1. Since the less T3 one takes, the easier it is to keep T3 levels steady and the less chance there is of side effects, it is best to begin with a small dose in the neighborhood of 15 micrograms per day (7.5 mcg by mouth ever 12 hours).
2. Since the half-life of T3 is short (2 1/2 days), and since side effects may result from T3 levels that are too low, too high, or unsteady, it is critically important that the medication be administered in the right dose and in a steady fashion.
3. Since the goal of the WT3 protocol is to normalize body temperature patterns and to resolve the symptoms, if the goal is reached by using the starting does of 15 micrograms per day, then the starting dose can be continued as maintenance, or may be discontinued in the hope that a persistent correction has been effected. These two alternatives can be considered at any time during treatment once the goals of treatment seem to have been reached. This is true even if the average body temperature is less than 98.6 degrees, but persistent resolution is more likely with body temperature patterns averaging closer to 98.6 degrees.
One may wonder how soon the WT3 protocol can begin to be weaned once the goals seem to have been reached. If a person’s body is going to compensate to a certain dose it will probably compensate within one day to three weeks. So there is probably no benefit in waiting longer than three weeks, and, the WT3 protocol may sometimes be weaned successfully much earlier than three weeks. In fact, the shortest period of time that I have seen it take to pull a patient with a classic presentation of Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome from the conservation mode back into the productivity mode is ten days start to finish. The patient was able to raise her body temperature patterns up to normal within days of initiating the WT3 protocol, was able to quickly resolve her symptoms of Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome, and was able to wean off the medication by the tenth day, enjoying a persistent correction in her symptoms and body temperature patterns. She has been fine ever since (approximately two years).
Sometimes the smallest starting dose is not enough to accomplish the goals of treatment, namely to normalize body temperature patterns and to bring the patient out of the conservation mode and return the patient to the productivity mode. So progressively larger doses can be given to accomplish the resetting of the thyroid system. However, the only reason to use higher doses is so that one can be cycled onto lower doses. By gradually weaning off the WT3 protocol, the responsibility for supplying the body with T3 is gradually given back to the body. With the levels of RT3 having been decreased, as well as other possible changes in the body having taken place, it is hoped that with decreased inhibition at the site of 5′-deiodinase, that the body will be able to better convert the T4 produced in its thyroid gland to the active thyroid hormone T3. Fortunately, this is often the case and when the body can produce sufficient levels of T3 through conversion of its own T4, it can generally do it quite steadily (often more steadily than can be accomplished with medication taken by mouth). If and when the body “tries its wings” again at T4 to T3 conversion and enjoys a persistent benefit, but not a complete resolution of its Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome symptoms, then subsequent cycles can be implemented in an attempt to systematically, step by step, return the body fully to the productivity mode. The first cycle I often refer to as the “reset cycle” since it is usually there that the bulk of the work can be accomplished. Subsequent cycles remind me of “fine tuning”.
4. 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit measured orally is considered to be normal body temperature under normal circumstances. Since the resolution of the symptoms correlates with normalization of body temperature patterns, and since the effects of a dosage level of the WT3 protocol can be evident within hours and can be maximal within days, then if the symptoms have not satisfactorily resolved with the starting dose and the body temperature is averaging below 98.6 and the patient is not having any side effects, then the daily dose may be increased by an increment of approximately 15 micrograms per day up to the next level of 30 micrograms per day. Since the risk of treatment increases with increased side effects, the dosage should not be increased if the patient is suffering from side effects (which is an indication that the medication may not be adjusted properly).
5. If at any time the patient does have any side effects, the patient may be weaned gradually off the WT3 protocol. If the temperature rises significantly above 98.6 degrees, for example to 99 degrees, the patient may be reduced gradually on the WT3 protocol.
6. If the symptoms are not significantly improved, the temperature is averaging normal at 98.6 and there are no side effects, the patient may be weaned off the T3 medicine. In a case like this, the T3 levels often steady down as the patient weans off the WT3 protocol with the symptoms resolving only after the patient’s therapy has been weaned. If the patient’s symptoms are not sufficiently improved with the body temperature averaging around normal and the patient is without side effects, it is probably because of unsteady T3 levels.
7. If the symptoms are not sufficiently improved, if the body temperature average remains below 98.6 degrees, and if there are no significant side effects, the daily dosage may be increased every one to three days in small increments (15 micrograms per day) until: (a) the symptoms are gone; (b) the body temperature averages normal; (c) there are side effects; or (d) levels of 150 to 200 micrograms per day are reached. The higher the dose, the higher the chances of side effects and there is usually little benefit in increasing the dose higher than 150 to 200 micrograms per day. It is usually better to wean off the medicine and then start it again (after at least a couple of days of rest), since sometimes the body temperature cannot be brought up to normal in one step no matter how much T3 is used, much the same way a car cannot be jacked up with one push on the tire iron no matter how hard that push is.
8. At this stage, the WT3 protocol may be weaned and restarted or cycled. By cycling, the patient usually is able to achieve more normal temperatures on lower T3 doses. The closer the body temperature pattern gets up to normal with previous cycles the more likely it is that less medicine will be needed to reach the same temperatures with subsequent cycles. This can be thought of as being like a car jack: if the weight of the car is pushed up high enough, it can catch on the next step up. However, if it is not lifted high enough, then it may slide back down to the level it is currently occupying. The less the T3 dose, the more steady the T3 levels, the more effective the treatment, and the less the side effects. The more normal the temperature, the more effective the treatment and the less the side effects.
To wean, the daily dosage may be decreased in small increments, for example, 15 micrograms per day at a time, at intervals necessary to prevent a drop in temperature (generally in intervals of about two to ten days). As it turns out, patients are able to increase their body temperature with the WT3 protocol, often enjoy their body temperatures remaining close to the new increased level even while weaning off the WT3 protocol. The trick to weaning off the therapy in a way that permits correction to remain effective, is to wean slowly enough that the temperature does not drop again. For obvious reasons, this is not best attempted or easily accomplished under periods of extreme physical, emotional, or mental stress (since stress often started the problem to begin with). Patients are frequently able to wean off T3 by 15 micrograms per day, every two days on average. Some have to wean off by 15 micrograms-per-day-increments every four days and some have to go off every seven to ten days because if they go faster than that their temperatures will drop. If the patient’s symptoms resolve or remain resolved completely after T3 is weaned, then the WT3 protocol need not be restarted. Usually the less a patient’s body temperature drops, the less medication will be needed in the next cycle to bring the body temperature up closer to normal. Sometimes with each cycle, the patient may enjoy a decrease in the necessary dosage. It is common for patients to need only a 7th, a 10th, a 20th, or a 25th of the amount of medicine in the second cycle to accomplish the same as, or more than, in the first.
9. In cases where complete resolution of symptoms have not been effected by way of the first cycle of the WT3 protocol, a second cycle may be implemented. This is especially called for if the symptoms are positively effected, if there was a net improvement in the symptoms from the first cycle, and if there was a net change in the body temperature pattern. Almost always the patient is able to achieve more normal body temperature patterns on less medicine than the first cycle. This represents progress and this progress can be continued until the patient is able to come closer and closer to normal (with symptoms and temperature) on less and less T3 until the symptoms resolve and remain resolved off the WT3 protocol.
One may wonder how much time there should be between cycles. One purpose of weaning off a cycle is to let the body’s own T3 production build back up and steady down. This usually takes place within two weeks after a cycle has been discontinued and there would be little added benefit in waiting longer than two weeks. As it turns out, patients can generally tell when T3 levels are steady and when they are unsteady, a patient may have a nondescript feeling of being a little “off the mark” and the patient is often able to tell when that feeling is gone once T3 levels become steady again. So a patient does not necessarily need to stay off the T3 for two weeks between each cycle. If the patient never noticed any sensation of unsteadiness while on the WT3 protocol, then the next cycle can be initiated after two or three days of the previous cycle (and after any sensations of unsteadiness have passed if they were noticed). The more time between cycles, the more time the foundation has to steady down, but one does not want the treatment to last unnecessarily long.
10. The treatment can be employed in the fashion described above anywhere along the path from the beginning of the first cycle to the ending of the last cycle. For example, if the patient is happy to feel normal again for the first time in years, is not having any complaints, and is not anxious to rock the boat, then the patient need not wean the WT3 protocol. If body temperature patterns are normal and steady, and the patient is not having any complaints, they may be maintained on the WT3 protocol for a time. Patients have been known to take thyroid medication for decades (even T3). If the patient feels satisfactorily improved and the body temperature patterns have been normalized, the WT3 protocol can be gradually weaned if the patient would like to see if a persistent correction has been effective. Or, if the patient’s symptoms are quite a bit improved but not completely resolved, the patient may:
(a) continue the process of increasing and decreasing the therapy in an attempt to improve the level of correction;
(b) stay on the same dosage level in an effort to maintain the same degree of correction to not “rock to boat” by taking the chance of possibly having side effects on higher doses or by possibly losing ground by weaning off the medication (this alternative is frequently useful during periods of time when the patient is faced with severe stress such as family or business problems), or;
(c) weaning off the medicine in the hopes of being able to maintain the achieved level of correction until the treatment can be pursued again at a later time (useful, for example, when a patient needs to go out of town for many months). The problem usually gets worse in stages over time and can frequently get better in stages over time as well.
11. Not only have the WT3 protocol cycles been used to coax the body temperature to more normal levels, but they have also been used in cases where the average body temperatures were at a normal level but were too unsteady, for the purpose of attempting to make them more steady. Thus, the WT3 protocol can also be implemented as a stabilizing influence on unsteady body temperature patterns, and can thereby, sometimes resolve symptoms of DTSF. This situation, however, is extremely rare. If the two subgoals of the WT3 protocol for Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome include going gradually up and down on the WT3 protocol to: 1. Feel well while on the WT3 protocol, and 2. Remain well after the WT3 protocol has been discontinued; then one might wonder when one goes up and when one goes down on the WT3 protocol. Again, the only thing better than feeling well on medicine is feeling well off medicine. A rationale follows: