30 w/Hypothyroidism & Low Testr a follow up from my blood work/physical last week. He diagnosed me with hypothyroidism and put me on Symthroid 75mcg. I go back in a month for more blood work and to adjust my dosage if needed.
I originally went to see him because I was experiencing a lot of symptoms of low testosterone and got myself tested. It was low. I scheduled an appointment and got a couple more tests done in the time I was waiting to see the doc.
I am looking for insight into my issues I’ve been having. The doc says he thinks that hypothyroidism is causing most of my issues as well as the low testosterone. He thinks if we get my thyroid hormones back to normal my test will come back up.
I would be glad to get any info/insight yall have or if you think the doc is missing something or wrong.
About me:
-30 years old
-6’
-195lb
-have lost of body hair and no trouble growing a beard
-Carry fat on love handles, gut, chest.
-Was over 250lbs 3 years ago, have slowly dropped down to 195 with diet and exercise
-No Rx drugs, recently started taking St Johns Wort (depressed), stopped taking creatine 3 weeks ago (took for most of the 3 yrs I’ve been lifting) Take orange triad multi, and fish oil
I got some blood tests done at labcorp though privatemdlabs three times before my physical (below). My doc said his office mails me a copy of the lab work he does (shoulda still asked for a copy). He showed me his copy in the office and my TSH was 9.1 on a scale of .5 to 5 and my test was 366 on a range of 298 to something (don’t remember exact test numbers). He also gave me my FSH and LH, don’t remember them but they were normal. The rest of the stuff looked similar to my other blood work. I will update when I get the paper copy. He wants to get my THS down to around 1 and see how I feel there.
Diet:
I count calories meticulously and have been doing so for over 2 years. I have mad very slow progress. My current maintenance is around 2500-2700 calories. I am eating at 2250 calories right now and losing weight at .5-1lb a week. I estimate my current body fat at around 18%. My macros are 40/30/30. I eat very “clean” as I like to fee full and find that healthier foods high in fiber, complex carbs, etc. fill me up better than junk. I eat whole eggs (3 eggs a day most days), almonds, pb, olive oil, red meat, for fat. I eat very little refined carbs. Carbs come from fruit/veggies/oats. I have progressively tightened up my diet as I have been feeling worse and seeing fewer results. I only diet below maintenance for 3 months tops then I eat at or above maintenance for a few months as I lose strength pretty easily. I cant seem to shake the last 8-10% body fat. At one point I was eating at 1500 calories per day and just lost muscle. I was out of town for a week, managed to work out but ate conference food… came back and after shedding 5lb of water I am 4-5lb heavier. It took me over a moth to lose that weight, I put it back on in a week eating the same amount as the rest of the guys I was with at the conference and doing an hr of cardio a day.
Training:
I made the majority of my gains in the first 6 months of lifting. I went from 175x5 on bench to 225x8 (weighing 230lb). I continued to progress for the next 6 months with my best working set in bench being 245x8@220lb. I have added no strength at all over the past two years and regressed the past 6 months currently I am at 215x8@195lb. (I don’t have numbers for other lifts as I did not do bb rows or squats/deads for the first year) I sometimes regain strength if I eat above maintenance long enough but put on much more fat than muscle if I try to bulk. I have not surpassed the strength I was at after a year of lifting. I have tried several different training programs/routines and stick with them for at least a few months. I am currently doing upper/lower 2x per week. I find hitting muscles 2x per week works better than 1x. My last program before that was a typical bb routine back/bi, chest/tri, legs/shoulders once a week. I did that for 4 months with no progress. Before that I did a slightly modified version of Layne Norton’s PHAT for 4 months with minimal progress.
Symptoms:
I have been not doing so well for about 6 months now. I work nights and have 3 days off a week so my schedule gets all messed up and I don’t get enough sleep sometimes (been on this schedule for 3 yrs). I think this may be part of it so I started taking sleep very serious. I have found out at my last dentist visit that I have started grinding my teeth over the past year. I’m now using ear plugs, got better blackout curtains, and get at least 6 hrs a day, trying to get 8-10.
What prompted me to start investigating low testosterone was weak erections and a complete lack of sex drive. I rarely get morning wood. I also have minor depression, anxiety, apathy, no motivation, “brain fog”, trouble focusing, forgetfulness, and I’ve been making stupid mistakes at work… nothing serious, little carless things. If something is important I focus on it and get it done right, but little things like spelling in emails, putting back small items I use etc slip my mind. This stuff has really picked up over the last 6 months. I have no new stress, no drama, (shit no social life to cause drama). Externally stuff is going pretty good. Got a title bump at work and paid off some bills. I will finally be moving off of night shift in a few months.
After looking into hypothyroidism, some symptoms I have are: Constipation if I don’t get a ton of fiber, even a couple of days of your typical American diet will back me up. Without lots of fruits and veggies I cant crap. I get cold very easily. I thought it was because I lost weight but maybe its my thyroid? Fatigue, sluggishness, gain weight easily, possible muscle weakness, brittle fingernails (have to trim them every other day or they crack/split) and thin coarse hair. Also, depression/anxiety mentioned earlier.
Test Cliffs:
Blood work 1:
T: 320 (348-1197)
Free T: 7. 68 (5.00-21.00)
Blood work 2:
T: 416 (348-1197)
LH 2.5 (1.7-8.6)
FSH 2.6 (1.5-12.4)
Estradiol 19.8 ( 7.6-42.6)
Blood work 3:
T: 527 (348-1197)
Free T: 14.18 (5.00-21.00)
Estradiol, Sensitive 7 pg/mL (3-70 _
Thyroxine (T4) 9.0 ug/dL (4.5-12.0)
T3 Uptake 35 % (24-39)
TSH 4.500 uIU/mL (0.450-4.500)
Blood work 4:
TSH 9.1 uIU/mL (0.5-5.0)
T: 366 (298-?)
Test on 4/13
Testosterone, Free/Tot Equilib
Testosterone, Serum 320 Low ng/dL 348-1197
Testosterone,Free 7.68 ng/dL 5.00-21.00
% Free Testosterone 2.40 % 1.50-4.20
Test on 4/19
CBC With Differential/Platelet
WBC 6.4 x10E3/uL 4.0-10.5
RBC 5.18 x10E6/uL 4.10-5.60
Hemoglobin 16.1 g/dL 12.5-17.0
Hematocrit 46.4 % 36.0-50.0
MCV 90 fL 80-98
MCH 31.1 pg 27.0-34.0
MCHC 34.7 g/dL 32.0-36.0
RDW 12.7 % 11.7-15.0
Platelets 226 x10E3/uL 140-415
Neutrophils 43 % 40-74
Lymphs 48 High % 14-46
Monocytes 7 % 4-13
Eos 1 % 0-7
Basos 1 % 0-3
Neutrophils (Absolute) 2.8 x10E3/uL 1.8-7.8
Lymphs (Absolute) 3.1 x10E3/uL 0.7-4.5
Monocytes(Absolute) 0.4 x10E3/uL 0.1-1.0
Eos (Absolute) 0.1 x10E3/uL 0.0-0.4
Baso (Absolute) 0.0 x10E3/uL 0.0-0.2
Immature Granulocytes 0 % 0-2
Immature Grans (Abs) 0.0 x10E3/uL 0.0-0.1
Comp. Metabolic Panel (14)
Glucose, Serum 82 mg/dL 65-99
BUN 22 High mg/dL 6-20
Creatinine, Serum 1.43 High mg/dL 0.76-1.27
eGFR If NonAfricn Am 65 mL/min/1.73 >59
BUN/Creatinine Ratio 15 8-19
Sodium, Serum 139 mmol/L 134-144
Potassium, Serum 4.4 mmol/L 3.5-5.2
Chloride, Serum 101 mmol/L 97-108
Carbon Dioxide, Total 26 mmol/L 20-32
Calcium, Serum 9.6 mg/dL 8.7-10.2
Protein, Total, Serum 6.8 g/dL 6.0-8.5
Albumin, Serum 4.6 g/dL 3.5-5.5
Globulin, Total 2.2 g/dL 1.5-4.5
A/G Ratio 2.1 1.1-2.5
Bilirubin, Total 0.6 mg/dL 0.0-1.2
Alkaline Phosphatase, S 67 IU/L 25-150
AST (SGOT) 19 IU/L 0-40
ALT (SGPT) 21 IU/L 0-55
Testosterone, Serum
Testosterone, Serum 416 ng/dL 348-1197
Luteinizing Hormone(LH), S
LH 2.5 mIU/mL 1.7-8.6
FSH, Serum
FSH 2.6 mIU/mL 1.5-12.4
Estradiol
Estradiol 19.8 pg/mL 7.6-42.6
Test on 5/2
CBC With Differential/Platelet
WBC 5.5 x10E3/uL 4.0-10.5
RBC 5.13 x10E6/uL 4.10-5.60
Hemoglobin 15.6 g/dL 12.5-17.0
Hematocrit 46.3 % 36.0-50.0
MCV 90 fL 80-98
MCH 30.4 pg 27.0-34.0
MCHC 33.7 g/dL 32.0-36.0
RDW 13.0 % 11.7-15.0
Platelets 212 x10E3/uL 140-415
Neutrophils 51 % 40-74
Lymphs 43 % 14-46
Monocytes 5 % 4-13
Eos 1 % 0-7
Basos 0 % 0-3
Neutrophils (Absolute) 2.8 x10E3/uL 1.8-7.8
Lymphs (Absolute) 2.4 x10E3/uL 0.7-4.5
Monocytes(Absolute) 0.3 x10E3/uL 0.1-1.0
Eos (Absolute) 0.0 x10E3/uL 0.0-0.4
Baso (Absolute) 0.0 x10E3/uL 0.0-0.2
Immature Granulocytes 0 % 0-2
Immature Grans (Abs) 0.0 x10E3/uL 0.0-0.1
Comp. Metabolic Panel (14)
Glucose, Serum 94 mg/dL 65-99
BUN 18 mg/dL 6-20
Creatinine, Serum 1.37 High mg/dL 0.76-1.27
eGFR If NonAfricn Am 69 mL/min/1.73 >59
BUN/Creatinine Ratio 13 8-19
Sodium, Serum 139 mmol/L 134-144
Potassium, Serum 4.6 mmol/L 3.5-5.2
Chloride, Serum 100 mmol/L 97-108
Carbon Dioxide, Total 24 mmol/L 20-32
Calcium, Serum 9.6 mg/dL 8.7-10.2
Protein, Total, Serum 7.1 g/dL 6.0-8.5
Albumin, Serum 4.6 g/dL 3.5-5.5
Globulin, Total 2.5 g/dL 1.5-4.5
A/G Ratio 1.8 1.1-2.5
Bilirubin, Total 0.7 mg/dL 0.0-1.2
Alkaline Phosphatase, S 71 IU/L 25-150
AST (SGOT) 19 IU/L 0-40
ALT (SGPT) 24 IU/L 0-55
Lipid Panel
Cholesterol, Total 97 Low mg/dL 100-199
Triglycerides 27 mg/dL 0-149
HDL Cholesterol 45 mg/dL >39
VLDL Cholesterol Cal 5 mg/dL 5-40
LDL Cholesterol Calc 47 mg/dL 0-99
Thyroid Panel With TSH
TSH 4.500 uIU/mL 0.450-4.500
Thyroxine (T4) 9.0 ug/dL 4.5-12.0
T3 Uptake 35 % 24-39
Free Thyroxine Index 3.2 1.2-4.9
Testosterone, Free/Tot Equilib
Testosterone, Serum 527 ng/dL 348-1197
Testosterone,Free 14.18 ng/dL 5.00-21.00
% Free Testosterone 2.69 % 1.50-4.20
Prostate-Specific Ag, Serum
Prostate Specific Ag, Serum 0.6 ng/mL 0.0-4.0
IGF-1
Insulin-Like Growth Factor I 198 ng/mL 117-329
Estradiol, Sensitive
Estradiol, Sensitive 7 pg/mL 3-70
Much respect for anyone who can stand to read this giant wall of text. It was annoying to wright and I have a vested interest in it. If this is too long, let me know and I will try to cliff/condense it.