I have just started an eight week trial of liothyronine - prescribed by my endocrinologist. I have been on 125 Levothyroxine for 8 years and 75 mgs for the previous 20 years. i have Hashimotos. The hair all around the front of my head from ear to ear, is greatly thinned and wispy and sheds and regrows(with baby hair) about twice per year. It is quite distressing and i have even thought of a hair transplant. Also, i have difficulty getting my brain to work before about 11 am every day. It’s become a bit of a family joke “ Don’t ask Mum anything before 11am”
My endo is VERY thorough and he has prescribed the T3 trial to see if it helps with either of these symptoms. I have had some unusual aches since starting T3 - The kind i think old people have when getting up off the sofa- nothing i cant tolerate .
Any thoughts or advice would be very welcome. Thank you.
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THELOH
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That may be too much t3 ! And is a lot quite quickly.... the body makes most thyroidal t3, which is what you are seeking to replace, from midnight to midday so you may find a benefit in splitting the t3 dose into 3, taking a smaller proportion at bedtime another in the middle of the night if you wake naturally and another on waking for the day. If you feel extraordinarily fatigued through the afternoon or early evening you could take the smaller waking proportion of the t3 between midday and 3pm. All of that is out of respect to your natural circadian rythym for TSH and t3 (t4 isn’t affected by that).
For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested.
Also absolutely ESSENTIAL to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies
Presumably you have Hashimoto’s?
What vitamin supplements are you currently taking
When were vitamin levels last tested?
Low ferritin strongly linked to hairloss
Are you vegetarian or vegan?
What dose T3 are you taking?
Do you split the dose?
Was Levo dose reduced
What were Ft4 and Ft3 results BEFORE starting on T3?
Bloods should be retested 5-8 weeks after each dose change
Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .
Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)
If/when also on T3, make sure to take last third or quarter of daily dose 8-12 hours prior to test, even if this means adjusting time or splitting of dose day before test
Is this how you do your tests?
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins
I started slow on T3, 2.5mcg at first in the morning, then a week later added 2.5 in the afternoon, slowly worked up to 5 twice a day. That's as far as I've got so far. I found my muscles hurt but I was doing a hell of a lot more than I used too as I had more energy so i put a lot of it down to that. I don't get the aches anymore. Just keep going with it slowly and give it time. I feel so much better. Good luck.
I'm glad you've been prescribed T3 as that is the 'active' hormone that is needed in the millions of T3 receptor cells.
The brain and heart have the most T3 receptor cells.
T4 (levothyroxine) has to convert to T3. Some of us cannot do so effectively. You have to have small increments every six weeks until you feel well again. If you feel you're taking 'a bit too much' drop to previous dose. You should feel better and have no symptoms.
Sometimes we have to change to an alternative pharma T3 product if we aren't feeling an improvement, as sometimes the fillers/binders can affect us negatively.
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