Thyroid underactive: I take eltroxin someone said take t3 tabs too whats this?doc never heard of it?wat is it?

Thyroid underactive: I take eltroxin someone said take t3 tabs too whats this?doc never heard of it?wat is it?

I was told that my eltroxin tabs are known as t4 tabs and I should be taken t3 tabs too so I wont be tired all the time and my dry skin would improve and dry hair that come with underactive thyroid,I asked my nurse and she never heard of t3 tabs?

User Comments

1. I am a Nurse.
2. t3 is"triiodothyronine and " & t4 is" throxine" which are produced to regulate your thyroid . the medicine eltroxin is replacing "throxine" a t3 tab (I dont know brand name ) would replace "triiodothyronine if you are no longer producing it.
3. Sorry someone said, was it Simon? and where did he get his medical degree?
   
   T3 or Tri-iodothyronine is another thyroid hormone. It is used for treatment very rarely in patients who fail to tolerate T4 or levothyroxine, not as well as!!
   
   (Both your doctor and your nurse, should however have at least known what it was, which is to be frank a bit worrying too!)
4. It is becoming more common to combine T3 and T4 therapy in the treatment of hypothyroidism.
   
   Here are some links where you can find out more about thyroid medication:
   
   http://www.thyroid-info.com/drugs/...
   
   http://thyroid.about.com/cs/t3controvers...
   
   http://www.altsupportthyroid.org/t3/t3re...
   
   If after reading these you feel that you would benefit from the drug than you might want to consider seeing your GP again. It might also help to print off any relevant information to back up your concerns.
   
   If you then feel that your GP is not treating your condition adequately than you could ask for a referral to an Endocrinologist.
   
   Good luck, Mel.
5. T4 and T3 are both hormones produced by your thyroid. Most Doctors only prescribe T4 to there patients because a healthy body can convert T4 to T3, but many people feel much better taking both T4 and T3.
   
   If you want to take T3, you have a few options.
   Cytomel - synthetic T3
   Thyrolar - T4 and T3 in a ratio of 4:1
   Armour - Natural Pig thyroid, that contains both T4 and T3 among other hormones not found in the synthetic versions.
   
   There may be other brands that I do not know of. I just take T4 as of now, but I will be requesting to take Cytomel in with addition T4 I take at my next visit to my doctor.
   
   T3 is a more active hormone than t4, so more care is taken in prescribing it.
6. You are currently taking T4. Doctors prescribe T4 with the idea that in the body T4 will be converted to T3. With many individuals, they don;t convert well so they take T3 also. This may be in the form of Cytomel. I have tried Levoxyl with Cytomel and it has helped. I found more relief when I switched to Armour. Plus, it is better taking 1 pill verses two.
   
   T3 seems to help symptoms such as muscle & joint aches, hairloss, depression, and dry skin.
   
   If you go the Cytomel route, the dosage has to be very small..roughly 5% of the T4 dosage. I was only on 5 mcg's of the Cyomel. Like I said though, I felt better with Armour. Cytomel & Levoxyl though was better than Levoxyl alone.
   
   Links on Armour below and some websites that talk a lot about use of T4 & T3 together.