Thyroid Basics Explained

KSman,
I’d be very interested to get your take on this study: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2011/12/26/ajcn.111.028001.abstract
It suggests that too high a dose of iodine can lead to hypothyroidism.
I seem to remember reading another study along the same lines about peace corp workers in Africa who were using iodine tablet to disinfect their drinking water, but the iodine levels were much higher than in the above mentioned study.

How long should one wait after the IR period before getting blood work for TSH, FT3, etc.?

Wabbit: Do not know how much the lab numbers will change. Not seen guys posting before/after labs who get improved body temps and feeling better.

My TSH has slowly fallen, but it was buggered up by a bad surgical outcome, massive infection etc.

Those who are predisposed to getting Hashimoto’s etc, are probably having onset delayed if iodine deficient. When iodized salt is introduced into a population, the background cases come out of hiding. And then you have doctors who are starting to look for cases of this nature instead of ignoring broad levels of goiter and mental retardation. In a technical way, iodine is not the primary cause of these auto-immune thyroid diseases. Also note that ID can lead to hyperthyroidism with risks of cancer with the burden of lifetime thyroid meds after the thyroid is nuked. Similar issues with prostate cancer and BPH. Because androgen deprivation can shrink the prostate, healthy or diseased; wrong thinking leads to the conclusion that androgens are the cause of prostate cancers and BPH.

General comment / question. When checking body temps, isn’t it a good idea to check them at the same room temperature you usually live in? I find that my body temps sometimes may be thrown off by room temperatures being too cold or too hot, and I’m having a difficult time separating the two factors. Sometimes with the weather changes, or A/C being ramped up in my office, I am either too hot or (more often) too cold.

You do not want extremes. Conditions when you wake up should be consistent.

Feeling cold may be a symptom of thyroid function issues.

I just wanted to add my personal experience with my own thyroid panel. My Free T3 was in mid-range at 2.8, and my reverse T3 was very high over the lab reference range at 35.9

I would like to aware you that my 2.8 was never really a 2.8 at all! It blew my mind, but Free T3 actually includes Reverse T3 in the reading! My proof? Very simple. My doctor put me on Sustain Released Liothyronine 5mcg daily. I retested about two months later. Guess what? My Free T3 showed up at 2.2 and my reverse T3 plummeted down to in mid-range 15.9. So, clearly my Free T3 may have been quite low. My guess is my (Real, Actual) Free T3 must have been very low, below 2.0 somewhere and the SR Liothyronine boosted it slightly while kicking Reverse T3’s ass!

Just to restate what I’m trying to tell you guys. Free T3 numbers are bogus if the Reverse T3 number is a mystery. Test them both!

[quote]TRT Phoenix wrote:
I just wanted to add my personal experience with my own thyroid panel. My Free T3 was in mid-range at 2.8, and my reverse T3 was very high over the lab reference range at 35.9

I would like to aware you that my 2.8 was never really a 2.8 at all! It blew my mind, but Free T3 actually includes Reverse T3 in the reading! My proof? Very simple. My doctor put me on Sustain Released Liothyronine 5mcg daily. I retested about two months later. Guess what? My Free T3 showed up at 2.2 and my reverse T3 plummeted down to in mid-range 15.9. So, clearly my Free T3 may have been quite low. My guess is my (Real, Actual) Free T3 must have been very low, below 2.0 somewhere and the SR Liothyronine boosted it slightly while kicking Reverse T3’s ass!

Just to restate what I’m trying to tell you guys. Free T3 numbers are bogus if the Reverse T3 number is a mystery. Test them both! [/quote]

Very interesting. BTW, mid range fT3 is around 3.3, not 2.8

What is going on with body temperatures?

Liothyronine should lower your T4 so there is then less T4–>rT3
Your rT3 is still too low, so the Liothyronine dose is not high enough. But not sure of half life effects and dose timing and lab result issues that might be a play.

[quote]KSman wrote:

Very interesting. BTW, mid range fT3 is around 3.3, not 2.8

What is going on with body temperatures?

Liothyronine should lower your T4 so there is then less T4–>rT3
Your rT3 is still too low, so the Liothyronine dose is not high enough. But not sure of half life effects and dose timing and lab result issues that might be a play.
[/quote]

I haven’t checked body temperatures. I don’t see what the big deal is with it to be honest. I am going by my body composition. Still trying to get it right. Getting fat despite clean diet. Happy knowing it’s the hormones causing it. I agree 3.3 is more about mid-range for Free T3.

Did you mean my Free T3 was still too low? Was that a typo? Too be honest I am hoping I can come off the Liothyronine and my body will be ok. Waiting for my iodine, selenium and other test results… To see how deficient I am.

A lot of people get bad thyroid numbers when they have adrenal fatigue and it also lead to no libido and ED. Please read this testimonial and others on the advice for new guys that I posted.

After only a few weeks on the licorice root, my cortisol tests now showed for
the first time in years that the afternoon cortisol was back in
‘normal’ range, and morning cortisol was up a good amount, also. That’s
because the effects of licorice take 3 hours to manifest fully, and I
was taking it around 10-11am. Now that I have adjusted to 7-8am, i’m
sure the AM is back close to normal range. My thyroid numbers, which had
been out of range for years, with TSH 18 and T4 declining, all
completely normalized.

Hey guys! This is a sticky, it is easy to click a user’s name, find posts and carry your discussion there.

fT3 should be near 3.3

Body temps are the bottom line.

Are there any peer-reviewed medical studies that conclude thyroid issues interfere with absorption of transdermal T?

I hope this question belongs in the sticky. Is there a particular time or nutrient we should take with iodine? For instance, is iodine fat soluble? Or is timing and food unimportant when taking iodine?

From what I do understand, iodine is fat soluble and thus accumulates in the body as you take relatively high doses of it. However, selenium is necessary to be supplemented with iodine as a deficiency in either mineral can negatively affect the thyroid. 200-400 mcg of Selenium should be enough, but not much more than that.

Iodine is water soluble. For get fats. Are you confused with vit-D? Iodine is hoarded and stored mostly in the thyroid gland. Women store some in breast tissue to deliver iodine during breast feeding.

Low transdermal T absorption with thyroid problems: We see that this is simply a very common problem. Do not need a study. The is problem is obviously a symptom of thyroid problems. Many of the cases we see hear are with guys where docs do not understand that there is a thyroid problem at all, because of the stupid lab ranges that make most docs blind to “subclinical” hypothyroidism.

I stand corrected, iodine is water soluble.

I understand that the thyroid-transdemal T relationship is well known. I wasn’t asking for a study for myself to read, I need some ammo for my next appointment. My doctor is open minded, but when I tried to bring up the thyroid, he dismissed it too quickly.

Syndromes do not have studies, they are observations. Not all observations of these natures are known syndromes, that is a social construct.

Can overall low thyroid T4, Free T4, Free T3 prevent high normal testosterone level from working? No composition changes/strength changes as a result of decreased cellular metabolism from the thyroid a strong inhibitor of the testosterone?

Yes, your cells simply cannot function properly if thyroid function is not good. Many of the symptoms of [subclinical] hypothyroidism are the same as hypogonadism, as stated in the stickies. And TRT can expose weakness in thyroid function and make some guys feel worse as the metabolic demands restored by TRT cannot be satisfied by their thyroid status. Read the thyroid basics sticky some more.

[quote]KSman wrote:
Yes, your cells simply cannot function properly if thyroid function is not good. Many of the symptoms of [subclinical] hypothyroidism are the same as hypogonadism, as stated in the stickies. And TRT can expose weakness in thyroid function and make some guys feel worse as the metabolic demands restored by TRT cannot be satisfied by their thyroid status. Read the thyroid basics sticky some more.[/quote]

Thanks. So, I know I’m not crazy. I just feel like a complete failure. My doctor could hardly believe her when I told her I have zero body compositional improvements. She put me on Armour Thyroid now and I pray this is the answer.

THERMOMETER ACCURACY ALERT

Posting this because I have found a large discrepancy between my digital and liquid (non-mercury) thermometers.

My digital thermometer showed 98.1 at the beep, while the liquid thermometer showed only 97.2 after 4 minutes under my tongue!

Digital thermometers are NOT accurate because they only “project” their readings based on the temperature curve recorded in the first few to several seconds. The liquid thermometer is more accurate because it is under your tongue for several minutes, which is plenty of time to zero in on an accurate reading.

So if you are recording your body temps using digital thermometers, stop. Go to the pharmacy and get a liquid thermometer and start the process over. Digital thermometers can be off by as much as a full degree, and the STTM site addresses this.