I hit 257.5 pounds today which is a new low for me. I don't know if it will keep up, but it feels good to see a new number after being stalled for such a long time. I'll probably bounce back up again now, but am hoping the Armour is kicking in and helping out.

I take a couple of 'obscure' meds an enzyme therapy right now and my RT3 is over the MOON. But..do I 'feel like it is'? Nope. Feel as good as I've ever felt given my circumstances.

I JUST had a cousin who's doctor did RT3 clear and it 'didn't work' for her, just like it didn't work for me. Well, it didn't take long to figure out that she's on the SAME med I am, lol.

There are certain meds and therapies that can produce a high RT3. These are being researched and studied at the moment by several different 'groups'. (I happen to be in a study where they do RT3 as my 'normal' thyroid and endocrine panel, and I've had the 'privelege' of seeing it swing widely depending on what drugs I'm guniea-piggin' at the moment).

I'm very interested in trying Armour if this latest round of Levoxyl dosage increase doesn't do the trick.
Hard to find a doctor in the Boston area that will prescribe it, however. I might consier Canada.

Good luck! Levoxyl did nothing for me. I think Armour is starting to do the trick. Down another half pound today to 257. That's a pound a day for the last 11 days on average. On July 9 I was 268. Naturally this rate can't keep up, but sure is exciting right now.

Wow, fantastic results for you with that weight loss!! I actually did call my doctor and asked for either T3 prescription or a referral to an endocrinologist.
She referred me, since I don't think she has a clue what T3 replacement is or the dosage that might be appropriate.
Appointment is in 2 weeks.
This forum is so helpful- thanks for sharing your thyroid journey, because it really helps me educate and speak up for myself an maybe other people will have that experience too.

Good luck, but I think in general endocrinologists are the *worst* of all when it comes to treating thyroid, and most don't even want to consider anything but Synthroid. My PCP referred me to an endo initially too when I began telling her I was interested in natural dessicated thyroid. She said "no way" so shoved me off to an endo. The endo was a DO rather than an MD, so I hoped that she might be a little more flexible, as I've heard that DOs can be.

But not in her case. She was very classic, rigid, Big Pharma all the way. Totally absolutely against natural thyroid, insisting it's a "dangerous" drug and she would never put a patient on something dangerous. But in the meantime absolutely rabid to put me on statins because of my high cholesterol - even though I think statins are one of the most dangerous and useless drugs currently on the market. And would not even listen to my saying I felt the high cholesterol was the result of uncontrolled hypothyroidism.

Anyway, I get tested again on Tuesday, so we'll see how my cholesterol is doing now after about 7-8 weeks on Armour.

Ditto what Debbie said. Endo's are the absolute worst. Try using http://stopthethyroidmadness.com and see if you can find a doctor in there.

I heard in the past that a Barry Elson (sp) in Northampton is good. Can't say from experience, but can say that folks are flying in to see my thyroid doc (Indiana) from ALL over. So, we rarely find one 'close to us' who suits our therapy wishes and most of us are driving an hour to three hours one way to find a great thyroid doctor.

Nancy said:
Thanks for the info about how long it takes rT3 to clear. I had the same problem you mentioned with Armour (Natur-Throid for me) and was able to get the doc to go with Cytomel only, but he had no idea how long clearing rT3 would take.

Well I got my blood test results back. All those of you who told me that getting on Armour would drop my total cholesterol were sure correct, and phooey on that endo who told me it was all hogwash and wanted to put me on statins! So here are my results - I'll show again the ones from May when I was just starting Armour, plus the ones from this past week:

May 2011

Total cholesterol-----290--------125-200
HDL-------------------79--------->46
Cholesterol/HDL-------3.7--------<= 5.0
LDL, calculated-------195--------<130
Triglycerides---------82---------<150

TSH-------------------2.38-------0.40-4.50
T4, Free--------------1.1--------0.8-1.8
T3, Free--------------3.5--------2.3-4.2

Thyroid peroxidase AB--75---------<35 (High, Hashi’s)
Thyroglobulin AB-------<20--------<20

July 2011

Total cholesterol-----196--------125-200
HDL-------------------52--------->46
Cholesterol/HDL-------3.8--------<= 5.0
LDL, calculated-------124--------<130
Triglycerides---------98---------<150

TSH-------------------0.04-------0.40-4.50
T4, Free--------------1.5--------0.8-1.8
T3, Free--------------5.5--------2.3-4.2

Thyroid peroxidase AB--66---------<35 (High, Hashi’s)
Thyroglobulin AB-------<20--------<20

In other words, my total cholesterol has dropped almost 100 points, from 290 to 196 - or below the dread 200 cut-off number that made my doctor want to put me on statins! LDL has dropped also which is good, though my HDL has also dropped and my triglycerides have risen. Not sure what that means.

The TSH, as you can see, is really really low, but the NP is not concerned about that. What does bother her a bit is my Free T3 number which is HIGH, above the range for normal, per the lab. Anyone know what that means? I'm feeling pretty good on my current dose, but she doesn't like that high FT3 and wants to retest in 6 weeks to see if my dose of Armour should be cut, but at that dose I really wasn't feeling much improvement. I'm not sure what high FT3 means though - but I'm happy about my cholesterol. Wish I could send the results to the endo and says "nyah nyah, nyah nyah".

When she was rabid to put me on statins I told her I was *sure* if I could switch to dessicated thyroid the cholesterol number would come down to normal, and she told me absolutely not!

Wow! That's an amazing drop!

I'm surprised you don't feel a bit hyper with T3 that high.

I've mentioned in some spots that I think I was really hypothyroid for years before I got on any sorts of medication, but probably "subclinical" for all purposes of getting medication to get my thyroid optimized. I knew I had had tests done back in the late 90s. And lo and behold - while continuing to unpack boxes here in my new home I actually *found* some of the info from the tests I had had done back then.

The date of the test was March 27, 1999, or 3 days before my 47th birthday.

My TSH was 4.6 on a then scale of 0.4-5.5. The other tests they ran showed:
T3 Uptake: 26 (22-35 range)
T4, total: 4.0 (range 4.5-12.5)
Free T4 index 1.0 (range 1.4-3.8)

Because my total T4 and free T4 were lower than normal range my doctor sent me for some radioactive magnetic resonance test of my thyroid, using Iodine-123. The test was checked at 6 hours and 24 hours. Results were:

6-hour thyroid uptake of I-123 is 6% (range 4-10%)
24-hour thyroid uptake of I-123 is 10% (range 12-30%)

It goes on to say the scan of my thyroid looked normal, but concluded:


The only follow-up test my doctor ran was another TSH test, which came in at 3.6, or well within the "normal" range she told me, and therefore there was no way she would dream of putting me on any thyroid medication!

So that was in 1999, and it was late 2009 before I finally got on a thyroid med of any sort, and that was the T4-only Levoxyl. And only this past May before I got on Armour. Wonder if my life would have been different if I'd been treated beginning back in 1999?

My RT3 is because of meds I take (yes, it CAN be from that, and the list is now over 45 from what my doc says). I take lisinopril/HCTZ AND daily steroid (oral) AND ZyfloCR AND budesonide, AND Formoterol ALL of these or any one can up RT3. Mine has been up around twice the normal high range and if it wasn't for having a thyroid doctor, and a VERY savvy immunologist/geneticist...I wouldn't have known WHY taking away my T4 and just upping T3 sent me into a tailspin and sickness.

There's more than one 'reason' for having high RT3.

Thanks for posting about your thyroid. T3 has changed my life.