On T3 (Liothyronine) and The Circadian T3 Method I Could Fall Pregnant

After 14 years of Levothyroxine treatment for my hypothyroidism by 2011 I was really unwell.

Sometimes I was bedridden with muscle- and bone aches and pains, and I was only 34 years old!

I had a long list of symptoms including a foggy, muzzy head, bad memory, anxiety, low grade depression, water retention, puffy eyes, thinning eyebrows, hair loss, dry skin, dry hair, sleeping problems, just to name a few.

My family doctor was a nice man but he didn’t think these were because of my hypothyroidism, and kept offering me antidepressants – which I have tried but they made me feel worse. As an acupuncturist and a member of TPA UK, I was searching for answers and found that my adrenals were really depleted as well because they had to support my thyroid extra hard.

Around Dec 2011 – Jan 2012 I came across Paul Robinson’s book: Recovering with T3.  I think it just came out at the time and I was very keen to get my hands on it.

At the same time I started taking ferrous fumerate and Vitamin C to raise my iron levels.  I have also started to take other supplements I was deficient in to aid my thyroid, like Vit D3, B12, and minerals like Selenium, Mg, Zn, plus 5HTP, Omega 3,6,9, probiotics and CoQ10.

Recovering with T3 explains very well how taking T3 with Paul’s circadian method (CT3M) will support the adrenals and – as my GP was not willing to prescribe my T3 (his excuse was that he didn’t know how to dose it…) I decided to self-treat and buy some T3.

I followed the guidelines in Paul’s book on how to change from Levothyroxin to T3 and by February 2012 I was on my journey.

Within about a week I noticed improvements in all my symptoms, and after 2-3 months on T3 only I found how much T3 I needed and I was feeling AMAZING!

I felt like a new person, or even better!  Finally I felt like me!  All my symptoms improved by at least 85-90%, I’m became mentally sharp, switched on, my hair stopped falling out, my sleep improved, my muscle and bone aches got so much less frequent, and I became more confident and so happy.

My body was well enough for me to fall pregnant and we are expecting our first baby, a little girl in March 2014 🙂

We are over the moon and I will keep Paul updated about our progress.

I’m so grateful to Paul for all his help and for writing this wonderful book and giving thousands of people their lives back – not just the patients but also their families!

Update on Anita’s Child

Updated from Paul: Alyssa is now six years old (14 March 2020). She is healthy, happy and very bright!  I am hoping for another Success Story at some point.

Many doctors would argue that if a woman is on T3, she will have problems during the pregnancy and birth. However, any research that they use (and it is pretty scant), is not based on studies of women on T3 during pregnancy. The way the thyroid hormones work and enter cells is very different when it is mostly T3, versus mostly T4. You cannot take small amounts of research and extrapolate this to those on T3. The body does not work like this – it compensates and behaves differently.

This is why there are so many cases of successful pregnancies on T3-Only or T3-Mostly. More research is needed, but while the medical profession are in general closed-minded to the use of T3 thyroid hormone, this research is unlikely to take place.

One thing is clear. If a women who feels well on T3 but ill on T4, is made to go on T4 treatment during their pregnancy this is likely to make them ill. This in itself is not likely to be good for the foetus or baby.

Many thanks for this Success Story and your updates to me Anita!