In 2018 I (mistakingly, I didn’t know how to properly lose weight then) crash dieted and dropped a ton of weight over a year. Because of this seriously extended caloric restriction, my body really got upset. I became hypothyroid with a low Total T3, low Free T4, but still a normal TSH?
Well my doctor put me on 25mcg levothyroxine. It didn’t do too much for me. Then we tried 50mcg, then 10mcg T3 and 50mcg T4. Nothing.
I switched doctors to try Armour thyroid. Over the months my medication has titrated until I was eventually on 4 grains of armour thyroid (38mcg T3, 152mcg T4)... even at that dose my Free T3 and Free T4 were low! TSH was crushed, however. Now I am even at a healthy weight (200lbs, 6’2”), exercise, eat healthy etc.
I am now switched over to 50mcg Liothyronine Sodium and 150mcg Levothyroxine, and it’s day three. I still feel nothing, which is crazy to me as people say T3 is so fast acting.
Looking for some insight as to why I am having trouble absorbing my T3/T4. I take it on an empty stomach, always.
My diet consist of enriched white rice, oats, eggs, egg whites, fruits, green beans/asparagus, chicken, fish, avocado, potatoes, beef, steak, almonds.
Other things are Himalayan salt, table salt (iodized), Splenda/Stevia (lots), diet sodas, coffee, vitamin water, gatorade/propel
I am currently on 50/150 Liothyronine/Levothyroxine, yet my levels are VERY subpar. I imagine there must be an absorption issue. I still feel cold, tired, holding water, etc
There have been little bouts (week or 2) where ill feel incredible, but they seem to fade with no consistency. I feel lost. What can I do?
When I added T3 to my T4 it took several weeks for me to see any improvement and I did not have the ‘eureka’ moment that some members have had. I think you will have to give it longer than 3 days on your new combination dose to see if it is working for you. It would be helpful for you to post your thyroid blood results, with ranges in brackets. Have you had ferritin, folate, B12 and Vitamin D checked? Are you gluten free?
Now I am even at a healthy weight (200lbs, 6’2”), exercise, eat healthy etc.
Lots of exercise can reduce the levels of T3 that you have.
Other things are Himalayan salt, table salt (iodized), Splenda/Stevia (lots), diet sodas, coffee, vitamin water, gatorade/propel
I don't know how much iodine is in iodized salt, but I do know that iodine was used as a treatment for hyperthyroidism i.e. overactive thyroid in decades gone by.
Diet sodas (and ordinary sodas) often have all sorts of weird chemicals in. Could you switch to carbonated water with nothing else in it apart from carbon dioxide for the fizz?
I am not familiar with vitamin water or gatorade or propel so don't know the ingredients.
Over the months my medication has titrated until I was eventually on 4 grains of armour thyroid (38mcg T3, 152mcg T4)... even at that dose my Free T3 and Free T4 were low!
Over recent decades doctors have reduced and reduced and reduced the levels of thyroid hormones that they prescribe, mainly on the basis of TSH. Before the TSH test was invented doctors wouldn't have batted an eyelid at a dose of 4 grains of NDT, it really isn't that high. I've seen higher.
Ashwaghanda - this may reduce your cortisol. This is fine if your cortisol is high, but not good if it is at a healthy level or low.
EAAs - I don't know what these are.
You would be better taking a good quality B Complex with activated B vitamins rather than the P5P (vitamin B6) on its own. It is not a good idea to supplement just one or two B vitamins and let all the others drop.
I became hypothyroid with a low Total T3, low Free T4, but still a normal TSH?
Total T3 is a pretty useless test. It doesn't give you any helpful information. What you need is the FT3 tested.
And, on the subject of testing, you'll get more meaningful replies if you give your actual numbers: doses and dates, results and ranges. Then we'll know what we're talking about.
Well my doctor put me on 25mcg levothyroxine. It didn’t do too much for me.
It wouldn't. It's a starter dose for children. And that just goes to show that your doctor has very limited knowledge of thyroid. So, beware.
I still feel nothing, which is crazy to me as people say T3 is so fast acting.
SOME people say that. Not every one. I could start on 100 mcg T3 and not feel a thing for weeks. It depends on so many factors. And, we don't have enough information about you to even hazard a guess as to why.
Looking for some insight as to why I am having trouble absorbing my T3/T4. I take it on an empty stomach, always.
As I said, we don't know that much about you to hazard a guess. For example, you may take it on an empty stomach, but how long do you wait before eating/drinking coffee/taking supplements/etc.?
Are you kidding? That sounds like an awful lot of artificial sweeteners. And even a small dose of those can be poison. You'd be better off with real sugar. Sugar has been demonised by those with their own agenda, and replaced by things that are much, much worse - same could be said of salt and butter, by the way. If it doesn't grow naturally, don't consume it. You can't go wrong with that motto.
humanbean has dealt very well with your supplement regime, so I won't go into that.
I feel lost. What can I do?
The path to good health starts with comprehensive testing and 'intelligent' analysis of resutl - which rules out doctors for a start. Give us your numbers and let's see what we can find.
Yes, so you said. But, you didn't answer my question: you may take it on an empty stomach, but how long do you wait before eating/drinking coffee/taking supplements/etc.? Because you don't seem to be absorbing that T3 in the gut.
You're first labs were what we might expect for someone on a starvation diet: drastically low nutrients and low T3. The T3 would be low because you need optimal levels of nutrients to convert T4 to T3, and you need calories.
So, are you eating correctly now? Have you been supplementing your low nutrients?
Have you had a thorough investigation of your gut, so see if you have leaky gut or something that might affect your absorption?
Yes, a lot of people think that. And, for some people it doesn't seem to matter. But, for a lot of people, their blood test results tell an entirely different story. You see, these myths about, and no-one really questions them, or puts them too the test. They just accept them as true. But reading on here for any length of time gives quite a few insights that you wouldn't otherwise have.
I've taken a look at the results you've posted. I haven't paid attention to your thyroid results, I took note of your vitamin D and ferritin.
Your vitamin D has never risen in all the tests you've had done over the last two years. It has been in the Insufficient range for all five tests. Can you give us a link to the supplement you are actually taking, and at what dose, please. How many times a week do you take it?
Ferritin results :
21/8/2018 143 (30 - 400) Approx 32% of the way through the range
14/3/2018 63 (11 - 172) Approx 32% of the way through the range
13/11/2019 43 (38 - 380) Approx 1% of the way through the range
28/5/2021 64 (30 - 400) Approx 9% of the way through the range
1) Have you been taking any iron supplements?
2) If yes, what kind, how often, and at what dose?
You haven't given us any test results for vitamin B12 and folate - these are important.
Vitamin D3 is a fat soluble vitamin. It needs to be taken when you've eaten a meal that contains fat. Your regimen is not like that.Also 1000 iu = 25 mcg. MICRO. It's nothing. Generally doses of Vitamin D3 need to be significantly higher than what you are taking for there to be any improvement.
Taking 4,000 IU per day in order to raise levels is not unusual. Even so it may take a few months in order to reach adequate.
I take 15,000 IU twice per week at this time. That keeps me in the sweet spot,
114 nmol/l.
And as Humanbean states, vitamin D3 in oil capsules is absorbed better than tablets.
Agreed. But in Ontario we have to pay $45 for a vitamin D test unless done in hospital. So I do it occasionally and have had no nasty surprises. Probably mygut absorption is excellent. One less problem we hypos seem to have. Thankfully.
At the same time, unlike the person asking for help in this thread, I never ever
consume any commercial drinks product. I don't think that stuff is good for health.
The artificially sweetened soft drinks and Gatorade etc. are full of phosphoric acid.
Not something we need that much of. It can reduce calcium in the body and also
Hi. Sorry to butt in. This person will eat the egg whites because the whites will have 3 grams of protein per egg. The yolk in the egg is 3 grams of fat. So eating a lot of egg whites gets the protein into the body without the fat.
and put in the appropriate figures you'll find that you need about 5000 iU per day to raise your level to 40 ng/mL which is the bottom of optimal. Optimal is 40 - 60 ng/mL, so you could aim for a higher level than the default 40 ng/mL.
Info on the best vitamin D supplements :
1) Always take Vitamin D3 not Vitamin D2.
2) The best supplements are gel capsules of some kind containing nothing but oil and vitamin D3. Some people don't tolerate vitamin D terribly well and prefer vitamin D supplements which can be sprayed in the mouth.
3) Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin/hormone and should be taken with the fattiest meal of the day for best absorption.
Supplementing with vitamin D raises calcium absorption from the diet. If you aren't careful that could end up lining your arteries which is obviously undesirable. To avoid this it should be taken with co-factors vitamin K2 and magnesium. Please search through posts written by SeasideSusie on the subject of magnesium and K2. There are lots of different forms of magnesium supplement, some which are good, some which are useless, so you need to know what to buy.
healthunlocked.com/user/sea...
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Are you trying to raise your iron and ferritin? If you aren't I think you should be.
For some reason the forum isn't playing ball when I post some links. This forum has a lot of bugs on occasion, and this particular bug has happened before. I'll try to update the ones that didn't post properly tomorrow.
I am indeed splitting it 2x. I feel like I have some absorption issue, as I eat plenty of iron. And I’ve supped with D for a long time now. Always taking it with fats.
If you put your weight of 200lb and current dose vitamin D 5000iu in this calculator it suggests you need 8000iu-9000iu daily to bring vitamin D to 40ng/ml in 3 months
Great advice above re optimising nutrients. Damage incurred by aggressive dieting can be difficult to unpick because thyroid hormones (own or medicated) don’t work in isolation but are reliant upon basic cofactors being met before becoming optimally effective.
You are supplementing testosterone. Most circulating testosterone is bound to SHBG (sex hormone-binding globulin) with a lesser fraction bound to albumin, and a small amount 'free'. Cortisol becomes elevated with chronic stress (dieting/inadequte thyroid hormone) & prolonged elevations decrease the liver’s ability to clear excess testosterone, oestrogens, etc from the blood.
These excess increase levels of TBG (thyroid hormone transporters), much like when a female supplements HRT. When thyroid hormone is bound to TBG, it is inactive as has to be cleaved from TBG to become ‘free’. Were you actually deficient in testosterone or using extra to build muscle? Have you had comprehensive sex hormone testing including SHBG, TBG, Total/Free testosterone & other androgens? (Free is calculated from total testosterone & SHBH, which in men can be referred to as testosterone-binding globulin). SHBG levels usually allows assessment of how the body is absorbing T3 because it positively correlates, but because you are supplementing testosterone results will be skewed.
If chronic stress has been prolonged, adrenocortical activity can eventually decrease but you will need balanced cortisol levels to raise the glucose required allowing T3 into the cells, along with enough carbs. This will be working with ATP & mitochondria to produce energy. Raising thyroid hormones will improve adrenal health but you need adrenal health to raise thyroid hormones. Are you eating adequate carbs? Have you good blood glucose levels? Insulin & leptin resistance are common in people with thyroid/adrenal issues, and both have been associated with low Vit D levels which you have.
Your supplements are good but you need to address deficiencies with individualised doses that can offer higher amounts, as opposed to combos. Is there an iron level result anywhere?
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