Low free T3, T4, rT3 - advice needed please?

[Eggy22]

Hi, please could someone offer some advice on how I can improve my T3, T4 rT3? I was suffering from a virus (not Covid) over the summer and since then my white blood count (immune system) has been low but is starting to build back to again slowly. I also didn’t have a period for 5 months in that time so it’s clear my body was fighting a battle and I’m guessing that’s why my T3/4 aren’t where they should be right now.

I’m clearly struggling with a hormonal imbalance although my periods are starting to come back now. I’ve even had a brain scan to check for a pituitary tumour but it was clear.

In terms of my diet, I’m pretty much on AIP at the moment just trying to rest my system as much as possible and eat only organic grass fed beef, broth daily, liver and free range chicken and a lot of fish. About 10 portions of veg daily and 3 fruit. 2 Brasil nuts a day for the selenium and had been using Nutriadvanced T Convert to help with T4/3 conversion but I’m not sure how much this is helping. I take a high strength vit c daily providing 3000% of my RDA and cod liver oil with vit a, e and D although it looks as though I need to up my vitamin d intake.

I have a range of herbs daily and herbal teas, including tulsi, green tea, lemon balm and licorice and detox on with milk thistle, dandelion etc and only drink bottled water. No idea what I could add or remove from my diet now to help as I’ve read so much about it and implemented everything meant to help.

Lifestyle, I know stress is a huge factor when it comes to T3/4 so I meditate every morning upon waking. I have reduced my weight training to 3/4 times per week and now train smart rather than hard. I walk for at least an hour a day and have as many Epsom salt baths as I can. I have had some gut issues recently so have been working on healing my gut too, hence the broth and veggies. I know this plays a part with T4/3 conversion also! I’m gaining weight and my face keeps going puffy, almost like it’s filling with fluid, especially around my jawline. And then other times it’s not as bad.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I have been battling with this now for the last 7 months! Test results attached. Thank you! Xx

[jrbarnes]

If you have persistent lab results and symptoms which reflect hypothyroidism I would go on a trial of levothyroxine to see if that helps relieve your symptoms.

[Eggy22 in reply to jrbarnes]

Thank you. Am I right in thinking that doctors won’t prescribe that to me? How does Levothyroxine work?

[Angel_of_the_North]

Lemon balm can suppress thyroid function and is often used when you are hyper. I would not drink it when thyroid hormones are low. Nothing to suggest that you have poor conversion as both thyroid hormones are low. Go easy on the vit a as well, esp if you are eating a lot of colourful veg - very easy to overdose, and apparently you can overdose on betacarotene as well as retinol (often shows up as gut and joint problems). Might be better to take D3+k2 and ditch the cod liver oil - cod is a huge fish and might contain a lot of mercury. I also have centtal hypo but no sign of a pituitary tumour

[Eggy22 in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Hi, thanks very much for your advice, that’s great. I’ve actually just ordered a good quality multi vit with K2 in it and an additional D3 supp providing 2500iu. Both from Cytoplan. I have wanted to drop the cod liver intake for a while as I think I could do with reducing my fish intake a little anyway due to the mercury.

Are you on any treatment at all? Thanks