Reverse t3 importance

[Sandria]

How crucial is it to know reverse r3 . It seems to me added to the most expensive tests ..

[jimh111]

I believe rT3 is of very little use. It is a measurement of TOTAL rT3 and so cannot be compared with free T3. rT3 goes up when fT4 is high. There are certain rare conditions which leads to more rT3 (sorry can't remember them) but in these cases the rT3 will likely affect the pituitary also, leading to a high TSH. I've never seen any rational statement on how to interpret an rT3 assay. I wouldn't waste money on the test. If you take a lot of levothyroxine which elevates your fT4 you will produce a lot of rT3.

In any event it seems logical to me to compare rT3 with total T3 rather than free T3. Also bear in mind that rT3 has a shorter half life than T3.

I would not bother with rT3 and just pay attention to TSH, fT3, fT4, your symptoms and response to thyroid medication.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Sandria I don't think it's crucial for many people, certainly not if they're doing well on their thyroid meds, but I think rT3 is something that can be looked into when we still have symptoms of hypo and everything else has been tested and no answers found.

I'm considering doing this test. I have always had high FT4 and suppressed TSH, with FT3 in range but not in balance with FT4. All Vits and mins are now optimal, adrenals tested plus sex hormones and I've been supplementing under the guidance of a hormone specialist for almost a year to correct these. Conversion wasn't as good as it should be.T3 has been added to Levo and doses tweaked. FT4 has reduced only slightly whilst FT3 has risen. There's not much else left to test!

I'm reading about it at the moment, finding it quite interesting. Some articles if you'd like to have a look (I haven't got very far yet so still a way to go!)

stopthethyroidmadness.com/r...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/2...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/2...

It's interesting that high rT3 can be found with:

"high cortisol

low cortisol

low iron levels

possibly low B12

lyme disease

gluten intolerance or Celiac

other undiscovered and untreated underlying issues that can go hand-in-hand with being hypothyroid."

Still more reading to do ............

[Sandria]

Thank you all

[radd]

Sandria,

We all need a little RT3 but too much is counter productive. Elevated RT3 can be cleared with medicated T3 but as it is heavily influenced by your iron and adrenal status, you will need to consider these as possible causes and address any imbalances.

RT3 is made from T4 and the more RT3 you have, the less T3 you have in your body (as T4 has converted to RT3) inducing hypothyroid symptoms but these symptoms can overlap with others such as high/low cortisol or low iron, so testing of all is imperative.

If RT3 is addressed but the underlying cause it not, the RT3 will just return. If the underlying cause is addressed, together with the correct supplements to aid excretion of superfluous RT3, the level often just rebalances itself.

Testing RT3 would be my very last resort and I have never had it tested.

[shaws Administrator]

This is a response from a doctor/scientist/researcher and go to the date March 24, 1999 to read about RT3:-

web.archive.org/web/2010103...