Help interpreting lab results?

[nattyjules]

Hi everyone, could I ask for some help interpreting my lab results? I've been tested for a whole heap of things, but my main concern was thyroid function. I am only taking Progest-E at the moment (still mega-dosing).

Thyroid results:

Serum free T4: 8.0 pmol/L
Serum TSH: 1.36 mu/L

Free androgen index: 3.4
Serum LH: 7.2 iu/L
Serum FSH: 4.2 iu/L
Serum prolactin: 173 miu/L
Serum testosterone: 1.9 nmol/L

Here in this part of the UK they don't do full thyroid panel testing as standard, and I'm not in a position to purchase private lab work

They want me to re-test because of the low T4, but I know they are likely to put me on Levothyroxine, which I don't want. I tried taking desiccated thryoid (Thiroyd brand) for 2 months, but it made my eczema worse and gave me crazy headaches and a low mood. These went away when I stopped taking it. My waking temps are still low (36.2 - 36.4).

Is there an online article by Peat where I can check these against his optimal ranges?

 

[cantstoppeating]

A Peat centric TSH value should be around 0.4 miu/L or lower. Similarly your prolactin should no higher than 148 miu/L (7 ng/dl). As for the rest, I don't know.

As you know, Peating is about increasing the metabolism as measured by pulse and temp. What are your pulse and temps during the day and why are you mega-dosing progesterone?

 

[nattyjules]

Thanks for replying so quickly cantstoppeating :)

I didn't realise that about prolactin - so that's good to know!

Pulse fluctuates around 65 bpm throughout the day, and temps tend to hover around 36.6 / 36.7 - my hands are always cold!

 

[cantstoppeating]

Did you get your total cholesterol tested? It might be a good idea to post whatever tests you had done so that others can form a coherent picture of your current state.

 

[marsaday]

What dont you like about the T4 ? It looks as if you need it. I expect your FT3 to be quite good as the TSH is not that low. So your body is converting well.

This means you have low T4 production, but T3 is enough to keep you going. As you get older this will change and the body will struggle to keep up good conversion. What age are you approx ?

The natural thyroid probably made you worse because of the T3. This really boosted your T3 too much.

It is trial and error most of the time so i would give some T4 a go. The progesterone will certainly be helping the thyroid work better.

 

[tara]

Hi nattyjules,
I'm not good at interpreting lab results, but I have a couple of thoughts. Your TSH seems a little high, but not extreme. Peat does say most people arte better off with TSH<1.
I think that prolactin level cantstppeating referred to is for men, and the normal level for women is a little higher. I think you are female? If so, you might not be far out of normal range - others can probably confirm this.

It's hard to consider how to address hormones without also considering nourishment. Nutrient deficiencies can contribute to hormone imbalance. And supplementing hormones without the required nourishment to support their use can put the body in a stressful situation, which it resolves as best it can.

If you want to, you can give us some more information about your diet? Or if you've put it elsewhere and I missed it, just link from here?

My impression is that whatever way you try supplementing thyroid, it's easier to get to a good level by starting with a very low dose, and for the T4 component (which has a long half-life), only incrementing it after at least 2 weeks, but maybe better after 3-4 weeks. And that monitoring temps and pulse can be very helpful for assessing whether your thyroid hormones are at a good level.

 

[nattyjules]

Thanks marsaday! I was thinking more about the synthroid brand of levothyroxine as I've read that not everyone gets on well with it. I've read on here that Peat recommends a little bit of T3, so I was thinking of ordering some cynoplus.

I am 33 this year - but have a history of female family members with Hashimotos and adrenal fatigue.

tara - thank you for this! I was going to read up on prolactin but I think for now I'll focus on the thyroid before getting tested again.

In terms of my diet - I am peat-ish. I occasionally have bread, I have a raw carrot salad when I remember, I eat ice cream a couple of times a week, can't stand liver so take a Vit. A supplement, I have gelatin in my coffee every day, and I've just started upping my intake of fruit.

Reading the responses here I think I will starting with supplementing just levothyroxine initially, and then go slowly from there!

Thank you so much for your replies :)

 

[marsaday]

Yes go slow and steady.

Many people (the majority) do very well on T4 if they need it. There is a big minority who dont of course and they come on forums for help. I think the reason why T4 only does not work is down to the complexity involved in energy production (the metabolic rate). T4 and T3 are part of this complex equation but there is so much else to take into account involved with these processes. We can look at diet helping and this may be enough, but then we need to look at the hormones as well if diet does not fully help. We have a myriad of steroid hormones to think about and then the more simple thyroid hormones.

 

[HDD]

IIRC, the only person Peat thinks does well on t4 only is healthy 25 yr old males. Women have a
problem converting the t4 to t3 in the liver due to estrogen.

The serum's high ratio of T4 to T3 is a pitifully poor argument to justify the use of thyroxine instead of a product that resembles the proportion of these substances secreted by a healthy thyroid gland, or maintained inside cells. About 30 years ago, when many people still thought of thyroxine as "the thryoid hormone," someone was making the argument that "the thyroid hormone" must work exclusively as an activator of genes, since most of the organ slices he tested didn't increase their oxygen consumption when it was added. In fact, the addition of thyroxine to brain slices suppressed their respiration by 6% during the experiment. Since most T3 is produced from T4 in the liver, not in the brain, I think that experiment had great significance, despite the ignorant interpretation of the author. An excess of thyroxine, in a tissue that doesn't convert it rapidly to T3, has an antithyroid action. (See Goumaz, et al, 1987.) This happens in many women who are given thyroxine; as their dose is increased, their symptoms get worse.

http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/thyroid.shtml