Hypothyroidism Support Group
Hypothyroidism is the disease state caused by insufficient production of thyrohormone by the thyroid gland. There are several distinct causes for chronic hypothyroidism, the most common being Hashimoto's thyroiditis and hypothyroidism following radioiodine therapy for hyperthyroidism. Advanced hypothyroidism may cause severe complications, the most serious one of which is...
Hey all-
For those of you who didn't already read my long post about my doctor's visit yesterday, I had my levo. increased and added a small dose of cytomel.
I know it takes a while for the hormones to get into your system and to start to feel any difference after a dose change, but just out of curiosity, for those of you who have been on T4 only and either added T3 or switched to NDT, how long did it take before you noticed a difference?
I'm dying for some energy and motivation and hoping this stuff will wake me up before too long!
For those of you who didn't already read my long post about my doctor's visit yesterday, I had my levo. increased and added a small dose of cytomel.
I know it takes a while for the hormones to get into your system and to start to feel any difference after a dose change, but just out of curiosity, for those of you who have been on T4 only and either added T3 or switched to NDT, how long did it take before you noticed a difference?
I'm dying for some energy and motivation and hoping this stuff will wake me up before too long!
I felt an immediate improvement in symptoms within a few days of starting T3.
However, some minor symptoms had returned by the time of my next labs.
As can sometimes happen, those next labs showed that my FT4 had decreased and it took 3 more T4 dose increases before both levels were finally optimized.
Now, my doctor wasn't as aggressive as yours as far as dose increases were concerned. She increased by 12.5mcg increments.
Maybe, just maybe, your new dosing regimen will optimize your levels (I hope, I hope :)
Best of luck to you!
It *is* a long, hard road to optimal.
T3 had to be added much further down my line than yours was, scrivener. Adding a med (or changing meds) often "re-sets" the clock (titration starts all over).
In fact, prior to the addition of T3, my FT4/FT3 levels had optimized and stayed that way for several months.
It was a full 15 months before my optimal levels "stuck"......and I've consistently needed minor dose adjustments every 3 months since then to maintain those optimal levels.
It does take, on average, 6-18 months for levels to be optimized but, many, many factors can interfere with that.
We do the best we can with what we have.
It's tough, but it can be done.
Just for clarification, I was not by any means asking how long it will take to get to optimal. I'm quite aware it will likely be a long time.
I was simply asking, for those who have added T3, how long it takes before you felt SOME difference from the T3 particularly.
My reaction was (within a day and) immediate, if you can only imagine... Think of the T3 as the caffeine...