T3 question about doing schedule

[Netty510]

hi everyone so I been doing 1 grain ndt and the rest t3 I work the 2nd shift 3pm to 11pm or later on busy days. Current doing

60mg ndt+6.25 t3 11am

7.5 t3 4pm

7.5 t3 9pm

My morning is 11am and go to bed at 1am I was working the grave yard shift for 22 years and now 2nd shjft for 3 years

I already know shift work is hard on my body but I can't just quit my career.and was doing well for years until np thyroid stopped working for me then everything went bad for me so im still working on my t3 raises but trying to go slowly.

Can some one advice or comment ?can I take t3 2 times a day?or does it have to be 3?any shift workers out there?if so how did you dose?I know eventually ill have to spread out my doses 6 hours apart when my dose is higher or can I move my raises to my morning and afternoon only and leave the night alone?im confused and been rewl sick lately..

Sorry if I posted this already not sure if i did brain fog...please help if you can thanks

[greygoose]

You don't have to split your dose at all. I take 75 mcg T3 and take it all in one go in the morning. You only need to split it if it makes you feel better. Have you tried taking it all in one go?

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

Hello greygoose, I haven't tried once a day im trying to work up slowly i was having issues for a few months on timing so I think I finally got the right time for my morning

I would like to take my dose twice a day (just makes me feel more comfy in my mind)the 3 times a day was bothering me that last dose was giving me anxious and hot feelings.

If im trying to switch to 2 doses from 3 how do I go about doing it without problems?if I switch from 3 to 2 im loosing 7.5 t3 and im already low and don't want to run into any issues while doing it.still trying to work on raising and its been very slow process already.

I've only been on this timing schedule for 2 days so im guessing I may have to wait until I feel hypo again to raise?

Thanks again for responding i really needed the help🙃

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

To switch to dosing twice from dosing three times, you don't have to cut out a whole dose. You just split that dose between the other two times.

So, you're taking 21.25 mcg T3... and I don't really know how you managed to get to that dose. I take it your tablets are 25 mcg? How do you manage to get 7.5 mcg from a 25 mcg tablet?

Anyway, assuming you have 25 mcg tablets, I'd take 1/2 a tablet in the morning at 11, and 1/2 tablet at 4 pm. That makes 25 mcg a day, which is not much more than you're taking now - not enough to make much difference, anyway. And, will make things much easier for you.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

I got 25mcg tabs its actually 7.25 t3 sorry but I'm actually comfy sticking with my ndt and t3 at 11am and want to stick with some ndt how would I do it then?add some t3 to my morning and maybe 5 or 6pm?

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

No, that still doesn't work. Half a 25 mcg tablet is 12.5, a quarter is 6.25 mcg. an either would be 1.125. So, there's no way you could get 7.25, either.

But, I wasn't suggesting you stop the NDT, you take that 11 am, as usual, with 1/2 a tablet of T3. Then, the other half at 4 pm, or whenever you wish.

You could even go a step further and take 1/2 a grain of NDT at 11 am, with 1/2 tablet of T3, and the other half grain at 4 pm with the other half tablet of T3. There are innumerable combinations you could try, but you'd have to try them yourself to see if they work. No-one can tell you in advance what is going to work for you. It's trial and error all the way.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

Thanks grey goose,little brain fog your right its 6.25 I have a mini scale to.measure my doses ,should i work my way up slowly?I know its trial and error just hard to wrap my head around it..did you raise slowly?what was your experience raising t3?I haven't got a salkva test yet so jist trying to be careful

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

Well, my experience wasn't at all the same because I have a certain degree of resistance to thyroid hormone. So, I could increase by 25 mcg in one go and not feel a thing! But, you're right to increase slowly because it's so easy to miss your sweet spot in you increase too fast. But, that doesn't mean you have to dose three times a day. You could easily change to twice a day, using the method out-lined above.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

Omg your lucky. You can raise so easily..and yes 2 times a day will work for me better .is it normal to feel some heat sensation after taking t3 for first time then subsides?i have that at times maybe because I been hypo so long and being cold..but no shakiness feeling sick ect.. what are the main symtpoms to look out for while raising t3? And thanks again i was havjng anxiety just trying to figure out whqt to do because I heard bad stories about t3 how strong and it can put you in adrenal crisis if not careful

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

Well, you'll always hear scare stories about T3 - mainly put about by those that don't want you to take it! But, I don't think many hypo patients think that T3 is that 'strong'. It's the active hormone, so obviously you're going to feel the effects more rapidly that you would with just T4, which is mainly a storage hormone. But, all things are relative, and 'rapidly' can just mean weeks instead of months. Most of these stories are grossly exaggerated.

If I take too much T3, the first sign is a tremor in out-stretched hands. If I continue on too much, then the nails start to detach from the nail bed. But, that can also happen when I don't take enough. Different people have different symptoms, but it could be something like loose bowels, or rapid heart-beat. But, I do think the main thing to look out for is the tremor in the hands.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

When you first started out with t3 did you have to work up slowly?or you could just take the pill with no effects?

And how do I know when to raise?do I go by temps and how im feeling?I take 5mcg at bed and notice it doesn't take me all the way around to my waking time,will this improve once I'm a hjgher dosage?

Im so used to ndt got spoiled with the converting.

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

When you first started out with t3 did you have to work up slowly?or you could just take the pill with no effects?

I answered that question earlier.

And how do I know when to raise?do I go by temps and how im feeling?

By how you feel. I'm not keen on using temperatures because they might not ever rise very much. People usually increase by 5 mcg every two weeks until they get to 25 mcg, then hold for six weeks and retest.

I take 5mcg at bed and notice it doesn't take me all the way around to my waking time,will this improve once I'm a hjgher dosage?

The effects of T3 don't wear off with time. The T3 in your blood stays there for about 23 hours, but the T3 that gets into your cells is there for about three days, continually being topped up by your daily dose.

Im so used to ndt got spoiled with the converting.

I don't know what you mean by that, I'm afraid.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

Yes temps kind of throw me off to,what I meant by converting ,I was very well for years on ndt alone and I converted t4 into enough t3 to keep me going..i guess its because I'm not feeling well and maybe I'm blaming the t3..but feel ndt is smoother but I may be just judging it now because I'm not well yet.

Yesterday I felt really good with exception of light headed on and off when I stand up. .and today I feel like poop ran over twice.lol tinnitus in my ears ,cold heart rate elevated when I got up like my heart was working harder.

Ups and downs are common until optimal?

I may be answering my own questions its just nice to get clarification, I was having so much worry going on on my head until you cleared some things up for me..thanks again

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

It's impossible to tell how well you are converting when taking NDT. How much were you taking? Why did you change to NDT + T3?

Ups and downs are common when you are optimal. There will always be good days and bad days.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

I was on 3 grains armour thyroid, in 2007 when all this started then switched to np thyroid and they reformulated,then tried thyroid-s in January and i didn't tolerate it well ..had high reverse t3 as well(I hear different opinions on this)and I have high iron low ferritin not sjre if thats contributing to my issues so I wanted to try t3 with small amount of ndt I don't feel as bad as when I was on all thyroid-s back in January to feb.i guess with age it gets harder..im 46 now I started my journey in 2007 when I was 32 I beleive and it was much easier

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

So, you gave yourself a massive decrease in dose when you changed from NDT to NDT+T3:

you were on: 27 mcg T3 + 114 mcg T4

you're now on: 18.75 mcg T3 + 38 mcg T4

So, that might have something to do with the way you're feeling.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

Yes,so im trying to work my way up on t3 to compensate for the t3 lost in ndt I was on im sire ill need more then 25 t3 or 27..but would be great if I didn't

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

I think you probably will, to compensate for the lose of all that T3. But what I meant was, suddenly reducing your dose by all that much in one go was bound to have its effects.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

Yeah i kind of figured that.i notice sometimes during the day I don't feel as good then when it hits around 3pm I start feeling alittle better does that mean I need to increase my morning?

Also do people usually split there ndt or take like i am?as I wrote yesterday im taking 60mg ndt+t3 at 11am can I add to that or is it more common to split up the ndt?guess it is all trial and error i been off work from this since march and have to go back aug 1st im worried i won't be able to do my job(cant quit of change job)

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

It's all trial and error, I'm afraid. You could add an extra 1/4 grain to your 11 am dose, or add it to the afternoon T3. But, only increase by a 1/4 grain at a time. Some people split the NDT dose, some don't. It depends what suits you best. And, you'll only know that by trying it.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

Thank you.my afternoon I feel like I'm hypo but towards 330pm I stsrt to feel better..is that a sign I need to raise the morning?or is that just something that happens. Lol

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

I'm afraid I don't know. Could be something to do with cortisol levels. Have you done a 24 hour saliva cortisol test?

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

Im actually doing a saliva test today. And today I'm feeling pretty normal like the day before yesterday..it seems one day im ok the next im not,as mentioned before i guess ill have up and downs until near optimal?

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

Could be, yes.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

Hello again, I had a questioni know ill have up and downs working up to a optimal dose past few days have been OK but not great but better then before..but now when I take my 11am(morning dose)I feel like its to much got fine shakiness in my hands and felt like my legs were jello it w as hard to carry 2 bags of groceries out the store..but I also have low ferritin but in range so im not sure what to go by 2 days ago I went from 60mg+8.25 at 11am and lowered the t3 to 6.25 yesterday is when I felt shaking hands after a shower and jelly legs today it felt like to much so I put that 2.5mcgt3 I lowered onto my 330pm dose but I got elevated heart then subsided and today I lowered that to 8.25 t3..and not feeling the heart racing..i know all trial and error I member you mentioning look out for tremor in hands ...i am lowering then raising doses every other day because one day in fine the. Next feel like to much and so on..my body can't have time to adjust..can you give some insight on this?not sure if i explained clearly sorry if I didn't

So now on

60mg+6.25 t3 11am

8.25 t3 345pm

6.25 t3 745pm

Not sure if maybe I cant tolerate t4 anymore..i see alot of people go to t3 only ,i was thinking of testing but I cant seem to stay at a same dose for a full week.thanks again

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

You need to be on the same dose for six weeks before testing.

Is this shaking a new thing? Has it come on suddenly?

I think if you were unable to tolerate T4 you would have noticed it a long time ago. But, to find out, why not take T4 only at 11 am, and put that 6.25 mcg onto one of the other times - possibly the 7.45 dose?

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

The tremors and headachejust started a new thing,and I can't seem to stsy on a dose because it feels like its to much so I lower it ,so today did 8.25 instead of 9.25 at 345pm and better but now its the morning dose.it seems to be going back and forth.and if I can't tolerate 9.25 t3 at 330pm I don't think I can add in more t3 ..i feel wide awake when I take my doses but then as it kicks in it starts feeling to much yesterday w as first time feeling jelly legs and tremor, its getting frustrating

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

I really don't understand how you calculate your doses. How to you manage to get 8.25 mcg from a 25 mcg pill? And, as for increasing the dose by 1 mcg, I just don't see how that's possible. But, have you never considered that what you take to be over-medication symptoms are actually under-medication symptoms? Or, that there could be some other reasons for the jelly legs and headaches? Which do sound more like hypo than hyper symptoms.

Well, why not keep the 3.45 and 7.45 doses the same, and just cut out the T3 at the 11 am dose, just take the T3, and see how that goes? If you still feel the same, then I don't think it has anything to do with the T3.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

I use my mini scale for pills at 1.25 each dosing so I got 2.5 measured 5mcg 6.25 7.25 8.25 9.25 so I can raise 1.25 or 2.5 or 5 or 6 and so on

Yeah the jelly legs just came about.I did send off a saliva test I hope my adrenals aren't tht bad off..

And its hard to distinguish between hypo and my iron issues ect..its weird I never had issues until np thyroid stop working for many people..my body just went haywire. Hard to believe it could be my adrenals since one day I was good and when I switch to thyroid-s it went bad

Did you mean try to cut out t3 or ndt at 11?

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

Sorry, I'm getting confused. I was thinking you were taking levo plus T3, but it's NDT plus T3, isn't it. So, there's no real way of testing if you can't tolerate T4 except by going onto T3 only. Have you tried that?

I don't see how you can cut your T3 tablet into such small pieces. It must just be crumbs. But, I thought you had 25 mcg tablets, not 20 mcg.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

It's fine.all this is confusing and I may be explaining it wrong uts the desperation kicking in.i have 25mcg tabs my scale measures very small increments so I can measure those small.ones as well its pretty cool actually I wrote on paper how much each dose weighs so if I need to raise small or large.

And yes im on thyroid-s and t3 i never been on t4 only no i havent tried all t3 what if i take 12.5 mcg t3 at 11am instead of 60mg t3 which has 9mcg t3 and and im taking that extra 6.25 t3 with it

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

Well, you could try it. There's so many things you could try, it's all trial and error, that's the only way you can find what's right for you.

So, are you saying that you weigh your pieces of T3 tablet? You do realise that the hormone might not be evenly distributed over the whole tablet, so you could be getting some pieces with no hormone in them, and others with more hormone than you think.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

I use a pill cutter and scale if I need to raise 2.5 or 5 mcg ill have to cut it like other people to raise slow cant pop 25 at once so if i used my nails or teeth be in the same boat.atleast with this scale u can weigh it and from what I read on it others are finding it ok..its made for small pills to get acurrate dosing instead of eyeballing it

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

Most people don't cut their tablets that small. They stop at 1/4s. I understand you can't just pop a 25 mcg tablet - although some people can, and more - but with the uneven distribution of the hormone in the tablet, I do wonder if half your problem isn't that you never really know exactly how much you're taking. The smaller the piece of tablet, the more likelihood of getting a piece without any hormone at all in it.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

Is being on t3 only a rough treatment?I heard stories about this to that its a rougher treatment then ndt why is this?today I didn't take ndt and took 12.5 and feel fine so far

I understand your point.i will take it in consideration

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

I wouldn't have called it 'rough', no. But, then again, it's the only treatment that suits me, so I don't know. We're all different.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

Hi grey goose so I have dropped the ndt i tested it out and when I took the ndt I felt like crap ut when I dropped it and did only t3 i felt better...is that a sign that ndt not working or the t4 in it?im on all t3 now..but i read stories that t3 only is last resort that we need t4 for hair and mind well being?besides the storage and need to adjust our t3 for weather conditions?seems scary i never tried just t4 and right now I have no way of getting t4 only to add in..

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

Difficult to know what it could be a sign of. Nothing is ever that clear cut. But, it could be that NDT just doesn't suit you - it didn't suit me.

We can always read stories about this, that and the other. But what these stories don't take into consideration is that we're all different, and there's no one-size-fits-all. Lot's of people are very well and happy on T3 only. No reason you shouldn't be, too. Yes, there are lots of people claiming that we need T4, but it T4 doesn't suit you, what are you supposed to do? Take it and make yourself ill? That would be silly. Just carry on with what you're doing if you feel ok, see how it goes.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

Thanks greygoose for your support and advice yeah im.still not optimal only 30mcgt3 I will test when I get to 40 to 50mcg im gling slowly but not fast enough.lol yeah I've had issies from day 1 with thryoid s in Feb i could have been feeling better already ,i was being stubborn on the ndt since it always worked for me

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

Yes, I know what it's like. I did the same thing. Oh, well, we learn by out mistakes.

[Netty510 in reply to greygoose]

Do we have to adjust t3 by weather?

[greygoose in reply to Netty510]

Some people do, some don't. No 'have to ' about it. Some people feel a bit over-medicated when it gets hot, and like to reduce their dose a little, then put it back up again when the weather turns cold. But, not everybody feels that way.

[Batty1 in reply to Netty510]

I get a little heated after I take my T3 but it only last for hour or so.