My Bloodwork Over The Last Year, Suffering For 20 Years. Please Help

[Dezertfox]

I will try to keep this short since no one like to read long stories. I am M,28y, India living in US for 4 years. I was diagnosed with Hashi's in 2014 just before I came here but I think I have had digestion, low thyroid problems all my life. I was a healthy kid then suddenly lost a lot of weight when I was 10-11 years old and it stunted my growth for years. I am about 5'6 and weigh only 104 lbs. I have almost 0 body fat and the body fat meter shows "Error" when I tried to use it..I could never gain weight probably due to poor digestion and thyroid problems. Poor digestive function meant I couldn't get enough calories in efficiently..I have been taking synthroid 75/100 mcg for and blood work seems to have stabilized but I still feel like crap. Temps are in 97.5-98.2 range. Pulse 80-90 range. Both used to be lower before.

Here's my biggest problems-
1) Lack of sleep at night, probably due to poor glycogen storage. I wake up hungry after a few hours and can't get proper sleep even if I eat something after that.
2) Fatigue after I wake up, even if I eat something, and goes on throughout the day and evening. Can't focus, little efficiency and career/education suffered because of that. How do i know it's not normal? Because If I take a nap in the afternoon I feel Great and can continue work/study. This has saved me over the years and I could achieve the little I did.

3) Poor thyroid function, inability to gain weight or fat, difficulty digesting heavy food especially any fats and even protein. Although has gotten better lately. I have low bile as well which i realised because poop was almost always yellow. Swedish bitters, Lemon juice have improved it a bit now. Bowel movements are fine - 1 per meal.

I think my body runs on stress hormones, mainly adrenalin. Coffee makes me sleepy and irritates my gut so I stick to tea and it makes me sleepy, poor liver function I guess.. Caffeine pills 100 mg made me jittery and pounding heart..

Was on PPIs over the last year, not everyday but 1 a week or so and came off it last month and digestion is better than ever. Changing diet to include simple foods like boiled rice, mashed potatoes, cooked chicken, veggies, OJ, fruits has helped. I have some degree of insulin resistance as well imo.

Why was I on PPIs? Because for some reason, when I am on PPIs I feel more Energetic and much less fatigued in the morning and helps me focus a bit. I still have no idea why that was the case?

4) Hair loss - No one in my family has hair loss and here i am looking like Jude Law circa 2005 at 28. I had so much hair and it's just thin all over now and getting bald spots on the front..PPIs probably inhibited absorption of vitamins. Increasing synthroid from 75 to 100 mcg also contributed to it I think since faulty digestion meant i couldnt probably keep up with nutritional requirements. I am back on 75 mcg now.

5) Mild Fatty Liver - Enzymes have always been in the bottom 3rd of range but an ultrasound showed I have mild fatty liver, gall bladder pancreas kidney all good. I have quit alcohol, which I used to on weekends and I am feeling a bit better digestion and overall well being, motivates me to do more for my health as well. I do smoke and have been trying to quit and reduced to 1/2 a day. I have read giving up smoking increases hypothyroidism and that worries me a bit.


I have uploaded my blood work if anyone is interested to take a look. They were taken 3 times, Oct 2017 after which I upped my synthroid dose to 100, June 2018 and Nov 2018. TSH is a bit high in the latest one but I was under a little bit stress with travel and other personal issues those few days so that might have resulted in a high TSH.

Blood work -
TSH - 2 (usually under 1)
FT3- 3.1 (2-4.4) My FT3 never goes above 3.1 for some reason. I suspect poor liver means high RT3.
TPO - 169 (0-34) Any tips to reduce it? I have added selenium and black seed oil..
Vit D -29.7. Usually it's above 40 but I started Haidut's vit d topically 5 drops.
DHEA - 441 (138-475) ALWAYS in the top range, suggest adrenal overdrive? Any tips would help..
HbA1c- 5.2..
Test - 1100 (264-900)
Free test - 37.8( 9-26) Testosterone has been very high in the last 2 tests, this time it's 30% over range, is this due to adrenal overdrive? I am worried..
LG- 7.1 ( seems to be a bit high as well)

Cholesterol - 163
Triglycerides - 117 ( First time both are in range, after going on synthroid 100 mg for quite a bid, always had both on the higher side, TGs went to 400+ last time when I drank too much OJ and fruits and thought it was Peating.

AST - 15 (0-40)
ALT -14 (0-44)
Bilirubin - 0.7 (0-1.2) Usually always 0.2 or 0.3. Suggests poor liver function?
A/G ratio - 2 (1.2-2.2)

Ferritin - 30 (doc says mild- low iron, maybe reason for hair loss and due to PPIs? Started Liver 2-3x a week).

Other stuff like prolactin, serum iron, etc have not been ordered by my doctor and I would probably need to get them done out of pocket since insurance won't pay for it.

My diet ( bear in mind i was really in a calorie deficit before, i have just started and still trying to go up for the last 2-3 weeks)

Breakfast -

1/2 glass OJ, some broth with collagen or an indian breakfast item made of rice which is easy to digest, cottage cheese..Don't do well with eggs..Trying to add goat milk, since I don't do well with cow's milk.

Earl grey tea

500 gm bowl of fruits split into morning and afternoon - papaya, apples, cantaloupe, grapes, watermelons.

Lunch - Boiled rice, lemon squeezed on it, mashed potatoes, some chicken/protein, indian curry..

Evening - broth+collagen/cottage cheese + some OJ

Dinner - Same as lunch.

Post dinner snack - Still trying to figure out on what will let me sleep through the night without waking me up.. Maybe some casein if i tolerate it well?
Goat liver 2x a week.

Supplements -
VIT AD topically by Haidut, K orally after breakfast.

Vit E on body topically by Haidut around lunch or evening.

Magnaoil at night topically before sleeping.
Cypro cycling 1 mg for 1-2 weeks the a break.

Selenium by Solaray with lunch.

Taurine from nutrabio gives me a headache even at 0.5 gm, one by true nutrition seems to be better so I have ordered that.

Red light on thyroid for about 2 minutes, more gives me weird sensation, just starting.
Another 4-5 mins on Liver. and 10 mins on hair every other day
Although it seems red light increases shedding?

What I am thinking of adding -
Ordered some TUDCA to help with Bile and liver.

Dermaroller/dermapen on hair.

ACV+garlic+ginger+honey and lemon to control triglycerides and increase bile

Switch from synthroid 75 mcg to Cytomel broken into 3-4 pieces throughout morning and afternoon and have some synthroid at night to suppress TSH..I was put on NP thyroid for a few weeks and my TSH went to 0.3 but t3 and t4 were very low I think, and the new doctor put me on synthroid again..



That ended up being a longer post than I had thought, but I tried to fit my life into a few paragraphs. I would really appreciate it if you take the time to read this and give me a few suggestions to try and improve my health and life. Thank you!

 

[Dezertfox]

Hey guys, I would really appreciate it if you take a look and let me know your thoughts. Thank you!

 

[Hugh Johnson]

Hey guys, I would really appreciate it if you take a look and let me know your thoughts. Thank you!

That is what Ray said. I don't really know enough to help you, sorry. Maybe try weird out there stuff like Power of Eight groups.

Taurine helps with bile production, though. Could try that.

 

[Dezertfox]

That is what Ray said. I don't really know enough to help you, sorry. Maybe try weird out there stuff like Power of Eight groups.

Taurine helps with bile production, though. Could try that.

Heard this talk already and taking some taurine. Appreciate the response!

 

[mostlylurking]

I'll give you my 2 cents' worth regarding your diet: I think you are eating too many empty calories in the form of starch. Try to cut out ALL of the starch; replace it with more quality protein (Not muscle meat) and fruit.

1/2 glass OJ, some broth with collagen or an indian breakfast item made of rice which is easy to digest, cottage cheese..Don't do well with eggs..Trying to add goat milk, since I don't do well with cow's milk.
​

Increase that OJ to 10-12 ounces. If you can eat the cottage cheese but not the milk, there's a great chance that you will be able to tolerate milk if you will drink maybe an ounce or two with each meal for a couple of weeks. Your body will start making the enzyme needed to digest milk.

Earl grey tea
​

I react very badly to Earl Grey tea. I gave up all tea about 2 years ago. I do fine with instant caffeinated coffee (with lots of sugar, milk and gelatin).

500 gm bowl of fruits split into morning and afternoon - papaya, apples, cantaloupe, grapes, watermelons.
​

Are you cooking those apples? They are too hard to digest if they aren't cooked. The grapes can be tricky because you have to wash off the bloom (mold) on the skins and you have to avoid swallowing the seeds and the skins too. This snack needs protein added to it. Over all, this diet looks really low on protein. How about some cheese to go with that fruit? I see no carrot salad; you need carrot salad. Everyday.

Lunch - Boiled rice, lemon squeezed on it, mashed potatoes, some chicken/protein, indian curry..
​

Too much starch = empty calories. Starch = straight glucose which will spike your insulin. You need fructose to go with the glucose as is found in fruit, honey, and plain white table sugar.

Evening - broth+collagen/cottage cheese + some OJ
​

How much collagen are you getting into you? The goal is to get at least 100 grams of high quality protein into you each day, preferably not muscle meat. 1 Tablespoon regular gelatin powder = 11 grams protein; 2 Tablespoons hydrolyzed gelatin powder = 11 grams protein. There are about 14 grams of protein in 1/2 cup of cottage cheese. The suggested goal for nonstarchy carbohydrates is around 150 grams each day. There are about 25.5 grams of carbohydrate (sugar) in 8 ounces of orange juice.

Dinner - Same as lunch.
​

I don't think you are eating enough. I don't think your thyroid is functioning very well. Your liver converts T4 into T3, assuming you fed it enough protein to do its job. Your liver is supposed to store glycogen to feed your body to keep your blood sugar stable. If your thyroid isn't working or your liver is starved for protein and so can't convert T4 to T3, your liver can't store the glycogen like it's supposed to and then you become hypoglycemic which tends to go with hypothyroidism.

Post dinner snack - Still trying to figure out on what will let me sleep through the night without waking me up.. Maybe some casein if i tolerate it well?
​

You need to load your liver up with sugar in order to sleep through the night. I have a big glass of 1% milk with a tablespoon of sugar and 2 tablespoons of hydrolyzed gelatin and some vanilla; works great. If you wake up, have a glass of orange juice with a pinch of salt to lower the adrenaline that woke you up.

Goat liver 2x a week.
​

That's too much. Eat the liver at most once a week. The muscle meat AND the liver have tryptophan in them which slows down thyroid function.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[mostlylurking]

P.S.: your cholesterol is pretty low; you can increase it by eating fruits and drinking OJ.

You might check out Danny Roddy on youtube here: danny roddy - YouTube Danny has researched hair loss and has a blog here: The Danny Roddy Weblog. He is a big Ray Peat fan.

 

[Cirion]

Just a thought - pretty sure parasites are a common cause of severe underweight problems. Not saying that's your issue but I think it's worth considering. Parasites can cause severe nutritional/caloric deficiency no matter how much you seem to eat.

 

[Douglas Ek]

Hey guys, I would really appreciate it if you take a look and let me know your thoughts. Thank you!

Hi! So your ferritin is very low for a male. I know a lot of people goes against iron supplements here but it helped me tremendously. I went from low thyroid, skinny, cold hands and feet, no energy, no sex drive and bad sleep to feeling awesome. My ferritin was 50 and i felt like crap. Once i got it above 100 much much better.

 

[mostlylurking]

Here's a Danny Roddy Youtube video that I think could be helpful:

 

[Dezertfox]

Just a thought - pretty sure parasites are a common cause of severe underweight problems. Not saying that's your issue but I think it's worth considering. Parasites can cause severe nutritional/caloric deficiency no matter how much you seem to eat.

I thought of the same and I have had problems with giardia when i was a kid..But I did a round of albendazole for 4 days so that should have killed them no?

 

[Dezertfox]

Hi! So your ferritin is very low for a male. I know a lot of people goes against iron supplements here but it helped me tremendously. I went from low thyroid, skinny, cold hands and feet, no energy, no sex drive and bad sleep to feeling awesome. My ferritin was 50 and i felt like crap. Once i got it above 100 much much better.

Thank you! I have added Liver to my diet for this reason and I have the Feosol bifera tabs (which are relatively easy on the stomach). Your testimony has given me some confidence re iron supplementing.

 

[Dezertfox]

P.S.: your cholesterol is pretty low; you can increase it by eating fruits and drinking OJ.

You might check out Danny Roddy on youtube here: danny roddy - YouTube Danny has researched hair loss and has a blog here: The Danny Roddy Weblog. He is a big Ray Peat fan.

Thanks a lot for the detailed response! Watched that video sometime back! Actually my cholesterol has always been over 200, this is the first time it was low probably due to too much synthroid and being underfed. I am sure it's back up over 200 again!

I like the milk with meals idea. I have noticed I tolerate it better when I am not on empty stomach too..Regarding the OJ, last time I added too much OJ my triglycerides went over 400, so that shows liver has a problem metabolizing glucose/fructose and I have already been diagnosed with a mild fatty liver so too much OJ can make things worse?

I react fine to the tea and I digest apples very very well for some reason, so no reason to cook them I guess? Carrot salad just made me full, i tried with coconut oil and vinegar and decided it was not for me, also bowel movements are pretty regular so don't really need it i guess?

I agree that my diet is protein deficient, but what can I add? There's only a few proteins like cottage cheese and some chicken which i tolerate, others make me bloated. Any suggestions will be great. I can't eat beef or pork due to religious reason.

Regarding rice, I eat basmati rice which has a low GI and I boil it and remove the water so the starchy part which spikes the insulin is already gone. I think that's how Peat recommends white rice and says it's ok?

I do drink milk and eat cottage cheese before bed but somehow always end up being hungry as stomach digests the food and it's empty..I will try drinking more milk with collagen tonight and see.

I am also adding 2-3 tbsp of honey to my tea 2x a day so that should provide some help I am assuming.

Again, thanks a lot for your detailed answer!

 

[Dezertfox]

@mostlylurking another thing I forgot to add. I tried to eat ice cream last night before bed to see if it helps me sleep through the night and unfortunately what i got was break out of acne in my face which is usually when I get indigestion/inflammation so probably that's not for me at this point either..

 

[Runenight201]

I can't eat beef or pork due to religious reasons

I think you would benefit greatly from eating fatty cuts of meat. Religion is important but so is your health. Religion is about improving your quality of life, not lowering it, and you may be limiting your recovery by not including these meats in your diet. That being said, you could try goats or sheep’s meat, but I have personally found great health improvements in eating beef and pork. Especially given how underweight you are, fatty meats are super anabolic and should help you pack on the pounds.

 

[Dezertfox]

@Runenight201 I totally get your point but at this stage i can't get those down, I might end up gagging with beef/pork. Also, when I eat too much chicken like a barbecue for a meal I have trouble digesting it. So I might have the same problem with beef/pork anyway right? I can't really digest a heavy protein based meal, that's pretty much always been my problem..

 

[Runenight201]

Chicken is the leanest of proteins and so I’m not surprised you’d have trouble digesting it, since it has no fat accompanied with it. I’ve ditched chicken breast, as it just can’t satiate me like beef and pork can.

Fatty beef on its own also make me nauseous, but when combined with a starch of some sort (my go to is bread, beans, and cheese, in a chili stew, but you could also do rice and beans, or just rice), the whole meal becomes very satiating and pro-metabolic.

I’d at least give it a shot. Cooked with some delicious spices and served nice and hot =P

 

[lampofred]

I will try to keep this short since no one like to read long stories. I am M,28y, India living in US for 4 years. I was diagnosed with Hashi's in 2014 just before I came here but I think I have had digestion, low thyroid problems all my life. I was a healthy kid then suddenly lost a lot of weight when I was 10-11 years old and it stunted my growth for years. I am about 5'6 and weigh only 104 lbs. I have almost 0 body fat and the body fat meter shows "Error" when I tried to use it..I could never gain weight probably due to poor digestion and thyroid problems. Poor digestive function meant I couldn't get enough calories in efficiently..I have been taking synthroid 75/100 mcg for and blood work seems to have stabilized but I still feel like crap. Temps are in 97.5-98.2 range. Pulse 80-90 range. Both used to be lower before.

Here's my biggest problems-
1) Lack of sleep at night, probably due to poor glycogen storage. I wake up hungry after a few hours and can't get proper sleep even if I eat something after that.
2) Fatigue after I wake up, even if I eat something, and goes on throughout the day and evening. Can't focus, little efficiency and career/education suffered because of that. How do i know it's not normal? Because If I take a nap in the afternoon I feel Great and can continue work/study. This has saved me over the years and I could achieve the little I did.

3) Poor thyroid function, inability to gain weight or fat, difficulty digesting heavy food especially any fats and even protein. Although has gotten better lately. I have low bile as well which i realised because poop was almost always yellow. Swedish bitters, Lemon juice have improved it a bit now. Bowel movements are fine - 1 per meal.

I think my body runs on stress hormones, mainly adrenalin. Coffee makes me sleepy and irritates my gut so I stick to tea and it makes me sleepy, poor liver function I guess.. Caffeine pills 100 mg made me jittery and pounding heart..

Was on PPIs over the last year, not everyday but 1 a week or so and came off it last month and digestion is better than ever. Changing diet to include simple foods like boiled rice, mashed potatoes, cooked chicken, veggies, OJ, fruits has helped. I have some degree of insulin resistance as well imo.

Why was I on PPIs? Because for some reason, when I am on PPIs I feel more Energetic and much less fatigued in the morning and helps me focus a bit. I still have no idea why that was the case?

4) Hair loss - No one in my family has hair loss and here i am looking like Jude Law circa 2005 at 28. I had so much hair and it's just thin all over now and getting bald spots on the front..PPIs probably inhibited absorption of vitamins. Increasing synthroid from 75 to 100 mcg also contributed to it I think since faulty digestion meant i couldnt probably keep up with nutritional requirements. I am back on 75 mcg now.

5) Mild Fatty Liver - Enzymes have always been in the bottom 3rd of range but an ultrasound showed I have mild fatty liver, gall bladder pancreas kidney all good. I have quit alcohol, which I used to on weekends and I am feeling a bit better digestion and overall well being, motivates me to do more for my health as well. I do smoke and have been trying to quit and reduced to 1/2 a day. I have read giving up smoking increases hypothyroidism and that worries me a bit.


I have uploaded my blood work if anyone is interested to take a look. They were taken 3 times, Oct 2017 after which I upped my synthroid dose to 100, June 2018 and Nov 2018. TSH is a bit high in the latest one but I was under a little bit stress with travel and other personal issues those few days so that might have resulted in a high TSH.

Blood work -
TSH - 2 (usually under 1)
FT3- 3.1 (2-4.4) My FT3 never goes above 3.1 for some reason. I suspect poor liver means high RT3.
TPO - 169 (0-34) Any tips to reduce it? I have added selenium and black seed oil..
Vit D -29.7. Usually it's above 40 but I started Haidut's vit d topically 5 drops.
DHEA - 441 (138-475) ALWAYS in the top range, suggest adrenal overdrive? Any tips would help..
HbA1c- 5.2..
Test - 1100 (264-900)
Free test - 37.8( 9-26) Testosterone has been very high in the last 2 tests, this time it's 30% over range, is this due to adrenal overdrive? I am worried..
LG- 7.1 ( seems to be a bit high as well)

Cholesterol - 163
Triglycerides - 117 ( First time both are in range, after going on synthroid 100 mg for quite a bid, always had both on the higher side, TGs went to 400+ last time when I drank too much OJ and fruits and thought it was Peating.

AST - 15 (0-40)
ALT -14 (0-44)
Bilirubin - 0.7 (0-1.2) Usually always 0.2 or 0.3. Suggests poor liver function?
A/G ratio - 2 (1.2-2.2)

Ferritin - 30 (doc says mild- low iron, maybe reason for hair loss and due to PPIs? Started Liver 2-3x a week).

Other stuff like prolactin, serum iron, etc have not been ordered by my doctor and I would probably need to get them done out of pocket since insurance won't pay for it.

My diet ( bear in mind i was really in a calorie deficit before, i have just started and still trying to go up for the last 2-3 weeks)

Breakfast -

1/2 glass OJ, some broth with collagen or an indian breakfast item made of rice which is easy to digest, cottage cheese..Don't do well with eggs..Trying to add goat milk, since I don't do well with cow's milk.

Earl grey tea

500 gm bowl of fruits split into morning and afternoon - papaya, apples, cantaloupe, grapes, watermelons.

Lunch - Boiled rice, lemon squeezed on it, mashed potatoes, some chicken/protein, indian curry..

Evening - broth+collagen/cottage cheese + some OJ

Dinner - Same as lunch.

Post dinner snack - Still trying to figure out on what will let me sleep through the night without waking me up.. Maybe some casein if i tolerate it well?
Goat liver 2x a week.

Supplements -
VIT AD topically by Haidut, K orally after breakfast.

Vit E on body topically by Haidut around lunch or evening.

Magnaoil at night topically before sleeping.
Cypro cycling 1 mg for 1-2 weeks the a break.

Selenium by Solaray with lunch.

Taurine from nutrabio gives me a headache even at 0.5 gm, one by true nutrition seems to be better so I have ordered that.

Red light on thyroid for about 2 minutes, more gives me weird sensation, just starting.
Another 4-5 mins on Liver. and 10 mins on hair every other day
Although it seems red light increases shedding?

What I am thinking of adding -
Ordered some TUDCA to help with Bile and liver.

Dermaroller/dermapen on hair.

ACV+garlic+ginger+honey and lemon to control triglycerides and increase bile

Switch from synthroid 75 mcg to Cytomel broken into 3-4 pieces throughout morning and afternoon and have some synthroid at night to suppress TSH..I was put on NP thyroid for a few weeks and my TSH went to 0.3 but t3 and t4 were very low I think, and the new doctor put me on synthroid again..



That ended up being a longer post than I had thought, but I tried to fit my life into a few paragraphs. I would really appreciate it if you take the time to read this and give me a few suggestions to try and improve my health and life. Thank you!

My guess is that you have some male version of PCOS going on, which is probably caused mainly by excess copper and insufficient zinc, which leads to low progesterone and excess estrogen. Adrenal hyperactivity (caused by excess estrogen and not enough progesterone) leads to a hormonal state of high estrogen, low progesterone, and high androgens combined with a small frame. I think high doses of coffee (800 mg of caffeine per day), increasing zinc stores and reducing copper stores, eating ample protein and continuing to supplement thyroid might be good to try

 

[Dezertfox]

My guess is that you have some male version of PCOS going on, which is probably caused mainly by excess copper and insufficient zinc, which leads to low progesterone and excess estrogen. Adrenal hyperactivity (caused by excess estrogen and not enough progesterone) leads to a hormonal state of high estrogen, low progesterone, and high androgens combined with a small frame. I think high doses of coffee (800 mg of caffeine per day), increasing zinc stores and reducing copper stores, eating ample protein and continuing to supplement thyroid might help.

Thanks! Is there any test to find out my copper levels? I have ordered progest e. I also tried 100 mg caffeine pills but i felt anxiety after i took them so I stopped..

 

[lampofred]

Thanks! Is there any test to find out my copper levels? I have ordered progest e. I also tried 100 mg caffeine pills but i felt anxiety after i took them so I stopped..

I'm not sure if there's any test because I read that most of the copper in this situation is stuck deep inside your tissues causing damage, so blood tests can't detect it. If you find that you feel better after taking Vit E, B vitamins, Vit C, fructose, aspirin, and also after supplementing zinc, then that would be a way to prove that you have excess copper. Vitamin C and fructose especially help to detoxify copper.

I think Peat says being unable to handle caffeine is a sign of a poorly functioning liver, and the liver is the most important organ for detoxifying estrogen and adrenal androgens, and for promoting progesterone production. Taking coffee/caffeine with ample sugar and protein should slow its absorption, and over time, caffeine will clean out the liver so that it is better able to handle caffeine.

 

[Dezertfox]

@lampofred thank you! So i was taking zinc picolinate for about 6 months but didn't notice any changes. I have been using 20 drops of haidut's magnaoil and vit e topically for about 3 weeks now and don't see any effects either. I haven't tried any B vitamins recently other than Folic acid and b12 which i also took for a few months and then stopped.

Do you think my adrenals are in overdrive due to low sugar causing stress ? like i get hungry and night and inability to store glycogen is causing adrenals to go to overdrive thereby shooting up my DHEA S levels? Now high DHEA S means low cortisol, so that could be why i feel so fatigued during the day? And the high DHEAS is then getting converted to Testosterone and Estrogen causing hair loss as well?

I am trying red light on thyroid, liver, hair as well..