Lowering Reverse T3

[30005Gator]

I recently had labs and my RT3 was elevated. I bought a "Complete Thyroid" supplement (Iodine, Selenium, etc), but am wondering if there is another way to decrease RT3?

Test	Result	Range
TSH	2.13 uIU/mL	.045 - 4.5
T3, Free	3.2 pg/mL	2.0 - 4.4
Reverse T3	22.5 ng/dL	9.2 - 24.1
T4, Free	1.53 ng/dL	0.82 - 1.77

I have no chronic illnesses (other than Hypogonadism and am on TRT), and not a lot of stress. I do drink red wine almost every night, but not sure if that affects RT3.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Checkdis]

I recently had labs and my RT3 was elevated. I bought a "Complete Thyroid" supplement (Iodine, Selenium, etc), but am wondering if there is another way to decrease RT3?

Test	Result	Range
TSH	2.13 uIU/mL	.045 - 4.5
T3, Free	3.2 pg/mL	2.0 - 4.4
Reverse T3	22.5 ng/dL	9.2 - 24.1
T4, Free	1.53 ng/dL	0.82 - 1.77

I have no chronic illnesses (other than Hypogonadism and am on TRT), and not a lot of stress. I do drink red wine almost every night, but not sure if that affects RT3.

Thanks in advance!

From my understandings, there are a lot of factors which can raise RT3, one which is common is dieting. Starving the body from food can increase it.

I lowered mine from high 30’s to 22 right around where you are by eating right and mindfulness meditation. Try and avoid stresses.

 

[KenLowT]

I have RT3 is 22.4, very similar to yours. I've been trying to lose weight for a year and have been unable to so my doctor prescribed me Cytomel to increase T3 and hopefully reduce my RT3. Anxiety is an issue with me so that's probably why it's like that, but I also have Hashimoto's Disease. I can't take anxiety medication because it would cause sexual dysfunction which I'm already dealing with.

 

[OMI100]

Good solid info here:
https://www.restartmed.com/reverse-t3/
also here:
http://www.tiredthyroid.com/rt3-3.html
http://www.tiredthyroid.com/rt3-4.html
http://www.tiredthyroid.com/rt3-9.html
Also
Stop The Thyroid Madness web site has some good info also, but cant seem to access the site right now
BTW I am on NDT and my RT3 hit 33 a few weeks ago and I backed waaaay down on my NDT and it dropped my RT3 levels like a rock in a week. Been titrating back up (increasing NDT weekly) to see if that did the trick and see where my rising RT3 point is.

 

[Systemlord]

Insulin resistance can increase RT3, likely in my case.

My RT3 is 22.4, all other levels are steller.

 

[30005Gator]

I don't have much stress so I think my Cortisol levels are low. I eat a healthy diet. I am at a loss. I am not losing the weight I thought I would with total T levels (at trough) above 1,000 and I fear it's this RT3 issue.

 

[hombre]

My thyroid numbers I believe are almost exact like yours (in my thread), free t3, free t4, Reverse T3. But I have no problem loosing weight eating 2300 Cals a day and less. (low cortisol all day after morning)

 

[OMI100]

Update,
I dropped my NDT (90MG tabs) down to one tab and it cleared the RT3 in a week or less.
I titrated up by a 1/2 tab over the last few weeks. 1 tab, 1.5 tabs, 2 tabs, 2.5 tabs.
My FT3 was on a steady rise.
My FT4 stayed low and did not move up as much as I thought it would have.
My RT3 climbed back up to 33 on the 2.5 tabs.
Clearly I was converting too much of my T3 into RT3
Did some reading and things like infections can have a significant impact on raising your RT3.
Found out last week that an old root canal had cracked near the bottom of the root.
This was causing an infection the worked its way up through my gum at the base of the tooth.
Not much pain, but a just a little discomfort. I did not worry about it for a long time so when it became apparent that I had the infection for a period of time I looked into it.
Had the tooth extracted last week and that was the ONLY way to clear the infection
After I complete the antibiotics I will see what my RT3 looks like and see if the low grade infection was the cause of my high RT3.

 

[captain]

T4 converting to RT3 not T3 To RT3. You reduce your T4 to decrease RT3. More T3 will lower your TSH reducing the T4 that converts to RT3.

 

[OMI100]

Yep. You are correct Captain.
I got my 3's and 4's mixed up
It seems my body sees the T4 from the NDT as excessive and converts it to RT3
I may need to drop my NDT way back and see if my DR will add in some synthetic T3.
The question of the day is why is my T4 getting shunted to RT3?
May have been my root canal infection or ?
BTW I am on NDT and my TSH is suppressed to near zero.
I will retest after I am done taking all my antibiotics for the root canal infection and see what it looks like than