Need a little refresher on thyroid

[messtafarian]

I bought some mexican t3 because I am working on a theory -- or at least an angle that might bring some improvement.

For most of my life I've had a pretty low TSH -- somewhere around .3 -- they called it sublclinical hyperthyroidism although I never had t3 or t4 checked.In February, going to the doc for increasing neuro symptoms, I tested out with a low TSH, high normal t4 and slightly high t3. In May, suddenly TSH was .5 and t3 was *low*. I had already had a serious meltdown that I think was mild thyrotoxicosis -- went to the hospital and of course they sent me away and told me I probably had a virus.

That's when I got *really* sick. So my thinking is that I don't really need t4, but if I take a little t3 it might clear out some of the reverse t3?

Am I getting that right? The t3 is that weird stuff they're calling Triyotex and I was thinking I could measure out roughly a third of what's in the capsule and give it a try. Can anyone see any danger in trying this and is it a reasonable theory?

 

[sweetpeat]

Is triyotex the one with 75 mcg of t3? So then one-third would be 25 mcg? Would you take that all at once or spread it out over the day? 25 mcg at once seems like an awful lot and might make reverse t3 worse.

I don't know, but if it was me, I think I might get re-tested first, if you can manage it. That last test was 4 months ago and in another post you told about the return of your menstrual cycle, so it sounds like you've had some recent health changes, possibly for the better. Maybe your thyroid levels have improved too.

If t4 is still high with low t3, I think I would look more into the conversion side of things. In other words, why isn't t4 being converted to t3. Stress? Estrogen? Some kind of deficiency? Liver issues? Taking extra t3 can help with some of those things, but I think I would try keeping the dose small. Like 1-2 mcg at a time spread throughout the day while monitoring temps and pulse, and see how that goes.
Speaking of temps and pulse, how they currently?

 

[messtafarian]

Thanks, yes, it's the Mexican 75 mcg one. I wonder if it's 1 mcg per bead.

It was really very surprising to see low t3 for me. I think the reason it stopped converting is because my cortisol went through the roof for some reason right after that and stayed that way through July. I know the cortisol is better now because I'm not sweating nonstop and I'm on indefinite cyproheptadine.

Sorry -- the last test was in August, so a month ago --

TSH .585
T4 1.11
T3 2.1

The reasoning behind the t3 is to first of all try to get my body to use more thyroid and less cortisol. I was just given a beta blocker and that can slow down conversion too.

Also I'm worried about low t3 since my illness is neurological and it seems my nervous system would need a bit more to potentially heal whatever went wrong. I have unexplained Lhermittes sign and I've had it for nine months. I do want to be careful though because I seriously do not want to make this thing, whatever it is I have -- worse.

 

[montmorency]

post 99705 I bought some mexican t3 because I am working on a theory -- or at least an angle that might bring some improvement.

For most of my life I've had a pretty low TSH -- somewhere around .3 -- they called it sublclinical hyperthyroidism although I never had t3 or t4 checked.In February, going to the doc for increasing neuro symptoms, I tested out with a low TSH, high normal t4 and slightly high t3. In May, suddenly TSH was .5 and t3 was *low*. I had already had a serious meltdown that I think was mild thyrotoxicosis -- went to the hospital and of course they sent me away and told me I probably had a virus.

That's when I got *really* sick. So my thinking is that I don't really need t4, but if I take a little t3 it might clear out some of the reverse t3?

Am I getting that right? The t3 is that weird stuff they're calling Triyotex and I was thinking I could measure out roughly a third of what's in the capsule and give it a try. Can anyone see any danger in trying this and is it a reasonable theory?

More a reply to the thread subject than to the content of your post, but it may be of interest:

https://sites.google.com/site/violienshealth/thyroid

 

[messtafarian]

Boy. No matter how much I read about thyroid stuff I still come away very confused. And now I have another thing to think about, which is whether or not I need iodine.

Down the rabbit hole.

 

[Giraffe]

Non-expert thinking out loud...

post 99760 Boy. No matter how much I read about thyroid stuff I still come away very confused. And now I have another thing to think about, which is whether or not I need iodine.

From the article Montmorency linked I would draw the conclusion to up selenium first and see what happens. I don't know if there are reliable tests for selenium status. Selenium protects the thyroid gland and it helps with the conversion of T4 to T3. Iodine supplements especially when selenium is low bears the risk of thyroiditis and thyroid suppression.

I see two possible risks with T3 supplements:

- more rT3
- thyroid storm.

In your case it might be better to try to decrease factors that hamper conversion of T4 to T3 and T3 usage by the cells . I guess that your recent improvements were achieved through your "refeeding programme". Maybe you better continue with this a little longer before supplementing T3?

Just thoughts... I might be completely wrong...

You might want to check these threads:

Selenium is anti-estrogenic (aromatase inhibitor)
Taurine (and analogs) increase T4 into T3 conversion 2-fold
Caffeine acts like supplemental thyroid - it suppresses TSH / GH
Fructose Benefits (Temperature, Metabolic Rate, Thyroid)

Taurine has a couple of other benefits (lowers cortisol, is thought to improve glycogen storage, helps liver, helps repair brain damage...).

 

[tara]

post 99715 If t4 is still high with low t3, I think I would look more into the conversion side of things. In other words, why isn't t4 being converted to t3. Stress? Estrogen? Some kind of deficiency? Liver issues? Taking extra t3 can help with some of those things, but I think I would try keeping the dose small. Like 1-2 mcg at a time spread throughout the day while monitoring temps and pulse, and see how that goes.
Speaking of temps and pulse, how they currently?

This sounds smart to me.

post 99808 In your case it might be better to try to decrease factors that hamper conversion of T4 to T3 and T3 usage by the cells . I guess that your recent improvements were achieved through your "refeeding programme". Maybe you better continue with this a little longer before supplementing T3?

So does this. Metabolism may well increase more on its own once some of the more urgent repair is further along (assuming ongoing plenty).

post 99722 I was just given a beta blocker and that can slow down conversion too.

What do they think you need this for? Be aware it will likely mess with using pulse as a measure of metabolism (tends to lower heart rate).

 

[messtafarian]

My pulse is labile and I go tacky, and I have tremors. This is so much better than it used to be though that I really only started taking it because I wanted to see what would happen if I slowed down the adrenergic cascade for a couple days.

Oddly it really did not do much. My pulse still has long runs during the day in the 90's and sometimes a quick, short leap into the 110's -- and I know that can't be thyroid related because my t3 is not converting. I'm running on cortisol and adrenaline, that has to be true.

I don't know, I have so many worrisome problems that I want to get rid of right away. The temptation with thyroid is that Peat says it fixes everything ultimately, and wouldn't that be nice to have everything fixed?

thanks so much for your thoughts you guys. I own some Taurine and I'm probably short on selenium because basically everybody is. Maybe I'll start there and then add 1-2 mcg as suggested a bit later down the line.

:). I think y'all might saved me from swallowing a tiny pink caplet of Problem.