So I decided to take a TFT after a couple of weeks of taking T3 just to check that it was in fact legit and I was going in the right direction.
So after the TFT on the 12th Jan, I reduced my levo to 75mg a day and added in 6.26mg of T3. I took this for 3 days and then moved up to 12.5mg. After 6 days I moved up to 18.75mg which I stuck to for just over 2 weeks. I was still having symptoms etc. and gradually building up the dose. I have been on 25mg of T3 for 3/4 days now and after getting my results back just now, I think I need to reduce the T3 - baring in mind what my results would look like over a 6 week period.
Should I be reducing back to 18.75mg of T3 a day or, or down to 12.5mg a day. I'm trying to not miss the sweet spot and go to far over medicated either.
I'm also surprised that my FT4 dropped so much, I presumed it would drop to just below the top of range.
Any advice welcome please. I don't want to wait another 4 weeks to find out I've gone too hard too early!
*edit - TFT were done under the recommended conditions since the December TFT. Same brand of levo, with water 1hr before eating etc.
T3 taken 12.5mg am and 6.25mg around 5pm.
I'm taking folate, B12, Vit D etc. since the December TFT.
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Thyroidsam
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The problem with trying to interpret results so soon after any change is that one thing affects another .... which then alters the first thing again. so ALL of them will keep changing till that dose is properly settled in.
But yes, going up to 25mcg T3 already seems a bit rash .
Personally . i'd have stayed at 12.5mcg for a few weeks to see how it felt when it settled in.
(But i've not used T3 myself, maybe 18.75 is fine...so see what others who've actually used it have to say.)
1) look how high your TSH has gone (over 3)..
It will almost certainly go lower again in a little while, due to the T3 dose you were on a week ago. .....but at the moment ,the high TSH will be making more T3 for a while , (some extra from your thyroid, and some extra from converting T4 to T3)
When it goes lower again ,that 'extra' T3 production will slow down /stop.
2) Very often, for reasons we don't fully understand, we see fT4 lowers a bit anyway with the introduction of T3, even if people didn't reduce their Levo dose.. so that may explain why your fT4 is lower than you expected.
Because of these factors, it's impossible to predict what our result will do, especially for the first few weeks .
You're not just adding something to a stable level of T4 or T3 that gives you the same base level to work from .
....... you're adding something to a complex interactive regulating system that constantly responds to the changes it notices by causing changes in the levels of everything else.
It’s a hard one to balance as I’ve felt unwell for so long and symptoms were only easing slightly every time I upped the T3. It’s easy to get tempted to increase!
The original plan was to stick to 18.75mg for 6 weeks, but I’d started to feel worse and had upped it again.
based on my massive experience , (of only adjusting Levo, lol).. i now think of dose changes like pushing a pendulum .. i expect how i feel to swing one way for a week or so , (much better) , then back the other way for a week or so (less good again) ,then hopefully slowly settle down to the new 'middle' over the next couple of months . Obviously it doesn't always happen like that , nothing is ever that simple , but having that sort of time line for your expectations makes the waiting much easier, and means that when you do decide to make the next adjustment.. you're very sure of how you will feel on that dose , and you have reliable blood results to help guide the next decision .
Lots of little changes to hormones in a short space of time means you can just get lost.. and increasingly desperate ...which leads to worse and worse decisions.. and ultimately takes longer.
since you're already a couple of weeks in , you're nearly half way there (ignoring the 3 days of 25 ) and we already know 18.75mcg didn't instantly blow your head off ... so i'd go for: stick with Plan A ... 18.75 for 6 weeks .
(all the above is based on me knowing 'bugger all' about actually doing it for real with T3)
I'm not recommending that you take my approach, but I treat my symptoms and not my blood test results. I take T3 and am not particularly cautious about making changes, you can feel it when you go too far. I get a bit jittery like too much coffee or not enough food.
I was prescribed 20mcg by an endo, back in the days they prescribed on need rather than cost. It had an immediate effect on my mood, and I bumped along for many years thinking it was as good as it could get, not knowing that it is short lived in the body and if I took it throughout the day I could even feel human again!
When I finally did some research, I decided to experiment and my doctor at the time was supportive. It didn't occur to me to split the dose over the day, as T3 doesn't stay in your system it made more sense to take the same dose twice a day, which I did for a few years. Then a bit more research seemed to indicate that it lasts even less time than I'd originally thought so I increased to 3 times a day, to ensure that I always had the same level in my system. My sense of humour returned, my weight disappeared (it took effort, but it actually worked this time,) the confusion was gone, I had nails, and my skin wasn't like a lizard anymore!
When the NHS decided they no longer supported the treatment, I could only source 25mcg, so I took that. I built it up from 1 to 3 times a day over a couple of weeks, as I'd had next to nothing for months and absolutely nothing for weeks. If I felt a bit jittery, I just missed the next dose & I also reduced my T4 from 75 to 50, and that sorted it out.
I now take 25mcg 3 times a day, with 50mcg T4 once a day, which was approved by an endo recently, though not prescribed of course. He told my doctor to ignore the blood tests, stop trying to stop me taking T3 and allow me to continue as I am because "she knows her symptoms."
One thing that I would suggest is taking one of your T3 doses & your T4 at night, as late as you can. Your body does it’s repairs while you sleep, and if T3 only lasts 8 to 12 hours, it won’t have anything to do them with if take the meds too early.
The first time I did it, my whole demeanour changed so much my partner commented on it. My relentless cheerfulness soon wore thin, but that’s another story!
Thanks for the info! I'm taking mine twice a day at the moment, but if I go back to 18.75mg a day, then I can spilt that into 3 even amounts. I've always taken my levo in the morning, I guess the only thing I might find hard about taking it at night is potentially snacking etc. and not taking it on an empty stomach like it is so easy to do on a morning.
I eat or not, who's counting? I know it might make a difference for some, but I've never felt I was that finely balanced. You may find the need to snack reduces as you feel better.
I've just started the T3 journey myself over the last couple of days. I've reduced my Levo dose to 100mcg and just taking 6.25mcg T3 in the morning. Will increase soon as trying to go slowly and steadily according to symptoms. So not much advice from me about the T3 right now.
However, I see by the ranges that your B12 seems quite low in the range given and also your Folate is under range. If you are B12 deficient then you need Folate as a cofactor to allow the B12 to work properly and in conjunction with each other. B12 uses a lot of Folate which is probably why your Folate is under range. It's looking to me as if your can't absorb B12 orally and that your may require B12 injections along with Folic Acid as a cofactor. This could be one of the reasons you still have symptoms but it would depend upon what those symptoms are. Try looking up B12 deficiency and see if you have any of those specific symptoms although it can be tricky to know whether they are Hypothyroid or B12 related.
Hi Parody103mg. I wasn't taking any supplements prior to checking my vitamins back in December. I'm now taking B12, folate etc. daily and have been for around 9 weeks. I'm going to check those levels again in a couple of months.
That's good. Just remember, if you are a meat eater that taking an oral B12 supplement will only raise your B12 serum level but will not be able to convert to active B12. Worth keeping a diary re symptoms in case any symptoms remain after adjusting the T3 over time. Especially neurological symptoms which are definitely B12 not thyroid related and can cause irreparable damage if not treated correctly.
It takes six weeks for your body to adjust to a new dose. Seems like you are switching around way to much. Also test numbers need to be in relationship to the Lab Range. They are not absolute numbers they are relativive. TSH and Tg do not need lab range. So my non-professional opinion is to get back to the dose you were on when your dose was determined by your weight and stick with it for six weeks, then get tested.
Hi Playtime2, the trouble was, I was well over range for FT4 (on levo only) last year and wasn't converting to T3 well. So having found this forum, I started to take control of my own health. I'm guessing that in the ideal world (if I converted well), around 128mg a day of levo only would be my idea dose (I think), based upon my current weight of 80kg.
So if i'm currently on 75mg levo a day and 18.75mg of T3, that probably works out a bit more .
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