Should A Young, Semi-Metabolically Healthy Guy Consider Thyroid/Steroid Supplementation?

[PeterLake]

Hey all -- I'm a 24 y/o male who (as the title states) seems to have a pretty functional metabolism. When my nutrition is dialed in (zero PUFA, low starch, lots of milk, fruit and juices) digestion feels good and temperatures are spot on.

On the flip side, I have a pretty low rhr (50bpm +/- a few beats) that refuses to budge and my energy levels/mood are inconsistent at best. Some days are great with lots of energy, stellar cognitive function, and an emotional state bordering on euphoric. At other times, I'm sluggish and pretty irritable/anxious. Eating crappy foods certainly drives me into these negative states, but I'm pretty consistent with my eating and the energy/mood issues still seem to hit me out of nowhere at times, even when my diet has been fantastic for long stretches.

As a result of all this, I feel like I'm in a metabolic gray area. Obviously, health is a marathon, not a sprint, and I don't expect to feel 100% perfect in every way at all times. That said, I do wonder if I'm leaving something on the table metabolically. Not in a neurotic "everything must be hyper-optimized" kind of way, but just in a "intuition tells me I can feel better than I do" way.

My main question is this -- is it worth experimenting with thyroid/pregnenolone/DHEA/progesterone supplementation, even as a relatively young, relatively well-functioning person?

Obviously, the last thing I'd want to do is screw myself up by needlessly adding stuff in. However, I do enjoy some good old-fashioned self experimentation, and am willing to deal with the ups and downs that might come with fine tuning a supplement regiment if the end result is feeling better more often.

Any advice/experiences would be greatly appreciated. I'll include some additional info about myself below for more context.

My body composition is good, and I'm relatively fit. I do light, stimulating exercise a few days a week and a little bit of concentric weight training. Get lots of sunlight, have a red light that I use every day, and supplement with B vitamins and fat solubles as needed to fill in dietary gaps. Have tried out aspirin a couple times, but it doesn't seem to agree with me. Have experimented with pregnenolone a little bit in the past too -- it has always made me feel good and had a noticeable effect on lowering stress hormones. I've never kept up a consistent routine with it though. Other than that, I live a relatively low-stress lifestyle.

 

[gaze]

i think the first basic thing would be to check labs, vitamin D, TSH, PTH, crp, cholesterol. if vitamin D and PTH are low and high, i would try upping calcium intake first and taking more vit D. calcium is very important in activating the metabolism and raising HR. if tsh is above 3, then a low dose supplement, like 1/8-1/4 of a cynoplus, wouldnt hurt. 1/8 of a cynoplus can probably be taken daily regardless of labs, since its pretty small. if crp is over 1, it almost always means something you are eating daily is inflamamtory. preg and progest are probably best used "as needed", for example very high stress situations, emotional overwhelm, insomnia, etc. out of all them, DHE.A is the most risky to severely throw you off balance mentally. i wouldnt use it personally. B vitamins are also risky sometimes. most people are better off just eating eggs, and liver occasionally.

 

[PeterLake]

i think the first basic thing would be to check labs, vitamin D, TSH, PTH, crp, cholesterol. if vitamin D and PTH are low and high, i would try upping calcium intake first and taking more vit D. calcium is very important in activating the metabolism and raising HR. if tsh is above 3, then a low dose supplement, like 1/8-1/4 of a cynoplus, wouldnt hurt. 1/8 of a cynoplus can probably be taken daily regardless of labs, since its pretty small. if crp is over 1, it almost always means something you are eating daily is inflamamtory. preg and progest are probably best used "as needed", for example very high stress situations, emotional overwhelm, insomnia, etc. out of all them, DHE.A is the most risky to severely throw you off balance mentally. i wouldnt use it personally. B vitamins are also risky sometimes. most people are better off just eating eggs, and liver occasionally.

My TSH hovers around 2 (most recently 1.9) and cholesterol just under 200 (190ish). Willing to bet vitamin D is low, despite supplementation, just as a result of being out of the sun all winter. PTH and CRP I have no idea -- will schedule labs to figure that out. Might as well get a full hormone panel while I'm at it, would like to check prolactin as well.

Really interesting point about B vitamins. Have never heard of people having issues -- I use them pretty sparingly, and do eat eggs and liver occasionally, but will definitely keep an eye on that.

 

[michael94]

i think the first basic thing would be to check labs, vitamin D, TSH, PTH, crp, cholesterol. if vitamin D and PTH are low and high, i would try upping calcium intake first and taking more vit D. calcium is very important in activating the metabolism and raising HR. if tsh is above 3, then a low dose supplement, like 1/8-1/4 of a cynoplus, wouldnt hurt. 1/8 of a cynoplus can probably be taken daily regardless of labs, since its pretty small. if crp is over 1, it almost always means something you are eating daily is inflamamtory. preg and progest are probably best used "as needed", for example very high stress situations, emotional overwhelm, insomnia, etc. out of all them, DHE.A is the most risky to severely throw you off balance mentally. i wouldnt use it personally. B vitamins are also risky sometimes. most people are better off just eating eggs, and liver occasionally.

What I was going to say basically. Thyroid would be pretty safe if you can get a good product like cynoplus and DHEA or similar steroids would be riskier. I have taken cynoplus and never had bad effects other than it stopped helping as much after a while. Which is the main thing, ultimately any lasting improvements will come from what you make of the help.

 

[Momma]

My main question is this -- is it worth experimenting with thyroid/pregnenolone/DHEA/progesterone supplementation, even as a relatively young, relatively well-functioning person?

No.

 

[foodandtheworld]

Demystifying Thyroid Supplementation

"When doubt exists, a trial of thyroid supplementation may be the most useful diagnostic tool." — M.B. James (1981)

dannyroddy.substack.com