Cytomel half life

Common Questions and Answers about Cytomel half life

cytomel

1040628 tn?1268654906 I am 6 mos post op (thyroidectomy) and I felt wonderful on Cytomel. The problem is my doctor switched me to Synthroid because he indicated Cytomel has a short half life and can cause "cardiac" side effects. In place of taking Prozac for depression, I was wondering why the doctor won't consider adding Cytomel to the Synthroid dosage so we can kill two birds with one stone.
Avatar f tn It may be that since the half life of Cytomel is less than a day, you may already be feeling the effects. I assume you started back on the same dose, right? If so, you should get the effect in a few days.
Avatar f tn You do need to know what you are doing however as T3 is 4 times more powerful with a short half life (some state 4 - 8 hours up to 1 day) compared to the T4 half life of 5 - 7 days. More commonly a smaller dosage of T3 added to existing T4.
Avatar f tn So my question to you is can I cut my 75mcg synthroid in half? or just ask my doc for the 50mcg??? he gave me 25mg of cytomel. but I did cut it in half because I was scared to take the full dose. any suggestions from the pros?
Avatar f tn The half-life of a drug is how long it takes for half of it to be eliminated from the bloodstream. Hope that helps.
6298176 tn?1380134459 It has a very long half life, though I can't give you specifics. The dose and how long you were on it does factor in. Your doctor should be able to help you with your questions on this.
Avatar f tn Sorry, I realize that my answer didn't make sense. Before starting the T3, my free T3 and T4 were within the targeted ranged for me (total thyroidectomy). Within a few days of starting the cytomel (25 mcg) I didn't feel well. It took 2 weeks before the docs figured out what was wrong with me - this is when the Blood work showed the T3 was extremely elevated. The withdrawl symptoms are suppose to take 2-6 weeks. Does that make any sense?
1355431 tn?1369975306 Cytomel is a T3 med. T3 has a half life of less than a day. It reaches peak effect on serum levels in 3-4 hours and then dissipates afterward. That is why many people find that it works best to split T3 med into two doses and take in the morning and early afternoon. I am somewhat surprised that it doesn't affect your sleep when you take it at night. What, if any, symptoms do you have? What are your Free T4 and Free T3 levels, along with reference ranges?
Avatar m tn Commonly know as Cytomel, or its generic. If not, then another option would be to get a prescription and order T3 meds from sources in other countries. I know of a couple, if you need them.
Avatar f tn t stay in your system for very long - it peaks within a few hours. Its half life is only about 1 to 1.5 days. I never really noticed a huge difference when I take it either, but I do notice a difference when I miss more than one dose - of course, I'm now on 10 mcg/day and take it in 2 doses. If you stop taking it, it would be out of your system within a few days. It could take a bit for your own conversion to ramp up, so you might feel some symptoms before that happens.
Avatar f tn The rule of thumb with Cytomel or any T3 med is 5-6 hrs after first dose. But, some people also take dose in the morning and dose in the evening. It is really up to you and how you feel. You should wait at least 5-6 hrs after your morning dosage though. T3 meds don't stay in your system long. What is most important is how you feel.
Avatar n tn Well, I tried a new endo since I still live with all hypo symptoms and asked for Cytomel with Synthroid. He reluctantly agreed to give it a try. He has prescribed lowering my Synthroid to 100 and adding Cytomel 5 b.i.d. for a total dose of 10. I think that seems a little high? My labs are: TSH 1.68. FT4 1.06. Total T4 9.7. Total T3 0.88. Total T3 uptake 37%. I do not know if Cytomel will help or not, but I am willing to try it versus living with the symptoms forever and ever....
822804 tn?1298226302 I convinced my dr to add cytomel w/Synthroid 88mcg. He ordered 25mcg of Cytomel and I knew it was too much at once so I cut it in half and had only 12.5mcg in am & 12.5mcg at 2pm. I had been on the 88mcg for a long time and I just wanted to see if I increased by 44mcg (cutting an 88mcg in half) and adding it to the 88mcg (total of 132mcg) and I can't even believe how much better I feel. It took a long time for me to add the second dose of cytomel though.
Avatar m tn 7) So they told me thats way out of range and that taking the cytomel that one time wouldnt do anything because of the half life. So I started taking just 60mg of ERFA. About a month later my numbers were TSH - Less that .03 (0.30-5.60) FREE T4 - 13.6 (7.2-21.0) FREE T3 - 5.0 (2.9-6.0) So yes my numbers arent as out of whack but I feel like CRAP!!
1755386 tn?1312584941 Most people who take Cytomel split the dose and take half with their Synthoid in the morning and the other half sometime in the afternoon. Cytomel is very fast-acting, so if you don't split it, you can experience peaks and valleys in your levels throughout the day. You can experiment with when it's best for you to take the second half dose, but most people try to take it before about 3:00 in the afternoon (depending on schedule, of course) so that it doesn't disturb sleep.
Avatar n tn the problem w/ cytomel alone is that it is short acting (in and out in 12 hours) while T4 has a long half-life -- so if T3 is used, T4 should be used in combination. That being said I have 2-3 patients on cytomel alone but they take it 2-3 x /day (ie if 15mcg is your dose, take 5mcg 3x/day).
Avatar f tn I would like to know if changing from half of .25 synthroid to .5 of cytomel causes my hair to become britol and break off? I was on half of the synthroid I mentioned, and my level was at a 4. The Dr. thought it should go lower so she put me on .5 of Cytomel. I noticed the weight around my middle seemed to have trimmed down some. I teach aerobics and really didn't have any of side effects except did get tired if I did too much.
Avatar f tn I think it would benefit you more to split the dosage and take half early am and the other half in the mid afternoon, If you just started out on Cytomel, taking 15mg all at once can be a little strong to start. Try splitting it and see if you feel better.
744962 tn?1270942038 I break my Cytomel in half and take half in the morning and half in the afternoon before three. Breaking it in half may ease the hyper symptoms -sweaty and clammy. If you have a thyroid problem, be sure to get your adrenals checked as well. Adrenal fatigue is common among Hashi/hypo patients. The 24 hour saliva test is the most reliable.
Avatar f tn Most people who take Cytomel split the dose. Usually, it's half in the morning with the Synthroid and half early to late afternoon...whenever you feel you need a boost, but be consistent. You have to experiment with what works best for you.
1549937 tn?1300220335 I want my life back. If the generic Cytomel does NOT work - what should I do next, as my doctor has more or less washed his HANDS of me......and my Neurologist wants to do CT scans and Spinal taps if it doesn't work ?? HELP ME PLEASE !!!
Avatar n tn With a short lived T3 as Cytomel - splitting this in half - taking it anywhere from 4 to 6 hrs apart may help you become stable with the hormone.
Avatar f tn advice from you guys, so I cut my synthroid in half and taking only 6 mcg of cytomel. but I have been taking 1/2 of cytomel in the morning and breaking the other half in two. so yeah that is 25 mg. the only thing I notice different is at the end of the day I feel like i am carring a huge boulder. apparently I am up to come down so hard. will these meds eventually help? only 3 weeks into cytomel . should I be patient?? my labs are not due for another month. thanks for the help!
Avatar f tn The endocrinologist originally tried to balance the TSH and T4 with synthroxin. Finally he added 5 mcg of T3 (cytomel) and bingo the levels came into line. Over the years the balance has gone out a few times. Presently I take .088 mg T4 and .1 mg on alternating days and 12.5 mcg T3 daily. My latest blood tests are still out of line. Could I hear from others who needs the T3 to be balanced and have experience getting rebalanced.
407745 tn?1230850087 Some people take half of the cytomel in the AM and half in the afternoon as it is not long lasting. You might want to try it that way. I would call the doctor and tell him what you are experiencing. You may not need to take the cytomel at all unless you are having trouble converting the T4 to T3. Synthroid is T4 only and converts to T3 in the body. Cytomel is T3 only. You may be getting too much T3 by taking the cytomel.