Let me just mention a few things because some folks make this topic way too complicated for no reason. They make it sound like you will end up with an autoimmune disorder or end up in cardiac arrest if you take thyroid meds. Some people are too smart for their own good, they are well read, but they have zero experience / or have actual tested their bullshit with real people. This kind of advice keeps people feeling like shit for eternity and you mentioned this with your last doctor and trt.
RT3 at 13 is high. There is a website out there called stop the thyroid madness. Just go there and see what folks say about high reverse t3. Not some guy pulling bullshit articles and other shit from the web and trying to over complicate your path to health.
You want it below 5 and even closer to 1. I saw someone else suggest its totally fine and i cannot verbally emphasize how horrible that advice is. i don’t understand why some people think they are so smart compared to doctors who do this for a living. Im not a doctor, but my doctor specializes in hormones for men and woman. He knows his shit and his credentials surpass the keyboard warrior credentials above. He has actual decade of experience with men and woman and thyroid therapy. Ive learned everything from him and im sure he’d back this up.
When you have high rt3 like my wife did you want to hit it head on by lowering that rt3 if its due to diet or whatever else that causes it. Don’t wait for this to resolve and start a t3 only protocol If symptoms are bad enough. Like fatigue… bad fatigue. Hair thinning. Metabolism.
If rt3 is high and the rest of your thyroid labs look excellent, i would just work on lowering rt3 through whatever means necessary. No need to get on thyroid meds for life. They are expensive.
My wife was eating low carb diet and she started to eat carbs and went on a normal diet. She went from the exact same rt3 of 13 down to 6 and since then she has been on armour thyroid. This took 3 months.
She was on t3 at the start but it didn’t make a damn difference for her because the doctor was giving her 5mcg 1 a day. I convineced him t give it to her 3 times a day. still didnt do shit. She took her first armour thyroid 2 grain tablet and it was a night and day difference.
Synethic thyroid meds suck ass. Get dessicated and enjoy.I tried it and many others have as well. Dont waste your time.
End of day if a man is on trt and he still has fatigue, metabolism and other symptoms, that man should test thyroid. If thyroid labs do not show ft3 top of range, t4 mid range, that man should run a trial of thyroid. Slowly increase until symptoms resolve. If symptoms do not resolve, thyroid is not the answer.
If ft3 is well below 50% of the range start with 2 grains like i did. If its neither great nor horrible start with 1 grain. The worst that can happen is you feel like you drank a few cups of coffee for a few hours and you can lower your dose. If you decide to start with a smaller dose i would just cut the pill in half and see if that works. After a few days you will stabilize and realize if that dose works for you.
One last thing. Due to the half life of t3 and dessicated thyroid meds, you will want to take it twice a day or 8 hours apart. 6 am and 2pm.
This is how I was taught thyroid therapy from my doctor and the exact same steps my wife, my friends and I have followed.
Get as big a dose as you can from the doctor. Otherwise you might end up waiting 3 months to feel better. You want control over your dosing and need to increase without having to call the doctor and ask for more. If you can.
Goood luck. dont waste your time with fear mongering and guys who want to make it harder than it is. hormone therapy is very simple. supplement until symptoms resolve.
Im taking 2 grains twice a day. Its been almost 2 years. I feel fine. I race bikes, do intervals, life weights and sleep. I dont and never have had any of the symptoms of high thyroid levels. Although my levels are just a tad bit over the lab range. Some folks on here would tell me i am going to ruin my health or have a CV event. Guess what. … it hasn’t happened.
