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Cytomel with Synthroid?

Posted , 3 users are following.

dave64969
dave64969

I am another person not doing well on Synthroid even though my levels are in the normal range.  I have read that the Natural desiccated medications contain T3 as well as T4, and many people seem to do well on them. I am always sceptical of such claims but they do have me wondering if it's worth a try. 

I was on a low dose of Cytomel (5mcg) with Synthroid for a while and felt no benefit but now I'm considering going back on Cytomel at a higher dose along with Synthroid, which would seem to be the same as taking a natural desiccated product.

Question: is my thinking correct?

Question: does anyone have experience of taking Cytomel along with Synthroid?

Thanks for the help!

Dave

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • Tutu123
    Tutu123 dave64969

    Posted

    I've taken both and the t3 meds made me feel slightly more alert but my heart pounded constantly so I had to stop.

    Cytomel is still a synthetic medication so you may do better trying NDT which contains natural hormones. A lot of people struggle with synthetic even though levels are "normal". I've not tried NDT personally but ive heard good things about it.

    • dave64969
      dave64969 Tutu123

      Posted

      Thanks very much for your reply. Can you recall what daily dosage of Cytomel you were on?
    • Tutu123
      Tutu123 dave64969

      Posted

      Its just called liothyonine in the UK and I am told it only comes in 20mg here. This is equivalent to roughly 75-100mg of levothyroxine. I started on 20mg and was massively over-medicated as I was taking lots of levothyroxine as well. I then cut the tablet with a pill splitter down to 5mg and found it didn't give me much benefit and still sent my heart into a spin so decided to stop and just take levothyroxine. Neither work well for me either. Im constantly exhausted and considering NDT (but this is expensive in the UK and the nhs won't fund it for us)
  • barbara98940
    barbara98940 dave64969

    Posted

    Hi Dave, I'm in UK and I have taken liothyronine and thyroxine. Taking this combination worked initially but then wore off within a few weeks of taking it. However, this was back in 2003 when my Ferritin.was around 30 (? can't really remember the exact number, but i remember the endocrinologist saying it needed it needed to be above 70 to process thyroxine properly). So we fixed the Ferritin by my taking iron tablets (200mg ferrous sulphate). I can't really remember what happened after that. I was taking 10mcg twice a day. Even increasing it didn't make me feel much better (endo had a fit when I said I'd tried going up to 60mcg a day (it was only for a brief time - back in those days I didn't really know what I was doing). In the middle of 2015, I switched to NDT and am doing much better. Hoever it needs to be borne in mind that the two experiences (of trying liothyronine and NDT) aren't directly comparable as a lot of the other things in my life have changed since then - I no longer have two young children at home, neither am I working full-time. Having said that, I am doing much better on NDT than I was on the thyroxine/liothyronine combination. I'm in the UK so can't get NDT on NHS (even though I'm intolerant to maize starch which is in all the synthetic meds), so I buy NDT off the internet without fillers & without a prescription (with the full knowledge and support of my NHS GP - he is running regular NHS blood tests). To summarise, I suppose what I'm saying is that the T3/T4 combo didn't seem to work as well as NDT is doing, but this isn't a good comparison due to the different test conditions in place. My view is it's worth trying NDT (after all, it won't do any harm). If you do, remember to start on a low dose and increase it slowly, to give your body time to adjust to getting T3 instead of having to make it from T4. Look on tpauk for dosing instructions.
  • barbara98940
    barbara98940 dave64969

    Posted

    Sorry Dave, I have no idea why my post went to moderated. Hopefully it will be released soon.
    • barbara98940
      barbara98940 dave64969

      Posted

      Dave, I've sent you a private message, as you haven't read it yet, I wondered whether you knew how to access them - click the little envelope above your name. Barbara
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