#9 Thyroid hormones introduced - I CAN FINALLY TOLERATE T3

Hello 👋

Here is my personal update for those who are interested, following on from previous one here… healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

After seeing the NHS endocrinologist / gift from God who obligingly prescribed me HC at my request and told me where I could self-source my T3 it has been quite a rocky journey…

Understanding that I probably need 20mg HC as a minimum I was struggling to get my HC above 5mg. I tried several times, but each attempt was met with insomnia (lying prostrate in bed until the sun came up kind of insomnia) hard core dissociation and anxiety. So, making suspicious peace with 5mg HC I added in 50mcg of levo and 5mcg T3. A few days in I noted some shakiness, hypoglycemia crept back in and I had some very uncomfortable nausea with dry heaving. For me, nausea is a key sign of low cortisol and is a common symptom of adrenal crisis, so I intuitively increased my HC to 10mg. I continued to raise both thyroid hormone and adrenal support together and have now found myself at a place of: 22.5mg HC, 100mcg T4, 15mcg T3.

A key nugget I have learned is that adrenals and thyroid must be raised and supported together. Often we get stuck in a metabolic stalemate where thyroid hormones can’t be raised because we have such low cortisol, but cortisol is also bound to make us feel a little odd without the presence of enough thyroid hormone. They are true metabolic partners ⚖️ and respecting their partnership has gone a long way towards me understanding how to raise my medications.

I must admit I have never known myself quite so mentally unsteady. I have had some days/hours of genuine clarity, peace and good mood. It’s hard to put into words what “good mood” means for me. I have had severe, chronic, “treatment-resistant” depression and anxiety every single day for the past 19 years… so having some days of joy has been so promising I actually daren’t type it out.

I have also had some very dark, difficult moments too. I reached 15mg HC with 100 t4 and 10t3 when I realized my period was 2 weeks late, I haven’t been able to leave the sofa much and my long-suffering partner gently suggested that I’d been very “feisty” lately… so I increased my HC to 20mg and my period arrived 24 hours later! I must say I really enjoy that level of feedback from my system.

Previous attempts to introduce T3 with T4 always ended in severe suicidal ideation, palpitations, intolerable tinnitus, nausea, sweating and all the other horrible signs of low cortisol, so I am incredibly hopeful that I can officially say I can now tolerate T3 🎉

My intention is to reach 100t4, 30t3 + whatever HC I seem to need with it and then do my first set of bloods since I stripped everything back. I think I will get away with avoiding fludrocortisone for now as my BP seems stable and my sodium has risen 5 points, potassium is also in a good place. Once I get to a stable dose of HC and thyroid hormone I will do DATS.

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HRV: increased to 68 with random spikes into the hundreds!

RHR: 67 Thumping heart has stopped - I am so happy about this one, I can lie in bed at night without my heart pounding my mattress like it wants to escape!

BP: normalized & PoTs symptoms are significantly improved 🙂

Weight: No weight loss to report, and in fact I have what I assume is a cortisol band of fat around my middle appearing 🙈😭 just trying to trust the process…

Tinnitus is improving, but spiking at times to worse than baseline but only for short periods

Appetite: Difficult. Finding it hard to stomach anything that isn’t a beige comfort food, HC is not on good terms with the gut.

Fatigue: Remains much the same.

Mood: Weird. Definitely more prickly than normal, but at other times I have little periods of warm joy I’ve not felt since I was a child.

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Unconditional love to all those blighted by this hideous disease,

Relentless x

[HopefulMe23]

So glad to read your update and progress x

[Alanna012]

That's a great milestone to reach,💃🏿🎉 being able to tolerate the T3 should mean you start seeing real improvements to your health. I didn't realise you had been through so much with this awful illness, I'm very happy for you, thank you for sharing such useful information with us all x

[Imaaan]

Hey hun,

Im absolutely ecstatic that you were able to reintroduce thyroid hormones and especially t3 at that. I hope your health improves in leaps and bounds.

[jade_s]

Very happy for you!! I remember the 'mood relief' well. Was like a switch went off in my brain. Fatigue was one of my last symptoms to improve unfortunately.

Sending best wishes for settling of stomach symptoms & continued improvement! X

[TiggerMe]

Brilliant that things are all starting to fall into place🤩 keep shining a light for us 🤗

[Blissful]

so I am incredibly hopeful that I can officially say I can now tolerate T3 🎉

Bravo!

My intention is to reach 100t4, 30t3 + whatever HC I seem to need with it and then do my first set of bloods since I stripped everything back. I think I will get away with avoiding fludrocortisone for now as my BP seems stable and my sodium has risen 5 points, potassium is also in a good place. Once I get to a stable dose of HC and thyroid hormone I will do DATS.

A good plan and fludro/florinef best avoided if possible - I think you'd need to be tested for aldosterone and renin?

Unconditional love to all those blighted by this hideous disease

Unconditional love to the "self" as well Your bio is very comprehensive and provides loads of good info for other people - (another) Bravo!

[arTistapple]

Brilliant. I was just asking again this week about the process of getting the T3 into our systems which many of us seem to desperately need. Great stuff. Keep updating. Thank you. You are well ahead of me in comprehension.

[Schilddruse]

Good grief, you've had it tough. After all that I really hope in future you experience more periods of "warm joy" as you so beautifully put it.

[Brightness14]

What is HC please

[TiggerMe in reply to Brightness14]

Hydrocortisone

[Brightness14 in reply to TiggerMe]

Thanks, I did remember it later in the day, brain fog yet again.

[FoggyThinker]

A huge thank you for sharing (I think this is very relevant and helpful for me!) and I'm so glad to see so much hope and improvement for you in this post

[nightingale-56]

Glad you seem to be going in the right direction Hidden . Your insightfulness really helps me understand how my Son must be feeling at times. Not to mention understanding many of my feelings and symptoms over the past years. Many thanks for sharing your journey with us all.

[Gustie88]

That's great to hear! I have struggled with hypoadrenalism as well. You may wish to consider adding in small amounts of pregnenolone and dhea since your adrenals will be shut down from taking exogenous cortisol. Good luck!