Thyroid Makes Me Feel Worse

[LuckyCat]

When I take thyroid meds over a small amount (over 25 mcg t4 or 1/4 NTD) I feel extremely hypo. Muscle weakness, brain fog, exhaustion, carpal tunnel, cold hands/feet. I’ve tried adding T3 to various small doses with the same results. Any thoughts? Thyroid seems to make me feel much worse. Thanks!

 

[tallglass13]

I've read or heard Ray Peat state that cortisol needs to be in balance with thyroid. And for me , it is so true. Pregnenolone helps replenish our cortisol. If you have had a lot of inflammation during your life, then your cortisol can get all used up.

 

[Mr. Sanders]

these are common responses to not enough fuel
which can be simply
a. not enough carbohydrate
b. too much protein at last feeding aka not enough carb with it
c. too much fat at last feeding blunting the ability to use carb

additionally I have had this experience at times when all 3 above were not the issue and it was resolved by eating an 8th of a tsp of salt. either with the preceding feed or simply with the t3 dose

 

[LuckyCat]

Thanks guys. I’m new here and appreciate your help. Unfortunately taking thyroid for me has only caused me hypo symptoms when I had none to start with. My Dr. prescribed it for Hashi’s, so I’m not just taking it for experimental purposes. I’ll look into the pregnenelone!

 

[LuckyCat]

I have also tried taking up to 2 grains of Nature Throid to see if more was actually causing the issue and it was hard to function - I became super hypothyroid. My TSH was perfect and temps were up. It’s perplexing!

 

[marsaday]

You have hashis so how did you feel before you got diagnosed? Quite often hashis patients feel ok but as soon as they get on thyroid meds this cocks up the balance they had.

By this I mean a high tsh was working well for you and as soon as you add in some thyroid meds it tanks tsh and the body becomes hypo. Tsh is in part responsible for all the deiodinase activity involved in t4 to t3 conversion.

You need to address the autoimmune response the body is having so causing it to attack the thyroid. Diet is a big factor so google diet and hashimotos.

 

[LuckyCat]

Yes! I felt completely fine with Hashi’s before starting on thyroid. I was feeling great at a TSH of 5.5 prior to meds. I wish I had never started them. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

[Steve]

I also have zero response from thyroid replacement. Well I'm sure something is happening, but I don't feel anything. My temp & pulse don't budge. Energy stays low, very low sometimes. It definitely affects my blood tests though. The other day, every hour, I took 10 mcg T3, 15 T3, 20 T3......nothing happened. Another day last year I took 5 mcg T3 every hour the entire day; nothing happened. My pulse & temp stayed the same......pulse even went a couple beats lower this most recent time. Right now I take 150 mcg T4, 10 T3 every day. It puts my Free T's in the correct part of the range, but TSH is 0-point-something. If I stop taking it TSH goes up to 5.5 or so. I have TSI antibodies floating around. No idea what I should be doing to fix this. The only thing that makes my waking temp increase is extra sleep on the weekend. I thought this article by Chris Kresser may be part of the issue........inflammation from autoimmune.
https://chriskresser.com/thyroid/

 

[ebs]

I've noticed thyroid works better when using it with progesterone. I'm now applying 3 drops of progesterone (health natura) and one drop of Tyromix. Previously the thyroid alone seemed to make me feel worse but now it has a notable stress reduction effect but not necessarily giving me more energy.

 

[LUH 3417]

I wonder if needing to rest and feeling tired can be considered a sign of having more energy. Ray has often talked about how proper thyroid function will make people want to take an afternoon nap.

 

[milkboi]

I wonder if needing to rest and feeling tired can be considered a sign of having more energy. Ray has often talked about how proper thyroid function will make people want to take an afternoon nap.

Yeah, being tired can be a sign of both being unhealthy and healthy I think. Haidut described having a good metabolism as similar to a child which expends a lot of energy, then naps and then is active again etc.

 

[LUH 3417]

Yeah, being tired can be a sign of both being unhealthy and healthy I think. Haidut described having a good metabolism as similar to a child which expends a lot of energy, then naps and then is active again etc.

I would think so too. When I think about times I was mentally and physically unwell I could not rest at all and it was like my nervous system was in overdrive. People who are manic may look energetic but I don’t think that’s a sign of high energy. Same with people who take adderall.

 

[LuckyCat]

I heard Ray on a podcast that he has seen women feel more hypothyroid on too much t4, but I do not know what the solution is (maybe T3 only?). Does anyone know if he talks about that or how I could get his email?

 

[tillpickle]

How are you taking the T3? split doses? or all in one dose? I don't have any answers yet unfortunately. I've been on T3 only, NDT, T3/NDT combos since the start of the year, and still haven't found the right dose/timing. I have periods of feeling great, hence my persistence. But tempted to just try the 'nibbling' strategy as Ray suggests.
People like Paul Robinson of the CT3m approach would argue that 10mcg doses wouldn't be sufficient to cause unwanted side-effects, but I'm finding they do. Kind of like a cumulative effect ie small doses throughout the day may appear tolerable, but then during the night I can wake really hot and strong heart palps.
Anyone else do the T3 'nibble' approach and have success?