Elevated Reverse T3 - is that hypothyroid or.... ?

[FrankUnderwood]

I had all my thyroid labs/antibodies drawn and all appear "in range" except for RT3 which came back high.

Has anyone experienced something similar? What was done to treat it?

The issue Im investigating is the inability to lose weight/fat even at 1800kcal/day in addition to lifting heavy 5X weekly and some moderate cardio.

I can drop calories to 1400-1500/day and see minor movement on the scale, but I feel like garbage and feel super weak.

Thyroid specific labs :

Free T4 - 1.45 - Range of 0.82 - 1.77
TSH - 1.570 - Range of 0.450 - 4.500
Reverse T3 - 28.0 - Range of 9.2 - 24.1 - **HIGH**
Triiodothyronine , Free, Serum - 3.4 - Range 2.0 - 4.4
TPO Ab - 7 - Range of 0 - 34
Thyroglobulin Ab - <1.0 - Range 0.0 - 0.9

 

[Vettester Chris]

The elevated RT3 is a reflection of something else going on in your body. T4 converts to T3 ---Free T3, and it (T4) also converts to Reverse T3. Higher rates of Reverse T3 conversion take place when there's deficiencies & imbalances in areas such as cortisol, iron, electrolytes, and also in times when you're sick and/or under stress requiring the body to conserve energy and reduce ATP.

It's usually good to compare FT3 & RT3 in a ratio synopsis, yours being 12.1 .... (FT3/RT3)*100. Usually 20 or more is a good ratio to be at, anything less is obviously an imbalance of too much RT3, which you already know.

Both your FT4 and FT3 are sitting in the 66% area of their respective reference ranges. Usually, when it's an adrenal or iron problem, a person will see FT4 sitting below 50% (sometimes much, much lower), and FT3 will pool and sit higher. This could be explained if your were on any thyroid meds, but surely that would have been mentioned in your opening post? Take RT3 out of the equation and one might think all is OK, based on your TSH, FT3, and FT4, all looking great! However, RT3 is a factor, so you need to dig a bit deeper to find out what's going on?

At the time of labs, were you dealing with a cold, flu, and illness that could explain this? A temporary sickness could explain the elevated RT3, but no variance with FT4 & FT3?

 

[FrankUnderwood]

Not currently on any thyroid meds, nor have I ever been prescribed or used any thyroid meds.

During the time of the blood draw I was healthy, no sickness to report.

 

[Vettester Chris]

Frank, do you have these labs ... CMP, iron serum, TIBC, ferritin, D3? It would be a bonus if you had a Cortisol 4x Saliva w/ DHEA correlation, but that's usually one that's not just laying around??

 

[FrankUnderwood]

Here are my latest labs. I didn't get D3 tested this time, I take 5,000iu/daily and it puts me in the 70th percentile of range from my last tests. Unfortunately don't have the other tests you mentioned.

Looks like I might need to get Ferritin, Iron, Leptin, Insulin, TIBC done to complete the picture.

Current protocol is 160mg/week split 80mg/.4mL E3.5D + 350iu HCG + .20 anastrozole. Have been on this protocol since I started roughly 8-9 months ago. Feel fine, sometimes a bit of lethargy but I just attribute that to sporadic sleep issues (not frequent) or just recovery issues from my workouts.

I got the thyroid tests done to attempt to pinpoint an inability to lose weight at 1800-1900kcal.

Have not really lost any weight since beginning TRT, which is odd as I thought TRT generally unregulated T3 a bit.

 

[FrankUnderwood]

Frank, do you have these labs ... CMP, iron serum, TIBC, ferritin, D3? It would be a bonus if you had a Cortisol 4x Saliva w/ DHEA correlation, but that's usually one that's not just laying around??

I've got a draw scheduled for both iron and TIBC and ferritin serum. that should help shed some light on what might be wrong.

 

[FrankUnderwood]

Frank, do you have these labs ... CMP, iron serum, TIBC, ferritin, D3? It would be a bonus if you had a Cortisol 4x Saliva w/ DHEA correlation, but that's usually one that's not just laying around??

got my results back from the iron, tibc and ferritin