liothyronine dosage times

[helsurf]

hi all,

since seeing my endo last week i have been taking liothyronine twice daily. (cytomel in the US i think)

is anyone else taking this and if so what times do you take it?

i was ok on the levothyroxine cos it was just once a day, and i just took it first thing in the morning

i've been taking it first thing and then about 5 pm but i find just lately that i'm wide awake and can't sleep at night and then really tired all day! and was wondering if maybe it had to do with the timing of meds (or just down to stress and anxiety!)

Helen x xx

[Jo_Stafford]

Hello

I live in the UK and have been taking Liothyronine for a few months now.   I've had to change the dosage quite a lot as I started on 20mg in the morning and it made me feel terrible.  After talking to people on this forum I found out that dose was far too high and I should have been splitting the doses.  (You think your Endo would know this wouldn't you).  I have reduced it right down to 5mg in the morning when I get up and take my 75mg of Levothyroxine at 5pm.   From what I can gather, you should take T3 in the morning and should not take it late afternoon or evening as it will stop you sleeping.   I must admit on the high dose T3 my anxiety and sleep got a lot better but I think it was draining my adrenals and that is why I felt so bad.  I now have problems with foggy and fuzzy head in a morning so I am going to ask the forum what is causing it and what I can do about it.    

I hope this helps a little.   I was diagnosed 2.5 years ago and I still can't get my meds right.  I have recently been diagnosed with Vit D deficiency which could have been causing conversion issues - all I know is my nails are growing strong and healthy now I am on Vit D supplements, something that hasn't happened in years!  I also took too much T4 for 3 months last year and it caused me to have ulcerative collitis so please be careful with over medicating.

Best wishes

Jo

[corretti]

I HAVE BEEN ON THYROID MEDS FOR YEARS ARMOUR WORKS BEST FOR ME BUT ABOUT 3 YEARS AGO I STARTED GIVING ME CHEST PAINS AND PAINS UNDER MY SHOULDER BLADE. CAN ANYBODY TELL ME ABOUT A NATURAL HORMONE THAT WOULD BE SAFER TO TAKE?

[stella5349]

Hi Helen

Cytomel as said is T3 synthetic medication. processed through the stomach and then into the blood stream

If I am reading you right - you are taking it twice a day - once in the am and then at 5pm.

i would change up the times. take it early in the am (6 or so) then again at 10am. It sounds to me your motor is running taking the T3 meds after about 5 hrs - so you sleep patterns may change taking it closer together in the morning.

Try taking a dosage of magnesium citrate at night (250mg) for a while - this may calm the system and help you sleep.

[chel 81]

I just take mine once a day in the am first thing when I wake up. I know some say you should split the dose for more consistent levels but t3 has a half life of 2.5 days so taking in once a day is okay if you have problems sleeping.

Hope this helps.

Chel

[peggy64]

Well, the can't sleep part? Welcome to my world, for 2 years now. The cytomel, could be doing that, so you might want to bump up your times. Some of us have that without the cytomel, so you might think back and see that this was a problem before, or not.

I wish I could tell you more than that, but it is not a definitive disease for some of us. Darn, can't take a pill, and its fixed. THat would be so nice.

God forgive me for taking my good health for granted.....