Could I Be Hypothyroid?

[GreekDemiGod]

I am in my late 20s. 6ft tall and 155 lbs (71 kg) currently. Was 170 lbs at my highest when I was packing more muscle mass.
I have always been under weight. I never had weight issues. I store very little fat. My face is always lean.
The only way I could gain weight was through lifting weights and a very high calorie surplus.

I am 6 months into Peating after 4 months of Carnivore Diet and 1 year of experimenting with low carb and Intermittent Fasting.

• Morning temps: 36.0 to 36.4 Celsius
• Highest Temps 36.6 to 37.0
• Cold feet & hands a lot of the time
• Hair thinning & recession with great hair genetics
• Low-ish Testosterone
• Mild depression
• Pulse 70 - 75 bpm.'athlete pulse' due to being very fit
• Temps usually go up after eating, with exceptions
• Keeping a very high caloric intake raises my average temps

I don't have recent thyroid blood tests. However, last time I did them, FT3 and FT4 came out in range, TSH varied between 2 and 3.5.
This was back when I was over training and doing running and cold showers.
I suspect Peating and reducing physical activity has brought my TSH down.

 

[thomas00]

Yes.

 

[mbachiu]

I am in my late 20s. 6ft tall and 155 lbs (71 kg) currently. Was 170 lbs at my highest when I was packing more muscle mass.
I have always been under weight. I never had weight issues. I store very little fat. My face is always lean.
The only way I could gain weight was through lifting weights and a very high calorie surplus.

I am 6 months into Peating after 4 months of Carnivore Diet and 1 year of experimenting with low carb and Intermittent Fasting.

• Morning temps: 36.0 to 36.4 Celsius
• Highest Temps 36.6 to 37.0
• Cold feet & hands a lot of the time
• Hair thinning & recession with great hair genetics
• Low-ish Testosterone
• Mild depression
• Pulse 70 - 75 bpm.'athlete pulse' due to being very fit
• Temps usually go up after eating, with exceptions
• Keeping a very high caloric intake raises my average temps

I don't have recent thyroid blood tests. However, last time I did them, FT3 and FT4 came out in range, TSH varied between 2 and 3.5.
This was back when I was over training and doing running and cold showers.
I suspect Peating and reducing physical activity has brought my TSH down.

Absolutely you could be hypothyroid

 

[lampofred]

You might be high in phosphate/iron and low in magnesium due to low vitamin D, which will cause many symptoms similar to hypothyroidism.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

Before Peating, I reckon I had a very high phosphate intake from meat, grains.
I worked on improving my Ca:P ratio, now it's 1:1.3.
I supplemented D3 in the spring / summer, did blood tests, levels came out high normal.

 

[Jennifer]

@GreekDemiGod — Yes, it seems to me you're hypothyroid, and may have been even before going carnivore since I recall you mentioning to me in another thread about having poor digestion/slow digestion (?) since you were young.

I'm not sure if this will be helpful, but below is a list of symptoms from Dr. Robert Morse's sourcebook.

Weakness or failure of the thyroid will show up as:

• Obesity (if your pancreas is weak, you can be thin and still have a thyroid weakness)
• Low metabolism (can give you poor digestion)
• Low body temperature (cold extremities and cold intolerance)
• Hair loss and balding
• Failure to sweat properly, affecting skin elimination (creates dry skin and other conditions)

I'm adding the adrenal glands too since you've mentioned suffering from some of the symptoms listed below.

Weakness or failure of the adrenal glands will show up as:

• "itis's" (all inflammatory conditions)
• Fibrocystic conditions
• Fibromyalgia, scleroderma and sciatica
• Ovarian cysts
• Excess bleeding
• Endometriosis and atypical cell formation
• Prostatitis
• Prostate cancer
• All female cancers
• M.S. and Parkinson's Disease
• Tremors
• Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
• Shortness of breath
• Cholesterol plaquing
• Dehydration
• Anxieties, excessive shyness, emotional sensitivities, and other related conditions
• Sleep disorders
• Memory problems
• Early puberty, intintial menstruation, and irregular menstruation
• Conception problems
• Sexual problems (including lack of or excessive sex drive, impotence, erection problems, frigidity in women, and fertility problems)
• Low energy (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)
• Low endurance

Just to add, you can also tell how your adrenals are doing by your blood pressure (taken on both arms), particularly your systolic (top) number. Below 120 indicates a weakness.

With your cold hands and feet, it sounds to me like your body is pulling heat from your extremities to your core to keep vital organs warm via adrenaline, and as far as leanness and hypothyroidism goes, Ray has written about that. People like you and I fly under the radar. I've always been tiny (under 100 lbs) despite my huge appetite, but had most of the same symptoms as you and eventually started having major adrenaline attacks and passing out daily. Doctors didn't believe me when I told them I was running on adrenaline due to my weak thyroid because I was lean, my temps were normal and my thyroid numbers in range. When I finally convinced my doctor to prescribe me thyroid, not only did the adrenaline attacks stop but my "healthy" temp (37°+) dropped (like you, I had cold hands and feet), showing adrenaline was falsely elevating it the whole time. Anyone who has ever felt a rush of adrenaline, knows the kind of heat it can produce.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

@Jennifer Thank you for writing. The thyroid is an angle I have not considered at all until recently. I thought doing IF and Carnivore had possibly left me in a slight hypo state, and that it would resolve by itself after going High-Carb. I have seen minor improvements in temps, but not sufficient.

• Low metabolism (can give you poor digestion)

How does 'low metabolism' reconcile with the fact I need a high amount of calories daily to maintain weight (so-called ectomorph)? Maybe poor digestion plays a part, like maybe I can't properly utilize all the calories and nutrients.

I will keep the ones that match to me.

Weakness or failure of the adrenal glands will show up as:

• "itis's" (all inflammatory conditions) Dermatitis
• Tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Sometimes?
• Shortness of breath. Sometimes
• Cholesterol plaquing. Not sure. I am an LDL hyper-responder for sure, as I've found during Carnivore. That is, eating saturated fat quickly drives up my serum LDL
• Anxieties, excessive shyness, emotional sensitivities, and other related conditions
• Sleep disorders
• Memory problems. Maybe, to a minor degree
• Sexual problems (including lack of or excessive sex drive, impotence, erection problems, frigidity in women, and fertility problems)
• Low energy (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)
• Low endurance

Just to add, you can also tell how your adrenals are doing by your blood pressure (taken on both arms), particularly your systolic (top) number. Below 120 indicates a weakness.

Everytime I get routine checks for blood pressure, it comes out low. That is, I 'naturally' have in-range, but low-ish BP. Can't remember the numbers, systolic comes out around 125 or so.
The only time I dealt with high BP was during Carnivore, but that was an anomaly. Electrolytes issues.

With your cold hands and feet, it sounds to me like your body is pulling heat from your extremities to your core to keep vital organs warm via adrenaline, and as far as leanness and hypothyroidism goes, Ray has written about that. People like you and I fly under the radar.

Likely hypothesis. It's mostly the feet that are cold, even now as I'm writing it. I am sitting indoor, wearing socks, yet my feet feel like I've been swimming in cold water.

 

[jaminhealth]

Yes and you could be and why not work with 1 drop Iosol iodine most days and see how that goes with your cold issues. Do a search on Iodine and HypoT. It's all over the place. Dr. David Williams is a strong advocate of Iosol and I've been dosing with it for maybe 20 yrs or so.

 

[Jennifer]

You're welcome! :)

How does 'low metabolism' reconcile with the fact I need a high amount of calories daily to maintain weight (so-called ectomorph)? Maybe poor digestion plays a part, like maybe I can't properly utilize all the calories and nutrients.

Yeah, it could be digestive related or running on catabolic stress hormones due to a weak thyroid? Dr. Morse says the inability to gain weight despite a large caloric intake points to malabsorption and Ray mentioned how his caloric requirements were reduced by half when he started taking thyroid.

I will keep the ones that match to me.

Assuming you don't suffer from white coat syndrome, a systolic reading of 125 at your doctor's office is good. Between 120 and 130 is considered normal. Based on your symptoms it still seems that your adrenals are involved, but it could be due to them having to compensate for low thyroid function and taking a thyroid supp. may let them relax enough to regenerate.

For me, I'm finding that even though I'm taking NDT, I still have to support my adrenals via a certain diet and rest, especially given the last 5 months. Thankfully, now that I'm on thyroid, I can tolerate foods I couldn't before, particularly those high in fiber. They no longer cause bloating. I can even have starch now, though, I still prefer fruit as my main carb source.

Likely hypothesis. It's mostly the feet that are cold, even now as I'm writing it. I am sitting indoor, wearing socks, yet my feet feel like I've been swimming in cold water.

You could try keeping a heating pad or hot water bottle against your core to help draw heat back to your feet? That or wearing a fleece vest or other layers? I keep a heating pad against my back when my extremities get cold and it quickly warms then up. That and sipping salted broths. I'm currently on a French onion kick. I simmer vidalia onions, mixed mushrooms (for an umami flavor), herbs, lemon juice, and a bunch of Celtic sea salt in a pot for an hour, strain it, and sip the broth during the day. Carey Reams (RBTI) tested hundreds of foods and found onions (simmered) to be the best source of bioavailable vitamin C, which the adrenals have an affinity for.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

I am tempted to try red light therepy, as @tyler done it in this thread: Becoming A Man With Peat And Haidut.
Or some TyroMix

I never thouth that thyroid can affect digestion. I'm also dealing with bloating and 'slow digestion', probably low stomach acid. It'd be amazing to fix that through thyroid.

 

[Zigzag]

Similar to my situation. Last time my TSH was a bit over 3. fT3 and fT4 mid range. Cold hands basically all day. I actually tried tyromix but I didn't feel anything. I'm going to try NDT soon.

 

[ilhanxx]

You can be subclinical hypothyroid and have some t3. what is the effect on you? you can share results, I dont see any side effects from only t3, some cold days I use up to 30mcg.

 

[jaminhealth]

There are some 66 health symptoms to Low Thyroid. I have been working to keep close to Stop The Thyroid Madness STTM guidelines, LOW Tsh and and get T3 and T4 to high end of range.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

Yes and you could be and why not work with 1 drop Iosol iodine most days and see how that goes with your cold issues. Do a search on Iodine and HypoT. It's all over the place. Dr. David Williams is a strong advocate of Iosol and I've been dosing with it for maybe 20 yrs or so.

I do use iodized salt, it's the standard in my country.