my experience with t3 to graveslady...it really can and does help

[TAILFETHERZ]

dear graveslady, please forgive me, as you are so helpful to so many of us, and i am grateful. but i am so upset by the way you post to others about t3. if i had not already been on t3 when i found this site, i would have been afraid to try it after reading your view on it. but i was thankfully already on it, and it has helped saved my life. i had tried armour, and levothyroxine, and only got worse, and really was suicidal. so i thought t3 would not help ,BUT IT DID! i am still having to adjust my dose, and may need to try a different t4 to add to it, but i have never had a hyper inncedent on it, as i have with t4. comparing t3 to cocaine is just ridiculous. i know many, many people on t3 who do great. i do take it in the slow released compounded form, so i can;t compare it to regular cytomel. when people ask me what they should do i just tell them to research as best as they can, as everything has pros and con's. t3 helped me when antidepressants didn't, and i now have a functioning ovary after starting t3. i have doctors and many hormone test to back this up. i still am not 100% and still stuggle, but i know for a fact that t3 has helped me function again. i could not even drive before starting it, and i am only 37 years old. i do not try do downplay any drug, even if i had a bad reaction to it, because we are all different. please, please be careful when you tell others about t3, we are looking to people like you for help, and i am 100% certain that t3 can and does help many. i know it can be bad for some, but so can certain t4 meds. i do appreciate you very much.

[GravesLady]

I am not advocating for  or against T-3, Amour or cytomel, etc. Nor am I going to argue the issue. I  give the negative side because a person can't damage or harm themselves, or even worse, from the positives that some people experience.  People should know and beware of the negatives or the bad side. I try to give an inform information per medical, thyroid org and government sites, as well as reading peoples personal experiences.  Not everyone is like you, or others who do well, for a lot of people do very bad. It has not been scientific proven that people do well on this medication, there has been studies. I have read that T-3 is given for serious depression.  So if it helps in the minds eye fine, for for whatever reason, that can be just a healing. Its up to people to take the information and make an inform decision as to whether to use these type of thyroid medications. I am sure people can search the net or read post like yours for the positive side.

I am glad you are doing well on this thyroid med.,  but you must remember not everyone dose.  Please keep this in mind as you read my post in the future.

Continue Good Health!

[TAILFETHERZ]

dear graveslady, again thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with me. i certainly do not and would not try to argue the issue with you. i know from your post, you are very commpationate and i do believe that , like me, you just want thyroid patients to achieve excellant health, no matter what thyroid med. they take. and very true, i can help others too by posting my experience with t3. hope their is no hard feelings, as i'm sure i will need to ask you something in the future!! this has been a very long rollar coaster ride, and i am ready to get off!! LOL   god bless and good health to you

[bizwiz12751]

I also am like you and I am on the Synthroid/Cytomel combo with great success. I think that the T4/T3 combo is a fairly new aspect and is still in the early stages of research. I know that after my TT in February due to papillary carcinoma, Synthroid just wasn't doing the job for me, no matter what dosage it was. I finally started to feel human again when my doctor incorporated Cytomel into my daily dosage. It's all about the T4 to T3 conversion and it just now is starting to become on issue. I am just grateful that my endo is very open to new ideas and is interested in making me feel better. Of course, whenever there is new medicine there is also bad aspects of it so it has to be tailored to each individual, and that's the way it should be since we're all so very different. Good luck and feel well.

[lorakin]

I was on synthroid for 8 years.  During those 8 years I still had hair loss, massive fatigue, heavy periods, numbness and tingling in hands and feet, dry skin, easily confused, couldn't concentrate, the list goes on and on...I was told that I was fine because my tsh was 1.  My endo didn't care about how I felt, just my labwork...she would always say, "your problems have nothing to do woth your thyroid, it must be something else because your tsh is fine."  After getting fed up with feeling like **** and steadily getting worse, I started to do some investigating and found out there were a lot more options than synthroid. When I spoke to my endo about adding t3, she looked at me like I was crazy..."you don't need that" she said.  I asked can we test my t3 and t4 levels? "NO" she said. t's not necessary because your tsh is fine.  Disgusted with her, I found a gp who would do the bloodwork for me.  My free t3 was in the bottom 10% of the range! She suggested I go on thyrolar, she has used it for many patients who come in and complain about still not feeling well on synthroid. I have been on thyrolar (combo t3/t4) and let me tell you, I am a new person. I now feel so alive, awake and reborn. Almost all of my prior symptoms are gone. Oh, and by the way , there are lots of studies that show benefits of adding t3.  Have a great day!!

[TAILFETHERZ]

i am so excited that you both are doing well. its so encouraging to read your post. i do think i may need to add t4 to my regimen, but i would never, ever give up my t3. did either of you experience depression with brain fog and being disconnected to life. i still struggle with the disconnected feeling ; or lack of. of course i still have dry skin and other things, but not having my mind right is awful. i find no joy and have no sense of well being, but i just keep trying. i refuse to give up even though i feel like it sometimes. but as graveslady and others have said, this doesn't happen overnight. any imput you have would be great. thanks and god bless

[lorakin]

Yes I had that disconnected feeling and absolute brain fog...couldn't concentrate at all.  Feeling much more together only after 3 months!!  Best of luck to you...Lorakin

[bizwiz12751]

Disconnected feeling, brain fog.......seem to be the standard complaint. I was always very quick on my feet and sharp tongued all the time, now unfortunately, that changed a little. Sometimes I struggle for the words because of the brain fog. It does seem to get better day by day but I am certainly not 100% or anywhere near it. However, reading this forum makes me believe that eventually it does get much better so I keep hope. Good luck!

[Jenipeni]

I recently commenced Thyroxine sodium (T4 only, also known as levothyroxine sodium) after TT for multinodular goitre.  

I wondered where is the T3 going to come from?  PLEASE READ ON...

So after reading through the prescribing information available I found that Thyroxine is metabolised in the liver and the kidney to T3!  This happens in everyone whether you have a functioning thyroid gland or take supplements!!!  

TO RE-CAP:The thyroid when functioning normally produces mainly T4 and only a very small amount of T3, as the rest is metabolised from T4 by the liver and kidneys!

I'm not saying anything about the other treatments available ONLY I havn't read this information here and thought I should share FYI

I found this information in the Pharmacokinetics (absorbtion/distribution/metabolism/excretion etc) section of the prescribing information for Thyroxine sodium.  Health professionals will have access to this kind of information- not sure if it is easily accessible on the net without a subscription to a pharmaceutical resource. Anyway the information came from a reliable resource and is hard fact.

[bizwiz12751]

That is true and most bodies do actually that function very well. Unfortunately, some of us have poor conversion and very little or no T4 gets converted to T3. Hence, T3 to take everyday which we need for energy, etc. I actually think that I've had this problem before the TT. I think it's just easier to explain it now that the thyroid is no longer there. Thanks.

[bizwiz12751]

If Selenium does work, I wish someone would let me know. I am honestly sick and tired of taking pills all day long. I wish there was a customized pill to take in the morning and that's it. I am trying a B12 vitamin in the afternoon to kind of see if my energy level can be staggered a little, unfortunately, half the time I forget that. It seems that everything interacts with each other.

The scar will take a while, I wouldn't go too crazy with it. However, vitamin E is very beneficial for the healing of the scar.

Energy levels, that's a different story. 19 days.........you have a ways to go. They still flactuate for me and I'm 10 months post surgery. But every day it gets better. Your monthly friend may fluctuate. I know mine did, and I got it unexpectedly the day of the RAI. That was good for me (quicker elimination) but the hospital staff were not thrilled.

Take it easy and get as much rest as your body warrants. I know sometimes it's hard with work and family, however, your health is very important. Take care and enjoy the holiday season.

[Jenipeni]

Thanks for that - its slowly all coming together the more research I do.  Just wondering if yourself (or others) have tried supplementing with Selenium to enhance T4 to T3 conversion and if so, has this been of benefit?  I have found snippets on various web pages that Selenium may be of help with the conversion but it doesn't seem conclusive...

I am currently taking B complex vitamins, vitamin C, fish oils (for my eczema/dry skin), and zinc chelate to help recovery after surgery - 19 days now.  Scar still bumpy and raised.  I am also cutting open vitamin E capsule and massaging into scar at night.

My energy levels are still pretty variable (mostly slow and sleeply still) otherwise okay BUT I am due for my monthly friend and there is no sign or feeling she is coming like usual!  WOuld it be a normal experience if my period is late or doesn't show after TT surgery?