Guest guest Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 Hi everyone, I'm new here and after reading an article on Sunday I have joined the group. I have a thyroid problem and have been taking tablets for over 3 years and seeing no difference other than weight gain !!! So would like to know where the T3 is available and how anyone has got on with it themselves? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Thanks, Sheila. I appreciate that you are very busy. Even telling us which folder to look in will be helpful. I have browsed through the files section to some extent, and I'm sure it will be easier to use when Delyth has finished reorganising it. Miriam > You need to go to the FILES Section Miriam and click on 'Hypothyroidism' and then click on 'Why Thyroid Hormone Stops Working'. If I gave links to every file, as I can't remember them all, I would have to go to the Files Section, get the link for you, and post it to you - and that would take up loads of my time, so it is important that members learn how to use the Files section themselves. However, I will try and remember to tell members who can't receive attachments that it is in the Files, under 'Hypothyroidism'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 thyroid treatment/files/ It's in this folder C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 28, 2011 Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 Hi everyone. I have just joined the group and would appreciate information on the Thyroid blood test. When it says on the form "Review on T4" does that mean it is not looking at the T3? I have been on levothoroxine for about 18 years - 100mg and am now having awful problems with shortness of breath, chest pains, rapid pulse sometimes,bad cramps in hands and feet, constipation. Seeing my GP soon and would like some info before seeing him. Many thanks Carole Re: T3 Hi everyone, I'm new here and after reading an article on Sunday I have joined the group.I have a thyroid problem and have been taking tablets for over 3 years and seeing no difference other than weight gain !!! So would like to know where the T3 is available and how anyone has got on with it themselves? Hello Bridgette and welcome J Whilst all of us here can understand that you are impatient to get your health back, things are not that simple; T3 is not the magic wand that will turn your life around, nor is it a slimming pill. Taking T3 without solid knowledge of what you are doing and what is happening in your body would be very ill advised... dangerous even. The first step is to understand why Levothyroxine (T4-only) is not working for you.... and here is a list of possible reasons, which you need to eliminate point for point. 1. The thyroxine dose is too low. Often this is the case, and the doctor or consultant won't increase it, since the blood levels appear perfectly okay. Sometimes, though, the dose of thyroxine is quite high – 200 mcg – 300 mcg – but you still don't feel well. 2. Partial response to the single synthetic thyroxine replacement. Your thyroid produces other hormones apart from thyroxine (which is a mainly inactive hormone anyway). These are T3, T2, T1, and most of us need them all. Without them our response is limited and synthetic thyroxine may not suit the system as well as the natural thyroid hormones. 3. Adrenal fatigue or exhaustion. This is very commonly met with indeed. The production of thyroxine (T4), its conversion to the active hormone liothyronine (T3), and the receptor uptake (called `binding') requires a normal amount of adrenal hormones, notably, of course, cortisone. (Excess cortisone can shut production down, however.) Go to our web site www.tpa-uk.org.uk , click on ]'Hypothyroidism' and then click on 'Associated Conditions' and read about the adrenal/thyroid connection there. 4. Failure of the 5 dei-iodinase enzyme. This is what happens if the adrenals are not responding properly, and provision of cortisone usually switches it on again. But sometimes it doesn't. If the illness has been going on too long, the enzyme seems to fail. This conversion failure (in explicably denied by many endocrinologists) means the thyroxine builds up, unconverted. So it doesn't work, and T4 toxicosis results. This makes you feel quite unwell, toxic, often with palpitations and chest pain. (I refer to this further on.) If provision of adrenal support doesn't remedy the situation, the final solution is the use of the thyroid hormone, already converted, T3. 5. Receptor resistance. Being hypothyroid for some considerable time may mean the biochemical mechanisms which permit the binding of T3 to the receptors is downgraded; the T3 just won't go in. With slow build up of T3, with full adrenal support and adequate vitamins and minerals, the receptors do actually come on line again. But this can be quite a slow process, and care has to be taken to build the dose up gradually. It is recommended to get the 24 hour salivary adrenal profile done through Genova Diagnostics which tests your cortisol and DHEA levels at four specific times during the day. TPA-UK get discount for thyroid and adrenal tests. 6. Food allergies. The most common food allergy is allergy to gluten, the protein fraction of wheat. The antibody generated by the body, by a process of molecular mimicry, cross reacts with the thyroperoxidase enzyme, (which makes thyroxine) and shuts it down. So allergy to bread can make you hypothyroid. There may be other food allergies with this kind of effect, but information on these is scanty. Certainly allergic response to certain foods can affect adrenal function and imperil thyroid production and uptake. 7. Presence of systemic candidiasis. This is where candida albicans, a yeast, which causes skin infections almost anywhere in the body, invades the lining of the lower part of the small intestine and the large intestine. Here, the candida sets up residence in the warmth and the dark, and demands to be fed. Loving sugars and starches, candida can make you suffer frightful sweet cravings. (I wouldn't be surprised if it can synthesize a neurotransmitter, which causes such craving that you have to have chocolate, on pain of death.) Candida can produce toxins which can cause very many symptoms of exhaustion, headache, general illness, and which interfere with the uptake of thyroid and adrenal treatment. Sometimes the levels – which we usually test for – can be very high indeed, and make successful treatment difficult to achieve until adequately treated. (More of this further on.) 8. Hormone imbalances. The whole of the endocrine system is linked; each part of it needs the other parts to be operating normally to work properly. An example of this we have seen already, with cortisone. But another example is the operation of sex hormones. The imbalance that occurs at the menopause with progesterone running down, and a relative dominance of oestrogen is a further case in point – oestrogen dominance downgrades production, transportation and uptake of thyroid hormones. This is why hypothyroidism may first appear at the menopause; the symptoms ascribed to this alone, which is then treated – often with extra oestrogen, making the whole thing worse. Deficiency in progesterone most especially needs to be dealt with, since it reverses oestrogen dominance, improves many menopausal symptoms like sweats and mood swings, and reverses osteoporosis. Happily natural progesterone cream is easily obtained: when used it has the added benefit of helping to stabilise adrenal function. 9. Mineral and Vitamin deficiencies. Minerals and Vitamins like Ferritin, Magnesium, Zinc, Copper, Folate, Vit B12 and Vit D3 need to be checked – they should be not at the bottom, but the very top of their respective ref ranges. If any of those were low – even low within the ref range – it will prevent thyroid hormone from getting inside the cells. When you have been quite unwell for a long time, all these problems have to be dealt with; and since each may affect the other, it all has to be done rather carefully. Before we can comment on any of our member condition we first need to know their history and current lab results, which need to include the ref ranges since every lab in the country has slightly different ones and you have to view the results against the respective reference ranges. Sometimes it is pretty clear just from looking at the results what might be the problem, but often it is a painstaking search for the culprit. It really is necessary to look at each and every patient individually – there is no `one fits all' formula and that includes the use of T3..... for instance – if someone with unsupported very weak adrenal function were to take T3, he or she could find themselves in a life threatening adrenal crisis. The active hormone T3 is what is needed in every single cell of our bodies – T4 is only an inactive pre-hormone which is required by the body to convert into T3. Usually the body is able to convert T4 into T3 ... but not always, and this would be one scenario where a patient really needs to take T3 in addition to T4 or even T3-only. The most common reason why thyroid hormone does not work with patients is because of adrenal fatigue. Doctors do not recognize adrenal fatigue as a diagnosis – they only recognize the extremes – 's disease or Cushing's disease – yet adrenal fatigue is extremely common, particularly in people with thyroid conditions. Thing is.... the body needs sufficient cortisol (which is produced by the adrenal glands) to utilize thyroid hormone. So when the adrenal glands are too knackered to produce sufficient cortisol, no amount of exogenous thyroid hormone will actually make it in sufficient quantities into the cells. Therefore the golden rule is: first treat the adrenals, then the thyroid.... and this is something no NHS doctor will tell you. But adrenals are just one of the 8 other possible culprits that may prevent your thyroid hormone from working. It could be any one of the above mentioned points, or any combination of them.... and you need to find out what it is, because it is pretty unlikely that your GP or even endo will help you with that. You need to learn, learn, learn the facts about thyroid conditions and much of the rectifying will be down to you. You won't get any help from your doctor about adrenal fatigue for instance, and very few doctors know about the connections of the other points mentioned above. So you see, it is not as easy as popping yet another pill. You need to identify why your body is not responding to the thyroid hormone you are taking and then do something about it. T3 is marvellous stuff, but it is an extremely potent hormone and should be treated with the utmost care and respect. Taken without sufficient knowledge of what is going on in your body it can do untold and irreversible damage. You could compare it to a learner driver driving a 300 horsepower sports car. Please tell us a bit about your history, your lab results and the amounts of Levothyroxine you are currently taking and then we can discuss further action J With best wishes, No virus found in this message.Checked by AVG - www.avg.comVersion: 10.0.1388 / Virus Database: 1516/3749 - Release Date: 07/07/11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Hi Lizzie, How's the T3 going? Hope you've had more improvement with it all !! Bridgette [Ed] > > > > > Hi Everyone > > > > Just wanted to share this with you. > > I have been on T3 10mcg for 3 weeks now this is in addition to 75 mcg of levothyroxine > [Ed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Hi Steve, I'm having a blood test done next week but not sure what things they will be testing....... doc did say he has asked for a T3 test to be done but isn't holding his breath as he doesn't think they will do it !!!... So a brick wall senario I think there. And to top that my GP is leaving the surgery so I have to find another doc to go through the whole situation again !!! I think I might even change my surgery altogether !!! I'm on 125mg of Levothyroxine at the mo, and had to battle with my GP to go from 100 to 125, and then he only wanted to trial it for a few weeks, but alas i'm still on 125mg after 2 months !!! If I can I might get my doc add to the blood test request form to do all other tests thats possible......... Glad to hear someone's feeling better !!!! Bridgette > > Hi, im amusing that the thyroid tablets you have been taking for 3 years are T4 (thyroxine) ? > [Ed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Hi , I'm due for another blood test next week, but was through a request ..... so if I can I will ask my doc to do a full test to include vits, magnesium etc. and he has asked for a T3 test but doesn't think they will do it!!...... My last results were - TSH level was <0.06 and <1.32 Free T4 was *22 and 17 So shall see what the next results are...... Bridgette > > Hi Bridgett, > > Whoa, hold on..... how do you think you need T3? It really isn't the answer for a lot of people. I'm guessing you have been on Levothyroxine [Ed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 We have a whole list of Internet Pharmacies where you can buy T3 with all manner of price ranges. Check these out. Go to thyroid treatment and click on FILES in the Menu. Then scroll down that list to 'Internet Pharmacies' - open that and you can check all of these out yourself. Your GP needs to go back to medical school, or at least on a refresher course, according to the General Medical Council's 'Duties of a Doctor' it is up to the doctor to keep his knowledge up to date. His lack of knowledge is probably causing potential harm to his patients, and I would be tempted to point this out to him. Good luck Luv - Sheila Can any one help me find information on where i can get a supply of t3 that will not cost the earth, My GP does not recognise the fact that this may help me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.