Doc thinks I am on too much T3 - have I gone over or under?? Really confused...!!

[lizanne]

I had an appointment with my private GP yesterday.

1) I was on 3.5 grains of Armour for 4-5 years and he wrote to my NHS GP asking for me to prescribed the equivalent T4 (133mg) and T3 (31mg) which was great so I wouldnt have to pay for a private prescription any more. Anyway - the equivalent couldnt be exactly prescribed because of tablet/dosage size so I am 125 mg of T4 and 40mg of T3. This is too much T3 according to private GP yestereday as it should be 4 parts t4 to 1 part T3. So more like 125 of T4 and 25 of T3.

2) I have had persistently low DHEA and adrenal problems and my hair on head and body thinned considerably and hasnt come back over 6 years of treatment. I did saliva tests which backed this up. Note I have dealt with any and all stressors so there isnt an external issue here. Just seems like my body got jammed into a place it cant get out of 6 years ago when it was under stress

3) I take Vit D (makes a big difference to my nails so must need that! VitB12, Even. Prim Oil.

Problems:

A - So - meeting with private GP was to discuss what to do next, what else to try? I was going to start the CT3M process but GP not happy with that as he believes T3 only is not the way to go, he feels it is important to replicate normal thyroid function so T4 and T3 both needed. So CT3M ruled out.

B - We dont know why my DHEA has remained stubornly low. I thought it was because of adrenals and CT3M would help that but doc not a fan of T3 only. Is low DHEA why hair hasnt recovered?? Would suplplementing help?

C - He thinks I may be on too much T3 and perhaps I have gone over and that is why hair problems have never recovered (I have been on T4/T3 since last October). I asked if it could be a reverse T3 issue. He isnt running reverse T3 test as he can tell from all the other results if there is a reverse T3 issue

He has taken bloods and urine to see what is going on, so I will be better informed when those tests come back.

I am starting to think I am running out of options or tweaks to try and get hair back and get rid of brain fog. I still believe (perhaps I am being a bit innocent here!!) that if all the meds and supplements are right then the body, hair and brain will recover.

I'm not even sure what to ask - but I guess if anything jumps out at you here in terms of ideas I would be grateful to hear them. Will keep you posted on results.

Many thanks

Lizanne

[Clarebear]

Hi Lizanne - one thing I noticed is that you say you can't do CT3M on T4/T3, but you can I use NDT to do CT3M, which is also a combination of both. I take 1grain at 5am, and this seems to have really helped my adrenals.

I had a quick look at the T4/T3 ratios and NDT is 4.22 to 1, your current regime is 3.125 to 1, and your doc's suggested regime is 5 to1. The NDT gave you the closest ratio to what he indicates as being optimum. Xx

[lizanne in reply to Clarebear]

Hi Clare

Just following on this as I have now met with doctor and got test results and he was actually really pleased with my T3 levels so decided not to reduce that dosage !! He felt the results were good to warrant keeping t3 dosage at 40mg.

TSH 0.07 (0.3 to 4.5)

T3 free 3.64 (2.1 to 4.2)

T4 free 0.86 (0.7 to 1.8)

Testosterone 85 (150 to 600)

DHEA 41 (65 to 280) doesn’t look great either

Urine tests

T3 1770 (800 to 2500)

T4 2120 (550 to 3160)

Total 17 OH steroids 2.81 (3.17 to 8.63) I don’t know what this is either but doesn’t look good

So I am back to playing around with CT3M to see what works for me. I am on 125mg of T4 and 40 mg of T3. I take the T4 sometime mid morning. Currently I am taking 20mg of T3 just before I go to bed (and I sleep fantastically well!!) and then the other 20mg when I wake up in morning (7am) However I think I need to bring that morning dose in earlier maybe around 5am to really get that circadian effect helping the adrenals early morning.

Thanks again for your advice on all this - it really made me rethink how to approach CT3M

Lizanne

[lizanne]

Hi Clare

Wow that had never occured to me! I thought CT3M could only be done on pure T3. Ok now that does malke a difference- thank you for spotting that!

So bascially I could take some of the T3 very early am and then later in day and take T4 at different time during the day to those T3 doses.

I guess the next challenge (apart from waiting for tests to come back to make an informed decision) is to figure out how much T4 and T3 I should take daily. My hair and eyebrows thinning were the first signs I had hypo and no treatment has brought them back. However I have started to shed more hair recently which means I am possibly taking too much T4 or T3 or both. hopefully test results will reveal the truth!?

Thanks again!bbb

[Marz]

.....also low Ferritin - ( stored iron ) can be the cause of hair thinning. There have been many posts here about this topic - maybe a good idea to check the ' See more Tags ' on this page.

Good Luck with everything.....

[Glynisrose]

How do you feel? This is more important than any ideas of ratios or meds dosage. If you feel OK then do not allow the docs to reduce your meds, just do the broken record thing and say 'I am fine on the dosage I'm on thank you' over and over till they accept it.

[penny]

Hi

I saw something on here, a link, about a Dr Chandry giving Vit injections and woman's hair all grew back. When he was forced to stop due to GMC it all fell out again, and then when he was allowed to continue it all grew back.