my doctor added cytomel / synthriod

[blondee028]

I have been taking 112mcg synthroid for 3 yrs now, I have pretty much crossed over to hyper, my tsh is 0.037,  T4 13.1
my t3 free  is  low 2.7,   free t 4  1.83 . Seems like my body isn't converting my t4 into t3,  So today my doctor added cytomel 25mcg, should he have lowered my dose of synthroid? Is it ok to take the same dose with cytomel? I have hypothyroidsim and hashimotos.

[Barb135]

When I saw my new endo last week, he added cytomel to my synthroid as well.  I was at 75 mcg synthroid, which he lowered to 50 and added 10 mcg cytomel.  He told me to take it all at once in the morning, but from reading posts on here, I decided to split it into 2 doses (the tabs are 5 mcg/ea), so I take one in the morning with my synthroid about 3:30 am and the other as close to 9:30 am as possible.  That keeps me going good until I get home about 3:00 when I can start winding down to get sleepy by around 7:00 -7:30 pm.  I have had some problems staying asleep, but it's getting better as my body adjusts to the meds.

I feel better and have more energy than I have at any time since way before I was dx'd hypo in June 08.  

I wish you luck with it.  

[pep88]

I only ever take the Cytomel first thing in the morning because of that very problem.  You may also still be a little high on the T4.  Weren't you just starting to lower your dosage from being hyper?  If that's the case, the Cytomel will make you too hyper to sleep.  But I will still defer to my pal Laura1967 for more info on Hashi's and T3.

[blondee028]

I tried 1/4 of the cytomel, I went to bed at 10 pm, I woke up at 2am and never did go back to sleep. ( even after taking ambien). I haven't taken the cytomel again. Is that normal?.  shortness of breath is gone, I found out I was eating peanuts and I am highly allergic, I stopped the peanuts and I can breathe fine now.

[blondee028]

your probably right.. I took the tiny quarter this morning and really didn't feel anything, I called my pharmacy to see if they were sustained release but they aren't. I have just read so much about peoples hair falling out, its scarey. I don't want to sound paranoid but I felt this way once and it was pneumonia, it made me very tired and short of breath. Getting old is terrible. I am going to give the cytomel a shot for two weeks

[laura1967]

blondee- your Free T3 level is low...like your dr suggested, I think you would benefit from taking the cytomel he prescribed to you. Just make sure you lower your synthroid as dr instructed. Usually cytomel is broken into at least 2 dosages....I would take half in morning and half 5-6 hrs later. Or if you are a little nervous (don't be), you can start with 1/4 am with your synthroid and 1/4 in afternoon and build up to 1/2 and 1/2. Never know...you might feel a lot better!
If you feel good on the cytomel, ask your doctor to find a compounding pharmacy to put the cytomel into a time release formula for you so you don't have to take so many times per day. Good luck!

[blondee028]

I got my lab results and I think I am going to go back to my 112mcg synthroid, without cytomel
tsh 0.374 , usually almost always undectable, now climbing
t4   free 1.33  was 1.76 range   0.61-1.76
t4 10.0  was 12.0 range 4.5-12.0
t3 free 2.5  was 3.0 range 2.3-4.2
t3  100  range 85-205
why is my tsh climbing, I have joint pain again, plus headaches. should I just take the whole 25 mcg cytomel at once??
totally confused