Taking the medichecks thyroid ultravit tomorrow do I need to worry about reverse T3?

[Auntbessy]

Hiya,

I am doing a test tomorrow and wondered about reverse T3? Tbh I can’t afford the test but am worried that I am not going to get the full picture.

Thanks in advance!

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Reverse T3 is a bit of a red herring. The result of the test may come back high, but it wont tell you the reason for it being high, and there are very many reasons for high reverse T3 that are nothing to do with the thyroid. Not worth the money in my opinion - as someone who actually did the test twice and my already top of range level rose after starting T3!

[Auntbessy in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks for that advice. I won’t worry about it then!

[humanbean]

A few years ago it was thought that T3 and reverse T3 used the same receptors on or in cells to park themselves. People thought that this was one of the causes of hypothyroid symptoms i.e. too much reverse T3 was preventing normal T3 from attaching to cells and doing its job.

It has been discovered more recently that reverse T3 and normal T3 have different receptors and they never share receptors. So having high levels of reverse T3 will not prevent normal T3 from doing its job. I think that reverse T3, what it does, and why the body creates it is still not fully understood.

I got reverse T3 tested three times during 2013/2014. I wouldn't pay for it again.