Overlooked Signs and Sumptoms

After rereading "Recovering with T3", I realized that I overlooked subtle signs and symptoms that I didn't have enough T3 around 5 weeks after I stopped taking T4. So many people on realthyroidhelp.com and the author of that book warmed me that I might need even more T3 after most of the T4 had cleared my system. However, I had not started at a low level of T3. I started at the last T3 level which relieved my symptoms, but stopped working after a week or so, before I stopped taking T4.

After abstaining from T4 for a few days that level worked beautifully. I was energetic all the time (esp. after switching from 2 to 3 daily divided doses), I was more 'regular' than I'd ever been (except when I had diarrhea with C-diff), and I didn't get cold hands and feet just before my next dose. Nevertheless, all that slowly changed after 5 weeks w/o T4. I started having more and more regularity problems. I felt tried more often. Normally simple tasks seemed too challenging. I spent lots of time onlihe, because I didn't want to start any projects. I wanted to go to bed. My hands were icy cold more often than they were warm. I gained 3 pounds, then lost one. Then my weight started to fluctuate 2-3 pounds every day. My weight rarely fluctuates from day to day.

I assumed that 37.5 mcg dose would carry me through the entire T4 clearning process. Of course, I really didn't calculate how long I'd need to clear. Because I'd only taken 50 or 25 mccg of T4, I may not need an entire 8-12 weeks which people who started with higher t4 doses need.

So after 5 days of higher dose T3 (40mcg in 3 divided doses), I'm back to normal regularity, having energy most of the day and feeling warmer despite cold, rainy weather outside.My weight is still fluctuating by 2 pounds from day to day (2 pounds down one day, 2 pounds up the next). I wonder whether adrenal hormone differences (cortisol) now cause my weight to shift with water retention differences. I'm uncertain whether I'll need another dose increase after 6 more weeks, when I'll reach the infamous 12 week marker. At that point most people who abstain from T4, have completely cleared T4 from their systems.

At this rate I'll need another T3 prescription before I reach the 12 week mark. I have 2 open 5mcg prescriptions (90 tablets each). So I can use those to assemble my 40mcg dose. Perhaps I'll try 4 divided doses again. (4 doses of 2-5mcg tablets would be easier than splitting pills into thirds.) I hope by the time I see my doc I will have stabilized my dosage. So I can request exactly what I need, rather than trying to assemble appropriate doses from the pills I received from a lower dose prescription. Oh well, at least I have the open (several refills) prescriptions.