Thyroid Problems & Blood Work

[Freestyle Child]

Hey everyone,

Just looking for some guidance and support or information anyone might have to offer with my current blood test results and me being hypothyroid.

Just some background, this all started about 4-5 months ago when I was progressively getting to a good size being 6'2 at 190lbs after 3 years of busting my A$$ to only pretty much lose it all within a couple of months and drop to 170 lbs. At that height it is pretty slim and I've always hated being the "skinny guy". This had all put me in a pretty serious depression, couldn't sleep, no motivation, sexual dysfunction, the list goes on and still facing all these symptoms. With that happening I proceeded to visit my general doctor and obviously received a "your going to be okay, give it time" answer. I pretty much forced her to test my testosterone as I knew something wasn't right.

2012/12/10 - Initial Blood Work
Glucose Serum Random - 3.4 mmol/L (3.6-7.0 Normal, 7.1-11.0 Risk of Diabetes)
RBC Indices - MCG - 33 (27-32pg)
Free Testosterone - 52.0 pmol/L

After this and still receiving the same answer from my doctor, I asked to be referred to an Endocrinologist specialist who ordered more blood work.

2013/04/08 - Blood Work
TSH - 15.38 mIU/L (0.35 - 5.00 Normal Range)
LH - 4 IU/L (2 - 9 Normal Range)
DHEAS - 6.3 umol/L (1.91 - 13.4 Normal Range)
FSH - 3 IU/L (2 - 12 Normal Range)
Testosterone (23.6 nmol/L (7.6 - 31.4 Normal Range)
Estradiol - 79 pmol/L (<157 Range)
Free Testosterone - 58.2 pmol/L
Androstenedione - 8.4 nmol/L

2013/04/22 - Follow up thyroid blood work
TSH - 20.31 mIU/L (0.35 - 5.00 Range)
T4 Free - 12 pmol/L (12 - 22 Range)
Free T3 - 4.1 pmol/L (2.6 - 5.7 Range)
Thyroid Peroxidase AB - >1000 kIU/L (<35 Range)

I still feel like I have low testosterone or something is still wrong. I've been taking my medication for the past 2 weeks (0.025mg) of LEVO-THYROXINE and still do not feel any major changes. I am required to go for more blood tests in 4 weeks to see where my levels sit at and if their needs to be an adjustment in my medication. Bodybuilding lifestyle being something I love, this has set me back majorly as I can hardly make it to the gym now and my eating habits have gone down the drain and can't even build muscle and still feel like i'm losing gains i've made. Everything is going wrong and I'm in a major hole. Not sure what to even do.

Sorry for the lengthy post, thought I might as well get it all out so nobody misses any information right off the bat.

Thanks guys really appreciate any help

 

[imdennis]

jelly of ur test levels...

 

[jkr2020788]

I have no idea why you would not be gaining weight. Your TSH is high, meaning your thyroid is not producing enough t4 which eventually is converted to t3. As I'm sure you know, t3 and t4 are used to LOSE weight. So, since your thyroid is not producing as much t3 and t4, you should be gaining weight. With adedd Levo thyroxine it is going to speed up ur metabo so u may lose alittle weight. The only thing I can suggest is to eat more.

 

[lakers0812]

I have hypothyroidism as well and I was using synthroid for over a year. I wish someone would've told me from day 1 not to use it. T4 only meds are inferior. I'm sure you feel a bit better from starting the levo but still not where you want to be. I'd speak with your dr about switching to a natural desiccated thyroid med. The problem with it (in the drs eyes) is that it has natural t3 in it and that suppresses your TSH and makes it look like you have hyper symptoms, when really you don't. There are also some other tests that should be done:

free t3
free t4
reverse t3
ferritin, % saturation, tibc, serum iron
24 hour saliva cortisol test (to rule out adrenal insufficiency/fatigue)


Good luck!

 

[Freestyle Child]

I have hypothyroidism as well and I was using synthroid for over a year. I wish someone would've told me from day 1 not to use it. T4 only meds are inferior. I'm sure you feel a bit better from starting the levo but still not where you want to be. I'd speak with your dr about switching to a natural desiccated thyroid med. The problem with it (in the drs eyes) is that it has natural t3 in it and that suppresses your TSH and makes it look like you have hyper symptoms, when really you don't. There are also some other tests that should be done:

free t3
free t4
reverse t3
ferritin, % saturation, tibc, serum iron
24 hour saliva cortisol test (to rule out adrenal insufficiency/fatigue)

Here's a great resource Home | Stop The Thyroid Madness?

Good luck!

Lakers, I actually spend hours on that site yesterday and wondered to myself if this is a complete waste of time taking this T4 only medication. I'd much rather be on something natural.

Are you prescribed NDT? If you are what do they have you taking and how much ? Did you notice major changes ? What changed?

Sorry for the questions, just want some good info to back myself up if the endo gives me a hard time because apparently they do with NDT.

Thanks man

 

[lakers0812]

Dude don't apologize. Having hypo symptoms are the worst. My dad is diabetic and when I first got hypothyroid symptoms they were worse that the symptoms he had from diabetes. Funny thing is a lot of doctors were not taught past endocrine 101. It takes time to find the right dr. I still haven't found the correct dr, but he does prescribe me naturethroid. He has me taking 2 grains, but I take 3 grains. Remember the average dose for naturethroid is 3-3.5 grains. I started taking 1 grain and rev'd it up by half a grain every two weeks. The goal is to rev it up until you reach the dose that alleviates your symptoms while giving you a normal heart rate and body temperature. I was the happiest and most energetic guy you could find prior to starting synthroid. All that went out the door after I got hypothyroid. Some people just don't convert t4 well enough to be on t4 only. The t3 in naturethroid gave me a big time boost. My memory improved and my mood became much better. However, recently I think I may have gotten an adrenal and rt3 issue due to being on synthroid for so long.
i am getting blood work and a saliva cortisol test to check for these issues. I honestly believe people should start with natural desiccated thyroid to avoid these issues in the first place. It is more friendlier on your body as opposed to t4 only, which makes your body work harder to do the conversion putting additional strain on your adrenals. Remember natural desiccated thyroid contain t1,t2,t3,t4 and calcitonin. All of which a normal healthy thyroid would produce on its own. Educate yourself because sometimes you can't just listen to everything a doctor says. Take it from a guy who's father is a physician.

 

[lakers0812]

Also if your endo won't prescribe you the right meds a good thing to do is to go to your local pharmacy and ask which drs prescribe natural thyroid. Then you can get referred to them.

 

[Freestyle Child]

Also if your endo won't prescribe you the right meds a good thing to do is to go to your local pharmacy and ask which drs prescribe natural thyroid. Then you can get referred to them.

Thanks for the info bro. I'm glad I ran into the natural desiccated thyroid stuff before I spend a long time on these T4 only meds to possibly reduce the risk of other problems when you change over to NDT.

The thing is i'm away from my endocrinologist because I moved home until I go back to school in 3 1/2 months. I want to try this stuff out as soon as I can before I stress out my adrenals. I feel absolutely no change from these pills, I almost want to self medicate and up my dose to see if anything actually changes.

Losing all my muscle gains in the gym just stresses me out so hard and puts me in such a huge rut, I dont even want to go workout cause im so rattled.

 

[lakers0812]

How old are you? I'm 23 and was diagnosed almost a year from today. The symptoms are horrible when not under control. So if I can help anyone out by not making the same mistake I made, it is well worth it. The rule is, the longer you are on the synthetic t4 the worse. My mom takes synthroid but her body can convert the t4 really well. Unfortunately that's not the case with me. It's no wonder why I felt so much better on NDT. If you are going to self medicate, make sure you know what you're doing. Don't self medicate with synthroid as increasing the dose will just make things worse in the long run. If you plan on self medicating use NDT. Your TSH was 15, mine was a little above 13 so we started at a similar place TSH-wise.

I didn't lose muscle gains even with hypothyroid. I was a bit bigger because of excess bloat and a slower metabolism, but overall no significant weight gain. My workouts, however, were a different story. They were flat terrible due to exhaustion. Another really important thing to get checked are your vitamin D levels. If they are off it will sap the energy right out of you. I supplement with 2000 iu of vitamin d daily and noticed an improvement immediately upon taking vitamin d.

When did you start noticing these hypothyroid symptoms because you definitely have it? Did you do anything strenuous that may have burned out your thyroid? I overworked myself, and even though I wasn't consciously feeling stressed, I'm sure I was inside now that I think about it but I was feeling so good overall (just by nature) that I didn't realize it at the time.

 

[Dreaded Pirate Roberts]

I have hypothyroidism as well and I was using synthroid for over a year. I wish someone would've told me from day 1 not to use it. T4 only meds are inferior. I'm sure you feel a bit better from starting the levo but still not where you want to be. I'd speak with your dr about switching to a natural desiccated thyroid med. The problem with it (in the drs eyes) is that it has natural t3 in it and that suppresses your TSH and makes it look like you have hyper symptoms, when really you don't. There are also some other tests that should be done:

free t3
free t4
reverse t3
ferritin, % saturation, tibc, serum iron
24 hour saliva cortisol test (to rule out adrenal insufficiency/fatigue)


Good luck!

I'm also Hypo Ihave been for over 20 years. You need to test using the Dialysis method. A combination of t3 and t4 is best with Iodine. Testing for Mercury is always smart too.

 

[riprockwell]

I'm also Hypo Ihave been for over 20 years. You need to test using the Dialysis method. A combination of t3 and t4 is best with Iodine. Testing for Mercury is always smart too.

This is a good point. A lot of people's hypo symptoms are alleviated with just Iodine supplementation, myself included. I need to read up on this Dialysis method.

 

[lakers0812]

I'm also Hypo Ihave been for over 20 years. You need to test using the Dialysis method. A combination of t3 and t4 is best with Iodine. Testing for Mercury is always smart too.

Ok so if I plan on getting my numbers rechecked this week, would you just tell the doctor to check using the dialysis method? Also what is the best test to check for iodine? I believe one of them is a urine test.

Iodine supplementation is definitely beneficial. I've even heard of people that became hypo due to iodine deficiency. After using iodine some of them were cured completely.

 

[Freestyle Child]

I'm also Hypo Ihave been for over 20 years. You need to test using the Dialysis method. A combination of t3 and t4 is best with Iodine. Testing for Mercury is always smart too.

So you suggest I should complete all the testing that Lakers mentioned with the dialysis testing method? What makes it so different from normal blood testing? Maybe I should try some iodine supplementation to see if anything changes.

 

[riprockwell]

Ok so if I plan on getting my numbers rechecked this week, would you just tell the doctor to check using the dialysis method? Also what is the best test to check for iodine? I believe one of them is a urine test.

Iodine supplementation is definitely beneficial. I've even heard of people that became hypo due to iodine deficiency. After using iodine some of them were cured completely.

Correct, you pee in a jug for 24 hours after you pop an iodine pill. Docs like to see everyone at 90% efficiency rating or above. Mine was a 60% so therefore was definitely short of iodine. I took Iodine for awhile and then I started having allergic reactions to it. I assumed I consumed too much over time.

 

[Freestyle Child]

Correct, you pee in a jug for 24 hours after you pop an iodine pill. Docs like to see everyone at 90% efficiency rating or above. Mine was a 60% so therefore was definitely short of iodine. I took Iodine for awhile and then I started having allergic reactions to it. I assumed I consumed too much over time.

What are you using now to treat your symptoms? Are you hypo as well ?

 

[Freestyle Child]

I have hypothyroidism as well and I was using synthroid for over a year. I wish someone would've told me from day 1 not to use it. T4 only meds are inferior. I'm sure you feel a bit better from starting the levo but still not where you want to be. I'd speak with your dr about switching to a natural desiccated thyroid med. The problem with it (in the drs eyes) is that it has natural t3 in it and that suppresses your TSH and makes it look like you have hyper symptoms, when really you don't. There are also some other tests that should be done:

free t3
free t4
reverse t3
ferritin, % saturation, tibc, serum iron
24 hour saliva cortisol test (to rule out adrenal insufficiency/fatigue)


Good luck!

I just want to clarify the purposes of these tests before I asked them to be done.

Free T4 and Free T3 as well as TSH will be completed. However can someone explain to me the reasoning behind the reverse t3, and other tests that you mentioned??

Also could there be anything causing my thyroid imbalances. I have dropped 20 pounds of muscle only, and the doctor is saying im hypothyroid. I'm a little confused from this and think something else is wrong. How did my testosterone levels look to you guys?

Thanks for all the help this sh!t really stresses me out just talking about it. REALLY want to be back to normal as I cant handle this anymore at all and doctor doesnt really care as much as I do.

Could I also order my own blood work to be done instead of asking the doctor??