I added this as a reply to another post but thought I should really ask it as a question. I have Hashimoto's and suffer with depression. I have taken myself off of Fluoxetine and feel very low now (although Fluoxetine only made me feel like a zombie). My consultant has said that he thinks I probably need T3 and I am wondering, if he prescribes this for me, if my low mood/depression will lift.
Has anyone had experience of this please?
Best wishes
Kathy
T3 has a very beneficial effect and these are links. We have had posts on depression in the past but sometimes when you search they don't appear.
uk.yhs.search.yahoo.com/sea...
Thank you shaws. That has set my mind at rest. Hopefully the T3 will work, otherwise I will try NDT. Thanks for sending me the link to so many interesting articles.
Best wishes
Kathy
T3 has really helped my mood
Kathy I feel for you. I've been there.
T3 is sometimes used to augment antidepressants in cases of treatment resistant depression, so yes, it can be very effective. I've done a search on this site and there are lots of stories. See if you can find some of them (though as shaws said the search facility can be unpredictable). Or try a google site-specific search: makeuseof.com/tag/5-ways-to...
Although I'm no longer depressed as such, I have been feeling very flat and unmotivated as well as having trouble making sense of things. I try to have a tidy but I end up walking around picking things up and putting them down and I can't get my mind to grasp the thread. I've finally been given the chance to try T3 and I'm hoping it will help with this sort of thing.
Your consultant sounds good. Do you have faith in them?
I think I have faith in him but not sure. I have only seen him once and have paid privately, but he told me my doctor had not written him a letter of referral, and then in a letter to my doctor (of which I have a copy) he thanked her for her letter! Oh well, if I get T3 (appointment 10 April) and it helps me, that's all I care about.
Thank you so much for your help and I will read the stories on here - I have had a quick look previously. I feel much more positive now!
Best wishes
Kathy
T3 and NDT certainly helped my daughter. She had been depressed since her early teens and at 38 finally had her hypothyroidism diagnosed by Dr P. and has completely changed from a depressed zombie to a cheerful enthusiastic person. She has changed so much that she has even got married and is living on the other side of the world whereas before, for the past 5 years, at least, she had no interest in the opposite sex. She was on Prozac for about 10 years I believe and although it did help her depression, it probably did a lot to worsen her thyroid.....Valerie
What a wonderful outcome, and although she may be on the other side of the world, I am sure you would prefer her to be far away and happy than next door and miserable. What parents want for their offspring is to be happy, no matter what their choice of career, partner, or anything else.
Yet a recent double-blind study came up with the conclusion that there was no advantage to NDT. This was despite the fact that those on NDT lost weight and most felt happier and preferred that treatment.
Mind you, the TSH results were probably the chosen measure of effectiveness!
Hi although I am undermedicated at the moment and still having hypo symptoms... Since adding t3 to my t4 has definitely lifted the depression I was feeling.the only time I can struggle with low mood is before my period.... when Satan takes charge! I still get fed up of feeling rubbish and apathetic but I no longer wish my life was ended and there are much less tears now.
K x x
Thank you so much for your reply. I was at the point of going back on Fluoxetine, but I shall wait now for T3.
Best wishes
Kathy
Wow! Thank you so much to all of you for your replies and articles to view. I feel really positive now. I am seeing my endo on 10 April and really hoping that is when he will give me T3 (or suggest my doctor does). He has written to my doctor saying he feels I need 15mcg a day of T3 and reduced T4 (currently 150mcg). I am hoping one of them will prescribe it for me soon.
Best wishes to you all
Kathy
When I got given some T3 in addition to my T4 the first symptom to improve was my mood (and the 2nd my periods), and it wasn't a very large dose of T3 initially either, only 5mcg. I still have depressive symptoms when I feel low in energy, and I don't believe my thyroid hormone levels are yet optimal either, but T3 added does seem to affect my mood positively. When they increased my T3 more, I felt considerably better for a few weeks too, actually happy and like my old self - sadly it didn't last, no sure if I tried to do too much or if I still need more T3 with that just a brief boost to my body.
Thank you Hansaplatz. Hopefully T3 will work for me also. Will your doctor give you more T3 to try do you think?
I already know the endo won't as they said at my last appointment but strangely they did imply I could still approach my GP for more - which sounds to me like my endo has their hands tied by departmental policy not to prescribe more than a small amount of T3. However, I seriously doubt my GP will prescribe where the endo wouldn't. I may still try to get them to, as I think my progress so far on T3 is a fair argument for continuing but chances seem low.
I've tried all of the hormone replacements and in various combinations. T4 only T3 only and NDT only and NDT and T3 (as I'm synthetic T4 only intolerant). It did help my mood a bit but not enough. I'd been ill for so long I was prescribed Sertraline at 50mg and I've found that this is extremely helpful. There is damage caused by this illness which hormone replacement may not alone resolve. I won't accept any drug that makes me feel worse.
I don't have clinical depression, just hypo and the human condition. When I added t3, my organizational, and concentration skills and confidence were given a major boost which was unexpected. I thought I would have more energy, but it really just cleared my head and I felt more rested and could focus and concentrate.
This didn't last that long, but enough to realise what a difference it could make. How life could be.
Probably need to increase it, but going down the treating deficient d3 at the moment. I really ought to see an expert to get everything sorted out all at once, instead of tinkering and asking permission to be well, if you know what I mean.
Go ahead get some t3, tidy up and get those jobs done that you have been putting off.
I suffer from hasimoto disease and suffered from depression. I also had problem with converting t4 to t3. My private g.p wasn't willing to give t3 and told me to take nutri supplements which helped with conversion. However, my depression still persisted and he told me to take st.johns wort which has helped. I read an article in the UK Thyroid magazine which said to avoid st.johns wort if you are taking thyroxine. I feel as if I am been denied t3 because my private g.p doesn't feel i require it. Has anybody else tried st johns wort whilst on thyroxine?
I took it many years ago for depression but no, not while I've been ht.
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