Reverse T3 question
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Hi, I have a question and hoping I can get some help before my doctors appt tomorrow. I've been hypo with hashi's for about 18 years. In the past 3 years my levels have been all over the place. In 2015 I was diagnosed with a vertigo condition called Vestibular Migraine, its a silent magraine that is not the classic migraine instead of pain it causes 24/7 dizziness. When I was first getting this my health anixety had gone very high and I was so stressed everything was out of control. Int he past few months things have settled some as I am not on propranolol and clonazepam for headaches and anxiety. I decided to check my reverse t3 in the latest labs that I got back this morning and they are high. I've noticed in the past 3-4 months I"ve put on weight and I haven't changed my diet so I new something was up and I've also had a lot of pain in my legs and arms, very similar to fibromayalgia which is what I had when my thyroid was first diagnosed, they told me it was firbo but it was the thyriod. So I knew soemthing was off becAUse of the weight and pain. I usually feel good with my TSH around 2, but it goes up to 3-8 or to low under 1.1. Also my Free t3 is alway around 2.6 which is low to me, but my endo says its ok. Well now its all gone nuts in the lab results. Here they are and maybe someone can help.
TSH 0.862 range 0.45-4.50 T4 9.5 range 4.5 -12.0 Free T4 1.78 High range 0.82 - 1.77 Reverse T3 29.9 High range 9.2 - 24.1 Free T3 2.4 range 2.0 - 4.4 From what I"ve read if revers T3 is high then TSH will be under 1.0. Can anyone explain this and what I should talk to the doc about. My med is levoxyl .75mcgs 4 days a week and .88mcgs 3 days a week. Thanks for any help.
0 likes, 7 replies
mar75090 patty818
Posted
Reverse T3 can be high for many reasons. Migraines, anxiety, calorie reduction. exercising, obesity, physical trauma, surgery. Here's a great reference to show your doctor: Journal of Restorative Medicine, Vol 3, Number 1, 1 April 2014, pp.53 - 68 (16). This answers many questions about cellular levels vs blood levels of thyroid hormones. If you can print it and give it to all your doctors.
mar75090 patty818
Posted
Reverse T3 can be high for many reasons. Migraines, anxiety, calorie reduction. exercising, obesity, physical trauma, surgery. Here's a great reference to show your doctor: Journal of Restorative Medicine, Vol 3, Number 1, 1 April 2014, pp.53 - 68 (16). This answers many questions about cellular levels vs blood levels of thyroid hormones. If you can print it and give it to all your doctors.
mar75090
Posted
I forgot to give you the title of reference it's called Thyroid Hormone Transport into Cellular Tissue. Author: Holtorf, Kent. It answers a lot of ?s we all ask here. People without hypothyroidism and NOT on Levo but have migraines anxiety vertigo etc. usually have high RT3...it's in the DNA. C677 Polymorphisms that can cause these symptoms and more. Methylfolate and methylB12 can help lower homocysteine and MMA levels that's main reason hypos are told to keep their levels high.
mar75090
Posted
It's not the high RT3 that cause migraines etc it's the other way around...ANY physical stress on the body including dieting, migraines, overexercising, car accidents, surgery, and emotional stressors: anxiety, death to family member or friend, divorce, etc etc will raise RT3. Even some overtrained atheletes will try to ingest T3 because they know their workouts raise RT3. A lot of hypothyroid people will need to add T3 to their Levo if their RT3 goes too high to lower it. It's a lot of juggling and NDTs are not always in the right balance unfortunately. You might have to take too much T4 to get the T3 you want or need. There also synthetic T3 which may be easier to juggle with. NDTs are made in a lab and maybe they're portioninate to humans but they are still from a whole different species and there are similar complaints to Levo. NDTs can cause autoimmuniy issues if the immune system sees them as foreign which they are. And they are mixtures of hundreds of animals which can cause other unknown as yet health issues. Too bad.but we just don't know.
mar75090
Posted
Ps Levo works by actually changing our DNA so do NDTs but we are changing our DNA with a whole other species. Just hard to say which is safer. NDTs may have been used for decades but every batch is different because it's a collection.of different glands from different animals. Just hope there will be no unforseen health issues.
MtViewCatherine patty818
Posted
HI Patty, vertigo, migraines and anxiety, can all be side effects from Levoxyl.
You might want to look at the time of onset of these symptoms to see how much of them are caused by meds.
I know changing doses to try and stabilize your levels is a typical strategy, but it can contribute to the already unstable system.
High RT3 can be caused by certain meds as well mercury exposure.
If your meds are too high it could cause your TSH to drop and high rT3. They say T3 is the direct feedback to TSh levels. I found the levo dropped my TSH, which basically made the medication ineffective because it shut down my own thyroxin production before my levels were high enough to feel better.
The Levo for me was a disaster and didn’t work at any dose in the end. It also caused severe migraines, anxiety and exhaustion.
You might want to try an NDT medication instead.
Your situation sounds similar similar enough to my pathology and reaction to meds, that its possible the levo won’t work for you.
Its really important that if the levo isn't working that you find something that does. The side effects if levothyroxin can be longlasting and severe.
In the end, i tried a bunch if different levo choices over several yeats. My labs were also all over the place with the Levo. I assumed it was due to changing doses, but I suspect the levothyroxin messed with the feedback loop so much that it destabilized my system and made it worse.
In yhe end, i cant maje sense of your labs. Mine were also wonky. To get my thyroxin levels up, the TSH was zero. I think the Levo causes a lot of yhe oroblems you’re exieriencing.
mar75090 MtViewCatherine
Posted