I have no thyroid due to cancer.
I am currently on 250mcg of Synthroid (T4) a day.
If for a short period of time, I wanted to elevate my thyroid levels using T3 (during an assisted fat loss phase,) would I need to taper in the same way a person with a functioning thyroid would?
In my head, it seems like since I am already using synthetic T4 for all my thyroid duties, there isn’t anything there to ‘harm’ or ‘disrupt’ with exogenous T3 use.
Is it that simple, or am I missing something?
You would not need to taper, why would you? You’re not missing anything.
Any tapering would be to “get use” to a particular dose. Taper up to your sweet spot and then when you’re done, continue with your T4. I personally would overlap them i.e. if you are running 100mcg/day then drop to 50mcg T3 and add 50mg T4, drop to 25mcg and 150mg T4, and then back to your 250mg T4. Just seems like a good idea. Good Luck.
[quote]TheBeat2 wrote:
Any tapering would be to “get use” to a particular dose. Taper up to your sweet spot and then when you’re done, continue with your T4. I personally would overlap them i.e. if you are running 100mcg/day then drop to 50mcg T3 and add 50mg T4, drop to 25mcg and 150mg T4, and then back to your 250mg T4. Just seems like a good idea. Good Luck.
[/quote]
Why would I change my T4 dose? I have figured out my ‘sweet spot’ day-to-day level of T4 I need. If I add any T3, it will be to have elevated thyroid levels.
[quote]DOHCrazy wrote:
Why would I change my T4 dose? I have figured out my ‘sweet spot’ day-to-day level of T4 I need. If I add any T3, it will be to have elevated thyroid levels.[/quote]
I’m assuming your T4 dose is that high because that much is needed to have enough convert in your body to T3 through 5’-Deiodinase enzymes. 250mg is a hellova dose without considering a blend like Armour anyway, but whatever works.
Anyway when you supplement with extra T3, less of your T4 is going to convert and therefore you would be wasting it. You could continue with the T4 while using superphysiological levels of T3 if you find that it helps with mood or something, but even then I’d at least lower your T4 dose (like to 50-100mg) to save rather than waste it.
[quote]TheBeat2 wrote:
[quote]DOHCrazy wrote:
Why would I change my T4 dose? I have figured out my ‘sweet spot’ day-to-day level of T4 I need. If I add any T3, it will be to have elevated thyroid levels.[/quote]
I’m assuming your T4 dose is that high because that much is needed to have enough convert in your body to T3 through 5’-Deiodinase enzymes. 250mg is a hellova dose without considering a blend like Armour anyway, but whatever works.
Anyway when you supplement with extra T3, less of your T4 is going to convert and therefore you would be wasting it. You could continue with the T4 while using superphysiological levels of T3 if you find that it helps with mood or something, but even then I’d at least lower your T4 dose (like to 50-100mg) to save rather than waste it.
[/quote]
It is a large dose. Im 6’1, 258 at about 16% bodyfat.
I’m planning on talking to my Endo about Armour next time I see him, but that won’t be till June.
[quote]TheBeat2 wrote:
250mg is a hellova dose
[/quote]
I thought he said 250 mcg.
Isn’t that 0.25 mg?
[quote]Alpha F wrote:
[quote]TheBeat2 wrote:
250mg is a hellova dose
[/quote]
I thought he said 250 mcg.
Isn’t that 0.25 mg?
[/quote]
Probably just a typo.
I didn’t even know what a micro gram was until after I had cancer.
I would taper in the t3 dose. You don’t know how your body will react, and too much T3 can cause cardiac arrhythmias, tachycardia, palpitations amongst other things. I would keep taking the T4 as per your normal schedule, and add in small amounts of T3.
[quote]BenceJones wrote:
I would taper in the t3 dose. You don’t know how your body will react, and too much T3 can cause cardiac arrhythmias, tachycardia, palpitations amongst other things. I would keep taking the T4 as per your normal schedule, and add in small amounts of T3. [/quote]
This is what seems most logical to me. I could start with say, 10mcg/day?
i would start the t3 at 25mcg, working your way up to a dose that is comfortable for you. 100mcg is the max that I have used t3 and that works fine for me.
Why are you deciding to run t3?
[quote]thetruepitbull wrote:
i would start the t3 at 25mcg, working your way up to a dose that is comfortable for you. 100mcg is the max that I have used t3 and that works fine for me.
Why are you deciding to run t3?[/quote]
It’s not a finalized decision yet, I’m just preparing if I choose to.
Interesting proposal.
There is literally no damage of cooking your thyroid, its already gone, you are pretty much free to experiment at will…
Honestly, I would be very tempted to simply play with the drug dosages and combinations.
[quote]DOHCrazy wrote:
I have no thyroid due to cancer.
I am currently on 250mcg of Synthroid (T4) a day.
Is it that simple, or am I missing something?[/quote]
Weigh your end goal, you will UP your metabolism, and you will loose weight and look beter for a while …but the whiplash will get you back.
You will end up worse (I now people in your same situation that tried this, by playng with there T4 meds, good resluts for a while but then …)
Good Luck
[quote]Mini Me wrote:
[quote]DOHCrazy wrote:
I have no thyroid due to cancer.
I am currently on 250mcg of Synthroid (T4) a day.
Is it that simple, or am I missing something?[/quote]
Weigh your end goal, you will UP your metabolism, and you will loose weight and look beter for a while …but the whiplash will get you back.
You will end up worse (I now people in your same situation that tried this, by playng with there T4 meds, good resluts for a while but then …)
Good Luck [/quote]
Who are you?
Why would I ‘end up worse?’
You know lots of people with no thyroid?
You might end up worse, for one, because T3 might leave you with the strength of a cancer patient again.
[quote]Alpha F wrote:
You might end up worse, for one, because T3 might leave you with the strength of a cancer patient again.
[/quote]
Dead on !
DOH, you never know is a tumor is gone for good. Ask your Endo.
[quote]Mini Me wrote:
[quote]Alpha F wrote:
You might end up worse, for one, because T3 might leave you with the strength of a cancer patient again.
[/quote]
Dead on !
DOH, you never know is a tumor is gone for good. Ask your Endo.
[/quote]
What does that have to do with anything? Are you implying that T3 might aggravate an existing tumor? Interesting, might, but is that your point?
Too much T3 or even at a high dose does effect one’s strength, but that’s why you can start low and work up. I can’t say what “feel good” effects lowering your T4 as you raise your T3 might do, but I can promise you that you won’t be converting T4 to T3 when your T3 is at supraphysiological levels and the only reason you’d be taking so much is because your inefficient at T4-T3 conversion. I have a long story about conversion and interesting facts, but will give the short version. I don’t convert T4 to T3 well and went from T4 to Armour to T3 for my prescript. I don’t take T4 at all anymore and am prescribed 12.5mcg T3 which I quite often boost. At 12.5mcg I produce T4, at 50mcg I don’t (barely). I don’t like to go above 100mcg because I swear I’m fine there and 125mcg makes me weak and then it gets to my head and I get weaker. lol.
[quote]Mini Me wrote:
[quote]Alpha F wrote:
You might end up worse, for one, because T3 might leave you with the strength of a cancer patient again.
[/quote]
Dead on !
DOH, you never know is a tumor is gone for good. Ask your Endo.
[/quote]
What? The tumor is gone, I have a 12" scar, almost no feeling on the right side of my neck, and poor taste buds from the iodine radiation to prove it. On top of that, I have had two full body scans over the past 2 years to confirm it.
[quote]TheBeat2 wrote:
[quote]Mini Me wrote:
[quote]Alpha F wrote:
You might end up worse, for one, because T3 might leave you with the strength of a cancer patient again.
[/quote]
Dead on !
DOH, you never know is a tumor is gone for good. Ask your Endo.
[/quote]
What does that have to do with anything? Are you implying that T3 might aggravate an existing tumor? Interesting, might, but is that your point?
Too much T3 or even at a high dose does effect one’s strength, but that’s why you can start low and work up. I can’t say what “feel good” effects lowering your T4 as you raise your T3 might do, but I can promise you that you won’t be converting T4 to T3 when your T3 is at supraphysiological levels and the only reason you’d be taking so much is because your inefficient at T4-T3 conversion. I have a long story about conversion and interesting facts, but will give the short version. I don’t convert T4 to T3 well and went from T4 to Armour to T3 for my prescript. I don’t take T4 at all anymore and am prescribed 12.5mcg T3 which I quite often boost. At 12.5mcg I produce T4, at 50mcg I don’t (barely). I don’t like to go above 100mcg because I swear I’m fine there and 125mcg makes me weak and then it gets to my head and I get weaker. lol.
[/quote]
If I understand you correctly, you are currently on only T3 as prescribed by your doctor?
This is what they had me on between surgery and radiation, and then they switched me to T4. I’d love to have my doctor switch me to only T3 so I could more quickly adjust the dose. I hate the 1-3 weeks it takes with T4.
Also, do you still have your thyroid? I assume you do, and you’re just Hypo?
Thanks.