Yep I Have RT3 Dominance

Well it is official now for sure. I have RT3 dominance even WITHOUT armour. NO wonder I felt so terrible on that crap. This is why doctors need to test this before you even go on Armour no matter what your numbers look like! If your doctor is not testing Reverse T3 before putting you on Armour, you need to set them straight so you don't suffer for months like I have.

There were my labs-
TSH 1.590 (0.450-4.50)
FT3 3.2 (2.0-4.4)
FT4 1.32 (0.82-1.77)

Now my numbers here don't look so bad. Most docs would send me on my way or say that a little bit of armour might do the trick....But look at my Reverse T3!

RT3 362 (90-350) High

...And there it is. My problem. My body can't convert it's own T4 into T3 so how can I expect it to convert Armour? Essentially I am functionally Hypothyroid. My thyroid is making enough hormone, but a lot of RT3 is bound in the T3 receptor sites, which does not allow T3 into the receptors to do their job. I am running around hypothyroid WITH thyroid hormone in my blood! The treatment for this is to go on T3 only. Every doctor has their own method.

This doctor wants me to start off with 10mcg of T3/day, dosing it 5mcg in the AM, then 5mcg at dinner. I am supposed to work my way up pretty quickly to 20mcg, dosing it 10mcg in the AM, then 10mcg at dinner time. I have not started this yet, but hope to do so soon.

I'll be sure to keep everyone posted!

Some Answers for the Labs

Well I had 2 of the most knowledgeable people online that I know give me their opinions on my lab results.

First off, the lab ranges Quest Diagnostics use are pathetic. The one lady suggest I get everything retested on Day 3 of my cycle at Labcorp or some other lab. I'm still thinking about what I will do. If I had known that Quest's lab ranges were so terrible, I would have gone to labcorp for these. Ugh...I feel like all the effort I put into this was for nothing. I don't want to pester Dr. Goldstein again AND my biggest fear is that the insurance company will deny it the 2nd time around! The blood work would have cost about $2500 out of pocket!

The lab ranges specifically for cortisol, ACTH, IGF-1 were awful. The one lady said that the IGF-1 result looks terrible, but with the really weird lab range she has no idea how to interpret it! My growth hormone is very low too, but I know some people say this isn't accurate because it goes out in pulses. Who knows. Considering I'm only 24 years old, it should be pretty high IMO.

Secondly, they both say that my results clearly indicated secondary adrenal insufficiency because of the low potassium, low sodium and low renin. My low aldosterone goes along with all of this.

Thirdly, serum cortisol is both free and bound so I can't compare saliva results to blood results. For some reason I have a lot of bound cortisol (which can't be used by the body) and a very small amount of free cortisol (that can be used by the body). One lady suggested testing Total & Free cortisol and CBG in the blood, but only Quest Diagnostics can do this! haha

The one lady asked me a bunch of questions, but I have yet to hear back from her. She was wondering why my saliva progesterone was so high and thought I was taking HRT for it! I had to set her straight on that.

Fourthly, regardless whether it is primary or secondary, I am definitely hypothyroid according to both women. No surprise there either, but I wish I understood why I go through weird cycles.

In addition to the lab results, today I went up 5 pounds now 130#. I couldn't even make this up! I ate about 800 calories, went for a short walk and yet up and up I go. At around 7:30PM I just about collapsed from fatigue. Obviously caloric intake has nothing to do with this weight gain, so I'm just going to eat whatever I want. Since my fasting glucose was kind of high, I didn't buy any sweets this week. I want to see how I feel without the chocolate! heh

I am itchy tonight and definitely didn't have any wheat, so I don't know what in the hell is going on. I might have to take a benadryl at this point so I can sleep. Zyrtec tends to keep me up for some reason.

Weight Gain: I can't take it

In the past few months, I've been dealing with some weight gain. It is very strange though. I go through cycles where I lose a ton of weight for no reason. Then the cycle switches and every little thing I eat goes right to my butt and hips. Meanwhile my upper body looks emaciated and sickly with my ribs jutting out in my back. My body is very fat and puffing, even though I'm thin. There is a lot of fat where muscle used to be. I don't know what has caused this to happen, but my toned legs have become soft. My stomach used to be very toned is soft too.

My arms have nothing left on them and anytime I get my blood pressure taken or blood work done, that's what everyone talks about. "You sure do have small arms". Thanks jackass! I wasn't already self-conscious about it.

It's this cycle that gets me in trouble because I haven't been able to figure it out. My thyroid antibodies were normal and nothing in my diet changes. There is no reason for these cycles to occur, but they do. I have to keep several pants sizes in my house just so I have clothes for each cycle. Weird...I know. The pants I buy to replace the ones I have on, will probably only last me a few weeks. Then I'll have to buy new bigger ones. That's how it's been these past few months. As soon as I wear in the pants, I need new ones because I wake up one day and they no longer fit.

I've gone from wearing a size 1/2 comfortably to being unable to wear my new size 5/6 jeans. I'm going to have to go up to a size 7/8. I haven't been this size for at least 5 years and it is making it very nervous. Eight years ago I suffered from anorexia and almost killed myself from it. I abused Stacker 3's and probably should have died a few times, but somehow I made it through all of that hell. There were some nights, where I didn't think I'd wake up. I'd write goodbye letters to all of my friends.

I went from 142# down to 105# in a few weeks time and kept it there for months. For the first time in my life though, I actually enjoyed clothes shopping. I actually enjoyed going to the beach. I actually enjoyed wearing a pair of shorts. It was absolutely amazing. Too bad though I was dying inside.

I went to the doctor and got "help", which consisted of pills. I had to deal with my psychological problems myself because I didn't want any of this on my record. I was "cured", but it took a lot of time and discipline. My family did not support me through this whatsoever. Thank God, I went off of the pills and didn't suffer from any withdrawal symptoms.

About 2 years ago, I decided I wanted to start eating healthier. We ditched all of the packaged crap in our house and really get back to eating real, whole foods. I went from 125 to 117 in a few weeks time and felt fantastic. I was thinner than when I was anorexic and I did all of this eating 3 meals a day. I was so happy for myself and knew this was the size I was meant to be.

Now I am only 122#, but nothing is fitting me. I have no idea what is going on. I only gained about 5 pounds from when I was wearing a size 2, but apparently these pounds are all in my lower body. Part of me thinks it has to do with my pituitary, but I have no idea.

Unfortunately I just wait and see what happens. Will a new weight loss cycle kick in soon? Or will I continue to put on weight?

Having nearly undetectable TSH (with low frees) might have something to do with it...