Can Someone Help With Thyroid Results

daniel1286

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Sep 20, 2017
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Hi guys,

Please could someone advise me on where you think I should go next with my thyroid

TSH 2.63 (0.35-4.50mlu/l)
T4 16.4 (11-24pmol)
T3 4.3 (3.90-6.80pmol

I also have a goiter and ultrasound has shown it to be very inflamed

My mum and sister are both hypothyroid

I get extreme fatigue, wake up tired every day, stinging tired puffy eyes all day, weight gain around the middle, psoriasis, constipation and irregular bowel movements, unable to do any exercise with out feeling awful for days, fall asleep driving all the time

Ultrasound also showed a slightly fatty liver

Do I need to be on T3?
 

Kartoffel

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Sep 29, 2017
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Maybe T3 could help. I would always try to solve things with diet alone first. Recording your temperatures for a few days will be helpful. Especially before and after breakfast.
 
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daniel1286

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Hey Kartoffel, Ive measured all my temps and all are ok on that front
Diet is low carb, and pretty healthy , avoid gluten and dairy where possible

I cant tell you how bad it is to wake up fatigued and tired eyes after 12 hours sleep
 

Kartoffel

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I have been there so I think I can sympathize with your situation. What's your average temperature before and after breakfast? Have you considered eating more carbs like orange juice and potatoes? I cured my chronic fatigue by eating less protein and more carbs, getting some carrot fiber in the afternoon, and Buteyko exercises emphasizing diaphragmatic breathing
 
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daniel1286

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Thanks Kartoffel, my diet is pretty balanced tbf, I limit carbs where I can because I have gained so much weight around the middle

Do you think It is thyroid causing the fatigue when waking and the horrible dry puffy eyes?
 

Kartoffel

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I think low respiration at the cellular level is ultimately responsible for your fatigue. Especially the brain needs a lot of energy to work properly and make you feel energized. The goal should be to fix your cellular respiration. T3 might help with that. I might also make things worse. I never had any success with thyroid. It made me feel euphoric for a few hours, but then i would crash and get adrenaline symptoms like cold sweats and panic. I think people with a battered liver are always likely to have problems with extra thyroid because they can't mobilize enough glucose to support an artificial increase of their metabolic rate.
 
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daniel1286

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Ok how should I go about fixing respiration at the cellular level? Any tips on that
 

Kartoffel

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Unfortunately you will have to figure this out for yourself. Like I said, I think that eating more carbs, keeping your intestine clean, and working on your breathing might help. T3 might also improve your metabolism, but I would be careful and only start with tiny doses. Stimulating activities and people always help.
 

sweetpeat

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Both your t3 and t4 are below mid-range, so I can see how you would feel awful. But your t3 is lower in relation to t4 so I'm wondering if there's a conversion problem going on too. Stress, calorie deficiency, and protein deficiency can sometimes be the main culprits. Not enough protein will also affect the liver. I don't mean to harp on your diet, but many people under-eat these days to be "healthy" or maintain a certain look. I know because I was one of them lol. Getting enough to eat and getting enough protein have helped me so I'm just sharing my experience.

Limiting stress is also important because it can affect t4 to t3 conversion, and Kartoffel touched on that above.
I think it's important to address stress/lifestyle and nutrition if you're going to try to raise your metabolism.

“Besides fasting, or chronic protein deficiency, the common causes of hypothyroidism are excessive stress or ‘aerobic’ (i.e. anaerobic) exercise, and diets containing beans, lentils, nuts, unsaturated fats (including carotene), and undercooked broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, or mustard greens. Many health conscious people become hypothyroid with a synergistic program of undercooked vegetables, legumes instead of animal proteins, oils instead of butter, carotene instead of vitamin A, and breathless exercise instead of a stimulating life.” Ray Peat
 

tara

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Welcome.
fall asleep driving all the time
I suggest you stop driving till you can count on staying awake at the wheel. Good for longevity, yours and others.

Diet is low carb, and pretty healthy , avoid gluten and dairy where possible
Thanks Kartoffel, my diet is pretty balanced tbf, I limit carbs where I can because I have gained so much weight around the middle
Can you spell out what you mean by this? 'Healthy balanced diet' means very many different things to different people, so no idea what it means to you.
If you want, you could try putting atypical/average day's food into cronometer or similar to see what nutrition you are getting from it. Post it here if you want to.
And have you been doing it for a long time?
Peat doesn't particularly recommend a low carb diet.
Peat and many here are quite positive about milk, unless you are personally intolerant to it.

How's your breathing? Relaxed, nasal, diaphragmatic at rest? Including all night?
 
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daniel1286

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Sep 20, 2017
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Hi Tara,

Typical day

Porridge oats for breakfast

lunch will be some meat spinach, olives and feta cheese
Every other day with a bag of crisps (potato chips)

evening meal will be a chicken stir fry with noodles or brown rice

3 black coffees a day / 1 -1.5 litre of water a day
 

tara

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Not knowing the quantities, and your personal history etc, it's a bit hard to tell. By chicken stir fry, I'm guessing you meal with assorted veges, not just chicken and rice/noodles?
Approximate calories?
Have you tried playing around with that to see if you can get more energy in your day by trying:
- Adding in some fruit or juice, fresh rpipe, or stewed if you can't get good ripe fruit.
- gelatine to balance muscle meats - eg more gelatinous cuts of meat, or jellies for desert
- varying the meat so you get shell fish some days, maybe oysters now and then
- consider trying some beef liver or lambs fry every now and then.
- changing the timing - some of us do better with more of the food early in the day - eg by lunch time - and not so much in the evening. Or more frequent meals. This can be individual - not saying it is definitely for you, just that it works for some, and may be worth trying.
- Have you experimented with less or more coffee? Some of us don't handle it well, others thrive on it.

Are you getting a decent amount of good quality sleep during dark hours?
Getting regular sunlight?
Some regular (but not extreme) movement?
Is the exhaustion recent or been going on a very long time? Can you hazard a guess to when it started?

Here are some of Peat's articles and interviews, in case you haven't read/listened yet:
raypeat.com
Ray Peat Resources & Quotes | Ray Peat Forum
 
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daniel1286

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Sep 20, 2017
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Hey Tara

yes im in bed every night by 10pm and get minimum of 8 hours every night
Yes regular sunlight also
I used to exercise playing soccer once a week now

This has been going on 2 years now and following from the fittest period of my life
 

wintagal

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Jun 9, 2017
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1. Your thyroid numbers appear to be normal but your symptoms are consistent with hypothyroidism. Your goiter sounds like you may have Hashimoto's.
2. Did you test free T3? That is a better indicator than total T3 or total T4.
3. A reverse T3 test will tell you if you aren't converting T4 properly. Even a good serum level of free T3 can be sabotaged by high reverse T3.
4. Some folks with Hashimoto's have had their thyroid glands recover by taking low dose Naltrexone. It's an off-label use of Naltrexone that helps many autoimmune issues. You can order it without a prescription at buyldn dot com. It will probably take over a month to see if it helps your thyroid recovers. Start with a low dose.
5. I ate very low carb for over 5 years (20 g per day, about 1200 calories, lots of exercise) and gained weight. Low carb is very bad for hypothyroid persons. I now drink 1% milk and fruit juice and eat sugar, and have lost a couple of pounds, which is significant for me.
6. It's probably best to avoid gluten entirely, along with all grains.
 
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