T3 slow release.

[petalouda]

Hello, anyone here is using srt3 with good results? Alone or with normal t3 or with t4? Thank you

[humanbean]

I've heard about slow release T3 being in development, but I wasn't aware that it was being prescribed or sold now.

Where have you heard of it, and what was it called?

[FallingInReverse]

I thought it’s something one can get at a compound pharmacy. Does the U.K. have those as well?

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to FallingInReverse]

We have very few compounding pharmacies in the UK. And we have tended to call them "Specials" pharmacies.

There is a big issue with them producing any form of slow release T3. Whatever approach they use will not have been properly trialled.

It could be argued that doesn't matter because the person will adjust their dose to achieve the result they require. But we don't even know enough to ensure consistency. They can, of course, use the same ingredients and the same techniques, for each order. But even the best techniques for checking in the actual preparation laboratory might not work well enough.

[buggles84]

Slow release T3 isn't on the market yet

[Lucycatlover]

I used slow release T3 for about 4 years until Brexit put paid to getting it. It came from Receptura Apotheke in Frankfurt. So much better than my current hard tablets!

[Had-enough in reply to Lucycatlover]

you can still get it if you send them your prescription

[petalouda in reply to Had-enough]

I had already their product 2 years ago and now I will try again. I'm just looking for someone who really improve with srt3, but there are not much using it.

[bikebabe]

what is the advantage of slow release t3 please?

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to bikebabe]

One of the most frequent criticisms of liothyronine (T3), when used as a medicine, is that it will cause a massive increase in Free T3 levels. And that this peak is very much non-physiological.

Even if the T3 dose is modest, it does cause a sharp peak.

Trouble is, all blame is put on the sharp T3 peak and no consideration that there will likely be a much longer period where T3 will be non-physiological by being low!

And a peak in Free T3 in the blood does not correlate to a peak in T3 and its actions within cells. At the very least, it takes longer for T3 to get into cells, reach receptors, and have its effects.

The reality seems to be like so many things. Some people seem to need this peak. Others seem to do better avoiding the peak.

Slow release could be viewed as an extreme form of dose splitting!

Slow release is pushed as a holy grail without the evidence to demonstrate it is the best approach for everyone.

Slow release for many medicines often fails to deliver as much of the active ingredient as the corresponding quick release products. This might not matter very much for many medicines. But where the precise dose is absolutely everything, as with thyroid hormones, only delivering 70, 80 or 90% might have a very significant impact.

If a slow release product were suddenly approved and available (and low in price!), I suspect everyone on quick release T3 would be switched to slow release without getting any say in the matter.

[Lucycatlover in reply to helvella]

I agree helvella. I was on double the amount than my current dose. I now split my 10mcg prescription. Take half at 7am and then 11am but could probably do with some more in the afternoon. My endocrinologist would prefer I take it all at 7am but that’s more to do with his requirement I test 4 hours after ingestion I think.

[bikebabe in reply to Lucycatlover]

I take mine at 8.30 and 3pm before food /drink

[petalouda in reply to Lucycatlover]

10mcg of t3 is all that you take? Alone? Seems very low dose.

[bikebabe in reply to helvella]

Thenk you for that explanation.

[JanePound]

I was on slow release for 23 years, very successfully. My GP moved and the new GP was horrified at my FT3 and very low TSH. He panicked and sent me to the hospital endocrinologist, who promptly took me off it. I am currently on 125 Levo and 20 T3 and it isn’t enough. My outlook is bleak and I have the afternoon drop I get out of bed, wondering if I can go for a nap later. Resting heart rate now 57-61, whereas it used to be around 65

I used to get a prescription from my GP and send it to a pharmacy in the USA. I did try a compounding pharmacy in the U.K. but they didn’t get it right. My resting heart rate dropped like a stone to 50 bpm.

I loved my slow release. However, if I don’t get an increase, I will go privately to someone who is happy to trial NDT. I’m trying to get my test results and no one seems to know anything.

If anyone wants details, please DM me.

[KettlebellQueen]

I was using slow release T3 which I had made via a compounding pharmacy in the UK. It didn’t work for me, so I switched back to my usual instant release.