On combination therapy - take t4 and t3 recent blood test showed t3 43% through range and very symptomatic so endocrinologist advised increase of 5mcg.
I have always had problems with initially tolerating t3 due to what I think are bad adrenal issues - bad internal vibrating/buzzing, palpitations, mild headaches, faster heart rate thats erratic, some dizziness, out of body anxiety and cold ‘waves’. I know it’s never too much t3 because my levels are low and I experience coldness and no loose stools. I also experience the vibrating, erratic faster heart rate and palpitations when badly undermedicated.
My question is previously I experienced these symptoms badly for a few days starting 2 days after t3 is upped and then it fades on day 5/6. It followed the pattern and 2 days in it started and I am currently experiencing a bad bout of the above symptoms 3 days into upped dose. It’s very uncomfortable but I can deal with it. My question is it is safe to allow my body to experience these symptoms and ride it out so that (hopefully) in a few days my adrenals adjust again as they did before. Or should I be reducing say by 2.5mcg to give my body a gentler ride? The vibrating is the most prominent constant symptom which as mentioned I have badly when undermedicated so very used to it - the only thing that concerns me more is the palpitations, erratic and faster heart rate - resting has moved from 68-76 to 76-88 and this morning it reached 112 for a short time. My heart rate and pulse was affected before too but this time around everything feels a bit more intense. As I said I can tolerate it but is it ok to do so? Many thanks.
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owl87
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I don't think the symptoms are doing you any harm, as they are not constant. But, what are you doing to support your adrenals? Have you had your B12 and folate tested? If they are low, that will affect the adrenals. Do you take plenty of vit C and get adequate salt in your diet?
Thank you. I haven't had B12 tested for a while and was thinking of doing so - was previously around 1000 when my t3 was higher in range and taking sublingual but I am not sure if it's dropped since then as my T3 has been low again for a while without my knowledge and I stopped taking sublinguals. Do still have some left and also some vit c powder which I imagine it wouldn't hurt to take. I didn't know about the salt - I will see about adding some more in my diet!
Do you mean you were taking T3 sublingually? If so the molecules are too large to be absorbed by the tongue so you may not be getting the amount you thought. This is an excerpt from link below:-
"But this new freedom to obtain T3 without a prescription imposes a responsibility on all those who take advantage of the freedom. To maintain it, patients must not give the fascist factions within conventional medicine justification for enlisting the help of legislators and regulatory agencies to take away the freedom. It matters not that conventional medicine, through T4-replacement therapy,has now ruined the lives of scores of millions of people, andbrought the lives of others to a premature end. It would only take a patient or two being harmed by self-administered T3, and conventional medicine would quickly move to deprive all patients of this freedom. What we’re saying here is that safety must be the foremost concern—not only for doctors who treat patients with T3, but for the patients themselves. So, if you suspect that you have thyroid hormone resistance, enlist the guidance of a collaborative doctoreducated about the condition and experienced in its treatment.
Hey owl87, what is your ft4 level? I also get all these symptoms for a few days or a week on increase of t3, also later on in the process I get fluctuations too, they just are flattened more. My doc advised me that if I get pulse over 100 continuosly to drop the dose. In my case I need increments of 2.5 mcg of t3, they make a reasonable difference for me.
Well, the "adrenal" symptoms are going to go once you stabilise on a dose, as you are fluctuating, your cortisol might be changing, it is normal so I would ride it out if you can (t3 stimulates cortisol production, your cortisol might be going up, I feel it when I have fine internal tremors). This should settle. Re buzzing vibrating - you are not alone, I have it mostly in my right leg. It is an under and over symptom for me.
Hi my FT4 level is 17.5 so 75% through my range which seems to be a good level for me. I used to have both ft3 and ft4 at 70% and was almost recovered and all cortisol symptoms had resolved completely. Unfortunately I dropped back in the range very low without knowing - t3 dropped to 25%! and so now I am trying to increase back up but adrenals are not liking it as I imagine they've taken up slack again as T3 fell. I do seem to be very sensitive to thyroid hormones so I think 2.5mcg makes a difference for me too.
It's nice to meet someone else who has the internal vibrations though I'm sorry you have it to - such a weird sensation! Hopefully my body settles down again after a few days but if I do feel bad I think the 2.5mcg increase instead may be a good idea! How long do you leave between 2.5mcg increases?
Yes I definitely think that was the case - unfortunately medical professionals haven't been great (as I think is the case for many) with monitoring and I went without a blood test for months despite having only just started on treatment end of last year so I slipped and had no knowledge of it!
My theory was that perhaps the reason for the later difficulty increasing is that at the start of recovery cortisol is too low to do anything after being depleted from years of taking up the slack but when you've been on hormone for a while cortisol is able to recover and then when levels start dropping cortisol kicks in again so this time you get high cortisol symptoms!
It really does! My vibration is noticeable in my chest and the first time it happened it was very unnerving!
Yeah they really don't seem to get it, I also learned the hard way
I like your theory, I think the same. It is a bit of a shock to the body and adjustment. I have noticed something similar happens during period. I am more hypo, low cortisol, then it gears up and adjusting again.
I can imagine that it was very scary. I thought my body was disintegrating, but now I know it is cortisol fluctuations
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