My Hypothyroidism Journey

[Mittir]

It is possible that most of your health issues are rooted in digestive problems.
If you have bad composition of gut flora then changing diet can make huge difference.
As an experiment you can follow a starch free diet for few days or a week to see how
body reacts to it. You can try commercial apple juice for sugar, as it is pectin free
unlike orange juice. Pure sugar is therapeutic as it is free of allergens.
Coco cola made with pure sugar can be used if fruit juices are problematic.

Egg white has allergenic compounds, avoiding egg white for few days can be part of
the experiment. Meat is fine as long as you eat some extra calcium with it.
Ideally eating some gelatin is helpful, gelatin can cause digestive problem for some people.
Egg shell powder or oyster shell powder can be used. I do not feel good with egg shell
powder, i use oyster shell powder. You can try low iron protein source like strained yogurt,
fresh fish or chicken.

You can use raw carrot salad or cooked bamboo shoots as safe source of fiber.
Mushroom fiber can be useful too.

 

[Lucas]

Hello.
I had no digestive problem whit Gelatin. I am fine whit it. I am taking 2 tablespoon after each meal.
I make my own orange juice whit 2 oranges, pulp free. Take it 2 times a day, so my sugar comes from 4 oranges a day.
I am to drinking one liter of milk a day.
Since I eat 6 whole eggs a day (omelet), now I need to only eat the yolk?
Thank you very much for your attention.

 

[Mittir]

By digestive problem i do not mean upset stomach, it can irritate gut and increase
endotoxin absorption without causing any noticeable gut symptoms. Then it can result in
low metabolism, unease, sleep problem, restlessness etc.

 

[Lucas]

UPDATE:
Hello.
These are my results from last blood test:
Prolactin:
0,36 ng/ml Ref: 2,10 – 17,70 ng/ml
Free T4:
1,72 ng/dl Ref: 0,70 – 1,80 ng/dl
Free T3:
0,55 ng/dl Ref: 0,20 – 0,40 ng/dl
So…
PROLACTIN:
In the blood test done in 05/26, my Prolactin was 41,09 ng/ml. I was taking Gabapentin , and this drug increase prolactin. So, I begin to take Cabergoline (Cabertrix, generic of Dostinex) at 0,25 mg 2 times a week. My goal was to lower it to the 4-7 range , but this drug works and know I am deficient on it, at 0,36 ng/ml. I have no side effect from Cabergoline.
Thyroid:
In the blood test done in 05/26, my Free T3 was 0,80 ng/dl, so 2 times over the top of range. I was taking 4 grains of NDT, whit wake up temperature of 36 celsius.
So, I lowered my dose of NDT to 1 grain and starting taking 75 mcg of synthetic T4, because I supposed that since my Free T3 was out of range, my T4 must be low. But the recent blood test my Free T4 is now at 1,72 ng/dl, so around 90% in the range, is too high.
I am now of Gabapentin, I don’t take more this drug. I am happy for that.
My Methyl Malonic Acid Test results was out of range, at 0,62 umol/l Ref 0,08 – 0,56 umol/l. A high Methyl Malonic Acid Test indicates functional b12 deficiency, so I starting taking Methylb12 at 5000 mcg but when I take b12 I fell tired and sleepy, so now I take this dose at night and sleep normally. I will buy Hidroxyb12 to see If I feel better, since I don’t know If getting tired after taking Methylb12 is a normal reaction.
So, whit low prolactin and high Free T3 and Free T4 I am still cold at 36 Celsius, my sleep is not refreshing, and my legs are weak, whit pain in the knee joint and internal resistance when I contract my legs.
In the next 6 weeks I will take only half grain of NDT, don’t take more synthetic T4 and will began to chelate iron whit IP6, since my ferritin was more than 300 in the previous exam.
Thank you for your attention.

 

[Lucas]

Hello.
In May of 2015 my TSH was 0.015 taking 4 grains of NDT, whit high, out of range free t3, but still with hypo symptoms at 35.8 wake up temp.
My cholesterol at the time was 152 mg/dl, with 93 mg/dl as LDL, 48 mg/dl HDL and triglycerides of 55 mg/dl.
So, after this blood test I stopped taking NDT, and just lived a life of hypo.
Then, now, my last blood test show a TSH of 4,81 whit free t3 at 75% in the reference range.
What I found amazing was my cholesterol results.
Now, whit no changes in diet, my total cholesterol is 343 mg/dl, with 264 LDL, 68 mg/dl HDL and 53 mg/dl of triglycerides.
So, just by stopping the NDT, my cholesterol more than doubled and my TSH has gone from 0,015 to 4,82.
In May, my antibodies were normal, now I don’t test it.
All liver enzymes were tested at the normal range in May and now.

 

[aguilaroja]

post 106883 Hello.
In May of 2015 my TSH was 0.015 taking 4 grains of NDT, whit high, out of range free t3...
So, after this blood test I stopped taking NDT, and just lived a life of hypo.
Then, now, my last blood test show a TSH of 4,81 whit free t3 at 75% in the reference range.
What I found amazing was my cholesterol results.
Now, whit no changes in diet, my total cholesterol is 343 mg/dl, with 264 LDL, 68 mg/dl HDL and 53 mg/dl of triglycerides.
So, just by stopping the NDT, my cholesterol more than doubled and my TSH has gone from 0,015 to 4,82.
...

Thanks for the report.

As Dr. Peat has pointed out for decades, it was well known in the mid-twentieth century that blood cholesterol is increased in the low thyroid state. Dr. Peat has cited both Dr. Broda Barnes and Dr. Thomas H. McGavack's work noting this.

While in my experience lab work alone is not the only determinant, please search the forum for views about the optimal TSH range, even if the lab report in your case declares TSH of 4,81 (4.81) as "within the normal range."

http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/thyroid.shtml
"Barnes experimented on rabbits, and found that when their thyroid glands were removed, they developed atherosclerosis, just as hypothyroid people did. By the mid-1930s, it was generally known that hypothyroidism causes the cholesterol level in the blood to increase; hypercholesterolemia was a diagnostic sign of hypothyroidism. Administering a thyroid supplement, blood cholesterol came down to normal exactly as the basal metabolic rate came up to the normal rate."

http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/ch ... vity.shtml
"By 1936, it was clear that hypercholesterolemia in humans and other animals was caused by hypothyroidism, and that hypothyroidism caused many diseases to develop, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. There was already more reason at that time to think that the increased cholesterol was a protective adaptation than to think that it was maladaptive."

 

[Lucas]

Hello.
I find a doctor that prescribes T4 + T3 for hypothyroidism (from compound pharmacy).
Before the consult, he asked me to do a blood test for a lot of things, whit the results of really matters below:
Cholesterol Total: 343 mg/dl
HDL: 68 mg/dl
LDL: 264 mg/dl
Triglycerides: 53 mg/dl
Creatinine: 1,0 mg/dl Ref range: 0,7 – 1,3 mg/dl
ALT : 15 U/L Ref: < 49 U/L
AST: 22 U/L Ref: < 34 U/L
Gama GT: 19 U/L Ref: < 73 U/L
Glycemic: 100 mg/dl Ref: 60 – 99
Uric Acid: 4,9 mg/dl Ref; 3,7 – 9,2
PCR: 0,18 mg/dl
Insulin : 4,60 mU/L Ref: 3 – 25
Serotonin: 206,6 ng/ml
TSH: 4,81
FSH: 5,0 Ref: 1,40 – 18,10
Free T3: 0,35 ng/dl Ref: 0,20 – 0,40
Prolactin: 11,11 ng/ml
LH: 5,2 mUI/ml
Vitamin D (25OH) : 47,2 ng/ml
Progesterone: 0,29 ng/ml
IGF – 1: 282,0 ng/ml
Ferritin: 231 ng/ml
17 – Beta – Estradiol: 24,6 pg/ml
Cortisol: 20,8 ug/dl
S-Dhea: 186,4 ug/dl
PTH: 31,8 pg/ml
Total Testosterone: 565 ng/dl
SHBG: 42,9 nmol/L
Whit these results and my clinical symptoms, he diagnose me whit hypothyroidism.
He works whit his range for the bloods tests (not the ranges for the laboratory), so in his range, my free t3 is low (his range for free T3 is 0,37 – 1,2).
He wants my TSH to be below 1 (miracle to find a doctor whit this in mind).
He also finds my progesterone very low (his range for this for men is 1,5 – 3,8, mine is 0,29 !!)
He finds to that my S-Dhea is very low (his range is 350 – 600, mine is 186)
He finds to my ferritin high, whit his range for that being 20-90 .
So, he prescribed to me 50mcg T4 + 10 mcg T3 at wake up, than 10 mcg T3 at 5 pm, and 10 mcg T3 and 50 mg Progesterone before bed.
I am on this regime for 2 weeks now, whit still no results. My temperature is 35.6 wake up and 36.4 at 3 pm.
He wanted me to take 200 mg of 7-Keto Dhea but I will don’t take it because it is doping (I want to compete on drug-tested powerlifting).
So, that it. I am happy that I find a doctor that prescribes T3, wants low ferritin and TSH below 1. I little sad that the regime is still don’t working, maybe I need to increase the dose or wait a little more for the T4 to works.

 

[sweetpeat]

You are very fortunate to have found a doctor willing to check other things besides TSH. It looks like he has you on a pretty good track, although that's a hefty dose of progesterone for a male. Maybe he's just trying to quickly bring up your levels, then have you back off? Getting your thyroid levels up should help your body produce its own hormones eventually.

For your thyroid meds, you could try splitting your daytime t3 doses into halves, fourths or even eighths and then take them more often throughout the day (like every couple hours or so – this requires experimentation). Peat says the body can't use more than 5 mcg or so per hour, so anything over that is inactivated and you may not be getting the full metabolic benefit of the 10mcg when you take them all at once. You could leave your bedtime dose as is for now if it's not giving you sleep issues.

It can take awhile for T4 to build up in the body and have an effect, unless your levels were very low (I didn't see t4 in your list above). It also takes a few weeks to stabilize. Are you scheduled for re-testing in six to eight weeks?

 

[Lucas]

Hello.

Some updates:

Since the end of November of 2015 I am treating with a integrative doctor. He diagnosed me as a hypothyroid with low dhea.

So, he started me whit 7 keto dhea to increase my s-dhea levels at 200 mg for 10 days than 100 mg each day first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

For the thyroid, I started whit 50 mcg T4 + 10mcg T3 in the morning before breakfast, than 10 mcg T3 at 17:00 and 10 mcg T3 at bed.

Also, I started taking progesterone 50 mcg at bed, since he thinks that my numbers are low.

The results:

Still hypo, whit 1 kg loss in muscle mass, lost strength on the gym and zero libido.

It is more than 2 months of treatment and zero increase in temperature that is 35.6 at morning and 36.2 at the day.

So, whit these results he increased my dose to 100 mcg T4 + 20 mcg t3 at morning, 20 mcg T3 at 17:00 pm and 20 mcg T3 at bed.

So, tired of no results, today I did a blood test of my own for Testosterone, free T3, TSH and reverse T3.

I have felling’s that my reverse T3 is high, so today I began taking only t3. I will try to do a Reverse T3 clearance with only t3 like you see in the internet at my own, my way whit no doctor assistance, since I can buy T3 every time I want.

I want to test on my body once for all this reverse t3 thing.

I will keep everyone updated.

 

[Lucas]

Hello.

I had the results of my blood tests after introducing 50 mcg T4 +30 mcg T3 a day in a little more than 2 months usage:

TSH: have gone from 4,81 to 0,27.

Free T3 gone from 0,35 to 0,44 ng/dl for a reference range of 0,20 – 0,40 ng/dl.

So, my TSH is below 1, my Free T3 is above range, and I still cold and fell like crap.

Interesting is that my Testosterone has gone from 560 to 780 ng/dl using 50 mg of Progesterone, so Progesterone in my case caused an increase on this androgen. Not bad testo. number for a 38 years old hypothyroid male.:)

I waiting for my reverse t3 test, probably he is out of range to explain why whit a suppressed TSH and high free t3 I still fell fatigue and have low body temperature.

 

[m_arch]

Whats your pulse lucas?

 

[Lucas]

Hello.

These are my results of reverse T3 and free T3:

Free T3: 0,44 ng/dl Ref range: 0,20 – 0,40

Reverse T3: 31,93 ng/dl Ref range: 13 – 50,2

My TSH is 0,27.

I this to much reverse T3? How can I calculate de ratio between the FreeT3 to Reverse T3?

Whit these lab results, I still fell fatigued and are cold (my temps are 35.9 at wake up and 36.2 at the day), and my pulse is 76. When the blood was draw, I was taking 50 mcg T4 + 30 mcg T3.

Can a person be hyperthyroid whit a low body temp and fatigue? I have low TSH and above range free T3.

Thank you very much.

 

[dookie]

Hello.

These are my results of reverse T3 and free T3:

Free T3: 0,44 ng/dl Ref range: 0,20 – 0,40

Reverse T3: 31,93 ng/dl Ref range: 13 – 50,2

My TSH is 0,27.

I this to much reverse T3? How can I calculate de ratio between the FreeT3 to Reverse T3?

Whit these lab results, I still fell fatigued and are cold (my temps are 35.9 at wake up and 36.2 at the day), and my pulse is 76. When the blood was draw, I was taking 50 mcg T4 + 30 mcg T3.

Can a person be hyperthyroid whit a low body temp and fatigue? I have low TSH and above range free T3.

Thank you very much.

First, I personally think all labs are more or less meaningless; they are merely a number on a paper. As an example, true doctors, like Max Gerson, would treat terminally ill cancer patients without much testing. You can only judge how a treatment is working based on how you feel overall (along with physical changes like hair quality etc), so the real question is: how do you feel your health is?

Second, you are taking a lot of T3. What's the reason for such an extreme dose? You realize that such doses could make you more hypothyroid? Additionally, some people taking as little as 1 mcg of T3 experience estrogenic symptoms, so you have to be careful and watch for water retention, fatigue, etc.

 

[Lucas]

Also, I fell hot inside but when I measure my temperature, is low.

 

[Mittir]

Also, I fell hot inside but when I measure my temperature, is low.

That sounds like stress hormones causing this. Are you measuring
temperature of your extremities?
Tip of nose, fingers, toes and ear temperature are better indicator.

Hyperthyroidism increases requirements of nutrients. If you are not getting
enough calories and nutrients you can increase stress hormones.
In some hyperthyroid people cortisol is increased and in others cortisol
is decreased. This is probably due to difference in nutrient intake.

 

[tara]

When the blood was draw, I was taking 50 mcg T4 + 30 mcg T3.

Are you taking that T3 in small doses throughout the day?

 

[Lucas]

Hello.

I take 10 mcg T3 three times a day. I only have 10 and 20 mcg capsules of T3.

Why T3 is increasing my stress and not my temperature?

Should I stop taking thyroid and first lower my adrenaline/stress whit, like, taurine? Our maybe pregnenolone?

I eat a lot, Peat nutritious food. So the problem is that the thyroid is not doing the job.

 

[Lucas]

This morning wake up temperature is 35.6!!

 

[Lucas]

Tip of nose, fingers, toes and ear temperature are the same as armpit.

 

[Mittir]

In peatarian email exchange there is detail advice on T3 dosing.
Peatarian.com Email Exchanges - Ray Peat Forum Wiki
He recommends that one experiment with 1 mcg dose to see how body
reacts. It looks like your 10 mcg dose is too high.

I use chicken neck soup for my thyroid supplement.
If i take 4 neck i feel warm instantly and relaxed
followed by resting sleep. , next day i feel energized.
When i tried 8 necks, i felt extra warmth and ok sleep,
but felt stressed and agitated rest of the day, hypothyroid symptoms.
Everyone has a different requirement of T3. You just have to
figure out the right dose through self experimentation.