t3 vs t4

[ConnectionLess]

Well friends, I've recently posted a thread where I asked if someone could tell me why my GF hasen't lost any pounds yet althought she's on T3 (150 mcg !!! after taper up) since the 1st August.

Well I've just found out that what she thought it was T3, it was T4 instead (she was taking Eutirox which is tiroxin (T4).

My question is: how much weaker is T4 than T3 ? I mean, 150 mcg seems to be a high dosage anyway but it doesn't seem so effective for her. Is it strange ? Do you think she should raise up the dosage ? or perhaps has she to wait some more time in order to start burning fat ?

Or maybe would it be better for here to go for real T3 ?

She's desperate and so I'm I since she think it is all my fault but I think that T4 should help anyway... don't you ?

Please friends need your help one more time...


PS: she's on low carb diet and does cardio 45 min 4 times/wk.

 

[Sassy69]

1) Why would she take something that she isn' t sure what it is?

2) Why is she desperate? The first thing she needs to understand is that there is no such thing as a magic pill.

3) T4 isn't very strong. (as you've obviously discovered)

4) Does she lift? Or only do cardio?

5) What does her "low carb" diet look like (e.g. a one day menu sample)

6) What are her goals? (e.g. how much weight and / or body fat to lose?)

7) What sort of things does she expect? Again, there are no magic pills - only consistent & persistent diet, training & cardio will get good, maintainable results.

8) Why is she taking what she thought was t3 anyway??? T3 eats everything, not just fat. Therefore this would assume she doesnt' care about retaining lean muscle. I think this is not the right goal.

9) It isn't your fault if she let herself put something in her body that she doesn't know what it is and doesn't know what should or could happen when she takes it and is taking it in desperation. Either she needs to educate herself or you need to help her educate herself. Its not up to you to "give her stuff" -- its her body -- its her responsibility. I suggest you get her on these boards for support & for education. Not saying you arent' trying to help her, but ultimately its her body, her decesion, her consequences. She is disrespecting herself by not educating herself & letting herself be a guinea pig for some "magic pill".

 

[wilson6]

T3 is 3 - 8x more potent than T4. T4 is more of a thyroid prohormone that requires 5' deiodination to become T3 and more active.

Her diet may have limited the conversion to T3 as caloric restriction reduces the action of 5' deiodinase.

Personally, she should be looking more closely at diet and exercise and not messing with thyroid.

W6

 

[MS]

What Wilson6 said, plus low carb diets are particularly good at shutting down the conversion of T4 to T3, so even upping the dose of T4 considerably may not help.

You've been given some of the best advice in this thread that you're going to get anywhere. Let's start with diet and exercise and leave the thyroid hormones on the shelf where they belong.

 

[wilson6]

and.......DO NOT just stop the thyroid. Taper the doses by about 25 mcg every 5 - 7 days until you're down to 25 mcg.

W6