Aa
splitting doses of thyroid medicine
Im on about day 7 of splitting the thyroid medicine. I take .25 when i get up, typically at 8 am. then at 1 pm I take .13. Its Tirosint which comes in the .13.
The internal medicine doctor recommended this as ive had a really hard time taking larger amounts at once.
Am I sending a confusing message to my body even though im doing this same thing every single day? I have noticed a little bit more energy, but I still have many of the same symptoms as before, the most extreme is that weird yucky onset feeling that comes and goes every day around 5 hours after taking the first dose of medication.
thank you
The internal medicine doctor recommended this as ive had a really hard time taking larger amounts at once.
Am I sending a confusing message to my body even though im doing this same thing every single day? I have noticed a little bit more energy, but I still have many of the same symptoms as before, the most extreme is that weird yucky onset feeling that comes and goes every day around 5 hours after taking the first dose of medication.
thank you
I have been taking 88 mcg of T4 (levothyroxine) @ 10 PM. along with 10 mcg of T3.
BTW:I did experience 'flushing' when I took 112 mcg of T4 (prior to the T3 being added).
Initially, 5 mcg of T3 ( generic Cytomel) was added, then upped to 10mcg.
The 1st week on 10 mcg I split the T3 taking 5 @ 7AM and 5 @ 2PM. (as if commonly
prescribed).
After that 1st week I worked the 2PM dose gradually back until now I'm
taking 10 @ 7PM with no loss of energy in the PM.
BTW:I did experience 'flushing' when I took 112 mcg of T4 (prior to the T3 being added).
Initially, 5 mcg of T3 ( generic Cytomel) was added, then upped to 10mcg.
The 1st week on 10 mcg I split the T3 taking 5 @ 7AM and 5 @ 2PM. (as if commonly
prescribed).
After that 1st week I worked the 2PM dose gradually back until now I'm
taking 10 @ 7PM with no loss of energy in the PM.
Liz, can you explain what you mean by "t3 meds do me in"? Im curious, can you be exact in the symptoms it causes?
Thanks,
bruce
Thanks,
bruce
You are not nuts. We are all different.
Synthetic T3 was like strapping a rocket to my back, but dessicated isn't that bad for me. Why? Were all different to some extent.
I still need to increase slow when upping meds.
Synthetic T3 was like strapping a rocket to my back, but dessicated isn't that bad for me. Why? Were all different to some extent.
I still need to increase slow when upping meds.
I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one so sensitive to these thyroid meds. I don't notice anything with the T4 but the T3 meds do me in. My endo laughs at me because I split my 5 mcg pill into two doses 7 hours apart. He tells me he has people that take 25 mcg at once with no issues and that I'm nuts. Well, he thought that until I printed out a bunch of literature and handed it to him and said WORK WITH ME.
When I take my levo I get a initial surge 30 minutes later. My ears light up, my ears ring, I start shaking. Then 4 hours later I get a exhausted dizziness locked up stroke type feeling. It happens every day. On the one or two days I didn't take my meds, I didn't get this.
You sound like the last Endo I saw by telling me I'm making this up.
I now take a small beta blocker to help with the initial reaction to taking the meds. It seems to of worked a little bit.
You sound like the last Endo I saw by telling me I'm making this up.
I now take a small beta blocker to help with the initial reaction to taking the meds. It seems to of worked a little bit.
Bruce - its not a fast converter. Taking a T4 med is not going to convert immediately in the system.
I am reading and could be wrong - but you are coming across in a sense that when you take the medication within a few minutes you feel the conversion.
Its not like that.
not with the meds.
Your last test indicated you were low on the hormone values of T3. That alone can make you feel a fake surge at certain times of the day.
I am reading and could be wrong - but you are coming across in a sense that when you take the medication within a few minutes you feel the conversion.
Its not like that.
not with the meds.
Your last test indicated you were low on the hormone values of T3. That alone can make you feel a fake surge at certain times of the day.
I can't split it anymore. I tried it but it just spreads out the suffering over the whole day instead of just in the morning. When the t4 turns into t3 it hits me really hard. By doing it twice in one day, I get the initial shock twice as well.
Bruce,
Here is your original update above:
Im on about day 7 of splitting the thyroid medicine. I take .25 when i get up, typically at 8 am. then at 1 pm I take .13. Its Tirosint which comes in the .13.
The internal medicine doctor recommended this as ive had a really hard time taking larger amounts at once.
Am I sending a confusing message to my body even though im doing this same thing every single day? I have noticed a little bit more energy, but I still have many of the same symptoms as before, the most extreme is that weird yucky onset feeling that comes and goes every day around 5 hours after taking the first dose of medication.
You said you could handle doing this better with splitting and felt better than before....
You said your internal doctor instructed you to split the doses.....
Now you say you crashed when you made the choice to take it all at once when the above things proved to be more stable for you....
Why did you change things AgAiN???
Here is your original update above:
Im on about day 7 of splitting the thyroid medicine. I take .25 when i get up, typically at 8 am. then at 1 pm I take .13. Its Tirosint which comes in the .13.
The internal medicine doctor recommended this as ive had a really hard time taking larger amounts at once.
Am I sending a confusing message to my body even though im doing this same thing every single day? I have noticed a little bit more energy, but I still have many of the same symptoms as before, the most extreme is that weird yucky onset feeling that comes and goes every day around 5 hours after taking the first dose of medication.
You said you could handle doing this better with splitting and felt better than before....
You said your internal doctor instructed you to split the doses.....
Now you say you crashed when you made the choice to take it all at once when the above things proved to be more stable for you....
Why did you change things AgAiN???
I think you sort of lost me. If you take too much you go hypo? I took .38 all at once today instead of splitting. IT's 10 am here and I'm still laying in bed. The burst was so strong I had to take a xanex.
Oh dear...sorry I nearly wet my pants from laughing.....You see, on lower doses I go HYPER, then on higher doses I start to go HYPO....so if I took .35 I reckon I'd be cat on a hot tin roof!
( Oh I meant to say in the previous post, I had been on 110.7 now gone up to 114.3 not 107.1 to 114.3....der me!)
Have a look at my photos and you will see the printout I made...when on 100mcgs I am hyper, go up the dose and I go hypo...go figure....! Look and you can see when they dropped me from 114.3 in Oct 2008, down to 100.....for SIX months I was STILL HYPER!!!! GAAAAAH! Slowly started to go hypo, so I increased back up to 114.3 as I was going to USA for 9 weeks. ( I didn't want to go any more hypo)
The dose I show is for the time PRIOR to the date on the left, if you can follow that. Date is the blood draw, dose is what I was on at the time of the draw...
I call my self a ping pong ball! My endo calls me Unique.
( Oh I meant to say in the previous post, I had been on 110.7 now gone up to 114.3 not 107.1 to 114.3....der me!)
Have a look at my photos and you will see the printout I made...when on 100mcgs I am hyper, go up the dose and I go hypo...go figure....! Look and you can see when they dropped me from 114.3 in Oct 2008, down to 100.....for SIX months I was STILL HYPER!!!! GAAAAAH! Slowly started to go hypo, so I increased back up to 114.3 as I was going to USA for 9 weeks. ( I didn't want to go any more hypo)
The dose I show is for the time PRIOR to the date on the left, if you can follow that. Date is the blood draw, dose is what I was on at the time of the draw...
I call my self a ping pong ball! My endo calls me Unique.
That's quite a bit. Do you think it's too much? I'm on a measley .35 and suffering....
Yep, I get what I call my Nanna Nap slump at around mid afternoon. If I get up at 10 am , take the tablet, have a shower, get the shakes, for an hour or so, feel ok in the brain, then start getting tired, but not too bad. Then around 3 or 4pm, the old brain starts fading and the body starts thinking it's time to lie down and have a snooze. I get very heavy feeling in my arms and body and just feel cruddy. Eyes start feeling dry and heavy. It's HORRIBLE!
So I tend to do all my running around, shopping, driving, what ever in that 'window' of opportunity. Mind you I don't tire myself out! I just mean I go to the shops to get my groceries, then come home, or do some gardening, not too much work else I would never get up in the mornings at all!
I am now on 114.3mcgs thyroxine. I know! Weird dose! But I take 100 mcgs Mon, Wed,Fri, Sat and Sun and 150 mcgs on Tues and Thurs. Mathematically you add the lot up, then divide by seven and it is 114.3mcgs. I have been on it for nearly 4 weeks and noticed within the first week having gone up from 107.1 mcgs (again a weird dose, I know!) that I started with the shakes etc. I always had the arvo slump though. I hate it!
Apart from waking up very often through the night, I really haven't noticed any change in my symptoms, so when I get my next bloods done in a few weeks it will be interesting to see if there are any changes.
So I tend to do all my running around, shopping, driving, what ever in that 'window' of opportunity. Mind you I don't tire myself out! I just mean I go to the shops to get my groceries, then come home, or do some gardening, not too much work else I would never get up in the mornings at all!
I am now on 114.3mcgs thyroxine. I know! Weird dose! But I take 100 mcgs Mon, Wed,Fri, Sat and Sun and 150 mcgs on Tues and Thurs. Mathematically you add the lot up, then divide by seven and it is 114.3mcgs. I have been on it for nearly 4 weeks and noticed within the first week having gone up from 107.1 mcgs (again a weird dose, I know!) that I started with the shakes etc. I always had the arvo slump though. I hate it!
Apart from waking up very often through the night, I really haven't noticed any change in my symptoms, so when I get my next bloods done in a few weeks it will be interesting to see if there are any changes.
redhead,
Thats exactly what I get. But the other weird thing is, I feel like crap about 3 pm as well but in a different manner. So I take the meds, about 30 minutes later I suffer for about 2 hours. Then towards the end of the day I get it again. Do you get this? My endo says there is no way this is possible. Im making all of this up. I tell her that I get the worst brain fog at the end of the day, my hands shake, I cant think and i just want to lay on the floor.
also what dosage are you taking?
bruce
Thats exactly what I get. But the other weird thing is, I feel like crap about 3 pm as well but in a different manner. So I take the meds, about 30 minutes later I suffer for about 2 hours. Then towards the end of the day I get it again. Do you get this? My endo says there is no way this is possible. Im making all of this up. I tell her that I get the worst brain fog at the end of the day, my hands shake, I cant think and i just want to lay on the floor.
also what dosage are you taking?
bruce
It's more the thyroxine is digested and 'bursting' for wont of a better word, into your system. As I have said before, when I am on a higher dose I get the same thing, I feel jittery and anxious for about 2 hours, around a half to an hour of taking it. Reminds me of having a big glass of wine on an empty tummy, just not as much fun! LOL
If I have to put up with it, so do you! Just kidding! Some people just seem to feel the effects on a daily basis than others. Don't forget the average amount of time for the stomach to digest anything is 20 minutes. Once it hits the blood stream it targets what ever area it needs to. Aspirin will block pain, alcohol hits the brain, and so on. People who are 'sensitive' to noticing that 'hit' tend to react worse than those who have no side effect.
If I have to put up with it, so do you! Just kidding! Some people just seem to feel the effects on a daily basis than others. Don't forget the average amount of time for the stomach to digest anything is 20 minutes. Once it hits the blood stream it targets what ever area it needs to. Aspirin will block pain, alcohol hits the brain, and so on. People who are 'sensitive' to noticing that 'hit' tend to react worse than those who have no side effect.
An "allergic reaction" would react within minutes so it is not an allergic reaction that would warrant stopping the meds.
Keep doing as your doing Bruce...this will probably work for you.
Keep doing as your doing Bruce...this will probably work for you.
I agree to a certain extent, Despite what the "theory" on the weekly build up is, I still get all lit up after taking the t4. it happens about 30 minutes after taking it and lasts about 4-5 hours.
Thanks,
Bruce
Thanks,
Bruce
Bruce. If its working for you better than taking the full dosage all at once then keep doing that as your doctor says.
I agree with Barb and Deb that a T4 medication (systematically) needs to build up in the system - but everyone is different.
Your sensitivity to medication may require you to go at this unusual pace until your body realizes what you are getting in is helping you.
Good Luck
I agree with Barb and Deb that a T4 medication (systematically) needs to build up in the system - but everyone is different.
Your sensitivity to medication may require you to go at this unusual pace until your body realizes what you are getting in is helping you.
Good Luck
COMMUNITY LEADER
BTW - if you aren't taking that second dose on an empty stomach, there's a good chance you aren't absorbing it properly.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Tirosint is a T4 only med and splitting it will not make a difference; it's still going to build up in your system like the other T4 meds. You only benefit from splitting doses if you take something that contains T3, such as Armour, NT, cytomel, etc.
It really makes no difference on splitting the doses up daily...its what is ingested WEEKLY that counts.
I have known a lot of people who take theirs in 2 doses.....and it works well for them.
I have known a lot of people who take theirs in 2 doses.....and it works well for them.
I have heard some women swear by splitting up their dosages. They say their system responds a lot better when they split it up.
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