Can thyroid be underactive with normal labs?

[Ippodrom47]

Hi! Really need some help here. I seem to had iodine deficiency some weeks ago as my thyroid ultrasound showed uneven echotexture and very high blood flow activity (vascularization). No nodules, though, and the size it okay albeit larger than it was months ago. I hadn't eaten high iodine foods, kelp, seafood, fish or used iodized salt for quite a white prior to the ultrasound. Also, I really felt tightness in my neck and was sluggish af. I then started to eat iodine-rich fish (cod, haddock) and seafood (squid) on a daily basis to ensure I got 150-200 mcg of iodine. Also, 1 or 2 Brazil nuts a day to get selenium. Some days I feel really fine, some not so much. The tightness resolved fairly quickly.

But! I'm very sensitive to goitrogens. Peanuts, cabbage (cooked or not) or even pears will make me feel hellish: freezing cold, poor circulation, irritable, my digestion also slows down. It's not a food allergy or sensitivity, sugar issues or something like that as non-goitrigenic foods from the same groups don't have such an effect. I check my blood beta-carotene levels every three months, and they rise despite my diet being very low in carotene and vitamin A due to past toxicity and carotenemia. I could eat everything prior to that with no issues at all.

My recent bloodwork:
CBC - okay
Free T4 - 14.9 (range 12-22)
TSH - 1.51 (range 0.27 - 4.20)
anti-TPO - 5.4 (range <34)

I checked Free T3 some time ago, it was just in the middle of the normal range, and I also had the same symptoms back then.

My questions:
1) Can a thyroid still be underactive and sensitive to goitrogens after a long time of iodine deprivation even with seemingly normal labs? Shall I just continue with seafood, brazil nuts until it's saturated with iodine? My doc once told me told me that some people's thyroids can't store too much iodine, so even a small period of insufficiency can cause symptoms, and she thought I was one of those.
2) Most important - what labs should I do to check if my thyroid is underactive? Free T3 one again, total T3, T3 intake, I don't know, whatever.

Thanks very much!

 

[mostlylurking]

Hi! Really need some help here. I seem to had iodine deficiency some weeks ago as my thyroid ultrasound showed uneven echotexture and very high blood flow activity (vascularization). No nodules, though, and the size it okay albeit larger than it was months ago. I hadn't eaten high iodine foods, kelp, seafood, fish or used iodized salt for quite a white prior to the ultrasound. Also, I really felt tightness in my neck and was sluggish af. I then started to eat iodine-rich fish (cod, haddock) and seafood (squid) on a daily basis to ensure I got 150-200 mcg of iodine. Also, 1 or 2 Brazil nuts a day to get selenium. Some days I feel really fine, some not so much. The tightness resolved fairly quickly.

But! I'm very sensitive to goitrogens. Peanuts, cabbage (cooked or not) or even pears will make me feel hellish: freezing cold, poor circulation, irritable, my digestion also slows down. It's not a food allergy or sensitivity, sugar issues or something like that as non-goitrigenic foods from the same groups don't have such an effect. I check my blood beta-carotene levels every three months, and they rise despite my diet being very low in carotene and vitamin A due to past toxicity and carotenemia. I could eat everything prior to that with no issues at all.

My recent bloodwork:
CBC - okay
Free T4 - 14.9 (range 12-22)
TSH - 1.51 (range 0.27 - 4.20)
anti-TPO - 5.4 (range <34)

I checked Free T3 some time ago, it was just in the middle of the normal range, and I also had the same symptoms back then.

My questions:
1) Can a thyroid still be underactive and sensitive to goitrogens after a long time of iodine deprivation even with seemingly normal labs? Shall I just continue with seafood, brazil nuts until it's saturated with iodine? My doc once told me told me that some people's thyroids can't store too much iodine, so even a small period of insufficiency can cause symptoms, and she thought I was one of those.
2) Most important - what labs should I do to check if my thyroid is underactive? Free T3 one again, total T3, T3 intake, I don't know, whatever.

Thanks very much!

Supplementing with iodine is very tricky because, according to Ray Peat, too much iodine will block thyroid function. You can go to this link and search for IODINE to learn more. While you're there, search for THYROID TESTS, also T3 and reverse T3.

Here's a very good audio show about thyroid: https://www.toxinless.com/polsci-080911-thyroid-and-regeneration.mp3

and an article: Thyroid: Therapies, Confusion, and Fraud
and another article: Ray Peat, PhD on Thyroid, Temperature, Pulse, and TSH – Functional Performance Systems (FPS)

Per Ray Peat's work, the thyroid test is not calibrated properly and doctors aren't really taught much about it. People whose TSH is above a 1 tend to have negative symptoms. T3 is the active hormone, and therefore most important part of the test; can't tell much without it. Reverse T3 is problematic and you probably should learn about it and get that test. Ideally, your T3 should be in the top of the "normal" range.

 

[GodsHound]

^^ there you go.

Pulse rate & temperature of core & extremities are sometimes more reliable indicators than lab tests, as they can be recorded more frequently.

 

[Risingfire]

Start here: Preventing and treating cancer with progesterone.

 

[Fred]

Ray has talked quite a bit about how TSH should be near zero, and how cortisol can interfere with the measurement, giving the false impression of "health".

 

[Ippodrom47]

Thanks everyone! I was also wondering if dairy products and apples can be goitrogenic. I've been noticing I feel extremely cold after eating either. If milk isn't organic, can it be that the cows' feed, such as soy, crucifers, ect, is transferred into the milk and affects one's thyroid?

 

[Hans]

Hi! Really need some help here. I seem to had iodine deficiency some weeks ago as my thyroid ultrasound showed uneven echotexture and very high blood flow activity (vascularization). No nodules, though, and the size it okay albeit larger than it was months ago. I hadn't eaten high iodine foods, kelp, seafood, fish or used iodized salt for quite a white prior to the ultrasound. Also, I really felt tightness in my neck and was sluggish af. I then started to eat iodine-rich fish (cod, haddock) and seafood (squid) on a daily basis to ensure I got 150-200 mcg of iodine. Also, 1 or 2 Brazil nuts a day to get selenium. Some days I feel really fine, some not so much. The tightness resolved fairly quickly.

But! I'm very sensitive to goitrogens. Peanuts, cabbage (cooked or not) or even pears will make me feel hellish: freezing cold, poor circulation, irritable, my digestion also slows down. It's not a food allergy or sensitivity, sugar issues or something like that as non-goitrigenic foods from the same groups don't have such an effect. I check my blood beta-carotene levels every three months, and they rise despite my diet being very low in carotene and vitamin A due to past toxicity and carotenemia. I could eat everything prior to that with no issues at all.

My recent bloodwork:
CBC - okay
Free T4 - 14.9 (range 12-22)
TSH - 1.51 (range 0.27 - 4.20)
anti-TPO - 5.4 (range <34)

I checked Free T3 some time ago, it was just in the middle of the normal range, and I also had the same symptoms back then.

My questions:
1) Can a thyroid still be underactive and sensitive to goitrogens after a long time of iodine deprivation even with seemingly normal labs? Shall I just continue with seafood, brazil nuts until it's saturated with iodine? My doc once told me told me that some people's thyroids can't store too much iodine, so even a small period of insufficiency can cause symptoms, and she thought I was one of those.
2) Most important - what labs should I do to check if my thyroid is underactive? Free T3 one again, total T3, T3 intake, I don't know, whatever.

Thanks very much!

I'd recommend checking total and free T3 as well as reverse T3. But going by symptoms is the best as already mentioned. Taking additional thyroid can help, but often times something else is causing hypothyroid symptoms.

Thanks everyone! I was also wondering if dairy products and apples can be goitrogenic. I've been noticing I feel extremely cold after eating either. If milk isn't organic, can it be that the cows' feed, such as soy, crucifers, ect, is transferred into the milk and affects one's thyroid?

They aren't goitrogenic, but they can make people feel cold. Apples are cooling fruit based on TCM. Milk in general can make people feel cold, since it's a lot of liquid and very low in sodium. Usually making a egg shake, such as with milk, egg, collagen, honey and some salt can remove the excess cooling effect on milk.

 

[Fred]

PS, Ray has also said that the achilles tendon test is a much better metric than TSH.

 

[youngsinatra]

Ever done a HTMA?

Slow oxidizer, calcium shell, low potassium, low magnesium, heavy metal toxicity can cause hypothyroidism symptoms.

 

[Snicky]

To bump an old thread but to answer the question in the title: heck yes. My TSH never exceeded 4, the supposed upper range of ‘normal,’ but I was completely debilitated. And still really only feel good with it near zero…

I believe I was subclinical for a long time. And suspect many others are, too… and sadly, because of outdated constructs and thinking, won’t get the benefit of tx/intervention till very late in life, if even then!