With hGH T3 and/or T4?

[dino Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dino]

From Genotropin Pharmacia leaflet:
"during treatement with somatropin an enhanced t4 to t3 conversion has been found wich may result in a reduction in serum t4 and increase in serum t3 concentrations"
I remember an article where it was said that is better to use T4 in conjunction with hGH because enzymatic T4 to T3 conversion enhanced by growth use.

[dino Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dino]

From: "Suffolk Drug & Therapeutics Committee"
-Shared Care Guidelines for Growth Hormone Replacement in Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency-

During treatment with somatropin, an enhanced T4 to T3 conversion has been found which may result in a reduction in serum T4 and an increase in serum T3 concentrations. In general, the peripheral thyroid hormone levels have remained within the reference ranges for healthy subjects. The effects of somatropin on thyroid hormone levels may be of clinical relevance in patients with central sub clinical hypothyroidism in whom hypothyroidism theoretically may develop. Conversely, in patients receiving replacement therapy with thyroxine, mild hyperthyroidism may occur. It is, therefore, particularly advisable to test thyroid function after starting treatment with somatropin and after dose adjustments.

[RonnyT Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close RonnyT]

That is clear then, you found what you wanted to know. I bet there is more dat about this subject.

[dino Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dino]

What do you mean Ronny? For you it's better to use T4 or T3 or T4+T3? Of course it's subjective: there are people who cannot use T4 and people who cannot use T3. For my experience for small tyroid drugs cycle, T4 suppresses TSH less than T3, but it's a limited experience: blood tests of 4 guys.

[ODB Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ODB]

Combined Thyroxine/Liothyronine Treatment Does Not Improve Well-Being, Quality of Life, or Cognitive Function Compared to Thyroxine Alone: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Patients with Primary Hypothyroidism

T4 is standard treatment for hypothyroidism. A recent study reported that combined T4/liothyronine (T3) treatment improved well-being and cognitive function compared with T4 alone. We conducted a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial with a crossover design in 110 patients (101 completers) with primary hypothyroidism in which liothyronine 10 μg was substituted for 50 μg of the patients’ usual T4 dose. No significant (P < 0.05) difference between T4 and combined T4/T3 treatment was demonstrated on cognitive function, quality of life scores, Thyroid Symptom Questionnaire scores, subjective satisfaction with treatment, or eight of 10 visual analog scales assessing symptoms. For the General Health Questionnaire-28 and visual analog scales assessing anxiety and nausea, scores were significantly (P < 0.05) worse for combined treatment than for T4 alone. Serum TSH was lower during T4 treatment than during combined T4/T3 treatment (mean ? sem, 1.5 ? 0.2 vs. 3.1 ? 0.2 mU/liter; P < 0.001), a potentially confounding factor; however, subgroup analysis of subjects with comparable serum TSH concentrations during each treatment showed no benefit from combined treatment compared with T4 alone. We conclude that in the doses used in this study, combined T4/T3 treatment does not improve well-being, cognitive function, or quality of life compared with T4 alone.

John P. Walsh, Lauren Shiels, Ee Mun Lim, Chotoo I. Bhagat, Lynley C. Ward, Bronwyn G. A. Stuckey, Satvinder S. Dhaliwal, Gerard T. Chew, Minoti C. Bhagat and Andrea J. Cussons
- Author Affiliations

Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes (J.P.W., L.C.W., B.G.A.S., S.S.D., G.T.C., M.C.B., A.J.C.) and Psychiatry and Behavioural Science (L.S.), Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital; and Western Australian Center for Pathology and Medical Research (PathCentre) (E.M.L., C.I.B.), Nedlands, Western Australia 6009, Australia

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. John P. Walsh, Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia 6009, Australia. E-mail: john.walsh@health.wa.gov.au.

[dino Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dino]

It seems that for BB use it's best to use T4+T3 because TSH is higher than with T4 alone.