Liothyronine and Anxiety: What Users Say

• Lit...
• May 28, 2017

Liothyronine for Underactive Thyroid "Cytomel is making my brain work so much better again! I tried it several years ago and it made me jittery, I felt like I had a huge amount of caffeine in me... not this time! I'm in perimenopause and I understand the estrogen dominance can be a thyroid hormone antagonist, making it difficult to convert. Cytomel has helped me feel almost entirely back to normal and I have the energy to exercise again!"

• Tin...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 10, 2019

Liothyronine for Hypothyroidism, After Thyroid Removal "An endocrinologist put me on the 50 mg per day post TT. I felt tremendous. Then my insurance changed, and I had to find a new doctor. The new doctor refused to prescribe Cytomel. So for several years, I’ve been on Synthroid 200 and 300, and then Nature-Throid 3 grains. The Nature-Throid won out over the Synthroid by far. But my total T3 and FT3 were still tanked. I began seeing a functional medicine doctor who suggested T3-only medication. WHAT A LIFE CHANGER! I take 25 mg per day. Gone is the anxiety, mood swings, depression, weight gain, brain fog, and insomnia. I feel like a brand new person at 62. My doctor follows my labs closely, and all thyroid levels are in range (FT3 upper range, FT4 mid-range). I highly recommend trying this monotherapy if you don’t have a thyroid gland and other medication regimens have failed."

• Cou...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• January 18, 2020

Liothyronine for Underactive Thyroid "Hashimoto's patient. Take 88 mcg of Synthroid and took 5 mcg of Cytomel for almost a year. Felt better at first and then felt completely insane. Mood swings, anxiety, depression, rage, tachycardia, and hand tremors. Sketchy stuff that. If you feel crazy, cut the Cytomel before you get on or up your antidepressants."

• jil...
• February 25, 2015

Liothyronine for Underactive Thyroid "After being hypothyroid for many years and having good results on Synthroid and natural thyroid, it went on backorder for a few months and I had to switch to Cytomel. I felt immediate changes, more alert and a little more energy. However, after taking it for a few years, about 70% of my hair fell out (in clumps and I tried everything to stop the hair loss), and I've had chronic insomnia, huge appetite increase, higher blood pressure, anxiety attacks, hot flashes, etc."

• Ale...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• April 3, 2019

Liothyronine for Underactive Thyroid "My doctor recommended this since my symptoms weren't going away on levothyroxine alone. Worst year of my life. Mood swings and crippling anxiety. This drug made me completely irrational, and the anxiety got so bad that daily activities, like driving my car, would make my heart race and hands shake. Wish I could get that year of my life back."

• KS5...
• August 17, 2018

Liothyronine for Underactive Thyroid "Glad this med has helped some, but for me, it was a four-year nightmare. The anxiety was horrendous, as in disabling. Sweating, temper was on a hair trigger, hot flushing on my back (TSH around 0). I even went into the hospital for two days to have my heart checked out, which was fine. I started noticing I would feel more normal each time the med dose was missed. I started coming down by 1/4 pill at a time, and each time it helped. Finally, I came down to 1/4 pill in addition to my 88 mcg Levo. I was exhausted by 11 am, and my TSH was 6, but at least I wasn't peeling myself off the ceiling, and I was calm. I finally went off it entirely, and the anxiety, although not completely gone, was vastly improved. I upped my Levo to 100 mcg and felt dramatically better. It's in process now, and I wish I had not wasted four years of my life on this med."

• Thy...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 6, 2023

Liothyronine for Underactive Thyroid "Cytomel is amazing. I was on Synthroid (levothyroxine) for a while, and I still felt terribly hypothyroid. Then got into Armour Thyroid and became a functioning human again. Then added Cytomel to my Armour, and now I can say that I have my life back. It’s a shame that doctors are hesitant to prescribe T3 medications like Cytomel and Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT) like Armour. Synthroid barely ever works for anyone, and they make it so hard to get the medicine that actually helps. Big Pharma wants to keep us all sick and on ineffective medicines. I had to go to three different endocrinologists before one allowed me to start taking Cytomel. Take control of your life, people! Pro tip: if you feel jittery and hyperthyroid on one dose of Cytomel, and then after decreasing it, you feel hypothyroid, you need to multi-dose the higher dose. That means you need to take more than one dose a day! It being spread out will keep you from being jittery and hyperthyroid."

• Kim...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• August 19, 2019

For Hypothyroidism, After Thyroid Removal "I had half my thyroid removed. Levothyroxine on its own was not working, so my primary care doc combined it with two 5 mcg liothyronine once daily, 4 days a week, and one tab all other days. I felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin and anxiety through the roof! He told me to take it all in the morning and that I did not need to split the daily dose because my body would regulate absorption. I decided to go to an endocrinologist who did not change the amount but had me take one tab in the morning with my levo and the 2nd tab in the evening, but not too close to bedtime. On the days where I take only one pill, she had me split it in half and take half in the morning and the other half in the evening. This worked like a charm! Since we've adjusted it to where I take two tabs 3 days per week and one tab 4 days per week. I no longer split the one tab because it would crumble and take it in the morning, but I'm still feeling great!"

• wil...
• April 23, 2019

For Underactive Thyroid "I had been on Synthroid alone for 7 years and managing my hypothyroid just fine with it. I felt great and pretty much back to normal. I got switched to a new Dr. He told me to start on Cytomel (even though I had NO new symptoms and felt just fine) based on my T3 results. I trusted his judgment as a doctor and took it. Biggest mistake of my life. I started in October, and by mid-December, I was dealing with the most severe anxiety I've ever had. I was snappy towards my kids and just downright angry because of it. I lost a ton of weight when I didn't need to, and my face started breaking out like crazy. When I mentioned the weight loss and acne, he never once said it could be because of that pill and my hormones were probably out of balance and that I should be happy I am so thin! I saw my primary Dr., and she is the one who told me that this pill is more than likely causing all of my symptoms, and after looking at all my past blood work, she realized I NEVER even needed it! My T3 levels were normal."

• Kit...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 27, 2020

For Underactive Thyroid "I was on NP when it was recalled the first time and swapped to Synthroid after going to the ER 3 times. Synthroid 50 and Cytomel (liothyronine) 5 mcg. At first, I thought it was just me, so I tried Cytomel twice with Synthroid (gave me head pressure) and once with Tirosint (in 3 months). On all 3 occasions that I took Cytomel, once I reached a 15 mcg+ dose for the week, it gave me side effects of being depressed, anxious, insomniac, palpitations, and even advanced me to menstruate a week early (all 3 times)! I want T3 so bad that I repeatedly tried to make it work. It’s just not for me."

• Clc...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 27, 2020

Liothyronine for Underactive Thyroid "I gained 25 lbs on an antidepressant over 9 months. I have tapered off, but no weight loss. Have some fatigue, low temp. Doc said, although the rest of the blood panel of tests was okay, he would like to see my Free T3 around 3. It was 2.56. I took my second dose this a.m., 5 mcg. Same both days. Anxious, dizzy, feel like I'm weak in my legs. Tearful - almost foggy. Doc said it was a low dose and I might feel better, or notice zero change. No more for me... I don't like the way it makes me feel."