Hypothyroidism - a RANT !

Not a real, full Post - should be just a note - but I want to record it: IT'S IMPORTANT !

Hypothyroidism: the burden EVERYONE has, to some extent, off-and-on

SO much is written about hypothyroidism (let’s call it “HT”)! - But the most important thing - the thing that bothers patients more than any other aspect of the condition, is that doctors think that it is a piece of cake: that it’s really simple - all they have to do is check how much TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone), is in the blood.

The Big-Shot doctors tell the family docs “Don’t test for Thyroid hormones 3 & 4: it’s too expensive”, and “NEVER test for rT3, because it’s GARBAGE” -
If the TSH is over 4.0 the MD says,
“High TSH! - She has hypothyroidism!” (Women get HT more often, than men).

THEN, they treat her with Thyroid 4 (Eltroxin, the biggest earner for BIg Pharma)....

Trouble is, some hypothyroid folks, men or women, don’t feel better on T4, so the MD, trusting the old idea that the body reliably converts T4 into T3, like it was written in stone, and trusting the BIg Shots, adds a bit more T4.

But the folks who weren’t cured by the low dose don’t get better on the higher dose either - and the MD doesn’t know why.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

So here’s the thing (actually, THINGS):

EVERY TIME WE’RE STRESSED, WE GO HYPOTHYROID, FOR A WHILE, but Medical School doesn’t tell the MDs about that!

TSH only tells you how the Pituitary is feeling about how much T4 it is getting:
TSH doesn’t tell what is happening in the rest of the body.
Hypothyroid symptoms happen when T3 is low, and they don’t test T3 !

Caveat

There are 2 (TWO) kinds of hypothyroidism:
A) - TRUE hypothyroidism: the Thyroid isn’t making T4..... T4 & T3 are low, TSH high

B) - STRESS-RELATED hypothyroidism, where stress screws things up so that the body’s tissues stop converting T4 into T3 and there isn’t enough T3 to keep the organs working efficiently (at the same time, the stress-effect makes the tissues change T4 into a weird, twisted T3 that we call REVERSE T3) ……. I call this condition “IH” (INTRACELLULAR HYPOTHYROIDISM), because that is what it is: Too-Low Thyroid Hormone INSIDE your CELLS.

The situation is diagnosed by testing FT3 and Reverse T3, THEN DIVIDNG FT3 BY RT3 .... If the answer is less than 20, you have IH.

C)
A+B: both A&B, together - if you have true HT, with low T3 due to low T4 (diagnosed when T4 and T3 are low, with high TSH), you can develop IH on top of it.
When that happens, the T4 your MD has prescribed gets changed into rT3, so your ”Thyroid profile test” shows Low T3, HIGH T4 and Low TSH, along with astronomically high rT3, which the Cortisol is “magicking” out of your T4 pills.

The problem, with Doctors

THE BIG-SHOT MDs SAY NOT TO TEST T3,T4 or RT3, so if you are stressed and you have low-thyroid symptoms, because your blood is short of T3, you are not going to be diagnosed unless your MD is one of the few who know of the LOW T3 SYNDROME and does the full set of tests.

If you have hypothyroid symptoms, you should consult with a Metabolic Medicine person, or a hormone specialist (some Naturopaths do this kind of work, but my bet is on someone who is an MD): The M-M MD will test your FT3, FT4 and rT3, as well as your TSH, diagnose via the FT3/rT3 ratio and treat you with Slow-Release T3.

You will be better in no time..