Does anyone have any experience of being a little flexible with t3?
My lifelong issue is with not being able to tolerate enough thyroid hormones ...as soon as I raise a dose of anything even slightly , THE BEAST. lashes out at me...so I end up going down in medication again, and then I end up so hypo...HET AGAIN!
You can’t really keep playing with t4 too often..and need some stability...but can you, for example, take 2.5 mcg t3 on alternate days with any success ? Perhaps someone somewhere has tried such a thing...would love to hear from you .
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Jollypolly
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Just had a flick back through earlier posts and got the gist of how tricky this has all been for you.
I don’t know if you’ve had iron/ferritin/B12/folate/Vit D tested have you? Commonly, people struggle to cope with dose changes when their ferritin in particular is low (but any nutritional deficit will stress your body). You may find it really difficult to raise your dosage of either thyroid hormone until your levels of all those nutrients are decent.
As for your question right now, I think—despite conventional wisdom saying take the same amount every day—there would be little harm in experimenting. You might learn something at the very least about the best time for you to take your 2.5mcg liothyronine.
Thanks very much for replying...yes...am looking into those levels,..And I quite agree about experimenting wirh timing,,.a great idea and have just begun to do this...AGAIN !
I found taking T3 very hard for a long time - lots of ear and head pains / what has worked for me is: taking meds in middle of the night when I wake for loo then going back to sleep, taking more meds at a time (20 instead of 5 or 10), and now I spread my meds every 7 hours 10/10/5 - as suggested by others, my body wants a perfect routine here so if I am an hour or two late with a dose I get tinnitus or ear and neck discomfort.
Our bodies are made for compromise when we are healthy with good function but when ill there becomes less window of tolerance for fluctuations and acceptance.
It is because of T4’s longer half life that some people can jiggle doses as long as the overall total equals that of say a week. Because T3’s half life is short and action is rapid, it doesn’t mean it’s effects are felt surface level as only an energy pill, but works with all other hormones, in nearly every cell, influencing stress response, brain function, the whole sexual reproduction thing from maturation, menstrual cycle to foetal growth & lactation. It is a powerful heart regulator, influences kidney & liver functions mediating utilisation & clearance of other hormones, and lots more that I can’t even think of at the moment!
By changing T3 levels too often will also risks increasing hormone binding carrying proteins whose levels would then become elevated when T3 meds were decreased, so binding too much ‘free’ thyroid hormone that eliminates it for use .
A common cause of T3 intolerance is inadequate iron levels. Therefore, you might be better looking for deficiencies, also VitB12, folate & Vit D, whilst introducing T3 in several regular tiny daily doses. Also looking at things that might discourage meds from working such as gut issues (chronic infections/yeast overgrowth/etc) or high inflammation perhaps caused by elevated thyroid antibodies? Also elevated cortisol levels, or insufficient cortisol when the T3 is boosting metabolism too much for the adrenals to keep up with.
I first read your post title like it's asking if 'anyone, everyone is flexing muscles (like body builders) using T3' 😆.
Hi Jollypolly (great name). I wish I could help you but I've thrown the towel in and now take nothing. Too confusing to understand and no doctor seem to agree what they were dealing with, so fingers crossed. Good luck with your search because there are some very clever people on this website who I am sure can help you more.
How long ago did you stop medication? I’ve read several posts on here where people have stopped, felt great for quite a while, then became quite ill. Do take care.
Bless you. I thought i was dealing with everything ok but to be honest, my life is a mess so i guess I’m not going to feel great anyway. And actually I don’t care anymore. But good luck x
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