# Anyone taking NDT and levothyroxine together?



## my3gr8girls (Mar 18, 2016)

I've been taking Naturethroid for about a month after switching from a T4/T3 combination (88 mcg/25 mcg). I'm taking 90 mcg of Naturethroid and when I tried to go up, I felt very irritable so I think it was too much T3, although I do think I need more of the hormone due to miscellaneous symptoms. I have a ton of levothyroxine laying around, so I thought I'd try adding a tiny dose (25 mcg) of that to my Naturethroid. Anyone else taking a combination of NDT and levothyroxine? I'm wondering what people's experiences are.


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## my3gr8girls (Mar 18, 2016)

I know that according to the STTM website it is, but I really think a lot of people on those boards have many issues other than just thyroid. I have read on multiple other sites about people who do take both and love it. NDT has a higher ratio of T3 to T4 than a human would so to me it makes sense to dilute it with some levo. The reason I'd rather take NDT than cytomel for the T3 is because NDT also has T1 and T2 and studies have shown that T2 actually helps with the conversion from T4 to T3. I like the NDT, but increasing it adds too much T3 and I get irritable and grumpy.


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## fttfbass (Jan 8, 2014)

my3gr8girls said:


> I like the NDT, but increasing it adds too much T3 and I get irritable and grumpy.


If you're taking 1.5 grains of NDT, you're only getting around 12-13mcg of T3, which is about half the amount you were taking on the T4/T3 combo.


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## my3gr8girls (Mar 18, 2016)

I know! It seems like the T3 in Naturethroid is more potent than Cytomel. I don't really understand it. Or maybe I'm converting the Naturethroid T4 into T3 better than I did the levo. I'm also wondering if my thyroid isn't possibly starting to work again. It's been 6 months since my partial thyroidectomy. I'm still feeling hyper and I want to drop the NDT again. Today I took half a 90 mcg tablet. My stomach is upset and I feel anxious. Ugh.


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## fttfbass (Jan 8, 2014)

At this point, I would suggest sticking with the same dose for about 6 weeks and getting labs drawn, since the last labs I see in your signature are from 10 weeks ago and a lot has changed medication wise since then. It's very uncommon for 1.5 grains of NDT to be enough for anyone.

I would not add any T4 meds to the NDT because you are a poor converter of T4 to T3 as is and it would be difficult for anyone to get a good idea of what is going on with your labs if the extra T4 meds are skewing the results. I would also split your NDT into two daily doses.

You specifically need Free T4/Free T3 and I would also suggest Reverse T3. I'd be curious to see if you either have high RT3 or a pooling problem, where the T3 isn't getting into your cells where it's needed. Feeling a combination of hypo and hyper symptoms is common when you have either of these problems.


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## my3gr8girls (Mar 18, 2016)

Okay, so I just plain don't like Naturethroid I think. I'm going back to levo/cytomel. I feel much better today since I didn't take the Naturethroid. I'm taking cytomel through the day just as I was previous to starting NDT. It gave me weird ear flutterings in my ears and I felt irritable all the time. My labs also showed TSH more suppressed on NDT but FT4 and FT3 lower. Doesn't make sense and I don't like the way I felt so I'm going back.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Sounds like a good plan. Just try your best to stick it out for the full six week with this. I know lots of people profess their undying love for NDT, but it's also good to keep in mind that it's not for everyone (just as T4 meds aren't for everyone).


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## my3gr8girls (Mar 18, 2016)

And I was doing pretty darn well on 88 mcg of levo and 25 mcg of cytomel. The only problem was my endo would only let me take 15 of cytomel (I had increased on my own to experiment). I would rather feel the way I did on that combo of 88/15 than I did on the naturethroid. I just don't think it's my cup of tea.


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## my3gr8girls (Mar 18, 2016)

Okay, for the record, I think all those "adrenal issues" they claim to be "revealed" by NDT are actually just side effects of it. I was having symptoms that appeared like adrenal problems from the NDT but as soon as I stopped it and went back to levo/cytomel, they disappeared.


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

That is not entirely true. Adrenal issues can be uncovered by a lot of things, thyroid medication included. For a lot of people (myself included), adrenal issues were uncovered when they raised their NDT and found their body could not tolerate higher doses, even when their labs show they needed it.


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## my3gr8girls (Mar 18, 2016)

Maybe so, I just know that stopping the NDT and going back to synthetic T4 and T3 has immediately alleviated my "adrenal" type symptoms.


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

Then it probably wasn't adrenal issues in the first place. Symptoms with adrenal problems can be mistakenly attributed to other issues. You can only know for sure with a saliva cortisol test.


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