healthnut123
Member
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2018
- Messages
- 11
Hi everyone,
I'm a 26 year old male and I've been struggling for the past couple of years with low libido. I would say that is my main mystery health issue, but I struggle with fatigue, brain fog, afternoon crashes, cold hands/sensitivity, trouble losing fat, compromised gut/sensitive stomach, and anxiety. Lately the last two have improved through supplements and lifestyle changes, but I've still been struggling with the other issues.
I conducted various blood tests in March and found that my Testosterone was on the low end (582 ng/dL ref range 250-827), SHBG was high (60 nmol/L ref range: 10-50), Free T 76.9 pg/mL (ref range 35-155) was on low end. Thyroid hormones were leaning towards hypothyroidism - TSH : 2.15, Free T4: 1.3 (ref range 0.8-1.8), Free T3: 2.9 (ref range 2.3-4.2), RT3: 14 ng/dL (ref range 8 - 25). TPO was 1 IU/mL (ref range <9). I also found that my serum iodine was low (49 mcg/L, ref range 52-109). My other hormones, cholesterol, iron, B12 etc levels were all good (ferritin was 43 ng/mL - I think that's considered good?).
Given my low iodine result and the lowish thyroid hormones, I began supplementing with Lugols iodine. Started with 1 drop of 2% a day for about a week, then increased to 2-3 drops and after about a month was taking 5 drops. I then switched to iodoral 12.5mg at that point and continued taking it daily. From the very beginning of incorporating it, I noticed increased energy, better sleep, radiant clear skin (except for a few cystic bumps, perhaps detox?), warmer hands, and I seemed to have leaned out a bit too. Libido wasn't great but it definitely did improve. I was a bit weary of taking relatively high doses given the conflicting information about it, but it definitely did seem to help me.
Given the low T result from before, I decided to retest (about a month after starting iodine). I remember around the time I went to the lab I noticed abnormally high libido, and I received the following notable results - Total testosterone 836 ng/dL (ref range 264 - 916), Free T 26 ng/dl (ref range 5-21), TSH 4.8 uIU/mL (ref range .45-2.5). The only thing I had changed consistently was the iodine. I had taken some boron supplements as I read that helps with high SHBG but I don't recall feeling like that helped much, and I didn't take it consistently. I believe my TSH shot up due to the iodine? I was feeling much better at the time, with most of my symptoms gone.
I continued supplementing with the iodine (still at 12.5 mg a day) and while I was feeling better with more energy, the low libido seemed to return and overall I didn't feel the iodine was "working" as well as it had been when I first started taking it. I got a random urine iodine test (at this point after about a total of 1.5 months of supplementation) with a result of 822 mcg/L (ref range 34 - 523). I had been supplementing with the iodine until a day before (my doctor wanted to see my levels with supplementation). So I'm not sure if that result is actually concerning? I've since stopped taking the iodine and have slowly started feeling worse. I also retested some thyroid hormones and got the following results - Total T4: 5.4 mcg/dL (ref range 4.5-11.7), TSH 3.8mcIU/mL, Free T3 2.6 pg/mL (ref range 2.0 - 4.4). TPO also increased to 15.5 IU/mL (ref range 5-34)
My doctor said my thyroid hormones are sub-optimal and has given me a prescription for Nature-Throid. I also had my 4x cortisol tested and my levels were found to be low, especially evening and night time levels, indicating adrenal fatigue. So my doctor also prescribed some adaptogenic herbs to take with the Nature-Throid.
I'm curious, based on this info: 1. What do you make of the fluctuating testosterone levels? 2. Am I hypothyroid and is that what is most likely causing my symptoms (alongside the adrenal issues)? 3. Should I continue with iodine supplementation, or is there another way to accurately asses if I need to supplement? 4. Is the iodine what might have caused the TPO and TSH to increase and is this concerning? 5. Does Nature-Throid seem like a good approach? Any other comments? Feel free to ask about other specific lab results, I probably got them done but just didn't list there.
I really appreciate any inputs or guidance!
I'm a 26 year old male and I've been struggling for the past couple of years with low libido. I would say that is my main mystery health issue, but I struggle with fatigue, brain fog, afternoon crashes, cold hands/sensitivity, trouble losing fat, compromised gut/sensitive stomach, and anxiety. Lately the last two have improved through supplements and lifestyle changes, but I've still been struggling with the other issues.
I conducted various blood tests in March and found that my Testosterone was on the low end (582 ng/dL ref range 250-827), SHBG was high (60 nmol/L ref range: 10-50), Free T 76.9 pg/mL (ref range 35-155) was on low end. Thyroid hormones were leaning towards hypothyroidism - TSH : 2.15, Free T4: 1.3 (ref range 0.8-1.8), Free T3: 2.9 (ref range 2.3-4.2), RT3: 14 ng/dL (ref range 8 - 25). TPO was 1 IU/mL (ref range <9). I also found that my serum iodine was low (49 mcg/L, ref range 52-109). My other hormones, cholesterol, iron, B12 etc levels were all good (ferritin was 43 ng/mL - I think that's considered good?).
Given my low iodine result and the lowish thyroid hormones, I began supplementing with Lugols iodine. Started with 1 drop of 2% a day for about a week, then increased to 2-3 drops and after about a month was taking 5 drops. I then switched to iodoral 12.5mg at that point and continued taking it daily. From the very beginning of incorporating it, I noticed increased energy, better sleep, radiant clear skin (except for a few cystic bumps, perhaps detox?), warmer hands, and I seemed to have leaned out a bit too. Libido wasn't great but it definitely did improve. I was a bit weary of taking relatively high doses given the conflicting information about it, but it definitely did seem to help me.
Given the low T result from before, I decided to retest (about a month after starting iodine). I remember around the time I went to the lab I noticed abnormally high libido, and I received the following notable results - Total testosterone 836 ng/dL (ref range 264 - 916), Free T 26 ng/dl (ref range 5-21), TSH 4.8 uIU/mL (ref range .45-2.5). The only thing I had changed consistently was the iodine. I had taken some boron supplements as I read that helps with high SHBG but I don't recall feeling like that helped much, and I didn't take it consistently. I believe my TSH shot up due to the iodine? I was feeling much better at the time, with most of my symptoms gone.
I continued supplementing with the iodine (still at 12.5 mg a day) and while I was feeling better with more energy, the low libido seemed to return and overall I didn't feel the iodine was "working" as well as it had been when I first started taking it. I got a random urine iodine test (at this point after about a total of 1.5 months of supplementation) with a result of 822 mcg/L (ref range 34 - 523). I had been supplementing with the iodine until a day before (my doctor wanted to see my levels with supplementation). So I'm not sure if that result is actually concerning? I've since stopped taking the iodine and have slowly started feeling worse. I also retested some thyroid hormones and got the following results - Total T4: 5.4 mcg/dL (ref range 4.5-11.7), TSH 3.8mcIU/mL, Free T3 2.6 pg/mL (ref range 2.0 - 4.4). TPO also increased to 15.5 IU/mL (ref range 5-34)
My doctor said my thyroid hormones are sub-optimal and has given me a prescription for Nature-Throid. I also had my 4x cortisol tested and my levels were found to be low, especially evening and night time levels, indicating adrenal fatigue. So my doctor also prescribed some adaptogenic herbs to take with the Nature-Throid.
I'm curious, based on this info: 1. What do you make of the fluctuating testosterone levels? 2. Am I hypothyroid and is that what is most likely causing my symptoms (alongside the adrenal issues)? 3. Should I continue with iodine supplementation, or is there another way to accurately asses if I need to supplement? 4. Is the iodine what might have caused the TPO and TSH to increase and is this concerning? 5. Does Nature-Throid seem like a good approach? Any other comments? Feel free to ask about other specific lab results, I probably got them done but just didn't list there.
I really appreciate any inputs or guidance!