Blood Work Advice

He thinks I’m just depressed and looking for something to blame it on I guess.

lol…

sorry… so the fact that depression is a known side effect of hypothyroidism means (if true in your case) that treating your thyroid could cure your depression. why wouldn’t you want to find out the actual cause of your depression plus other symptoms and actually fix the root cause rather than take an anti-depressant for the rest of your life?

T4 is not the active thyroid component. T3 is the active version. Saying you have plenty of T4 without knowing if you have enough T3 (free T3 specifically) is like saying you have a huge glass of water (t4) sitting in front of you so even though you have a medical condition that prevents you from swallowing (or converting it to T3), you can’t be thirsty because you have access to water (t4). how does that make sense? it is easy to test for T3.

stopthethyroidmadness.com again is a great resource with a ton of articles to read and a weird but interesting youtube video link describing the example above in greater depth.

you should be able to call for your blood test results in seven days (at least in the US) and have the doctor’s office fax you the results. Why wait months? you are the customer, the doctor is a service provider, nothing more than a consultant - your consultant. You set the terms (within some limits) of your working relationship.

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:

What you see on the internet is a case of self-selection. Those who are doing poorly on T4 only are visiting the thyroid boards because they’re looking for additional help. Those who are doing wonderfully (myself) don’t see any reason to post on the boards (Hi everyone! Doing great just as I am).
[/quote]

I think that is partially true, but there is a huge number of people who are also just suffering in silence because of incompetent medical care. The doctor says it’s not my thyroid because the T4 test shows I am ‘in range’ and I trust my doctor who always has my best interest in heart and well, he knows more than I do, so I guess I will just go on suffering through life. This must just be my lot in life. Guess I will start on those antidepressants the doctor wants me to start taking. Man, if only there was a way for me to feel better? shouldn’t life be better then this? I guess I’ll just limp through life for the next 30 years till I die.

You are dead on, Purechance. The thyroid specific blood tests will come back within the week, but I don’t think there is anything about T3. I think my Doc is just ignorant about subclinical hypothyroidism. I will get my way, and that right soon.

Fucking doctors. Is there anything more arrogant on this earth than medical professionals?

But… If the problem is that I’m not converting T4, will levothyroxine work for me? I don’t think they stock Armour Thyroid here. Was your free T4 reading high as well as your TSH, pangloss?

well there are always lawyers, college professors, politicians, CEOs, etc. etc. etc.

I guess we just expect more from medical professionals or hold them to a higher standard. I mean it’s not like they can influence (positively or negatively) our quality of life or life expectancy… oh wait… they can…

there is a crazy doctor thread somewhere around here about all of the actual moronic things doctors do and say.

I’m getting what I need one way or the other. I would prefer the cooperation of an MD, but it’s not essential.

Any thyroid specific testing can be done in the day (i work in pathology) and and you shouldnt have to wait long for the results as you stated.

Also if possible… thought it may sound further from the problem, but do you know anyone in your family that has had thyroid problems? I ask this because there is an auto-immune disease called hashimoto’s (thyroid glad is destroyed by your own immune system) which can be clincally misdiagnosed as depression in alot of cases and is heredity.

Yes, my grandfather, aunt and cousin has had thyroid issues.

Treatment looks to be the same in either case.

Actually my Aunt had Goitre, which one will develop in time from Hashimoto’s.

What is it with doctors that they can’t accept what’s wrong with you. I’m sure it’s because I TOLD the fucker what the problem is. The internet must be a bitch for the hypocritical motherfuckers, now that the sheep are suddenly asking critical questions.

Fuck me I’ve rarely been this pissed off.

yep it sure can get frustrating… at which point a lot of people just give up and live with it… life can get better, but there sure are a lot of trials and tribulations between now and then.

I’m just happy I now have a reason to go to war, and an enemy to conquer. It sure beats sitting around thinking I just suddenly started sucking at life for no reason.

Ben, your elders may not have had exposure to iodized salt. But you you use it?

Measure a degree, pun intended, if your functional hypothyroidism by checking waking body temps and finding peak body temps in the afternoon.

Read the advice for new guys sticky then come back with more info.

I seldom put salt on anything, but I’ll read up on it.

I will come back with temperature.

Added info:

Fat storage: mostly belly and love handles, some on my chest. That hasn’t changed.

Body hair: Lots of it, everywhere. Pretty coarse.

I was born 6 weeks early and had surgery right out of the gate, don’t know for what exactly, but the problem was I couldn’t swallow anything without puking it back up. My brother had the same thing.

I’ve tried lots of different diets. Twice I’ve done the V-diet and lost 20lb or so. I feel best when using the AD and doing a regular 5-way BB split. I can still build strength or lose fat, but I have a very hard time getting lean and staying lean.

I always feel warm while others might feel cold.

Morning wood is a thing of the past, but 2 years ago I would have it every morning. I don’t get as hard as I used to.

I’ll add more as I learn.

From PM and reading up on this, it seems I might be hypothyroid and have low iron. I will log my body temperature over the next few days, and get more testing done. As it looks right now, I’m in need of synthetic T3, not T4.

Sorry for not posting updates lately, I actually forgot all about this thread while I’ve been battling doctors and depression for the last few weeks. lol

I have found a private doctor in Oslo that specializes in thyroid issues. He doesn’t come cheap, a 30 minute consultation and a requisition for blood work cost me 450 dollars, but at least this guy is aware about rT3 issues. The blood work results are still pending.

btw I’ve been logging my body temps, and in the morning it is 36.2-36.4C, average daily temp is 36.6 to 36.8.

I will post up the blood work results when they come, and keep you guys updated. Hopefully someone reading can benefit from the info.

I have some of the same issues as you (of course since we are in the TRT section). Nobody here addressed the E2. It seems like your pituitary is stimulating testosterone production however a lot of it is getting converted to estrogen. You may also have higher prolactin. I would start at first while waiting for doctors to get iodine and start taking a few mgs a day…like 5mg. Just to see how this helps mentally and if this will help detoxify you. You can read my thread on here for my history, etc. I am currently taking armour thyroid (t4 and t3). And feel ‘okay’…I felt better mentally while taking the iodine but the fat issue and hair loss was not resolving so I went to take thyroid meds. But I still am taking iodine because like I said I just felt better and am not taking much hormone yet.

Anyway…the conversion to E2 is an issue and your prolactin may be high as well (do you have puffy, sensitive nipples?) and it can also cause depression. However you won’t find a doctor prescribing you dopamine agnoists for in range prolactin most likely unless you have a tumor. I am going to start taking l-dopa to counteract it. My testosterone was very low (I am 21) but it has more than doubled and my free testosterone is a pretty good level so I most likely am not converting testosterone into E2 but who knows as I haven’t tested it.

Anyway I feel your pain!

[quote]Retinoid wrote:
I have some of the same issues as you (of course since we are in the TRT section). Nobody here addressed the E2. It seems like your pituitary is stimulating testosterone production however a lot of it is getting converted to estrogen. You may also have higher prolactin. I would start at first while waiting for doctors to get iodine and start taking a few mgs a day…like 5mg. Just to see how this helps mentally and if this will help detoxify you. You can read my thread on here for my history, etc. I am currently taking armour thyroid (t4 and t3). And feel ‘okay’…I felt better mentally while taking the iodine but the fat issue and hair loss was not resolving so I went to take thyroid meds. But I still am taking iodine because like I said I just felt better and am not taking much hormone yet.

Anyway…the conversion to E2 is an issue and your prolactin may be high as well (do you have puffy, sensitive nipples?) and it can also cause depression. However you won’t find a doctor prescribing you dopamine agnoists for in range prolactin most likely unless you have a tumor. I am going to start taking l-dopa to counteract it. My testosterone was very low (I am 21) but it has more than doubled and my free testosterone is a pretty good level so I most likely am not converting testosterone into E2 but who knows as I haven’t tested it.

Anyway I feel your pain! [/quote]

Thanks for posting. I will read more about this E2 thing.

About the iodine, I don’t want to start supplementing with that until we have ruled out Hashimotos.