T4 is a very particular tablet….antisocial!

[Tea7light]

End of 2022 my doc and I agreed I should increase my sliding T4. I duly did from 12.5 to 25 mcg. Over 3 months then test. Those were v difficult 3 mths, I suffered brain fogs, I couldn’t think straight, I became very tired, slept poorly, l put on weight, hair thinned as another 3 months passed, I couldn’t stand taking T4 it seemed to make everything worse.

May 23 I asked to go back to my original dose of T4, that was granted. (I also take 10 mcg T3 that remained consistent though this “adventure” .)

I read an interesting report on Gastrointestanal Malabsorption of Thyroxine, and realised there were many things to cause reactions to T4. Thank you Health Unlocked.

Made a log of all my pests, eg No food 1 hr before bed, no dark chocolate after 8pm. No tea or coffee at all . etc …A long list

To help with T4, ingestion it’s crushed and taken in water, I noticed a lot of its residue remained in the glass , rinse out & drink that.

If I took T4 just before bed I had an over active mind so no sleep til wee small hours, hence previous problems.

I tried taking it at 10 pm better.

Between 9 & 9:30pm vast improvement.

So even if I go out I take my crushed T4 in a small sealed plastic container, so I add lots of water and drink it between these magic times and after a month I could get real deep sane sleep again!!

I still don’t believe it , my doc was so RELEIVED.!

There is another blood test end of Feb, so we will see then.

I also asked for a cholesterol test.

Any other tests I should have asked for ?

Many thanks Health Unlocked team.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Standard STARTER Dose Levo is 50mcg

Which brand of levothyroxine are you taking for 12.5mcg

Which brand for 25mcg

Levothyroxine and especially T3 don’t “top up” failing thyroid, they replace it

Essential to be on high enough dose

Standard treatment is to start on Levo ONLY, initially at 50mcg (unless over 65 years old) and increase dose SLOWLY upwards in 25mcg steps until on roughly 1.6mcg per kilo of your body weight per day

Aiming for Ft4 in top 1/3rd of range

If Ft3 remains significantly lower…….then looking at adding T3 alongside

Did you ever try JUST levothyroxine initially

[elaar]

Hi. Im not sure when the tests in your bio were done, but your FT4 is very low, and 25mcg Levo isn't going to make a dent on that.

Levothyroxine isn't very soluble in water, so disolving it into water, or drinking a lot of water when you take it, is probably counter productive. It requires a good amount of stomach acid for proper absorption, and this is something that's often diminished when people are Hypo/Low FT4, and even more so if your stomach is filled up with water.

Some studies have found benefits with taking it with orange juice, as the citric acid helps the absorption. There's also other forms (e.g capsules?) that bypass the stomach somewhat.