Thyroid Hormone T3

I've been communicating with a woman who claims to have Afib. She is also hypothyroid and instead of taking synthetic T4 or NDT she takes a form of pure synthetic T3 (there are valid reasons for this) Anyhow she claims that the higher the dose of T3 she takes the less apt she is to have Afib symptoms. I offer this anecdote only because I don't recall hearing anything like this before...admittedly not that many people take T3 only.

I have done that, taken T3 only, in a long line of different thyroid meds, Mixing them every different way the last was bioidentical time released
T3 and T4 and I still got palpitations. I finally told Doc I would rather be tired than have palpitations everyday. He agreed and we are watching my thyroid though blood tests. So far so good. The single T3 did give me palpitations also.
But that is only one person the next person will probably react in a different was.

Dee

Josiah - After taking a low dose of Armour Thyroid for over 20 years, when it came time to renew my annual prescription, my FM MD said there was a caveat to physicians about prescribing thyroid hormone to those over 70 as it tended to contribute to arrhythmia and she was no longer prescribing Armour for me.

So after all my breakthrough arrhythmias over the past few years prior to the recent ablations, I stopped the Armour which is a glandular providing both T4 and T3. I wasn't happy going off totally because I continue to have hypothyroid symptoms...such as internal coldness even though my labs are normal ranges. My research indicated that since the Armour formulation change a couple years ago, many people reported problems and incompatibility with the new Armour. I also learned that Naturethroid is often used as a reliable substitute for Armour.
[jeffreydachmd.com]

In a webinar on natural thyroid hormone replacement, the speaker, a FM physician from the Massachusetts area, commented that he found it was 'tricky' to dose those thyroid hormones such as Cytomel or generic T3 alone because they tended to be too stimulating. He also didn't use Synthroid routinely but found that some patients seemed to do better on Synthroid (which is only T4) indicating the 'biochemical individuality' factor.

My doctor then suggested using a thyroid supplement with a glandular base... low dose, every other day to see if my symptoms improved. I began with a natural product by Biotics Research... called GTA(TM) which contains only 5 mg of a natural porcine glandular. [www.pureformulas.com] It comes in a higher dose of the glandular as well.

After using GTA for a couple months, I was tested and all my numbers remained in normal range... however, the hypo-thyroid symptoms I had complained about didn't change and although TSH level is not the ideal indicator for optimal thyroid function, mine was .65 so I stopped the glandular because I didn't want to overstimulate at this point in time and risk more AF. Catch 22 apparently.

I continue to use low-dose iodine (6.25 mg) as thyroid support and this probably is sustaining thyroid function enough to keep all the numbers in range....although my basal body temperature still ranges 1.0 to 1.5 degrees below normal at any point in the day or night. However, the iodine continues to manage and eliminate the thyroid nodules that developed as a result of using only T4 (Synthroid) for 10 years and probably also iodine deficient. That's great news as these nodules tend to turn malignant with time.

My point to you is be aware of the age factor caveat with regard to arrhythmia.

Best to you,
Jackie

Jackie:

I have been using synthroid since 1993, no thyroid nodules. It is harder to regulate using T4 and T3 combinations, I have read where people have more palps using the combination.

Liz

Liz - the main problem for some is that they can't convert the T4 (Synthroid) to the active hormone T3. That apparently was my case since I ended up with goiteroid tissue and the nodules. Once I changed to the combination (Armour), then the thyroid began to be more functional.

However, that said, none of the endocrinologists (4) I consulted over the years were interested in knowing about or testing my iodine levels. And, as we've noted here in other discussions, I was born and raised in the Goiter Belt where iodine deficiency is common. Knowing that, you'd think it would be reasonable for doctors to be at least curious with lifelong residents. I've known many people who have had severe thyroid issues who were also born and raised here. Several required surgical removal and some, the radioactive iodine 'nuking' of the gland for hyperthyroidism.

Jackie