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Trouble finding correct dosage (tirosint)
Hello,
I am a lurker - have been stumbling upon this site for years as I reasearched my hashi's situation. Finally breaking down and registering so I can ask for insight :)
I have Hashis and still have my thyroid. I was origionally put on armour, then armour plus cytomel and did this for 2 years never feeling well. i suffered adverse affects from armour right from the get go but got to a level that wasnt optimal but at least wasnt horrible...then I crashed and we finally made a switch to synthroid with a little cytomel. This was about 2 months ago. Very quickly after starting synthroid, I started breaking out so we switched to tirosint as it is a bit more "pure". That at least solved the breaking out but I am still determining the right dose.
I seem to feel better initially after an increase in T4 (sometimes I might be foggy for a day or two until it settles), but then about 2 weeks later I seem to crash. I'm now on 125 tirosint plus 10 cytomel. My origional armour dose was 90 mcg armour (1.5 grains) plus the 10 mcg cytomel.
I might be due for an increase or not. I guess I am afraid that the trend will continue - feel better for a few weeks, then worse again. Has anyone run into this and have any idea why this might be and what I shoud do?
I am at a loss. My doc wont test my thyroid levels for another couple of weeks and even suggested reducing my tirosint to 100 (not sure why other than he said he likes FT4 levels less than 1, which is odd, bc i thought FT4 levels were supposed to be closer to 70% of the range).
These are the latest test results (taken when I was on 125 synthroid and 10 mcg cytomel - I was only about 3 weeks in however. I did not have my RT3 tests at the time but it came in recently at 22 (she didnt give me the range however). Unfortunately I do not know what the latest is which is a shame since I think it would be more accurate as Ihave been on tirosint 125 for a while
TSH .019 (.350-3.00)
FT4 1.41 (.89-1.80)
FT3 3.50 (2.3-4.2)
T3 total 99 (60-181)
I am a lurker - have been stumbling upon this site for years as I reasearched my hashi's situation. Finally breaking down and registering so I can ask for insight :)
I have Hashis and still have my thyroid. I was origionally put on armour, then armour plus cytomel and did this for 2 years never feeling well. i suffered adverse affects from armour right from the get go but got to a level that wasnt optimal but at least wasnt horrible...then I crashed and we finally made a switch to synthroid with a little cytomel. This was about 2 months ago. Very quickly after starting synthroid, I started breaking out so we switched to tirosint as it is a bit more "pure". That at least solved the breaking out but I am still determining the right dose.
I seem to feel better initially after an increase in T4 (sometimes I might be foggy for a day or two until it settles), but then about 2 weeks later I seem to crash. I'm now on 125 tirosint plus 10 cytomel. My origional armour dose was 90 mcg armour (1.5 grains) plus the 10 mcg cytomel.
I might be due for an increase or not. I guess I am afraid that the trend will continue - feel better for a few weeks, then worse again. Has anyone run into this and have any idea why this might be and what I shoud do?
I am at a loss. My doc wont test my thyroid levels for another couple of weeks and even suggested reducing my tirosint to 100 (not sure why other than he said he likes FT4 levels less than 1, which is odd, bc i thought FT4 levels were supposed to be closer to 70% of the range).
These are the latest test results (taken when I was on 125 synthroid and 10 mcg cytomel - I was only about 3 weeks in however. I did not have my RT3 tests at the time but it came in recently at 22 (she didnt give me the range however). Unfortunately I do not know what the latest is which is a shame since I think it would be more accurate as Ihave been on tirosint 125 for a while
TSH .019 (.350-3.00)
FT4 1.41 (.89-1.80)
FT3 3.50 (2.3-4.2)
T3 total 99 (60-181)
COMMUNITY LEADER
I'm sorry, I've been away for a few days, so haven't had much computer time.
I'm not surprised that your FT4 keeps going down, when your doctor keeps raising your T3 med. I don't really see the Tirosint pushing you to hyper, but I do see the T3 med, doing so.
Are your T3 pills 5 mcg each? If so, you can always drop back by 5 mcg if you need to. I think, that with your FT3 at 84%, it's silly for your doctor to keep throwing T3 med at you. Have other causes for fatigue been checked out? Or for that matter, has anyone considered that fatigue is a symptom of over medication, as well as under medication?
I'm not surprised that your FT4 keeps going down, when your doctor keeps raising your T3 med. I don't really see the Tirosint pushing you to hyper, but I do see the T3 med, doing so.
Are your T3 pills 5 mcg each? If so, you can always drop back by 5 mcg if you need to. I think, that with your FT3 at 84%, it's silly for your doctor to keep throwing T3 med at you. Have other causes for fatigue been checked out? Or for that matter, has anyone considered that fatigue is a symptom of over medication, as well as under medication?
Well saw the Dr.
He upped (after much convincing on my part as he thinks 1.1 is perfect for FT4)...my tirosint to 112 but kept me the on the same cytomel (25).
for the last test which I posted earlier, I was on 22.5 cytomel and it was nearing my FT3 on top the range, and then he upped it to 25 ...bc my FT4 drops with the addition of FT3 (it just always does, dont know why), i suspect that him upping my cytomel to 25 last time means that my tests now would most likely show my FT4 as under 1 and my FT3 maybe even slightly out of range.
So I'm happy to have more tirosint bc its clearly needed (hope its enough?) but was a bit shocked he didnt tell me to reduce my cytomel down to 20 instead of keeping it at 25. I'm concerned that additional tirosint will convert to FT3 and push me hyper..is that sound reasoning?
Or should I chill, and keep everything as is? :)
He upped (after much convincing on my part as he thinks 1.1 is perfect for FT4)...my tirosint to 112 but kept me the on the same cytomel (25).
for the last test which I posted earlier, I was on 22.5 cytomel and it was nearing my FT3 on top the range, and then he upped it to 25 ...bc my FT4 drops with the addition of FT3 (it just always does, dont know why), i suspect that him upping my cytomel to 25 last time means that my tests now would most likely show my FT4 as under 1 and my FT3 maybe even slightly out of range.
So I'm happy to have more tirosint bc its clearly needed (hope its enough?) but was a bit shocked he didnt tell me to reduce my cytomel down to 20 instead of keeping it at 25. I'm concerned that additional tirosint will convert to FT3 and push me hyper..is that sound reasoning?
Or should I chill, and keep everything as is? :)
Sorry to be a pest...does anyone have advice? I am due to see my Dr in person today (cancellation so I jumped at the appt...really cant wait until November!)...would love feedback help with the above.
Thank you!
Thank you!
Hey Barb, I'm back :)
I was bumped up to the following meds since my last test
100 tirosint
12.5 and 10 (morning and afternoon dose) of cytomel....
Had another test done this past week and the results are
FT4 - 1.1 (DOWN from 1.30) which is 24% of the range
FT3 - 3.9 (UP from 3.4) which is 84% of the range
Based on my continuing fatigue, my Dr said to go ahead and add another 2.5 to my afternoon dose of cytomel.
I'm unsure why seeing as how my FT4 continues to drop and my FT3 is in a healthy range. Is there another combo that makes more sense that I can counter? He is of the mind that FT4 doenst matter and he says he isnt concerned with it as long as it doesnt drop below .6 (!!!!!)
Would it be reasonable to suggest something like increasing my tirosint to 113 or 125 and dropping my cytomel to 20 total (split 10 and 10 )?
I'm just trying to figure out the best thing to do. Its still hard fro me to get out of bed and it the afternoon fatigue after about 5pm is intense.
To make matters worse, he has lost a Dr on his team so now I am on a wait list until NOVEMBER to get in to see him personally (right now I have to call and talk to him through his RN which is less than ideal). previously, the worst wait time was like 3 weeks (usually around the holidays when people are trying to use up their insurance funds).
I had a cortisol saliva test done and am in a healthy range so I know its not adrenal fatigue (if anything, Its telling me I might need to drop my final 5mg in the morning as its super high when I take it).
Still havent been able to get a b12 test...but thats never been an issue for me in the past when I was getting tested and now I'm a meat eater so it seems even less likely....
I was bumped up to the following meds since my last test
100 tirosint
12.5 and 10 (morning and afternoon dose) of cytomel....
Had another test done this past week and the results are
FT4 - 1.1 (DOWN from 1.30) which is 24% of the range
FT3 - 3.9 (UP from 3.4) which is 84% of the range
Based on my continuing fatigue, my Dr said to go ahead and add another 2.5 to my afternoon dose of cytomel.
I'm unsure why seeing as how my FT4 continues to drop and my FT3 is in a healthy range. Is there another combo that makes more sense that I can counter? He is of the mind that FT4 doenst matter and he says he isnt concerned with it as long as it doesnt drop below .6 (!!!!!)
Would it be reasonable to suggest something like increasing my tirosint to 113 or 125 and dropping my cytomel to 20 total (split 10 and 10 )?
I'm just trying to figure out the best thing to do. Its still hard fro me to get out of bed and it the afternoon fatigue after about 5pm is intense.
To make matters worse, he has lost a Dr on his team so now I am on a wait list until NOVEMBER to get in to see him personally (right now I have to call and talk to him through his RN which is less than ideal). previously, the worst wait time was like 3 weeks (usually around the holidays when people are trying to use up their insurance funds).
I had a cortisol saliva test done and am in a healthy range so I know its not adrenal fatigue (if anything, Its telling me I might need to drop my final 5mg in the morning as its super high when I take it).
Still havent been able to get a b12 test...but thats never been an issue for me in the past when I was getting tested and now I'm a meat eater so it seems even less likely....
COMMUNITY LEADER
FT3 should be higher in its range than FT4 in its. Your levels are opposite. Your FT4 is at 62.5% of the range, while your FT3 is only 55%. Rule of thumb is for FT4 to be about mid range and FT3 to be mid range to upper third of the range.
Absolutely, we're all different and yes, some symptoms can cross over and apply to either hyper or hypo. Joint aches, hair loss and anxiety, typically, are all hypo symptoms, though anxiety often applies to hyper, as well. Slow metabolism is a hypo symptom.
I agree that you need to decrease the Tirosint and increase the cytomel.
I've been on Tirosint since shortly after it came on the market in 2009 and once I switched to it, I never considered going back to synthroid or generic levo. I did have to adjust my dosage, once. I started Tirosint at 100 mcg and my FT4 shot up to the top of the range, but FT3 stayed on the floor. We dropped the Tirosint back to 88 mcg and left my T3 med the same (5 mcg) for a while, to see if things would even out. FT3 still stayed too low, so eventually, we increased T3 med to 7.5 mcg and earlier this month we increased it again to 10 mcg, keeping the Tirosint the same. My TSH lives at < 0.01 to 0.01, and I'm not the least bit hyper.
Do you split your T3 dosage into more than one dose during the day? Most of us find that splitting T3 med into more than one dose keeps levels more stable throughout the day. I take my first dose in the morning; second one around noon.
Absolutely, we're all different and yes, some symptoms can cross over and apply to either hyper or hypo. Joint aches, hair loss and anxiety, typically, are all hypo symptoms, though anxiety often applies to hyper, as well. Slow metabolism is a hypo symptom.
I agree that you need to decrease the Tirosint and increase the cytomel.
I've been on Tirosint since shortly after it came on the market in 2009 and once I switched to it, I never considered going back to synthroid or generic levo. I did have to adjust my dosage, once. I started Tirosint at 100 mcg and my FT4 shot up to the top of the range, but FT3 stayed on the floor. We dropped the Tirosint back to 88 mcg and left my T3 med the same (5 mcg) for a while, to see if things would even out. FT3 still stayed too low, so eventually, we increased T3 med to 7.5 mcg and earlier this month we increased it again to 10 mcg, keeping the Tirosint the same. My TSH lives at < 0.01 to 0.01, and I'm not the least bit hyper.
Do you split your T3 dosage into more than one dose during the day? Most of us find that splitting T3 med into more than one dose keeps levels more stable throughout the day. I take my first dose in the morning; second one around noon.
Hi. I got my results
free t3 2.8 1.7-3.7
Free t4 1.2. .7-1.5
Tsh .33. .35-4.94
My doctor thought I was over medicated. She told me to drop the cytomel. I will try this because I don't think it will make a difference. Just to scratch that off the list. I think I should decrease the tirosint and increase cytomel. I am worried I will have more side affects if I go back. Have you switched back and forth and had an adjustment period with bad side effects? My symptoms seem more hyper. Everyone is different and wether you are hypo or hyper symptoms can cross over. Clearly I m out of balance. I don't have the brain fog like I do when I am hypo. I am constantly hungry. Stomach growling hungry. When I am hypo I am not hungry. My metabolism is slow. I m scared of switching back.
free t3 2.8 1.7-3.7
Free t4 1.2. .7-1.5
Tsh .33. .35-4.94
My doctor thought I was over medicated. She told me to drop the cytomel. I will try this because I don't think it will make a difference. Just to scratch that off the list. I think I should decrease the tirosint and increase cytomel. I am worried I will have more side affects if I go back. Have you switched back and forth and had an adjustment period with bad side effects? My symptoms seem more hyper. Everyone is different and wether you are hypo or hyper symptoms can cross over. Clearly I m out of balance. I don't have the brain fog like I do when I am hypo. I am constantly hungry. Stomach growling hungry. When I am hypo I am not hungry. My metabolism is slow. I m scared of switching back.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Just because TSH is low, doesn't mean you are hyper; your symptoms indicate hypo. You're only hyper if you have hyper symptoms and your FT levels are too high for you.
I'd have to see your exact labs, with reference ranges before I could make any suggestions. Please post your labs so we can better assess your situation.
You can always switch back, if you want. What do you mean that you're worried "something strange will happen"?
I'd have to see your exact labs, with reference ranges before I could make any suggestions. Please post your labs so we can better assess your situation.
You can always switch back, if you want. What do you mean that you're worried "something strange will happen"?
I am currently on 125 mcg of tirosint and 5 mcg of cytomel. In April I switched just t4 (synthroid) after about 2 months I got horrible joint aches, hair loss and anxiety. So bad that I had to stop running! I don't have my exact labs and will try to post them tomorrow. My tsh is low and i am prett sure my ft4 and ft3 are subotimal in range though. I am probably hyper. I think this may be a dosage problem. I was started on the same dose. I don't know if I should stick with Tirosint maybe lower dose and increase cytomel or go back to synthroid and the old doses. I was ok on synthroid not optimal though. But no horrible symptoms just tired. Is it bad switching bad? I have 3 kids starting school and am worried something strange will happen!
COMMUNITY LEADER
Increasing your T3 med, should only lower your FT4 slightly and temporarily, as long as you keep taking the same amount of Tirosint.
I think you need to give your meds more time to work, instead of constantly adjusting doses, times, etc. Even though cytomel is fast acting, it still can take time for it to build in your system. I was on it for nearly a year, before I could tell it was really doing something for me.
Have you had vitamin B12 tested? Lower levels of B12 can cause excruciating fatigue.
I think you need to give your meds more time to work, instead of constantly adjusting doses, times, etc. Even though cytomel is fast acting, it still can take time for it to build in your system. I was on it for nearly a year, before I could tell it was really doing something for me.
Have you had vitamin B12 tested? Lower levels of B12 can cause excruciating fatigue.
and this is a random question but does changing your thyroid meds ever affect your sinuses? I've had terrible allergies/sinuses (never used to be a problem) ever since we started adjusting my meds (used tobe on the same dose of armour for years). Is this common?
So I upped the cytomel to 20 per my Dr a few days ago. it helped a bit but not a lot - I'm still tired. Wondering what the next adjustment will be. I assume this increase will naturally decrease my FT4 numbers which were 1.3 last time. Wondering if next adjustment will be to increase the tirosint to 113? or maybe even 125?
Taking the tirosint at night has helped some. i'm not AS tired when I get out of bed and dont feel as zombie like but I'm still tired. I hate this. I hate to whine but I just want to feel normal and energetic again. i wish I just bounced out of bed in the morning like I used to.
Taking the tirosint at night has helped some. i'm not AS tired when I get out of bed and dont feel as zombie like but I'm still tired. I hate this. I hate to whine but I just want to feel normal and energetic again. i wish I just bounced out of bed in the morning like I used to.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Many of us find it easier to adjust FT4 and T3 meds separately, vs a combo.
As I've noted before, T4 meds, such as Tirosint, are not fast acting, so what you take today, isn't going to make you tired tomorrow morning. Aside from that, because Tirosint only contains, levo, water, glycerin and gelatin, there's nothing to react to.
That said, there are some who take T4 med at night and have good luck with it. You have to be sure to eat dinner early enough to have an empty stomach when you take the pill. Typically, it will take 3-6 hrs to empty your stomach, depending on what you eat for dinner. That's why it's usually easier to take the pill in the morning, because your stomach empties overnight.
As I've noted before, T4 meds, such as Tirosint, are not fast acting, so what you take today, isn't going to make you tired tomorrow morning. Aside from that, because Tirosint only contains, levo, water, glycerin and gelatin, there's nothing to react to.
That said, there are some who take T4 med at night and have good luck with it. You have to be sure to eat dinner early enough to have an empty stomach when you take the pill. Typically, it will take 3-6 hrs to empty your stomach, depending on what you eat for dinner. That's why it's usually easier to take the pill in the morning, because your stomach empties overnight.
Also. What have you heard about taking t4 med at night? I'm wondering if its my med making me super duper tired in the morning. The one time I took a fasted blood draw this week was the first time in a while that I was able to function well early in the morn. Perhaps I do better taking tirosint at night and the cytomel during the day? Seems worth a shot
Bc my FT4 was also low at that point and there was no way to increase without also increasing the T3. Plus it just never worked and anytime we played with adjusting my armour dose, I had horrible physical side affects (bloating, pain - couldnt walk at times ...it was awful..its one of the reasons I stayed on the same dose for almost 2 years...I basically got to the point where I wasnt in pain but didnt feel good but just ran with it bc I was afraid of messing with it)
Basically it just seemed easier to try something else and adjust them seperately
Basically it just seemed easier to try something else and adjust them seperately
COMMUNITY LEADER
I don't take any medicine before I get up.... Taking my Tirosint is the first thing I do every morning. Typically, I wait a little while before taking my T3 (30 minutes to an hour), because I also take bp med and Lasix for fluid retention; however, sometimes I just take it all together. I take my second dose of T3 any time between 11:00 & 1:00, but try to keep it around noon.
As I said before, there's no reason to split the Tirosint, because it's a very slow acting medication, which does not have an immediate effect.
There are 2 ways to figure the equivalency of Armour to synthetics...... the way you did and the conversion chart. According to the Armour conversion chart, 1.5 grains is equivalent to 150 mcgs of T4 or 37.5 mcg cytomel.
If your FT3 went over range on 1.5 grains of Armour and 10 mcg cytomel, why didn't you just cut the cytomel?
As I said before, there's no reason to split the Tirosint, because it's a very slow acting medication, which does not have an immediate effect.
There are 2 ways to figure the equivalency of Armour to synthetics...... the way you did and the conversion chart. According to the Armour conversion chart, 1.5 grains is equivalent to 150 mcgs of T4 or 37.5 mcg cytomel.
If your FT3 went over range on 1.5 grains of Armour and 10 mcg cytomel, why didn't you just cut the cytomel?
One other med specific question since you are on a similar combo.
I currently take my tirosint and cytomel in split doses. I take the first half an hour before i get up and the next half about 6 hours later..would it be better for the morning dose, to only take the tirosint an hour early and wait to take my first dose of cytomel once I'm up? Is that what you do?
I currently take my tirosint and cytomel in split doses. I take the first half an hour before i get up and the next half about 6 hours later..would it be better for the morning dose, to only take the tirosint an hour early and wait to take my first dose of cytomel once I'm up? Is that what you do?
Thank you. Its usually just a generally tiredness - like lack of energy, although recently its turned in to heavy tiredness as well.
I was frustrated about the b12 thing. Apparently he doesnt think the tests are accurate. It was the nurse who told me - she didnt clarify if it was just blood tests he didnt trust or what.Strange.
I am curious what my Dr suggests. He wont really look at the whole tests I guess until the RT3 comes in (it usually has to go to a secondary lab so takes a while).
Its crazy how different meds work. When I was on my dose of 2 years (on which I never felt well and it really turned bad forcing me to switch). I was on 1.5 grains of armour plus 10 cytomel (originally I was a terrible FT4 converter so it got high along with RT3 but my FT3 never budged...then all of a sudden it changed)....
which if my calculations are correct meant I was on a combo of 57ish T4, and 23.5 T3....at that dosage - my FT4 had tanked and my FT3 was above range or near it (fluctuated)!
So its amazing to me that Im on 100 tirosint and 15 T3 and they aren't super high yet. Crazy.
I was frustrated about the b12 thing. Apparently he doesnt think the tests are accurate. It was the nurse who told me - she didnt clarify if it was just blood tests he didnt trust or what.Strange.
I am curious what my Dr suggests. He wont really look at the whole tests I guess until the RT3 comes in (it usually has to go to a secondary lab so takes a while).
Its crazy how different meds work. When I was on my dose of 2 years (on which I never felt well and it really turned bad forcing me to switch). I was on 1.5 grains of armour plus 10 cytomel (originally I was a terrible FT4 converter so it got high along with RT3 but my FT3 never budged...then all of a sudden it changed)....
which if my calculations are correct meant I was on a combo of 57ish T4, and 23.5 T3....at that dosage - my FT4 had tanked and my FT3 was above range or near it (fluctuated)!
So its amazing to me that Im on 100 tirosint and 15 T3 and they aren't super high yet. Crazy.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Okay, I wanted to be sure I wasn't hallucinating or something...... lol
FT4 dropping that little bit, wouldn't increase your tiredness, because, if you remember, the body doesn't use FT4, directly, it has to be converted to FT3. FT4 does not correlate with symptoms.
As I said before, I think it's too soon for any kind of increase; you have to give the medication time to work. You were hypo, and it takes time to get well again. Making changes too quickly doesn't give your body time to get used the medication.
While your levels aren't totally awesome, neither are they "horrible", I think you should look at something, other than thyroid as the cause of your tiredness, particularly, if it's getting worse, instead of better. Can you describe the tiredness? Are you eyes heavy,like you need to sleep all the time? Or is it a "body tired", in which you simply don't have any energy? Or both?
Why did your doctor refuse to test Vitamin B-12?
FT4 dropping that little bit, wouldn't increase your tiredness, because, if you remember, the body doesn't use FT4, directly, it has to be converted to FT3. FT4 does not correlate with symptoms.
As I said before, I think it's too soon for any kind of increase; you have to give the medication time to work. You were hypo, and it takes time to get well again. Making changes too quickly doesn't give your body time to get used the medication.
While your levels aren't totally awesome, neither are they "horrible", I think you should look at something, other than thyroid as the cause of your tiredness, particularly, if it's getting worse, instead of better. Can you describe the tiredness? Are you eyes heavy,like you need to sleep all the time? Or is it a "body tired", in which you simply don't have any energy? Or both?
Why did your doctor refuse to test Vitamin B-12?
You are correct! I was looking at my file of tests and it was out of order. and yes the same lab ran them and they are the same ranges
So its only that my T4 went down a bit - could that explain the increase in fatigue?
My FT3 is only up a small amount. If it stay the same what do you think the next bump up or down will be? I only seem to be getting more tired as the days go on. leave the T4 alone and add T3?
So its only that my T4 went down a bit - could that explain the increase in fatigue?
My FT3 is only up a small amount. If it stay the same what do you think the next bump up or down will be? I only seem to be getting more tired as the days go on. leave the T4 alone and add T3?
COMMUNITY LEADER
Are the reference ranges the same as the ones you posted on 7/11/13?
I'm confused, because on 7/11/13 you posted the following:
"Here are my latest results as promised, ranges are in parenthesis:
TSH: .015 (.350-3.0)
Free T4: 1.55 (.90-1.80)
T3 Total: 93 (60-181)
Total T4: 9.3 (4.5 - 10.9)
Freet T3 : 3.20 (2.3 - 4.2) "
At that time, your FT4 was higher than it needed to be and FT3 was only 47% of the range. If you are currently at 3.4 for FT3, you've come up from 47% to 57%, which is definitely moving in the right direction.
I think it's still too soon to ask for an increase.
I'm confused, because on 7/11/13 you posted the following:
"Here are my latest results as promised, ranges are in parenthesis:
TSH: .015 (.350-3.0)
Free T4: 1.55 (.90-1.80)
T3 Total: 93 (60-181)
Total T4: 9.3 (4.5 - 10.9)
Freet T3 : 3.20 (2.3 - 4.2) "
At that time, your FT4 was higher than it needed to be and FT3 was only 47% of the range. If you are currently at 3.4 for FT3, you've come up from 47% to 57%, which is definitely moving in the right direction.
I think it's still too soon to ask for an increase.
Hello!
I got my labs back (no Vit D or B12 though - he wouldnt run them and so I will have to do it myself).
I have been on the 100 tirosint plus 15 cytomel for 3 weeks and just ran the tests. Looks like everything came DOWN some which explains why its been harder and harder for me to get out of bed in the morning. My fatigue is crushing. Now its even hitting me prior to bed.
I went from (T4) 1.4 , to 1.3
and went from (t3) 3.5 to 3.4
Not a huge change but obviously not in the right direction...
Is it appropriate for me to ask for an additional 5 of cytomel to see if it helps? should i reduce T4 med to 75 when I increase? I'm asking my Dr but am curious what you think.
Thank you!
I got my labs back (no Vit D or B12 though - he wouldnt run them and so I will have to do it myself).
I have been on the 100 tirosint plus 15 cytomel for 3 weeks and just ran the tests. Looks like everything came DOWN some which explains why its been harder and harder for me to get out of bed in the morning. My fatigue is crushing. Now its even hitting me prior to bed.
I went from (T4) 1.4 , to 1.3
and went from (t3) 3.5 to 3.4
Not a huge change but obviously not in the right direction...
Is it appropriate for me to ask for an additional 5 of cytomel to see if it helps? should i reduce T4 med to 75 when I increase? I'm asking my Dr but am curious what you think.
Thank you!
How soon should I retest and potentially adjust my levels? A month? Feeling tired so just want to look forward to a change ;)
COMMUNITY LEADER
I was on 5 mcg of T3 for several years, then I finally got raised to 7.5; over the past couple of months, I somehow ended up with extra pills, so I raised it to 10 mcg....... one 5 mcg pill in am, another around noon. I see my endo in Aug and I'm hoping that when he sees that I feel better on 10 mcg/day, he'll write me a script for that.
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Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
TSH is often suppressed when on a replacement thyroid hormone, particularly one with a T3 component, such as cytomel, but that doesn't have to do with whether or not your thyroid is still producing. It has to do with whether the pituitary gland thinks there's enough hormones (no matter where they come from) or not; apparently, your pituitary is a happy camper. When the pituitary senses adequate (or too much) hormones, it will stop asking the thyroid to produce more, which is what TSH does. Sometimes, the pituitary has plenty of hormones, but the rest of the body doesn't, which could leave you with peripheral hypothyroidism - I suspect this to be part of my own problem.
Yes, some people do crash after a couple weeks on a new med. As I noted above, it's not unusual for symptoms to get worse, or for new ones to appear, when you change doses/meds. Also as both myself and flyingfool noted, your body has to have time to "get well" after the meds reach potential. Each time you're changing the dosage/med, your body has to start all over again.
I know that crash is no fun, but sometimes you just have to ride it out for a bit to see if things get better. I, too, would be interested in your symptoms, when you experience this crash.
By the way - since it takes 4-6 weeks for med to reach full potential in your blood, taking labs at only 3 weeks into a dosage would not give you a full picture of the situation, because the med would not have had time to reach full potential/stabilize in your blood; given an actual 4-6 week time frame, your levels might, actually, be even higher. I will be interested in the next ones, as well as symptoms.