Cortisol and high reverse T3: I've been suffering... - Thyroid UK

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Cortisol and high reverse T3

MorticiaDepp profile image
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I've been suffering for over a year now with no new answers as to what's going on with me. I worked a very stressful job last year and it sent me over the edge. I never really had issues with thryoid that I knew of. As my stress increased I got bad insomnia. I couldn't sleep for days. I felt like I was in fight or flight mode non stop. The doctors said It was anxiety and Gabe me valium. I had another doctor test my thryoid and he came back with viral thryoiditis and I'm a little bit on the hyper side. At that point I had no Graves antibodies. Fast forward, I was put on Methimazole and PTU and it was making me have hypo symptoms. I got a few mes doctors and now they're saying my t4 is not converting to T3 but pooling as reverse T3. Such a nightmare. I did a 4 point saliva test for cortisol and have high cortisol all day and night. I'm really feeling defeated as the anxiety it the worst and has been this whole year. Idk how I've made it this far. I'm seeing a functional medicine doctor and am treating candida, viral and bacterial infections and trying to support adrenals with vitamins and minerals. He had me try ashwaganda but it gave me worse anxiety. Has anyone had anything similar? I'm desperate for help. Thanks .

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MorticiaDepp
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If you have high cortisol throughout the day you may need to look at Cushing's syndrome, especially if you have other symptoms like weight gain around your tummy, difficulty sleeping, high blood pressure, bruise easily, stretch marks plus other symptoms.

greygoose profile image
greygoose

I got a few mes doctors and now they're saying my t4 is not converting to T3 but pooling as reverse T3.

Talk about blinding you with science! That is absolutely meaningless. T4 doesn't pool. And if it converts to rT3, it's not T4 anymore, is it. It's rT3. I don't really think they know what they're talking about.

However, it is perfectly possible that your high cortisol is causing your T4 to convert to excess rT3. But rT3 does not cause symptoms. Have you had it tested?

I think it would be a good idea if you posted a few blood test results so that we can see what's going on. Cortisol results, TSH, FT4, FT3 - especially FT3 - and antibody results. And, don't forget the ranges. :)

Lalatoot profile image
Lalatoot

It could be that you are low on thyroid hormones particularly FT3. A lot of what you describe sounds like I was. Because I was undermedicated and very low on thyroid hormones my body was using adrenaline to keep me going. It made me very ill and very anxious. My TSH was 32, my FT4 10 and my FT3 3.

MorticiaDepp profile image
MorticiaDepp

How did you correct it?

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