Hi all,
23 years old
Male
5’10
Drug-induced bodily damage (antidepressant and antipsychotic use). Been off for three years now with little improvement.
To preface this, I’ve read KSman’s thread on thyroid, browsed through the content on ThyroidMadness, and generally done my due diligence regarding the enigmatic thyroid.
I have decided that TRT is likely the correct route for me, given that even when – through healthy lifestyle and diet – I reach “good” hormone levels (total in the 600s and FT in the mid to upper quadrant of the range, with estrogen sitting in the middle of the reference range), my sexual function is still severely dampened.
My body is quite messed up from previous psychiatric drug use. The T numbers posted above have been my highest tested (have fluctuated a fair bit), and I felt better, sexually, the higher they got, but those numbers are probably realistically as high as I can get naturally. Thus, I want to see how I feel on supraphysiological doses of T (something like 150-200mg per week).
Recently, my body temperatures are low (high 96s in the AM and high 97s in the PM) and my rt3 is high – 19 with a reference range of [9-23]. All other thyroid indicators (ft3, ft4, TSH) are decent. I’ve looked into various causes of high rt3 but don’t meet the criteria for any of them.
While I know it’s possible for low thyroid to cause hypogonadism, is the converse true?
Is it possible for hypogonadism/lack of hormones to cause high rt3?
If so, maybe jumping on TRT right now is the move. However, I don’t want to mask my symptoms with T or be playing with thyroid hormone at the same as I’m trying to dial in. Too many variables.
I know some of you are quite knowledgeable on these systems and take supplemental thyroid (and obviously TRT) yourselves. How would you approach this?
In the past, I trialed a T4/T3 blend in a 2:1 ratio, and it made my symptoms worse. I suspect most of the T4 converted straight to rT3. For that reason, I’m thinking of testing straight T3 and seeing if I can improve any of my current hypo symptoms.
After that I optimize my thyroid, I would then start T.
Any thoughts appreciated!