cytomel t3 t4

Even then, you need to maintain a proper ratio of T4 to T3. You should have had your T4 increased, not your T3 this time. T3 meds will supress your TSH, so you need to be treated by your Free T4 and Free T3 results. The other important thing I want to mention is that it takes 6-8 weeks for your levels to average out and labs should be done accordingly to this, before upping meds or changing meds!

So it makes complete sense to me to try to slowly work up your T4 dosage by as Barb says with a smaller T3 cytomel dosage taken twice a day. This process will be slow. The more "traditional" of maybe common process for thyroid is to go the exact opposite route. It is to start out on a T4 only medicine and work up the dosage until you either feel well or you get to 50% of the range. At that point the addition of cytomel (T3) is added SLOWLY.

Your doctor has to provide you with all lab results upon request. Lots of us are on T3/T4 combos, whether synthetic levo/Cytomel of dessicated thyroid hormone. It's fairly common, although many doctors are still reluctant to deal with T3 meds (irrational).

By the way the conversion factor for T3 to T4 is 3. So the increase of 5 mcg of T3 twice a day is the equivalent of 30 mcg of T4. So that is all good so far. Next I would point to the part of the correct definition of hypothyroidism involving the "response to" thyroid hormone and ask if you have been tested for Reverse T3, cortisol, Vitamin D, B12 and ferritin. All of these are important since they also have an effect.

Initally - going on a T3 med - Cytomel in addition to the Synthroid - you will feel great - then crash. This applies to natural thyroid combo meds too. T3 hormone is direct - which means your body accepts it immediately. You expressed you felt aweful prior to starting Cytomel - so that says you were hypothyroid and wanted direct T3. Well, you gave the body - what it needed - but it wants more. This is proven on your FT3 lab - the only thing is this is an old lab so one can only assume.

OR maybe your T3 level is extremely low and maybe you need more T3 than the naturethroid ratio has in it. When using cytomel with t4 med, it is much easier to dosage to what your body needs for your t3 level to be optimum.

what effect it would have if im only on T3 (cytomel) and my T4 are so low? in other words if my T3 would be ok due cytomel and T4 deficiency. Are there any side effect of T4 defficiency?

Are those T4 and T3 results you mention Free T4 and Free T3, or Total T4 and Total T3? What symptoms do you have other than hair loss?

Are there many people out there taking Cytomel (T3) as well their T4 for treatment of Hashis? I am in the process of changing Drs. My last Dr. was very emphatic about the importance of balancing the T3 and T4, but I have heard that some med. professionals only concentrate on T4. I'm wondering what to expect with a new practitioner...

Thank you for your reply. May I ask if you know how long between stopping T3/Cytomel does it take for the T4/Levothyrox to start balancing naturally? Thank you in advance.

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.

Have you tried taking your T4 med first thing in the morning, then take the T3 med later? Cytomel does not need to be taken on an empty stomach like synthroid does; however, it *does* need to be separated from calcium, etc by 4 hours. I get up at 3:30 every morning, so I take my levo then, but wait until about 7:00 am to take my cytomel (5 mcg). By taking the cytomel later, I have enough energy to make it through the day.

5 mcg, apparently because Cytomel is 3-4 x stronger than T4. So repeat T4 1.1 and T3 2.6 went up to 5 mcg T3, 100 mcg T4, now T4 .9 and T3 2.7, so no T3 has been increased to 10 mcg. He only wants to change one thing at a time since my T4 are pretty stable, however they are rising. Probably will eventually need higher T4 again too. I do feel better splitting the dose. It seems some people are on even higher Cytomel doses though than 10, by what I am reading (25, 50?

Trail and error asTamra said. And really - hats off to your doctor lowering the T4 while trying this new script T3 Cytomel. It better to work up slow than to push too much in and I am happy to hear your doctor is playing that safe w/ you. You may find taking the T3 med around 10 or 11 is best for you.

i went from just t4 to just t3 cytomel and feel better than ever your lab result deffinately showed u dont have enough t3. my t4 was fine but i still felt horrible. my body was not converting t4 properly. i even tried to ad a little t4 after being on just cytomel for 30 days and it put me right back into the funk i felt before, so instead i just went up a tad bit of t3. i take 55 t3 per day and feel great. i thought my dr. was crazy and now love him for it.

Armour is a natural thyroid hormone which has both T4 and T3. T3 is a very short lived hormone - only lasts a few hours and often works best to split the dosage over the day. The body has to convert T4 into T3 in order to benefit. A lot of people do not have a problem making this conversion but others do. Those are the ones who benefit most from cytomel or Armour. Do you have your latest blood results?

The trial of T4/T3 combination has not been shown to be better than T4 alone according to several studies, but some patients do seem to feel better. Cytomel is about 4x as strong as T4 (synthroid) so for every 1mcg of cytomel, the synthroid dose is decreased by 4mcg....

m on 10 mcg of generic T3 (same as cytomel) and I take a 5 mcg pill in the morning, with my T4 med and another 5 mcg pill around noon. That keeps me going all day.

I too have no thyroid and would like to know how was your change in medication? did you wean off t4 or just stop cold turkey and start t3? also how much cytomel are you taking? how long have you been in t3 only? I'll have a blood test for reverse t3 in about 2 weeks and if my is high I need to go on t3 only treatment, please can you give me more details on your treatment? thanks!!!

Does anyone know why post-op TT patients are initially placed on Cytomel? I am aware that Cytomel is just T3 while Synthroid is T4, but I still don't understand. Also, how does Cytomel affect your mood? Is it sufficient or will you go hypo? Any response appreciated.

First off, anyone taking cytomel should ALWAYS get tested for Free T3, since cytomel is a T3 only med. Total T3 is, for all practical purposes, useless, because it shows the amount of ALL the T3 in your blood, including that bound by proteins and unavailable for use. The FREE T3 shows only the unbound amount that's available for immediate use by the individual cells. That's what you need to know. T4 must be converted to T3 prior to being used.

however, in your case it seems it would be easier to adjust FT3 and FT4 independently by decreasing your T4 and adding some T3 med. What happened when you tried Cytomel? I ask because Cytomel can be truthfully advertised as having no known side effects.

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?

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