Went for full bloods today, will find out in the next 2 weeks whether I'm hypothyroid or not. TSH and FT4 are normal. Had full bloods, for t3, t4, antibodies, rt3 etc.
My guess is that my T3 is going to come in low, and therefor it's going to be a conversion issue (may be due to adrenals for example.) Also having iron, ferritin, folate checked, b12 and vitamin have already come back good.
My question is, if it turns out my T3 is low, but I'm NOT Hashimotos (I.e. I potentially have a thyroid condition I can reverse/cure my fixing the root cause), is it possible to use T3 tempoarily to alleviate symptoms?
I know GP's in the UK are very reluctant to use T3, however if it's a conversion issue I don't want to be using T4 as it makes no logical sense, and I've heard lots of bad experiences. I can get hold of Pharmaceutical T3 easily enough, 25mcg tabs.
If I have low T3 for example due to lagging adrenals, then I need to heal my adrenals. But ofc that can take months/years, and I can't continue with these symptoms, so is it possible to use Synthetic T3 to alleviate hypo symptoms and boost mood/health etc WHILST fixing the root issue... with the potential to remove the synthetic T3 once the inhibiting issue is resolved returning to normal unmedicated thyroid function?
I know it's a fairly hypothetical question, just wanting to get a better understanding of different pathways/possibilties for when I have my results.
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canyouhearmeaya
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Canyouhearmeaya, sorry you haven't had any responses! I think it's because you're asking quite a hypothetical Q. Once you get your blood results, post them and you will getgha lot more advice.
Overall your chance of being hypothyroid without having Hashimotos is quite low. Almost all hypo is caused by Hashimotos. Other causes are issues with the pituitary gland.
If you've already got a serious illness your thyroid could struggle a little temporarily. Then its more of a philosophical issue about whether to try treating it.
If you have an adrenal problem, its generally considered a better to address that first. People with adrenal problems can struggle to make a start on T3, as it causes very unpleasant symptoms. But again, this is kind of a personal choice, suck it and see issue.
Nothing in treating hormones is quick, and you will have to slowly work out with trial and error where you want to go.
Sure. If it is Hashimotos, is T3 sometimes used to treat? I just figured most Hashimotos cases result in abnormal T4 and TSH? And as mine seeming look okay, that its more likely a conversion issue. Can Hashimotos still be the case, even with normal TSH and T4, and just cause low T3 / conversion issues?
Can Pituary issues be fixed? As far as I'm aware, I have no long standing illness.
If it is Hypothyroid (which a lot of symptoms would suggest is likely I think) - it's been a very long standing thing for me, i.e. from the age of 12 or so (I'm 26 now.) I did have gynecomastia in my teen years, which was hormone related as after weight loss the tissue remained, it was fairly severe so I had surgery to fix it. So it seems very feasible there's some degree of hormonal regulation issue in my body. The results I Get back tomorrow will cover Testosterone, free test, SHBG, estrogen etc so if it's related to that, It should give me a good indication.
However I really don't suspect it's predominantly low T, as although some of the symptoms fit (the more general ones i.e. lack of sex drive, fatigue, low motivation/energy etc) I don't physically appear to have low T (facial hair, fairly muscular, very strong) and also have no issues with erections, just a low sex drive/libido.
Although I believe if it stems from hypothyroid, that could of actually been a casual factor of the gynecomastia? As T3 regulates Prolactin, so low T3 in men causes Prolactin to rise (which can lead to gynecomastia), and Prolactin also supresses Dopamine (and a lot of my mental symptoms correlate with low dopamine.)
Symptoms are:
- Fatigue
- Brain fog / lack of mental clarity
- Low motivation (not sad or depressed, just a general lack of drive for life, loss of interest in almost everything - bar trying to figure out what's going on lol!)
- Low Libido
- Dry Hair
- As a kid/teen I had half eyebrows (outer half/third was virtually non existent)
- Dry skin - namely on elbows and also my shins/calves, snake like skin.
- Prone to water retention, mainly on legs and stomach
- Slightly unstable blood sugar, never goes high as far as I've tested with BG monitor, but prone to dipping hypoglyaemic, especially if exercising fasted / periods of fasting.
- Cold intolerance, but this is almost intermittent. Hands and feed do often feel cold especially if temperature is lower. But i'm not cold 24/7.
- Slow bowels - I can poop reguarly, but I don't fully empty, feels like its all moving to slowly.
- Tired eyes. My eyes often look a little 'bulgey', like my eye lids are hanging down my face a little bit.
I smoked for 6 years on and off, funnily enough more to regulate my bowel, as I found smoking allowed me to empty better and speed it all up. I know nicotine is a stimulant and therefor will do this to some extent for everyone. But funnily enough, quitting smoking seemed to make all my symptoms worse, even several months later - and being fairly intune with my body i'm very inclined to say this is nothing related to withdrawal (I actually find I get no sense of withdrawl from smoking or even much 'craving', I simply used to smoke largely as said, to regulate my bowel.) I've heard it's very common for hypo symptoms to worsen when people quit smoking, as it seems that nicotine may have an effect of T3 somehow (almost artifically speeding up the metabolism?) and thus when you quit, T3 can lower and symptoms then become worse.
I'm very well studied on nutrition, and have tried a number of different dietary approaches over the years, including removing gluten, lectins, dairy, sweeteners, processed foods, you name it - for extended periods of time, with little to no benefit.
Infact, going low carb/ketogenic, aside from benefitting with my blood sugar, seems to make symptoms worse... and I understand that carbohydrates can also have an affect on thyroid function / t3 output.
It just seems to all make a lot of sense, various symptoms cross over to other 'conditions', but only some, and then some make no sense (e.g. feeling fatigued and low motivation libido is common in testosterone/high oestrogen, but then that's usually followed by a lack of facial hair, loss of strength and lean tissue, loss of erection quality etc which I don't have.)
Where as with hypothyroid, every single symptom makes sense.
Do you have any other ideas of what conditions may tick all these boxes? Maybe there's something I'm missing.
There are two things you've said that jump out at me as very characteristic. The first is missing the outer half of eyebrows. This is a hypothyroid symptom, and I'm not sure it can be caused by anything else.
The other is that you stopped smoking then your symptoms worsened. This is also common in hypothyroid, as the smoking stimulates some elements of thyroid regulation, so stopping smoking is often when people first notice symptoms.
Central hypothyroid (caused not be the thyroid itself being ill, but the pituitary or hypothalamus that should be signalling it to work) is associated with other hormone problems, as they are regulated in the same way.
With low freeT3, generally if you have low freeT3 you will also have low freeT4. The TSH responds to both low freeT3 and low freeT4 (once on thyroid hormone replacement it's possible to have a very high freeT4, but still a high TSH, because freeT3 is low.
Conversion problems can exist, but I've never heard of this being an issue for a person who isn't on hormone replacement. Your own body should be able to regulate your own self produced hormone.
But it may be that you've been told your TSH and freeT4 are fine when in fact they're not. The criteria for diagnosis are very extreme, and you can feel very ill with results well inside what they call 'normal'. Its also possible you've only been tested for one of the Hashimotos antibodies and not both. There is anti Thyroid Peroxidaseand anti Thyroglobulin. These are also tests that can have false negatives, so it's worth retesting a few months later.
Do you have any test results for TSH and freeT4? Or if you're waiting for new results it might be worth posting the whole set as a new post so more people will see it.
The eyebrow thing is what first caught my attention at a young age. Even my school mates noticed it, and people used to ask if I shaved half my eyebrows off lol!! What I don't understand is, that at around the age of 14 they seemingly grew.. and have never faded away again. Is that possible? For the hypothyroid issue to continue but the eyebrows to seemingly become normal?
Sorry, I've been VERY assuming here. My TSH is 1.1 (0.3-5.5 range) which I believe is 'good'? My FT4 is 15pmol/L (10-22 range) which I understand isn't 'low low' but just below mid-range, so not 'ideal'? These were done 6 weeks ago.
Yesterday I had a full thyroid done, including antibodies and rt3, ft3 etc - this will come back in the next 2 weeks and thus give a better idea.
The reason I ASSUMED (key word being assumed, clearly I still have a LOT to learn about thyroid issues) it wasn't Hashis was because from reading on here, the people that seem to have Hashis often seem to have TSH and FT4 that are way out... but is it possible for it to be hashis and have my numbers?
I also assumed non-hashis simply because this has been going on since a young age (if it is thyroid related) and hasn't got drastically worse over the years, it has got worse - but I ASSUMED (doh.) that if it was hashis and auto-immune, over a 14 year period I'd of seen a drastic worsening and by now have numbers way out (my diet included gluten/dairy fairly heavily for 12-13 of those years.)
Have i just been too quick off the gun here and mis-interpreted my readings?
if it is hashis, am I right in saying that realistically there's no 'cure', but rather it's just a matter of damage control (via lifestyle choices/diet etc) and realistically medication to get me feeling good?
The biggest issue for me really is the fatigue, brain fog and lack of drive/motivation. If I can solve these, it will literally change my life, drastically.
Looking at those results, they do actually look quite good. The freeT4 is just about halfway, which is what a healthy person's should be, and the TSH is just over 1, which is again bang on This is bad news because it means thyroid is unlikely to be the explanation.
Still worth looking at the antibodies, though. You can have Hashimotos and then have almost any thyroid result. It destroys the thyroid very slowly, so the numbers slowly get worse over time.
Its true that there's no cure, all you can do is take hormone replacement. Sounds like you have gone gluten and dairy free, which ironically could have made your thyroid results look better.
Hopefully when you get your results in a few days you can post them and someone might see something suspicious.
I personally have got an unusual thyroid condition, and in addition had my thyroid removed for cancer. Now that I know more about it, I can see I was suffering for much of my life. If you want to try something very way out, and you've got access to T3 you could give it a trial and see if it improves things for you. At the end of the day I think the only final test for whether you have an issue somewhere undetectable in the thyroid hormone system is to try T3 or NDT and have it not improve things.
This is very far from the conventional advice, though. Definitely wait till you've seen the full set of tests. And maybe till you've had a 24hr saliva test, as these are the obvious set of things to check.
I'd try maybe 5mcg (you may need a razor blade or pill crusher) once a day for a few weeks, and just see how you feel. Take your temperature and pulse a few times each day and make sure they don't go crazy. If you don't start feeling racy and hot, a month or so later you could add add second 5mcg in the afternoon.
I can get hold of T3. If I'm totally honest, I've used it previously - but not knowingly to medicate hypothyroid.
As mentioned, I've felt off for years (since teen years) and never been able to figure it out why. Because I've always been into bodybuilding, as a result around 4-5 years ago I ended up using various different hormones for the purposes of improving body composition. I don't believe this at all to be causal of any of my issues, because as mentioned, the symptoms / issues go way back, long before any of this.
Having used testosterone in varying doses injected IM, I did not see a huge surge in sex drive (which is normal for men using testosterone), my low libido seemingly persisted (however I saw other benefits you'd expect, i.e. increase in muscle mass, strength, aggression). Even using peripheral medications to regulate oestrogen. This is why I don't believe my issue to be related to testosterone (as the low libido persisted, which leads me to believe that stems from another area of hormonal imbalance.... thyroid?!)
I have also used T3 previously, very naively.. However having looked back, I realised that during a period of using T3, was probably the best I'd felt.. LOADS of energy, motivation etc... BUT, I was using too much. I've used doses from 25mcg upto 100mcg a day. Looking back, the higher doses lead me to experience anxiety / over stimulation (so presumabley I went from hypo to hyper), and then after abruptly ceasing the use of T3, my mood crashed etc. Using it so willy nilly, was ofc silly and naive - but being a young wreckless guy at the time, I evidently wasn't as mindful of my health as I am now! All I wanted to do was look good, because I really thought I'd find happiness in a 6 pack - lol!)
I have also used other compounds which have a reputation for reducing T4 to T3 conversion, and reflecting on my experience again, during the use of these, I ended up with extreme lethargy, mood decline etc. I presumed this was for other reasons unbeknown to me - but now I'm really starting to connect the dots..
Hence why I am so convinced that there is probably going to be a realisation when these results come back, that for one reason or another, my T3 is low... but then that raises the question, why? Especially if it's not hashis.
I know this is all guess work until the tests come back.. but to answer you, yes I can get my hands on Cytomel easily enough, and this has been one of my considerations once the results come back. I don't have any faith in GP's from experience, and although I think self-medicating does carry risks, with the abundance of knowledge on this board, I think maybe this is something I will have to explore. But ofc, this I will have to determine based on the results of my tests.
Dose wise, ofc I'll be starting much lower. The Cytomel I can get is 25mcg tabs, so I guess the reccomendation would be to get a pill cutter and start lower?
Are there any generally considered risks of using a safe dose of T3 short term, to trial this approach? As I have been wondering, to try some T3 as we've said, as it seems the onset of improvement is often quite quick, so possibly to try it for a few days at say 12.5 - 25mcg and just see if I notice improvement?
Please don't judge me for what I've mentioned. I know many people will think I'm crazy for having done this, but we all live and learn. Suffice to stay, I have not played around with my hormones for the last few years!!
Wow, I've been curious what dose of T3 weightlifters took. I never thought it would be as high as 100mcg! Is that taking it every day? I'd have thought they would feel very racy on that. I've been over medicated in the past, and it feels rubbish.
I think it's v unlikely your freeT3 will be considerably lower than your freeT4. I've never heard of this happening. But thyroid hormone resistance tends not to show up in blood tests.
If you've got experience of knowing T3 makes you feel better, that might be all the evidence you need to be a reason to try it again.
In terms of danger, the general argument is to keep freeT3 inside the range. If yours comes back mid-range, as seems likely, technically you'd have some room for manoeuvre there.
There isn't much research at all about more obscure thyroid conditions The argument is that high thyroid hormone can damage bones and heart. But cardiologists actually prescribe T3, and consider it good for heart health.
My personal conclusion for myself, is that if it makes me more mobile and functional, I believe this will be good for my organs as well. Although I am very impaired and I'm talking about being able to dress myself and do basic tasks, AND my thyroid has been removed, so I don't have much choice. If youre able to the very active you might be better off accepting 80% energy levels, or whatever it might be.
100mcg is high, most bodybuilders use 25-50mcg most commonly. The reason I pushed up as high as 100mcg, was to try and increase fat metabolism (but ofc, it was OTT, there's also a much greater risk of muscle catabolism at that dose as I'm sure you're aware.) It was really just me being reckless. I started at 25mcg, an tapered up over a period of weeks, so it seems that if I'd had a better understanding of what I was doing at the time, sticking at a lower dose would of been the best idea.
I definitely need to try something. It's an odd situation, if you saw me, you'd presume nothing was really wrong.. But, if you really saw how I lived, and you knew what you were looking for, you'd realise.
On the outside, I seem perfectly functional, but the effect the fatigue, brain fog, lack of mental clarity, low libido etc has on me as a person, the way I act, feel, live etc is huge. It's become more apparent of the years, I feel I've become more and more socially withdrawn, and just slowly lost interest in everything.
Life feels like a slog basically. I can do most things, but I don't enjoy it, and it feels like I'm trying to force my way through life with a 1000lb bodysuit on (physically and mentally!!)
I'll post up later when I get the first set of bloods back, with testosterone etc.
Having been very ill myself, one of the things that strikes me is your overall life may feel a lot better if you accepted you were ill in some way, and changed your lifestyle a bit. If you're exercising heavily, cut it down a lot, make sure you have several evenings or afternoons a week in the house mooching about to rest, nap if you need to, take up some sedentary hobbies like watching films or craft work, don't compare yourself to high achievers, etc.
Some people feel this is giving in to things, but I am a huge advocate for rest, and for doing fewer things but really enjoying them and feeling comfortable in yourself. It is possible, but we put so many expectations on ourselves! I have lost a lot of mobility and energy, but when I go out for my 500 metre walk I really enjoy it!
It will take you several months to a year to get real improvement even if you do find the cause, so I think it's worth trying to get some relief in the psychological/lifestyle dimension.
For example, I don't think I should 'accept' this is just how life is, because I know it isn't, and that it can be fixed. (Although I don't think this is what you're really saying.)
I personally don't think I'm fighting the situation.. I believe there's something off check (infact i'm 99.9% certain of it), and I believe it can be fixed, so that for me is my 'acceptance'. So I don't think I'm in a situation that can't be resolved, but I accept that there's something to resolve, and that it may take time and effort to do so - which I'm okay with.
I also think it's relative to the person. For example, I'm naturally a high achiever (and I really do believe this is just as biological if not more so, than physiology! That's something I've come to realise over the last year.) That our biology actually determines more of our life than we realise, people IMo actually give TOO much credit to psychology.
An example being this (my own case): if for example your Dopamine levels are deficient, for whatever reason - naturally you lose motivation, become apathetic, socially withdrawn etc. As a result, your thoughts FOLLOW your physiology (and this is down to us to control.) It's NATURAL to have thoughts of a more negative nature if your dopamine is low, it's a self fulfilling prophecy. HOWEVER, you CAN control that - and that is our own challenge (I acutally think I do a good job of this, simply because I had to learn to over the last 12 years because I was told it was in my head, and I started to believe it for a long time.)
However I have seen it in myself, when my physiology/biology is altered and improved, as if by magic, my psychology follows. Suddenly the sense of wellbeing I've lacked appears, my motivation is through the roof, I'm happy etc.
IMO, FAR too much of 'mental health' is focused on thoughts, when really that's for MANY the wrong trail. Yes, some people suffer with psychology as the primary factor, and then physiology can follow. But many imo (and I believe/know this because of my own experience) are off check physiologically, and therefor there thoughts follow, and they're told / lead to believe it's a thought process problem. When the reality is, almost ANYONE who has low dopamine/serotonin etc is GOING to have negative thoughts, or at least a diminished level of positivity, it's biologically to some agree impossible not to!
Which is why it's so disgusting to see doctors hand out anti-depressants like smarties, it's for so many TOTALLY the wrong thing to be tackling. It's like when people on here spent years thinking they were 'depressed', and being given anti-d's, then only to start taking t3 for example years later and lo and behold, as if by magic the depression disappears. People can spend years and years of there life going through therapy, using medication etc to deal with 'psychological' issues and never really get away from it, and they believe 'that's just how life is' - NO.
Hypothyroid can cause physiological depression, fix the T3 level for example, the depression vanishes. Suddenly thoughts improve, you have a sense of wellbeing, you're happy etc.
I'm not saying all depression is caused by this, ofc it's not. My belief is that the fundamental piece of importance is fixing the ROOT of the cause of problems.
So again for examples sake, let's say I hypothetically have:
Low T3, and this causes dysglemia, and this then results in reduced dopamine levels:
that will express itself as depression, low mood, apathy.
So yes it's good to mange the other factors, but fundamentally if it BEGINS with low T3, until that core issue is resolved, you're only going to be fighting a battle you'll never win. CBT will never fix your low T3, anti-depressants won't, boosting dopamine won't, exercise won't etc etc. (Assuming the low T3 is caused by something outside of those things, let's say Hashimotos for example.)
So for me personally, I'm naturally a big extrovert, and a high achiever. That's just who I am, and I believe that on a biological level. And I believe when people are so far from there 'set point', they feel it. If you are naturally a high dopamine producer, it's very likely you'll be a high achiever in life, as dopamine is so heavily responsible for that facet of life. So if something is off kilt in your body, and this causes your dopamine to drop, you'll feel it in your whole being. And you can try and accept it, CBT, therapy, drugs, but until you're physiologically in check, you'll never truly find wellbeing.
I think different people have different levels of intuition and self-awareness. I consider myself to be someone who's VERY in tune with their own physiologally and thoughts, and thus I honestly believe until I fix the root, I'll never be able to settle. Because I can't get away from the pervasive sense of something being off, I can feel it in my bones. I've sensed that since I was a teenager. I can damage control, i.e. manage my thoughts, meditate, eat well, and manage every other area of my life, but fundamentally the issue remains, you're just in a better state of the issue.
That's my personal view on it, and I certainly believe all of that to be entirely true for myself. Because we're all so physiologically, genetically and psychologically different, I can't say if this is definitely true for everyone else, but I'd be confident say it is for many, to a varying degree.
Sorry, that was a total rant LOL! But I hope you see what I'm saying, be interested to hear your thoughts too.
Well, I've been a lot more ill than you for many years. So for a long time I didn't know whether I'd ever get any improvement or not. For me that meant being able to wash, dress, move around the house, etc.
I have had an improvement that makes a big difference to me, but doesn't translate into a ton of extra activity. I'd say I'm about 10-20% of a normal activity level. Which I'm very grateful for, because I've been at 1% or lower, and having the dignity of being able to walk across a room, or do basic self care is huge.
I very much doubt I will get to 100%, which is what you're seeking, or maybe even 110%, to be a high achiever. I hope for something like 60-70%, enough to work part-time, socialise and do hobbies, take care of the house and my personal stuff.
What I've discovered about using rest, is that there's a choice between doing everything on the plate, but feeling strung out and confused the whole time, or doing a smaller amount of stuff, and doing it with elegance and joy. In fact, now I am well rested I notice most people around me are doing too much, and it's making them miserable and low functioning. This is how T3 works. It gets used up, and you can stretch it out a little, but you'll be taking energy away from you brain, muscles, etc.
Maybe you think you are a high achiever, high energy person, but your metabolism has other ideas
PS: The other point I intended to make is just because there is something biological wrong with you doesn't mean it can necessarily be fixed. That's been my experience. Certainly its worth a try, but I think it's much more emotionally healthy to keep an open mind, and find a way to be grateful for what you've got.
Well I'm sorry to hear, that's where I mean we're all SO physiologically different that I can't put myself in your shoes. What I have said I believe to be 100% true for me, but equally your situation is totally different. I'm glad to hear your doing well, and in context I agree with you on your situation totally. If it really is the case that 70% is the best you can physically possibly ever get, then that's okay. In which case, that is 100%, it's just your new 100% (and THAT is the psychological challenge, accepting that what was, may no longer be - and we all face that challenge in our life, it's our greatest suffering - the lack of permanence!!) But it certainly sounds to me you're handling it well, and I applaud you for that - it souns like you've had a real sh*t time, so you're obviously VERY strong to have come as far as you have!
I hope I didn't offend you with my most, that was not the intention at all. Just talking about my own experience and story. Don't want to come across as ignorant or for you to think that I'm saying your situation is 'wrong', because that's certainly not the case.
This is why I think it's funny when people say to 'walk in someone elses shoes'. Our own lives are so INFINITELY complex, and different, on a macro level to a micro level, that we can never truly put outself in someone elses shoes - only our best guess, which is usally heavily tainted by own situation.
You're right, maybe it can't be fixed. From experience, I THINK in my case it can, simply because I've seen glimmers of it. I won't know until the results come back and I figure out what's going on, I sure hope it can be. If it turned out to be the case it can't, then that is what it is, and like you said, that's where acceptance comes in.
Wish me luck, hopefully over the next few weeks things will start to come together. I hope so.
A good book if you're interested is 'The Power of Now' by Eckhart Tolle. I learnt so much from that book, on the subject of acceptance.
It's funny because as I said, often permanence is the cause of our suffering.
Good things don't last forever, and often people suffer because they can't accept this.
And often we believe bad things WILL last forever, and therefor we suffer.
When we come to accept that everything in life is impermanent to some degree, then we find freedom. It doesn't mean we shouldn't strive for good, and negate bad, but accepting that the good and bad are all part of life, and ultimately everything just 'is', therein we can find our peace.
As you can tell I'm naturally quite a 'go go go' person, I have an innate drive to 'do' and achieve stuff, that's just how I am and I honestly believe that can't be changed. We have our own biological destiny in that sense.
But yes, lately (especially over the last year or so) i've done less and less, but that actually makes me worse lol. But I've done less but of the apathy side of it (which I totally believe is a biological issue, e.g. maybe low thyroid leading to low dopamine.) The situation is somewhat irrelevant. If dopamine is low and as a result you experience apathy, the situation is irrelevant. Whether you're broke or win the lottery, whether you're single of with the partner of your dreams, how we FEEL is determined by chemicals. Thoughts influence chemicals, but not entirely. If you body for one reason or another isn't producing dopamine, and that results in apathy, you won't enjoy anything. It's physiologically impossible.
So in my case, doing less almost creates more of a problem. Becasue naturally I'm a 'doer', and 'doing' makes me feel good, but 'doing' is largely driven by dopamine, so when your dopamine declines, you naturally want to do less, because you stop enjoying the doing. But if you're a 'doer' by nature, then living in a way that takes you even further from that, creates even greater dissatisfaction, because you're even further from fulfilling your biological destiny.
On an intelectual level, I WANT to be social, it's who I am - but when we get that 'good feeling' from socialising, that's simply a cocktail of chemicals/neurotransmitters firing in a brain, nothing more. So if they aren't being produced for biological reasons, you simply can't enjoy socialising. And because the apathy has got marginally worse for me, naturally I've become slightly more socially withdrawn (not totally, far from it, but much more so than I used to be, simply because I'm not getting the hit of 'feel good' in my brain that I should be.)
and THAT is where psychology steps in. Because if you then have thoughts of 'I want to be social but I can't be bothered, I don't enjoy it even though I should be, life's not fair.' <---- THERE is where you can get worse, because you then allow your thoughts to slip and the story you tell becomes even more negative.
Because of all of the experiences I've been through in my life, what I've learnt, read, studied, experienced etc I've built some great psychological tools in the process. And in many ways i'm sure it'll be a blessing, because although the tools in themself haven't resolved the root issue, when I do figure that out, it'll be a great toolset to have. I honestly think psychologically I'll be so well versed in managing my thoughts, that it'll be difficult for me to be negative!! lol!
So my psychological view of the situation right now is: I'm off tilt, my chemical balance is off - that's just what it is. I can't fix that this second, but I CAN fix it, and I will. So although it's frustrating to not be 'enjoying' life and having that sense of wellbeing and aliveness that I should, it's okay. Because it's not forever, and everything I've learnt over the years trying to figure this out, will be invaluable one day. For myself and also I hope for others, because in the process I've learn so much about life, psychology, health, diet - and there are many people who don't posess any of this knowledge, who I can share it with.
Heck, maybe one day I'll meet someone who's going through the same thing, and I'll be able to help them resolve it - that would be great.
If I told a doctor how I 'feel' right now, they'd say 'your depressed.' And by definition, ofc I am. If you don't enjoy socialising, or really anything for that matter, that's 'depression'. But depression, is chemical. Even if it stems from poor psychology, it's still chemical. But I know now, that for me, it is just chemical - which actually makes staying as 'positive' as I can be, quite easy. As much as it would be nice to feel 'normal' again right now, that seemingly isn't possible.
But it will happen, and that's what you have to hold on to. Maybe it'll be next week, maybe it'll take months or years (I honestly think once I've got these bloods back, I'll be on the path to recovery quite soon.) Heck, if it turns out to be low T3, and I medicate with T3, it's quite possible I could feel 80% better on the first day of using T3! Who knows!
In fact, i'm going to order some T3 now, just so I've got some on hand, and then if m bloods suggest it may be worth trying, I can give it a go.
Ofc if it is low T3 and not hashimotos, I realise that ultimately using T3 might deal with the symptoms which will be great, but my job is then to figure out why I have low T3 in the first place. Maybe it's one of those scenarios mentioned in the link, maybe I was born with a funny pituary gland... That'll be the next adventure lol!
I'm guessing that at the time your eyebrows grew back at 14 you'd had a few months or years of having periods i.e. you'd reached puberty. The thyroid is affected by all sorts of hormones including sex hormones, so it could have changed your thyroid function test results (if you had any done before puberty began and a year or two after it started).
To give you some idea of what things affect TSH and other thyroid related measures, see the first post in this thread on another forum :
Be aware that the specific numbers given for test results are based on US units of measurement and reference ranges. The numbers you see from 341 up to 418 are to references which are not included with the post.
I'm male, so no periods! Haha. But yes, puberty was happening around that time ofc, I also went from being obese to losing a LOT of weight, 4 stone... So I expect hormonally that would have made a big jolt.
It would also seem on reflection, that it when my eyebrows grew... As the last photo of me with half eyebrows I was very overweight, the next photo I've lost the weight.. Lo and behold, eyebrows.
I've got the book that link is based on, and it may be useful for you. It talks about all the more complicated bits round the edges of our thyroids not working.
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This is bad news because it means thyroid is unlikely to be the explanation. 
NDT
Does fixing a conversion problem change medication needs?
Balancing T3 over the day (aka fast heartrate at 2am, aka T3 suppressing T4 to T3 conversion?)
Is it ok to have low T4 if you're on T3 only?
T4 to T3 conversion problem?
