TSH Of 2.9?

[Luke T]

Hi everyone!
Recently got my blood test results back and my TSH was 2.9.
I suffer with chronic fatigue, weakness, joint pain, high pulse (100) low temperature.

I'm 20 years old and have had a somewhat stressful life. Stress during childhood, excessive exercise, fasting, although diet was not too bad, slipped a disc in my spine and drank a lot (avg 400ml vodka a night twice a week) when i was 18 just after the disc injury, although I haven't drank at all in the past 1-2 years.

I supplement niacinamide, cyproheptadine, LSD, nicotine inhalors, gelatin, theanine, pregnenolone, carrot salad, and have a lot of coconut oil.
My diet is high in orange juice, milk, liver, oysters, fruits and dairy and low in pufa and any thickeners/contaminants etc.
I have recently bought an infrared lamp and am trying to shine it on me for 20 mins a day

I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to fix the thyroid problem as I have followed Ray Peats advice for almost 2 years now and don't feel like my health is anywhere near where it should be for a 20 year old.
Any help appreciated,
Luke

 

[Luke T]

Bump?

 

[DaveFoster]

Thyroid and caffeine; those are your options.

 

[jyb]

Hi everyone!
Recently got my blood test results back and my TSH was 2.9.
I suffer with chronic fatigue, weakness, joint pain, high pulse (100) low temperature.

Your symptoms are more important than a TSH lab number. You could have a TSH of 0.1 and be like a hypothyroid zombie, and not even notice a difference with a TSH of 10 -- that's how meaningless it can be for some people. The symptoms already tell you something needs to be changed. Don't assume that drinking OJ and supplementing niacinamide will eventually fix you, I think waiting 2 years on the same diet with those symptoms is not a good idea. Don't give up it will get much better.

 

[sweetpeat]

Jyb's right - TSH can be misleading. It can even change with the seasons. It's not the best standard to go by for thyroid function. Do you have any other lab numbers that might give some clues?

Also, when it comes to diet, I think quantity can be just as important as quality. Any idea about how many calories you're eating?

 

[Luke T]

@DaveFoster Caffeine will cause me severe joint pain - I can't even eat chocolate anymore. I don't know of any good thyroid source, I've tried American biologics which I THINK helps a bit, and I've tried tyronene which I'm unsure about, although I may be using it wrong...
@jyb I have a pretty varied diet, I just follow Ray peats principles as well as I can. @sweetpeat my doctor told me he can't offer me any more tests as my thyroid looks 'good' and my kidneys look perfect. He said if I feel the same way in a month he will try to get e a t4 test and will not be able to do a t3 test as the NHS do not offer it. Also, even if I get diagnosed , the only treatment available is T4 only, which makes it seem pointless going back...

 

[jyb]

@jyb I have a pretty varied diet, I just follow Ray peats principles as well as I can.

Alright. Just commenting based on the diet/supplement snippet you provided, as it would have (and has before) left me in a health situation similar to what you described. Good luck on your journey.

 

[Luke T]

@jyb Really? What part of it/ what do you think could improve it?

 

[sweetpeat]

I don't mean to be a nag, but I'm still curious about how much you're eating calorie-wise. Under-eating can possibly cause or at least contribute to your issues, including raising TSH and causing you not to fully utilize your body's own thyroid production. The stressed-out/anxious types (like me, and possibly you) tend to under-eat due to lack of appetite and so a vicious cycle is created where stress and anxiety cause low appetite and under-eating, which cause more stress to the body, etc. Maybe it's not an issue for you (and I hope it's not), but I think it's important to eliminate it from the equation.

 

[Luke T]

Yes you're right, I don't have much of an appetite at all anymore, except for liquids. Not sure how I'd go about eating more other than force feeding myself

 

[sweetpeat]

Yes you're right, I don't have much of an appetite at all anymore, except for liquids. Not sure how I'd go about eating more other than force feeding myself

I can relate to what you're saying. I truly do.

When I realized I was calorie deficient but appetite was low, I worked at making sure what I ate/drank was calorie dense. Meaning increase the fat.

If you have appetite for mostly liquids, I would say look for ways to increase the fat content of your drinks. Milk shakes are an easy way to do this. You get the benefit of milk, plus the fat. I drank tons of milk shakes when I was first trying to increase my calories.

Eggnog is another good, high calorie drink, if you like it and can tolerate eggs. It's also easy to find in the stores this time of year (at least in the US), though may be hard to find without artificial thickeners if you're trying to avoid those. It's very easy to make though. There are recipes in the “Recipes” section of the forum. Maybe you will find some other ideas in that section too.