31, with the testosterone levels of a 50 year old. Help me weigh options.

[Zyglamail]

I actually have my latest numbers for all of this. One of the most frotunate things about my duty station is I work in medical, and can have any lab done at any time, for any reason.

TSH - 2.090 ng/dL
Thyroxine Free - 1.12 mcIU/mL
Triiodothyronine - 2.770 pg/mL

All normal. Yet I do feel sluggish and tired quite often, for no reason (well maybe 1500 calories a day at 200 lbs. is the reason).

LOL, thats my whole point which everyone seems to be missing.

Your numbers are "normal" based on what? Based on the fact that there are withing the same range as a few thousand other healthy people? How does that make you normal?

What if a few years ago when you didnt feel sluggish your Triiodothyronine was at 3.1 pg/mL?

Normal for YOU is what your thyroid hormone levels have been at consistently over years when you have felt good. If your dont have data points then the current data means very little aside from the fact that your not clinically hypo/hyper thyroid. It certainly does not mean your thyrodi is functioning optimally.

Iodine is crucial for thyroid hormone production. A better way to judge if your thyroid is functioning optimally is this....

look at a list of hypo/hyper symptoms and ask yourself if you have any, especially if they started in the last few years.

take your basel metabolic temp for a few weeks to see if your average temp is below normal.

Take an iodine loading test to see if you are iodine sufficient.

If you have symptoms of hypo/hyper thyroid, especially new ones. Your BMT is low and your iodine loading test comes back below 95% then its pretty certain your thyroid could be functioning better and without supplementation it will only get worse over the years to come.

Alternatively, just start supplementing with iodine and selenium in the proper forms for a few months and see what happens.

My labs all came back normal yet I have been struggling to lose belly fat for years. In 6 months with no eating or exercise changes I dropped 3% total bodyfat all from my core and the mild hypo symptoms I had are all gone.

 

[ikyn]

LOL, thats my whole point which everyone seems to be missing.

Your numbers are "normal" based on what? Based on the fact that there are withing the same range as a few thousand other healthy people? How does that make you normal?

What if a few years ago when you didnt feel sluggish your Triiodothyronine was at 3.1 pg/mL?

Normal for YOU is what your thyroid hormone levels have been at consistently over years when you have felt good. If your dont have data points then the current data means very little aside from the fact that your not clinically hypo/hyper thyroid. It certainly does not mean your thyrodi is functioning optimally.

Iodine is crucial for thyroid hormone production. A better way to judge if your thyroid is functioning optimally is this....

look at a list of hypo/hyper symptoms and ask yourself if you have any, especially if they started in the last few years.

take your basel metabolic temp for a few weeks to see if your average temp is below normal.

Take an iodine loading test to see if you are iodine sufficient.

If you have symptoms of hypo/hyper thyroid, especially new ones. Your BMT is low and your iodine loading test comes back below 95% then its pretty certain your thyroid could be functioning better and without supplementation it will only get worse over the years to come.

Alternatively, just start supplementing with iodine and selenium in the proper forms for a few months and see what happens.

My labs all came back normal yet I have been struggling to lose belly fat for years. In 6 months with no eating or exercise changes I dropped 3% total bodyfat all from my core and the mild hypo symptoms I had are all gone.

Well ain't that some shit:

4Jun2013 - 3.070
09Oct2013 - 2.87
18Oct2013 - 2.400
09Apr2014 - 2.090

What the actual fuck? Alright, that's interesting. I'm gonna go bring this up.

 

[stevesmi]

you feel sluggish because of X, Y, Z ? or do you feel sluggish because by your own admission you haven't taken care of yourself and are overweight. are you overweight because of underlying issues? or are your underlying issues CAUSED by being overweight? think about that for a second. instead of trying to fix things with clomid, test, supps, blah blah blah.. whatever happened to fixing your own lifestyle? I know that would be too much work, so much easier to take some stuff instead

 

[Zyglamail]

Well ain't that some shit:

4Jun2013 - 3.070
09Oct2013 - 2.87
18Oct2013 - 2.400
09Apr2014 - 2.090

What the actual fuck? Alright, that's interesting. I'm gonna go bring this up.

See, now there is some valuable shit! Your lucky you have some historical data. Most people dont and without it current lab readings are just a tiny piece of the puzzle.


You sir have a full point difference in your levels and that can make a HUGE difference in how you feel and how you perform!

I guess I dont know if thats total serum T3 you posted or not but if it is normal lab ranges are approx 2.3- 4.2 pg/mL so you went from upper half to low end and possibly below.

To put that into perspective if that was your test levels we were looking at it would be like dropping from 700 down to 300 or less.


Also bringing it up to your doc is likely a waste of time because aside from prescribing T4/T3 he wont be of any help. Very few doctors know shit about nutrition and even less about iodine supplementation. In fact most docs will tell people not to supplement iodine or selenium because they are so unfamiliar with the topic. Supplementation to get things working isnt very expensive but does have some pitfalls.

If you want any guidance shoot me a PM. I would love to document your progress.

 

[ikyn]

you feel sluggish because of X, Y, Z ? or do you feel sluggish because by your own admission you haven't taken care of yourself and are overweight. are you overweight because of underlying issues? or are your underlying issues CAUSED by being overweight? think about that for a second. instead of trying to fix things with clomid, test, supps, blah blah blah.. whatever happened to fixing your own lifestyle? I know that would be too much work, so much easier to take some stuff instead

Man, I absolutely agree with you. Likely I'm feeling down and blue about only getting 1500 calories a day, being injured, and dealing with OSA (which could be exacerbated by the weight, hence another reason to just put in the work). I've already lost 20 lbs. in the last 3 months, I'm going to keep it up. I just wanted to see what other people had to say, maybe get some ideas.

 

[Zyglamail]

you feel sluggish because of X, Y, Z ? or do you feel sluggish because by your own admission you haven't taken care of yourself and are overweight. are you overweight because of underlying issues? or are your underlying issues CAUSED by being overweight? think about that for a second. instead of trying to fix things with clomid, test, supps, blah blah blah.. whatever happened to fixing your own lifestyle? I know that would be too much work, so much easier to take some stuff instead

Thats the crazy thing about the thyroid. When it begins to slow down so does your drive, ambition and focus. Its extremely difficult to overcome and even if your mentally strong enough to force an improved diet and workout plan the results are suboptimal which often just add to your depression.