Unexplained weight gain mainly happens if on levothyroxine alone, and dose isn't high enough to raise our metabolism so weight is gained.

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

[shambavi18 in reply to shaws]

Thanks for the info. No I wasn't aware of that.

[shaws Administrator in reply to shambavi18]

It's a learning curve, isn't it but is what we have to do in order to recover our health.

One of the very last doctors, Dr Skinner, who was a virologist but who was trained before the blood tests were introduced was so disgusted at the lack of knowledge in the younger doctors/endos (he was getting so many patients consulting with him as they weren't recovering from whatever doctor they consulted) that he set up a Conference for all doctors to discuss the parlous state of patients.

They refused, one by one, the last the night before the Conference.

For so doing, isn't it surprising that Dr S was called a couple of times to appear before the GMC for helping patients recover. Who put in the 'reports'? It certainly wasn't his 10,000 patients who sent testimonials to the GMC that their lives were saved.

The second, third and fourth books may be of interest plus Diana Holmes' book - well worth a read too. She first was persuaded to see Dr Peatfield then went on to Dr S and worked along with him to see if attitudes could be changes.

Her story is so dreadful but due to both doctors she recovered.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/tuk_sh...

[Marz in reply to shambavi18]

Can you post the results of the tests mentioned above by SeasideSusie Members here will know what they mean and will be able to help you ...