UPDATE:...... I feel this tiny increase really isn't suiting me at all. My waking anxiety is much much worse with constant internal and external tremors and jittery more than usual and taking more Diazepam to get through it, so it's clearly upsetting my cortisol/adrenals and I just don't think overall I tolerate it well at all. Even after being on it now for a few years I still get palps about an hour after each dose. At the end of the day it's more about how you feel rather than where you lie in the range.
I think I need to drop back to 10mcg for now and see if I can find an Endo again who can help and probably even come off the stuff, but from experience so far they are piggin useless and I can't do this on my own.
I am just never going to feel even the slightest improvement am I, just don't know what to do anymore to help myself
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Adjusting T3 split dosing times/doses throughout the day to discover the best time/dose for you. How long a gap is it best to leave (if you feel worse) before you want to adjust to a different time again.
I upped to 15mcg on the 18th October....5mcg @ 3pm, 5mcg @ 7pm, 2.5mcg around 10pm. I had, until recently, been taking my additional 2.5mcg around 2am when I go to bed but I think it's interferring with my waking cortisol levels and making my anxiety worse hence my starting my first dose well away from mornings.
As I feel I am sensitive to it with palps around an hour later even on a 5mcg dose, I wonder whether I could try for 4 split doses although I am not sure where I can easily fit those 4 doses in, having to avoid times when I take other stuff like my AD and Mag at night
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Jefner
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Half-life of T3 varies hugely depending on where you see it and indeed it can appear to be less than a day. But I'd expect close to 24 hours, possibly longer, in many of those reading here.
The mean half-life was 0.63 days in 7 hyperthyroid patients, 1.0 day in 8 euthyroid individuals, and 1.38 days in 9 hypothyroid patients.
Single Dose T3 Administration: Kinetics and Effects on Biochemical and Physiologic Parameters
I take my T3 at 7.30am 5mcg. Then a further 5mcg at 3pm. I have no spikes and feel energised.
I take my T4 at noon 34mcg. Then 2nd dose 34mcg at 4.30pm. I have no spikes and feel fine.
I have tried taking t3 going to bed but it kept me awake. So I knocked that in the head quickly. I find taking t4 also going to bed doesn’t suit me as I feel stimulated not easy to rest then.
I believe splitting doses helps me keep my levels in range and therefore my TSH is always in range at about 1.00.
Hi Jefner,Everyone is different, when i take my thyroid meds they make me tired so now im trying 7 hand half mcg t3 and 75mcg T4 at 2/3 am and i sleep well. The other and a half mcg in the afternoon 12 hour gap which still makes me tired 🤔. No palpitations or over medicated feelings?
well.... i aimed for waiting at least 6 wks between any tweaks (same as i would for levo only ).... but in practice i have fiddled / experimented with dose / timings at 3 wks if i have noticed significant problems .
basically none of what i have done is what i would advise.... but hey-ho , i'm just following my nose and trying to make sure i'm functional at work ~so "don't follow me i'm lost too" applies here , but in case it helps at all , here's what shinanigins i've been up to :
lowered levo from 87.5mcg to 75mcg and added 6mcg T3
did 2 wks of 6 mcg all in one go (am). ... not awful , but didn't like it ,
then did 3 wks of splitting it 3 and 3 (am / bedtime). which was better. but still not good at all .
then 3 wks of 9mcg (3+3+3) a.m / 2pm / bedtime ~ felt really 'unstable' ~can't describe it properly but it just felt like too much Treble (T3) and not enough Bass (levo)
tested bloods (3 hrs after 3mcg to see roughly what peak fT3 level is just for my own interest )
increased levo to 87.5mcg , felt an improvement quickly and was sure it was good idea by 10 days , but the penny had also dropped that i feel naff and have a tense uncomfortable bladder for about the first 7 hrs after taking a dose of T3, then feel ok after that .
I stuck with this dose/ time for 3 wks . but i found it necessary to move the doses around on the couple of days a week when i work. to avoid this 'feeling crap for 7 hrs' thing.
so then i missed out the am. dose out and tried 4mcg at 2pm and 4mcg at bedtime for a couple of weeks ~ this fixed the issue of feeling lousy/ tense bladder all morning, which was nice , but then the bedtime dose suddenly started interfering with sleep , which it hadn't done previously, so i moved them earlier to 11.30 am and 8pm .
so after i'd been on 87.5mcg levo for 5 wks and 2x 4mcg for 3 wks .... i decided (based on 'gut instinct') to put levo up to 100mcg and drop T3 to one dose of 4mcg taken at 11.30 am ... this was on 16th Oct and i have been able to leave things alone since then as i have felt basically ok/ stable / functional on 100mcg + 4mcg T3 . So that will be 4 wks tomorrow and i feel functional enough to be able to stay on this dose for another few wks then test properly.
so as you can see ... i have not managed to follow my own advice of 'leave it alone for at least 6 wks' at all so far ...... and rather than 'timing the T3 to feel good at a certain time of day ', i seem to have been 'moving the T3 out of the way so it doesn't make me feel off at a certain time ' ,, if you see what i mean.
it's a tricky balance to find .. when to stick it out and be consistent , and when to follow your instinct ? .... but i'm basically an instinctive person and T3 does seems to allow me to feel what's going on much sooner than levo does.
so ideally , i'm trying to get to 6 wks and test ~ but when i'm really struggling i've given something 3 wks , and if there is still a problem i can't risk waiting out , then careful tweaking/ experimenting has been informative at that point.
however i'm painfully aware that 'constantly twiddling the knobs is rarely a good idea for anything.
Great Journaling Tattybogle. I too feel when my T4 is low for me it's like my brain is not getting enough of the T4 juice so to speak. It's much easier and faster to tweak with the T3.Thank you for sharing your experiences.
yes a long time ago and I weaned off them last year as they only helped a little with the physical symptoms but not the mental ones. Diazepam does both
Which might be becuase you are underdosed and especially after the long gap overnight. Dosing in the evening is also a problem for some people becuase it can lead to disrupted sleep and anxiety. Also you are missing on the morning highest cortisol window which helps with T3 working properly and later might lead to imbalance between T3 and cortisol and result in more stress and anxiety too . There is a lot to unpick here and potentially chance for things to work better if you experiment more.
my T3 levels arn't yet optimal on my labs but at the end of the day it's how you feel on the stuff. I have tried different timings but felt a little better on waking by not taking it in the mornings plus it just increases my cortisol levels and from my most recent lab put my cortisol over range
Only asking because I found T3 within the NDT did not agree with me at all and I still have to keep it on a short leash. I am now on T4 and then T3 twice a day i.e. 5 x 2 !
Not sure what meds you are on but I wonder if they are interfering with your thyroid meds - I am also lactose intolerant and suffered for months not realising the T4 was not being absorbed.
You are right there it is a fine art to ever feel well but it is worth chasing - I was wondering - whilst I read on your bio you are being told to go diary free - vitamins and minerals are obviously vital and you can pick these up in loads from dairy - have you tried going lactose free - I use Arla lactose free products - milk - their spreadable (butter) their cream and their cheese - taste no different and I can be assured of getting my vits etc. - also I have gone gluten free but only because I developed a celiac issue so had to - when I tried before that my thyroid did not like it at all - used to throb when I eat gluten free foods - I'm afraid the majority of the gluten free foods are full of sugar and other additives which I find quite unpalatable as I like 'clean' food if possible - so I tend to just eat my meat and vegs and eggs - the only gluten free 'food' I eat are rich tea biscuits and that is only because I need a bicky at night to take an antibiotic to keep a UTI at bay. It might be that you are eating too much sugar within the gluten free food which can cause your cortisol levels to go awry. I am on steroids because I have adrenal insufficiency. Are you taking any supplements for your adrenals - I know it sound like they are over producing cortisol but this could be cause they need help.
i was looking for an adrenal support but it's difficult to find anything whereby some of the ingredients don't interact with my meds especially my ssri. I am not totally dairy free, I eat a lot of Green & Blacks organic 80% choccy and have cheddar cheese probably more often than I should. I am surprised I don't have adrenal insufficiency after the hammering they have taken the last 40+ years with the anxiety
Hi but the anxiety could be the adrenal glands that is where it comes from - I have to gauge how much steroid to take each day - am I going to have to get up early rush around - weather cold or too hot - then I have to take slightly more to accommodate the needs of the adrenal glands - it might be that the meds you are taking are producing adrenaline and that is what makes you anxious - I was taking high dose vitamin C at one time and was totally over anxious sweating etc. and decided to check out what Vitamin C does to the body/adrenals - if you take too much for your body to cope with it turns into adrenaline !
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