Which Labs do I need?

Waremu

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Hey all,

I'm new here and this is my first post. I'm here to fix my health issues like everyone else is, trying to solve what works out best for me. I've spent the last 2 plus years following a "Ray Peat diet". I've tried my best to reverse my hypothyroidism by diet first, but that is a long-term thing that takes time and though I've already seen improvement in my health, I've now decided to take the next step and experiment with thyroid supplementation. I've always been pretty knowledgable on nutrition and biology, but knowing and figuring out the correct method of using thyroid according to labs and symptoms is another thing. I've read as much as I can about thyroid dosing and lab tests, but I am still trying to put together some things to help me prepare better for this. I've seen some people just go buy thyroid and start taking it with little research or preparation and then at the last minute, when they're experiencing unfavorable symptoms, ask the important questions that they should have asked before beginning and that's really something that I don't want to do (not trying to point fingers, just a factual observation that I and others have seen -- after all, I know we all make mistakes and often don't make the smartest decisions when we are new at doing certain things). I want to make sure I am prepared in doing this. That said, I know that supplementing with thyroid is largely as personal endeavor that is different for each person, since not everyone suffers from the same level of hypothyroidism as others do. I will try to keep that in mind. I will just have to take it very slow and listen to my body and not rush anything.

Once I get my labs done I will start thyroid supplementation....but first I am trying to figure out which thyroid lab tests are essential to get. I am only interested in getting the necessary tests done which will help reveal how bad my hypothyroidism is and help me determine how I should go about supplementing with thyroid.

I have read as much as I can regarding what Ray Peat says about labs and so far I have the lab tests that I plan on getting in mind. Any input on which ones I absolutely need as opposed to which ones I don't need as much would be greatly appreciated. I am paying out of pocket for the labs, so that is why I am only asking about which ones are the only important ones to get. These are the labs I plan on doing so far:

*TSH

*Total T3

*Total T4

*rT3

*PTH

*Prolactin

*Whole blood serotonin

*Vitamin D 25

*Total cholesterol (lipid panel)

Would these be enough to accurately interpret my thyroid health in regards to thyroid supplementation, or is there something else I would also need? Are any of these tests I can do without?

Thank you,

Stephen
 
J

j.

Guest
I think cholesterol is important. It shouldn't be too low. And a thyroid panel to get an idea of how you're doing.

Other than that, I just use pulse and how I feel, but I'm not a really careful user.
 
J

j.

Guest
What's the point of testing the parathyroid hormone? Although it has "thyroid" in its name, I thought it didn't have much relationship with it. Its function is to serum increase calcium when it's low.
 

charlie

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Well if your parathyroid is normal you could probably take away from that your metabolism is doing pretty good with calcium. Which we all know is very important for cellular energy and proper bone calcium depositing.
 
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Waremu

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j. said:
What's the point of testing the parathyroid hormone? Although it has "thyroid" in its name, I thought it didn't have much relationship with it. Its function is to serum increase calcium when it's low.

Correct. It's not strictly needed to get a decent idea of thyroid health. However, I included that and the Vitamin D test because calcium loss from bones I believe can indirectly be anti-thyroid. From everything I know, there is a relationship between PTH and prolactin that results in an inflammatory cascade. Dr. Ray Peat explains:

"A deficiency of either calcium or magnesium can stimulate the parathyroid glands to produce more hormone (parathyroid hormone, PTH), which increases calcium absorption, but also removes calcium from the bones. This hormone, responding to a dietary calcium or magnesium deficiency, is an important factor in causing cells to take up too much calcium, and its excess is associated with many inflammatory and degenerative diseases."

The increase in PTH also leads to an increase in interleukin-6, which is an inflammatory hormone that increases prolactin, leading to possible bone loss. Dr. Peat further explains this:

"Prolactin, which is increased under the influence of estrogen or serotonin, causes the body to lose calcium (drawing it from the bones), and it stimulates the secretion of PTH, which compensates for the calcium loss by increasing its mobilization from bones. Prolactins action on bone is at least partly by increasing IL-6 formation; IL-6 stimulates the release of prolactin. Serotonin and IL-6 stimulate each others secretion, and PTH and serotonin each stimulate the others release."

So both hormones cause a negative feedback loop that is really anti-thyroid, as the anti-thyroid hormones estrogen and serotonin are both involved, though they are known to be directly associated with bone loss/calcium metabolism.
 
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Waremu

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But I do know I am getting enough calcium/Vitamin D, so it probably isn't as important as the other thyroid tests are.
 

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