hi everyone please could I have your input on starting T3 ? I am now taking it I was prescribed firstly 10mcg which I started by taking just 5mcg then increased to 10mcg then I went up to 20mcg again adding 5mcg leading up to 20mcg .. My question is I recommend a private Dr to two people with thyroid issues both seeing this private GP and both obtaining T3 which I’m pleased for them BUT they both have been given 20mcg and been told to take 20mcg not to start slow like I was told to do .. Will they have a problem if they start on 20mcg ?
Many thanks xxxx
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lynnwin
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Yes they will most likely. They may also not need 20mcg.My dose was meant to be 50mcg levo and 20mcg lio t3. What I actually needed was 100mcg levo and 10mcg lio.
ahh yeah good point .. only passing on info my friend told me and what she did which was good advice .. because this private Dr told them to start with 20 mcg they seem to think that’s ok ? Xx
Possibly they do, yes. So, when you go back to see them, and report that you feel worse than ever, they can say there, you see, you don't need T3 after all. And stop the prescription.
With all hormones one should start low and increase slowly, it's not just T3. But my point was that I believe they set patients up to fail, which is evil!
yes my whole life i have been battling like all of us do and even told i was mad. i went to see a wonderful german prof who like to get to th e bottom of unknown diseases. he said to me ,
i bet you have been told you are depressed, i said yes, he said you are NOT, you are fed up!
i bet you have been told you need to see a pyschchiatrist?
i said yes. he said NO you do not, you are perfectly sane, but there is something very wrong i aim to find out what!.
he was amazing. but by the time i had all the tests and spent time waiting for them, he had moved on- to australia. i was g utted!
I will ask her to join here .. she’s done all the blood tests .. she’s tried every brand of Levo .. not reduced she’s been on 50mcg for a while she just can’t increase her Levo without feeling unwell .. Even her GP said to increase but feels worse hence trying T3 x
I’m going to ask her to join this group as it’s hard relaying info .. yeah I did see her results and even her GP said she needs a increase in Levo but as soon as she goes up to 75mcg she feels unwell she’s tried all brands and tried alternative days 50/75 .. xxxx
My friend phoned Dr X he told her to take it as it’s a low dose 🤦♀️ she’s not doing the 20 mcg at once she’s going slow .. the other lady is now worried as he told her the same too 🤷♀️ xxx
different people have different test results, until you know their test results you can't decide; also there may be differences in their health profiles which makes your consultant more likely to trust their bodies not to react badly to medication; or, your consultant read some up to date info on how to dose - you simply can't tell.
Yeah understand that but my endo said take the 20mcg no need to go slow and my friend who saw a different guy was told just take 20 at once and another lady who asked me where I went who didn’t see the same guy was told take 20mcg at once so that’s 3 different guys that said take 20mcg as a starting dose .. I would have done that if it wasn’t for my friend saying gradually introduce it .. I just don’t want them to feel worse 😞 xxx
Dr Skinner started me on 10 for a week and then said go to 20. Felt clearer after the first few days on 10 so went to 20 and just felt even better. Not so much now but things happen. Jo xx
start slow I’d say. I take 5mcg twice a day 7am and 3pm. I also take liquid levo twice a day 35mcg then another 35mcg a few hours later. I’ve not needed to increase my T3 or change my t4 meds. I feel energised and completely different than I did when I was on mono T4 treatment previously. I have Hashimotos and confirmed gene DIO2 issue which inhibits T4 to T3 conversion. My TSH is just about in range and my T4 and T3 levels are optimal. Start slow and low. My diagnosis and dose instructions where given to me by my private only endocrinologist who I feel is brilliant
I am not an expert but when i started taking 5mg a day i was feeling so hot and I was sweating so much. I waited few weeks before i increased the dose. My body needed time to adjust. My doctor told me to take 20 in two doses . I couldn't do that. I am too sensitive
well you have to be careful with t3 . I would say it depends on the individuals needs that the doctor recommended. Nobody can really advise without the individuals prognosis, so many factors will relate to the dosage . I started on t3 , 20mcg per day but split in 2 for am and pm to smooth out the effects in my case . Don’t think you will get anyone advising on your question without the full medical facts. Sorry couldn’t be much help .
It seems clear I know nearly nothing about anything...guess that's why I'm here. What I can add is that several years ago my primary care person suggested I try T3, too. I don't remember what dose she had ne on, but I know she didn't say anything about starting slow, what the effects might be, balancing it with my levoxythyrone. So I just took it. Initially, it definitely nade a difference in my energy level, but after about three days of it, I started not sleeping. Normally when I don't sleep (which thankfully isn't, or wasn't, that often, the one gift hypothyroidism gave me is the ability to sleep,) I'm kind of mellow the bect day; that's another gift of hypothyroidism--just don't have the energy to care. But on T3, the day after a short-sleep night was dreadful, like I felt physically sick, edgy, and tired. It happened several times like that, so I quit taking it. When she mentioned it and I told her my experience, my PCP had no comment. (In fairness, as a nurse practictioner, she probably had no idea ) Now I wonder if I was ODing a bit, if I needed to start slower/lower? Of course, aside from a general "your body may need it" suggestion, I don't really even kniw why someone might take it. For 16 years, it's been, "Your numbers are fine, sucks that you still feel like crap so often, but oh well." Now we've added osteoporosis--very, very advanced, we only know I have it because my spine is disintegrating osteoporosis--to the mix (and I was too young to be screened,) and that has provoked me to try to assemble the pieces, figure out what I can do. Not a lit of answers yet, except, oh yes, Hashimotos/hypothyroidism IS potentially connected.
LOW and SLOW & CHANGE ONE THING AT A TIME for a period of 6-8 WEEKS (when it comes to these hormones...) Even though we are all different, you can't go wrong with this advice.
Two reasons:
1. Changing your hormone replacement dose is not a linear, one-to-one process. There is a multi-stepped chain reaction in our body that happens... it starts the moment we take a pill, and also it continues over weeks and weeks as our body responds and settles. I describe it like trying to steer a big boat. You tap the steering wheel and it seems like nothing happens, and then over time the boat begins to turn. But since boats don't have "breaks" like cars, sometimes by the time you realized you tapped too hard, it's too late to stop/reverse. So starting with small increments, and taking 6-8 weeks between changing, is the recommendation.
One taking 50mcg Levo .. she is hypo feels it and bloods show but she can’t seem to increase her Levo without feeling unwell... she’s been on 50mcg for a while she just can’t increase her Levo without feeling unwell .. Even her GP said to increase but feels worse hence trying T3 x
I would just wonder here if when she changed if she waited 6-8 weeks on that change? There are countless posts on this board of people "feeling worse" after a dose change even if ultimately that is the dose they should be on, but they didn't give it time to settle. "Feeling worse", or "feeling overmedicated" is misleading sometimes, and should be paired with blood test results following the proper protocol. Me personally, my doctor didn't know 50 mcgs was a starter dose, didn't know how to read my blood test results, started me on T3 as a next step when in retrospect I wish I had exhausted my Levo-only option. I wish I had done this because now I will never know if I am a poor converter, and therefore will never know if I could have gotten up towards my target of 1.6 mcgs/kg body weight and vastly simplified all my pill cutting and dosing with a single, optimal Levo pill.
2. Also, it's important to change only one thing at a time. If you change more than one thing at a time, then whether you feel better or worse, you will have no idea what made you feel that way. And if you don't know, then you will have no idea what to do next. Even if you end up feeling better, you will miss out on learning about your body so in the future you won't have as much knowledge to make informed decisions right for you.
Lastly - when you say this is confusing you:
Yeah understand that but my endo said take the 20mcg no need to go slow and my friend who saw a different guy was told just take 20 at once and another lady who asked me where I went who didn’t see the same guy was told take 20mcg at once so that’s 3 different guys that said take 20mcg as a starting dose ..
I'll reflect what others have said above - this might be one of those moments where it hits you - doctors, unfortunately, are human and fallible and don't know everything (and in our thyroid situations, more often than not, don't know much of anything.) It's a shocking realization (it was for me, anyway.) And even more shocking because they are often so over-confident that they DO know everything. Doctors often look at "in range" and see it as black & white. Doctors also way too often look at the wrong blood tests entirely. It's kind of crazy, but totally true.
We are all different, one dose MAYBE will work for one person and MAYBE not another. It is up to us to take control of it all. We learn which blood tests are needed, protocols for getting consistent useful results, advice on how to interpret and change our meds accordingly. When to ride out symptoms and when not too.
All I'll say here is that we're all different. I take 75mcg of T3 a day, in 3 doses, and I'm well but someone else might get away with 25mcg. We need to multidose because T3 has a short halflife. The problem we have is the medics think we're all the same. I do periodically have to adjust my dose depending on the weather and stress levels. I lower it if it's hot and raise it if it's cold and sometimes have to raise or lower it according to how stressed I am, the trick is to know your own body and make sure your vitamins are optimal
Everyone is different and tolerance is different. I wouldn't go too slow and too fast as both actions can jeopardise the progress.
Need to go on how they feel.
Even though people say half life of t3 is short, it isn't. Manufactures say it's 24 hours, then studies say 10 hours+ depending on a person. And I would agree - it depends on a person.
There are people on t3 that take it all in one go and the effect lasts all day. Once I stop t3 it takes about 2.5 days for me to feel it is leaving my system.
Everyone has a different story to tell. Some people metabolise it fast, some slower.
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