Hello to All   I am pretty new to this site so don't quite understand how things work yet.Even still I am glad to be a part of this forum.My question is I have taken synthroid  only for the last 23 yrs.I  can totally relate to that never feeling the same after treatment for graves disease post radioactive iodine on t4 meds only.Recently I went to see a new endo (havent been in years) and he placed me on t3 50 mcg twice daily in addition to my synthroid which he decreased from 200mcg to 150mcg.I am sorry to report this is not working in the begining I seemed to notice alittle improvement for the better but now almost 4 wks into this I am feeling rather poorly.extremely tired sometimes fall asleep sitting up,my feet and ankles are swelling and killing me,Im constapated you name it.I phone my doc about the swelling a week ago and he blew me off and told me to see my PA that it was not a thyroid problem.I know I need more meds at this time but I am unaware if I need more t3 or more synthroid.I am quite interested in using t3 after hearing mainly good things but I am really uneducated .I think I need a new doc as well.can anyone explaine how the t3 conversion works when adding cymotel to t4 thanks

 I am pretty new to this site so don't quite understand how things work yet.Even still I am glad to be a part of this forum.My question is I have taken synthroid  only for the last 23 yrs.I  can totally relate to that never feeling the same after treatment for graves disease post radioactive iodine on t4 meds only.Recently I went to see a new endo (havent been in years) and he placed me on t3 50 mcg twice daily in addition to my synthroid which he decreased from 200mcg to 150mcg.I am sorry to report this is not working in the begining I seemed to notice alittle improvement for the better but now almost 4 wks into this I am feeling rather poorly.extremely tired sometimes fall asleep sitting up,my feet and ankles are swelling and killing me,Im constapated you name it.I phone my doc about the swelling a week ago and he blew me off and told me to see my PA that it was not a thyroid problem.I know I need more meds at this time but I am unaware if I need more t3 or more synthroid.I am quite interested in using t3 after hearing mainly good things but I am really uneducated .I think I need a new doc as well.can anyone explaine how the t3 conversion works when adding cymotel to t4 thanks 100 mcg daily of T3 is a very high dose.  T3 is normally given in a dose 1/4 to 1/8 of the T4.  Do you have recent blood tests.  It is important to get T3 and T4 tests, both free and bound.  Get the numbers - don't just take the dorctors word that they are normal.

Hello to All  I am pretty new to this site so don't quite understand how things work yet.Even still I am glad to be a part of this forum.My question is I have taken synthroid  only for the last 23 yrs.I  can totally relate to that never feeling the same after treatment for graves disease post radioactive iodine on t4 meds only.Recently I went to see a new endo (havent been in years) and he placed me on t3 50 mcg twice daily in addition to my synthroid which he decreased from 200mcg to 150mcg.I am sorry to report this is not working in the begining I seemed to notice alittle improvement for the better but now almost 4 wks into this I am feeling rather poorly.extremely tired sometimes fall asleep sitting up,my feet and ankles are swelling and killing me,Im constapated you name it.I phone my doc about the swelling a week ago and he blew me off and told me to see my PA that it was not a thyroid problem.I know I need more meds at this time but I am unaware if I need more t3 or more synthroid.I am quite interested in using t3 after hearing mainly good things but I am really uneducated .I think I need a new doc as well.can anyone explaine how the t3 conversion works when adding cymotel to t4 thanks 100 mcg daily of T3 is a very high dose.  T3 is normally given in a dose 1/4 to 1/8 of the T4.  Do you have recent blood tests.  It is important to get T3 and T4 tests, both free and bound.  Get the numbers - don't just take the dorctors word that they are normal. Let me start my saying welcome. I have a feeling that is a typo! Dropping the thyroxine by 50mcg would approximate to 12.5mcg (using the 4:1 ratio often quoted) - let's call that 10mcg. Which is 5mcg twice a day! But that could leave Dorie under-dosed. Even if 10mcg of T3 were an exact equivalent to 50mcg of T4, the roller-coaster of T3 levels would quite likely have her over-dosed for a few hours of the day and under-dosed the rest of the time. And I am not convinced that 10mcg of T3 *is* an exact equivalent of 50mcg of T4! So I suggest that the reduction in T4 dose is too great for the T3 being taken. I feel that a better approach would be for Dorie to take 150mcg T4 every day - and have the flexibility to take a bit more (say 12.5 to 25mcg) as she needs. Of course, there's hardly a doctor who would go along with that - far too much reliance on the patient. I can't explain the T3 conversion with Cytomel any better than without Cytomel! Although often talked about, I believe it to be considerably more complicated than anyone allows. For example, the deiodinases which actually do the conversion (known as D1, D2 and D3) seem to themselves depend on the thyroid hormone levels in the system. There is much talk over local conversion with at least liver, kidney, skeletal muscle, brown and white fat, hair follicles and brain all doing at least some conversion. And there is the question over how much of that T3 gets back into the blood stream. I take it that you know about taking thyroid hormones away from food and other medications? Are you taking anything else? Vitamins? Minerals? Medicines? Let us know a bit more - and someone might be able to help more. Do keep posting.

Hello to All  I am pretty new to this site so don't quite understand how things work yet.Even still I am glad to be a part of this forum.My question is I have taken synthroid  only for the last 23 yrs.I  can totally relate to that never feeling the same after treatment for graves disease post radioactive iodine on t4 meds only.Recently I went to see a new endo (havent been in years) and he placed me on t3 50 mcg twice daily in addition to my synthroid which he decreased from 200mcg to 150mcg.I am sorry to report this is not working in the begining I seemed to notice alittle improvement for the better but now almost 4 wks into this I am feeling rather poorly.extremely tired sometimes fall asleep sitting up,my feet and ankles are swelling and killing me,Im constapated you name it.I phone my doc about the swelling a week ago and he blew me off and told me to see my PA that it was not a thyroid problem.I know I need more meds at this time but I am unaware if I need more t3 or more synthroid.I am quite interested in using t3 after hearing mainly good things but I am really uneducated .I think I need a new doc as well.can anyone explaine how the t3 conversion works when adding cymotel to t4 thanks 100 mcg daily of T3 is a very high dose.  T3 is normally given in a dose 1/4 to 1/8 of the T4.  Do you have recent blood tests.  It is important to get T3 and T4 tests, both free and bound.  Get the numbers - don't just take the dorctors word that they are normal.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Thanks for the info. Yes at the time of my visit I did have recent blood tests with a TSH of 2.56  normal being 0.40 - 4.50 mIU/L and a T3 of 141 with the normal being from 97 - 219 ng/dl T4 was at 1.4 normal 0.8-1.8 ng/dl So my T3 did suggest I was a bit low.as stated at that time with those results I was on (synthyroid only) 200 mcg for the past 5 yrs.I have been reading on some of the thyroid info sites that the TSH ratios are now at  2 being considered  a normal high so I am going to assume that my TSH was also high.My T4 being in the upper limits is understandable while taking synthroid  I'm not sure I understand the conversion of cymotel because I was under the impression that this could even be raised _base_d on symptoms as long as the T4 is lowered.Also I am not having even one sign of being over dosed on the cymotel as far as symptoms.As I mentioned in the begining of the switch I started to feel alittle better I have a feeling that this was due to the fact that the T4 was still in my system having the half life that it has.Now at 4 weeks I am feeling very tired etc.. with the return of hypo symptoms.I have the impression from you that it might be better for my doctor to raise the synthyroid back up to mabe 175mcg instead of 200mcg Could you explain further ? As far as meds go I do not currently take any vitimins etc However I have had some other health issues having had 4 brain surgeries in the past 4 yrs for a rare but painfull condition called trigeminal neurlgia so I do take pain meds but have been on them for some time without the current symptoms.Unless I have misunderstood things I thought the cymotel could and should be raised untill the patient is symptom free ?

 ...  ... Hello to All  ...  I am pretty new to this site so don't quite understand how things  ... work yet.Even still I am glad to be a part of this forum.My question  ... is I have taken synthroid  only for the last 23 yrs.I  can totally  ... relate to that never feeling the same after treatment for graves  ... disease post radioactive iodine on t4 meds only.Recently I went to see  ... a new endo (havent been in years) and he placed me on t3 50 mcg twice  ... daily in addition to my synthroid which he decreased from 200mcg to  ... 150mcg.I am sorry to report this is not working in the begining I  ... seemed to notice alittle improvement for the better but now almost 4  ... wks into this I am feeling rather poorly.extremely tired sometimes  ... fall asleep sitting up,my feet and ankles are swelling and killing  ... me,Im constapated you name it.I phone my doc about the swelling a week  ... ago and he blew me off and told me to see my PA that it was not a  ... thyroid problem.I know I need more meds at this time but I am unaware  ... if I need more t3 or more synthroid.I am quite interested in using t3  ... after hearing mainly good things but I am really uneducated .I think I  ... need a new doc as well.can anyone explaine how the t3 conversion works  ... when adding cymotel to t4 thanks  ...  ... 100 mcg daily of T3 is a very high dose. Not for me, it isn't. I have taken 100 mcg T3 for the past 10 years and couldn't feel better. I have tried taking 75 mcg - after a few weeks I feel my memory going down the drain and the fog coming back. We are all different... ===== It sounds much better in French, but then, everything does. Hi there you mentioned you have been taken 100mcg T3 for the past 10 yrs. is that in  addition to  your synthyroid ?

 ...  ...  ...  ...  ... Hello to All  ...  ...  I am pretty new to this site so don't quite understand how things  ...  ... work yet.Even still I am glad to be a part of this forum.My question  ...  ... is I have taken synthroid  only for the last 23 yrs.I  can totally  ...  ... relate to that never feeling the same after treatment for graves  ...  ... disease post radioactive iodine on t4 meds only.Recently I went to see  ...  ... a new endo (havent been in years) and he placed me on t3 50 mcg twice  ...  ... daily in addition to my synthroid which he decreased from 200mcg to  ...  ... 150mcg.I am sorry to report this is not working in the begining I  ...  ... seemed to notice alittle improvement for the better but now almost 4  ...  ... wks into this I am feeling rather poorly.extremely tired sometimes  ...  ... fall asleep sitting up,my feet and ankles are swelling and killing  ...  ... me,Im constapated you name it.I phone my doc about the swelling a week  ...  ... ago and he blew me off and told me to see my PA that it was not a  ...  ... thyroid problem.I know I need more meds at this time but I am unaware  ...  ... if I need more t3 or more synthroid.I am quite interested in using t3  ...  ... after hearing mainly good things but I am really uneducated .I think I  ...  ... need a new doc as well.can anyone explaine how the t3 conversion works  ...  ... when adding cymotel to t4 thanks  ...  ...  ...  ... 100 mcg daily of T3 is a very high dose.  ...  ... Not for me, it isn't. I have taken 100 mcg T3 for the past 10 years and couldn't  ... feel better.  ...  ... I have tried taking 75 mcg - after a few weeks I feel my memory going down the  ... drain and the fog coming back. We are all different...  ...  ... =====  ... It sounds much better in French, but then, everything does.  ...  ... Hi there you mentioned you have been taken 100mcg T3 for the past 10  ... yrs. is that in  addition to  your synthyroid ? Synthroid has as much effect on my thyroid as a glass of fresh water. Alas, I can't count on T4 to keep me alive and functioning. ===== It sounds much better in French, but then, everything does. So I take it you are on T3 alone and feel great .Good for you.I was thinking about trying Armour which is supposed to work better for those without any thyroid left.I fit into this catagory.Have you ever trid Armour ?