Liothyronine vs. Cytomel

[gakat61]

I am new here ....... hoping to get some input on meds and any advice. I've gone through thyroid problems all of my life. I was born with a goiter, had it partially removed when I was two days old. I was placed on medicine at a young age, and taken off in my late teens. I was sluggish a lot of times but the doctors had always said that I was in the normal range.

I finally had a doctor who tested me for Reverse T3, and it came back in the high range. I was put on Liothyronine, 12.5 mg for the first two weeks ........then to 25 mg. I noticed a surge of power for about 3 days, now I'm back to the sluggish ways. I guess I should call and find out if I can go ahead and take the 25 mg.

Is the generic form equal to cytomel? I need to know so I can get the best care that I can possibly receive. I appreciate anyone's advice.

[liya8]

All I know is that Cytomel has done wonders for me and would not change it . The first three weeks found that as soon as I had taken my Cytomel I felt verrrrrry tired and drained - I then took half of the dose around 3am and the other around 4  in the afternoon.  Now two months later am able to tolerate the whole dosage in the morning without feeling tired or having a headache.  

Your body may just need the time to make the adjustment.

Hope you feel better soon.

Blessings

[Barb135]

I've been on cytomel since Jan of this year and when I took my last script in to be filled, the pharmacy filled it with the generic Liothyronine - they didn't ask me, they just did it.  I still have some of my old script left, so haven't taken any of the generic.  I do know that I'm on the generic levothyroxine and doing much better than I did with synthroid.  

I was on 10 mcg cytomel, took 5 mcg with my levo when I get up at 3:30 am, the other 5 mcg around 10:00 am, and I found that helped me make it through the day.  I did have to cut back to just 5 mcg/day because I started having heart palps.....I still take my levo when I get up at 3:30 am, but wait with the cytomel until around 7:00 am, since that's about when I need a good boost.  

Will be anxious to see how the generic Liothyronine does - according to my pharmacy, it's the same as cytomel.  In fact, I didn't even know there WAS a generic until the other day..........

[Sunshine_67]

I just started the generic Cytomel yesterday so it's too soon to tell a difference, but I talked to a pharmacist and was told that if you're starting on generic you should be fine. People who took the brand name and then switched to generic may have a little problem. From what I've read, the medicine is the same between brand and generic, but the dosing might be slightly different. Since my insurance won't cover most brand names of thyroid meds, I'm stuck with generics and hoping they work.