Thoughts On My Labs (ABC123)

Abc123

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What's up everyone! So I just got my lab results.

I was on Levothyroxine for about 2 years. I was trying to optimize my thyroid without it. I've been off the meds since June. I just had some blood work done.

What are your thoughts on my cholesterol? I'm also going to start taking Levothyroxine (0.o5mg) again to try getting my thyroid functioning properly again

Total Test- 1004ng/dL
Free Test- 94.3pg/mL (46.0-224.0)
TSH - 7.38
Free T3 - 3.0
SHBG - 59nmol/L
Cholesterol Total - 270mg/dL
HDL - 44mg/dL
LDL - 201mg/dL
Triglycerides - 125mg/dL
Albumin -3.8


Thanks for your input guys!

Diet has been mainly OJ, Milk, Eggs, Cheese, Coconut Oil, Butter, Cream Of Rice, Fruits, Honey, and Potatoes

Macros average 110f/500c/180p

I will post more details. I just wanted to get the thread started ASAP to get opinions and thoughts. Thank you guys!
 
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Abc123

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So my doctor is telling me that my cholesterol is too high? She says 3 eggs per day is too much. I beg the differ. My testosterone is the highest its ever been. The only issue now is with my Thyroid.

Tomorrow Im going to start taking Levothyroxine but I'd like to hear what you guys have to say about the drug? Opinions on timing and with or with out food? On the bottle it says take first thing in morning 1/2 - 1 hour before a meal.
 

Blossom

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IIRC the cut off for high cholesterol was 250 (but it may have been 300!) back in the 1970's before the statins came out and pharma needed to increase their customer base. I hesitated to respond because I can't remember exactly and I don't have a source!
Regardless your cholesterol might decrease some after your back on thyroid meds so if it were me personally I'd just wait and see.

FWIW even mainstream dietitians in the U.S. no longer subscribe to the idea of restricting eggs to lower cholesterol.
Levothyroxine is t4 only. @marsaday has some good information on his experience with this med. It seems like some people do ok with it but some find they need t3 as well.
 
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Abc123

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IIRC the cut off for high cholesterol was 250 (but it may have been 300!) back in the 1970's before the statins came out and pharma needed to increase their customer base. I hesitated to respond because I can't remember exactly and I don't have a source!
Regardless your cholesterol might decrease some after your back on thyroid meds so if it were me personally I'd just wait and see.

FWIW even mainstream dietitians in the U.S. no longer subscribe to the idea of restricting eggs to lower cholesterol.
Levothyroxine is t4 only. @marsaday has some good information on his experience with this med. It seems like some people do ok with it but some find they need t3 as well.

Thank you @Blossom! I will be keeping my diet the same. I will also keep everyone updated with my progress. Today is day 1 of the Levothyroxine. I will look up some posts of @marsaday to see what info I can get out of them. Thank you!

Also should I be taking my Temps? Ill start a log. Should it be taken first thing in the morning? Also which other times of the day are important?
 

Blossom

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Also should I be taking my Temps? Ill start a log. Should it be taken first thing in the morning? Also which other times of the day are important?
If you check your temps when you wake up, about one hour after breakfast and mid afternoon that should give some helpful information. I look forward to your log.:)
 

Quality

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add some referance range values,
your TSH is definatly too high though
and while your total test is spot on, it seems too much is binded ( low-med ish free test + high shbg )
btw levothyroxine is known to increase SHBG, odd that it is still elevated so much, im guessing your system is still somewhat saturated from the levothyroxine, i know it takes about 3months to build into your system, so im guessing it will take long before its completely out of your system aswell.
 
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Abc123

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If you check your temps when you wake up, about one hour after breakfast and mid afternoon that should give some helpful information. I look forward to your log.:)

Great thank you so much!
 
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Abc123

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add some referance range values,
your TSH is definatly too high though
and while your total test is spot on, it seems too much is binded ( low-med ish free test + high shbg )
btw levothyroxine is known to increase SHBG, odd that it is still elevated so much, im guessing your system is still somewhat saturated from the levothyroxine, i know it takes about 3months to build into your system, so im guessing it will take long before its completely out of your system aswell.

I just attached the lab work below. It has the ref ranges on there.

My total T is the highest it has ever been. For some reason free T hasn't been the greatest and my SHBG stays pretty high. I stopped taking Thryoxine back in JUNE this year. My previous labs where here

May 24, 2016
Total - 899 ng/dL
Free - 73.1 pg/mL
Dihydro - 27 ng/dL
SHBG -65 nmol/L
Free T4 - 0.9 ng/dL
TSH - 5.30 mIU/L

Then in JUNE I wanted to optimize my thyroid without meds. And so 4 months later are my new results. SHBG did come down. TSH went Up. Total and Free Test went up also.

My diet was mainly consisted of muscle meats and Potatoes.

I discovered Ray Peat in the beginning of November and Ive been mainly eating what he recommends. Lots of OJ, MILK, DAIRY, FRUITS, Coconut Oil, Butter, Ice Cream, etc. So possibly now with Thyroxine along with the Peat diet could work together well. Well at least i am hoping!
 

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Quality

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Can I ask you, why you posted about your cholesterol? Do you feel your cardiovascular health is in a somewhat bad shape?
My situation used to be pretty much the same as yours, medium - medium-high total test, medium-high ish shbg, medium free t, somewhat low-medium ish T3.
I started to eat lots of satured fat as in the peat diet, but I think peat is very much against any form of exercise which I personally disagree.
Since ive upped my endurance exercises from once a week to 2-3 times a week ( only 1 time a week i go hard on it, the other 2 times i concentrate on my breathing and i will not let myself get out of my breath during that to prevent cortisol spiking/overtraining ) to keep my HDL nice n high.
My total cholesterol went from just above the range to a nice medium range, and my LDL dropped to low-ish and HDL to high, think my last cholesterol to HDL ratio was like 3.8 or something.
And ever since my HDL went good my T3 shot up to medium levels.
My total T dropped by a few minor points, but i got a huge free test boost and HDL boost and t3 boost and on top of that i feel more energetic than ever before.
 
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Abc123

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Can I ask you, why you posted about your cholesterol? Do you feel your cardiovascular health is in a somewhat bad shape?
My situation used to be pretty much the same as yours, medium - medium-high total test, medium-high ish shbg, medium free t, somewhat low-medium ish T3.
I started to eat lots of satured fat as in the peat diet, but I think peat is very much against any form of exercise which I personally disagree.
Since ive upped my endurance exercises from once a week to 2-3 times a week ( only 1 time a week i go hard on it, the other 2 times i concentrate on my breathing and i will not let myself get out of my breath during that to prevent cortisol spiking/overtraining ) to keep my HDL nice n high.
My total cholesterol went from just above the range to a nice medium range, and my LDL dropped to low-ish and HDL to high, think my last cholesterol to HDL ratio was like 3.8 or something.
And ever since my HDL went good my T3 shot up to medium levels.
My total T dropped by a few minor points, but i got a huge free test boost and HDL boost and t3 boost and on top of that i feel more energetic than ever before.
I posted questioning my cholesterol only because my doctor was telling me it's too high. I do know doctors RDA of cholesterol is lower than what is really needed for the sex hormones are. She was telling me that three eggs per day is to mUch. I really wanted to hear what you guys from repeat for him had to say about my cholesterol before I made any adjustments. My diet is going to remain the same. During these next six weeks I will be taking thyroxine 50 MCG daily.

I do strength train four days per week as well as 2 cardio sessions. And I walk about 30 to 60 minutes per day.

I just really want to feel good. My test Ostronic the past is very low but I've got it to a great level now. Now I just need my thyroid functioning properly. hopefully my SHBG doesn't go to high with the added meds.
 

Quality

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I posted questioning my cholesterol only because my doctor was telling me it's too high. I do know doctors RDA of cholesterol is lower than what is really needed for the sex hormones are. She was telling me that three eggs per day is to mUch. I really wanted to hear what you guys from repeat for him had to say about my cholesterol before I made any adjustments. My diet is going to remain the same. During these next six weeks I will be taking thyroxine 50 MCG daily.

I do strength train four days per week as well as 2 cardio sessions. And I walk about 30 to 60 minutes per day.

I just really want to feel good. My test Ostronic the past is very low but I've got it to a great level now. Now I just need my thyroid functioning properly. hopefully my SHBG doesn't go to high with the added meds.
I guess thats part of the problem with the Peat diet, complete banning of PUFAs (PUFAs are very well known to lower cholesterol levels, take avocados for example, packed with PUFAs; also contain beta-sitosterol - which has a chemical structure very close to cholesterol, probably leads to competition and thereby lowering cholesterol).
As for your exercise, do you feel you are doing it TOO vigeriously? do you suspect overtraining?
Personally I eat about 4 eggs a day, usually 2 at breakfast and 2 at my last meal of the day (including yolks obviously), but I dont follow the raypeatdiet, I do take some ( though not many ) PUFAs (mainly brazilnuts and an avocado about once every 3 days) and mono-unsatured fats (oliveoil about 3-4 eatingspoons a day least, usually one with every meal, that is uncooked oliveoil, so fingers on the nose and just choke them down).
Rest of my diet consists of tartar (think its called ground lean beef in english?) which has fairly low tryptophan ratio in comparison to other high quality animal protein sources out there.
Rest of my fat intake is pretty high, alot of satured fat from full fat yoghurt, goat cheese.
Some vedgies with lunch and dinner, and 1 piece of fruit a day on average (usually an orange in the morning with breakfast).

Also take your T4 first thing in the morning and do not eat anything for atleast 30-45mins.
Also AVOID FOODS CONTAINING GOITROGENS CLOSE TO YOUR LEVOTHYROXINE INTAKE, which are known to mess around a fair bit with its absorption.

Also how are you feeling mentally? I used to have a TSH level around the same as yours, a bit higher actually even, I felt like complete ***t, full blown anhedonia, irritability.
 
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Abc123

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I guess thats part of the problem with the Peat diet, complete banning of PUFAs (PUFAs are very well known to lower cholesterol levels, take avocados for example, packed with PUFAs; also contain beta-sitosterol - which has a chemical structure very close to cholesterol, probably leads to competition and thereby lowering cholesterol).
As for your exercise, do you feel you are doing it TOO vigeriously? do you suspect overtraining?
Personally I eat about 4 eggs a day, usually 2 at breakfast and 2 at my last meal of the day (including yolks obviously), but I dont follow the raypeatdiet, I do take some ( though not many ) PUFAs (mainly brazilnuts and an avocado about once every 3 days) and mono-unsatured fats (oliveoil about 3-4 eatingspoons a day least, usually one with every meal, that is uncooked oliveoil, so fingers on the nose and just choke them down).
Rest of my diet consists of tartar (think its called ground lean beef in english?) which has fairly low tryptophan ratio in comparison to other high quality animal protein sources out there.
Rest of my fat intake is pretty high, alot of satured fat from full fat yoghurt, goat cheese.
Some vedgies with lunch and dinner, and 1 piece of fruit a day on average (usually an orange in the morning with breakfast).

Also take your T4 first thing in the morning and do not eat anything for atleast 30-45mins.
Also AVOID FOODS CONTAINING GOITROGENS CLOSE TO YOUR LEVOTHYROXINE INTAKE, which are known to mess around a fair bit with its absorption.

Also how are you feeling mentally? I used to have a TSH level around the same as yours, a bit higher actually even, I felt like complete ***t, full blown anhedonia, irritability.

Thanks for the great response! Today was the first day back on the mediation. I took it a 915am, 30min before breakfast. At about 130pm i went for a walk. I noticed I was feeling really good. Its been a while since I've felt good like this. Tonight I went skating at the park and energy levels were up more that usual.

Im taking this week off of weight training. I usually train 4 days per week with the weights. But taking the full week off for recovery. I did have a heavy training bout the past 12 weeks. This week is just some light walking and skateboarding. Im looking forward to seeing the progress and I hope I feel this good!
 

Quality

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Good to hear that bud, keep in mind levothyroxine takes a while to build into your system.
 

schultz

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but I think peat is very much against any form of exercise which I personally disagree.

Peat has talked about weight training being beneficial. He seems to prefer the concentric movements.

I don't think he's fond of endurance exercise because of the harmful effects associated with it.

I found these quotes on the "functioalps" website...

“In the resting state, muscles consume mainly fats, so maintaining relatively large muscles is important for preventing the accumulation of fats.”

“Many dietitians claim that exercise doesn’t increase the need for protein, but the Russians have found that a combination of exercise and increased protein intake can increase the muscle mass. In a woman, this process can not only improve grace and body proportions, but it also increases the body’s ability to burn up fat. Other nutrients are needed for using protein properly, and for maintaining optimum nerve functioning. However, if the exercise produces too much stress and not enough muscle action, muscle will atrophy as a result of cortisone’s shifting amino acid metabolism into glucose production. Lactic acid production (getting out of breath) is the main signal of the need to produce new glucose. Therefore, “aerobic” exercise is the most stressful. Cortisone not only causes atrophy of the skin, muscles, and immune system, but it even has been found the accelerate aging changes in the brain.”
 

Quality

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Yes particulary intensive endurance exercise (ie. marathon runners and endorphin junkies) have border line testosterone and often elevated cortisol, its all about balance, way I see it some form of cardiovascular exercises is beneficial for optimal longevity and mental health.
The trick with endurance exercise is too not overexert yourself, maybe once a week going hard at it is fine, but the rest of the times take it easy, also mix things up alot, the body is very smart and easily "learns" exercises.
 
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Abc123

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So I took my temps today. I woke up at about 8:40am. Took Levothyroxine with large glass of water.
8:45am 96.3
10:15am Breakfast
1125pm 97.7

What do you guys think about those temps? Also Ive been trying to lower SHBG. Not sure why but it doesn't want to come down.
 
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Abc123

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Its been almost a week on Levothyroxine. I really haven't been feeling the best. Ive been feeling unmotivated and unhappy. Also Im not getting morning wood like I was without the medication. Im really regretting getting back on the medication. Its causing me more stress thinking about it. Fighting with myself in head saying "should i stop the meds? Or should I stay on them?"

When I last had my liver checked back in May. They were a little high. Wondering if thats causing my SHBG to be high and also TSH to be out of wack?
 
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Abc123

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Whats up guys so heres a little update..

I've been back on Levothyroxine (50mcg) for 4 weeks now. I do feel a lot better overall. Energy levels are better. Strength is really climbing. BUT my morning woods are pretty much disappearing. Before I would have very hard morning woods. Now I barely get them and if I do they are pretty soft.

My diet still consists of Milk, Cheese, Eggs, Butter, Potatoes, Spinach, OJ, Grapes, Raisins, Honey, Beef, Gelatin, Ice Cream, Coconut Oil and Cream of Rice.

Since morning wood is related to DHT I'm wondering if the Coconut Oil (8g per day) is effecting it? Also I know Rice is a 5AR inhibitor is that the same as Cream of Rice?
I've been consuming mushrooms daily about 50-100g could they be inhibiting 5AR too?

I'm going to cut out the mushrooms and stick to potatoes and fructose as my carb sources.

OR do you think it can be just the Medication screwing everything up? Thanks in advance guys!
 
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Abc123

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Anyone?

Also after doing more research. I'm also thinking that the Levothyroxine is increasing my SHBG and making me Estrogen dominate?

I'm going for labs in 1 week to have the thyroid levels checked. I will ask my dr to check estrogen levels too. Any input really helps me. Thank you guys!
 
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Abc123

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I got more labs back. So my TSH has improved with the Levothyroxine. But I have stopped the medication again. I will be seeing the endo soon hopefully. My cholesterol is still high. Estradiol seems ok?

TSH - 4.39
Estradiol - 35pg/mL
HDL - 41
LDL - 201
AST - 56 (10-40)
ALT - 29 (9-46)

These labs are from a week ago. I stopped the medication 5 days ago. My morning woods are back consistently.
 

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