Hello all
I received my box of T3 this morning and am wondering how I should space it out through the day.
I’ve been taking 125mcg levothyroxine in the morning, my endocrinologist has said to reduce it to 100mcg and add in 5mcg liothyronine three times a day.
Should I take it with my levothyroxine in the morning, before bed and take the third dose somewhere in between?
Thanks in advance 😊
I'd start with just one dose of 5 mcg - and take it with your levo. After a couple of weeks, add a second dose; and the third dose a couple of weeks after that (assuming it's all gone smoothly). And yes, once you're on the full 3 doses, space first thing, last thing and in-between.
[if this is fine for you - great; If you find you tend to forget to space them properly, once you've built up to 3 doses, it's fine to cut it down to two that you remember 1 x 5 and 1 x 10 mcg (or even all 3 in one go if that works for you). The key thing is first to build up "low and slow" and second to be consistent once you're at your full dose
Good luck x
Lower levo and wait a week then start with 1x5mcg dose with your levo. Wait a week if all ok add 2nd 5mcg dose later in day.Wait 2 weeks and if ok ad 3rd 5mcg dose bedtime.
Some folks take it all in one go. It boils down to what feels right for you.
I followed advice from Lalatoot & I didn’t need the third increase; only needed 2x 5mcg T3. 👍
I’ve since adjusted Levo (150mcg prior to combination trial) then 125mcg Levo (with 2x5mcg T3) which made me feel hyper & put T4 over range. Lowered to 100mcg (same T3). Currently on 112.5mcg Levo (same T3).
Think it’s very individual & somewhat trial & error. Best wishes!
Thank you so much everyone, that’s all really helpful advice. I’ll take 5mcg tomorrow and go from there 😊
How high is your FT4 on 125 Levo? Is it near the top of the range? If not, if it's middle or low range I would not reduce the T4, just add the T3. The danger is if you drop the T4 and taking T3 lowers T4 anyway, you will be reducing dose overall rather than increasing it.
Hi, thanks for replying. My T4 was out of range and my T3 was only a third of the way through the range, that was on 125mcg. I’d been on that dose for about 3 years, before that I was on 100mcg my T3 had fallen below the range.So I do think I need to reduce my levothyroxine.
When you say "out of range" I am now assuming you mean over the top of the range. In which case a reduction is the most appropriate way forward. But I have observed that most doctors, when starting someone on T3 automatically request a reduction of T4, and if it's middling to begin with it will drop too low.
I hope it works for you.
Yes sorry, too high and GP’s response was to reduce my levothyroxine without considering that my T3 wasn’t very far through the range. Hence trip to private endocrinologist!
Reduce levothyroxine to 100mcg 3-5 days before adding T3
I think it complicates taking our dose if we've to split it too often. The reason being our stomach has to be empty. We don't want food to interfere with the uptake.
I followed Dr John Lowes' method and he was a researcher and scientist and expert in the use of T3. He took 150mcg of T3 himself during the night when he awoke so that nothing interfered with its uptake. This is an excerpt. and click on the blue words. He said that the one dose of T3 was absorbed into the T3 receptor cells and then it sent out 'waves' throughout the day.
Unfortunately for us Dr Lowe died two years ago and he was also an Adviser to Thyroiduk.org.
Due to dying without a Will there has been an issue of some sort and, as far as I know, things haven't been settled yet
His Fibromyalgia Book costs about £800 on Amazon. All we have is an archived website and thankfully it has loads of info. Some of the links within may not work but the rest of the info is invaluable. He also produced Thyro-Gold a non-prescription thyroid hormone due to people not being able to get prescriptions. His wife Tammy runs this.
This is a link to his website that helvella copied.
dropbox.com/s/w7cjut689r1w1...
But many people have to split T3 into 2 or 3 doses as it’s the only way they can tolerate it
It’s all very individual what suits each person
I am aware of that but if we split doses how will the person's body know when they've reached maximum T3 daily dose?
After all this is for a lifetime - our daily life forever will be bound up in taking T3.
Will they be anxious if they are somewhere where it will be impossible to swallow the tablet with one glass of water?
How will we know if we've taken 'too much'or 'too little' and what is 'maximum' for the body.
If a person miss their split dose. will they worry?
As you are aware Dr Lowe - being a scientist/researcher/doctor etc. didn't recommend splitting dose and an expert in T3 (he also had to take T3 himself).
Stomach has to be empty, etc etc. before and after dose and wait an hour before eating.
It is up to the person what they decide to do. It's not up to me but I've found that Dr L has made life easier for me.
Thanks so much for replies, sounds very much like a case of trial and error. I’ll follow that link later 😊
Just another quick question, what’s the best way to divide the tablets into four. I’m glad to see that they are scored once at least! I’ve got a tablet splitter but it isn’t very good, is a knife better?
This is the pill cutter that I use, you only need a very light touch rather than chop through the tablet.
I use a sharp craft scalpel
I bought a tablet splitter cheaply on Amazon- recommended by SeasideSusie - and it works well for me. I cut myself prior to this trying to use a sharp kitchen knife & do feel much safer with the tablet cutter! As a maths teacher, I’ve got to say the quarters are not all 25% but I reckon it all balances out if I keep them in a sealed pot and use them in a couple of days!
Thank you, my pill spitter is a safe-sound one but it looks different to the one on Amazon. Maybe mine is it’s a bit old and blunt. I’ll buy the newer one, thank you.
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