Should I retest, or move on?

[john_bellamy]

This is a long and complicated drama, so bear with me please! I am a 30-year-old male who has always suffered from fatigue and much more. I have frequent sinus infections and if I work-out more than once a week I get sick. I sleep for 10 hours and still feel tired. I have been tested for allergies, doctor says I have non-allergic rhinitis, rather than allergic and should rinse sinuses to avoid infections. Anyways...

I have been tested for STD's, anemia, and pretty much everything else. Recently, tired of being sick and tired, I did some research and thought that my symptoms were very similar to low, or even high, thyroid function. (I am 6-3 and weigh 170.) I read posts online and how naturalistic doctors use a basal temperature average from three days to help diagnose thyroid issues and my temperatures, recorded by armpit, for ten minutes before rising from bed, were: 97.4, 97.5 and 97.2, for an average of 97.3. From what I read online, anything below 97.5, or 97.4 could suggest a low- functioning thyroid. So I decided to get my blood tested to be as accurate with my self- diagnoses as possible.

I do not have insurance, so I decided to go through an outfit online to get my levels tested. I am thinking now, I made a mistake before I tested.  For some idiotic reason, I do not know why, I took Vitex (chasteberry) and licorice root about 8 hours before the test, which was after sleep. ( I am trying to tone-down my libido.) It didn't dawn on me that the Vitex may or may not affect levels. I also didn't fast before the test. I was so excited to get the test done, thinking that finally I would find out my thyroid was my problem and at last be normal. Then, I excitedly opened the results, which were available online, and to my shock they were all normal.

Total t4: 7
t3 uptake: 34
free t4: 2.4
tsh: 2.07

I am not sure whether I should retest and fast, not taking any herbs and hope something more concrete is revealed or look at my adrenal glands, which can have similar symptoms to those of an ill-performing thyroid; I have had a very stressful life.

I might decide to buy dessicated thyroid and dessicated adrenal gland online and try a week on each separately to see which I feel better on. I should know pretty quickly if either is going to help or hurt.

I appreciate any help any of you may be able to give.

[flyingfool]

Self medicating for Thyroid hormone is almost pointless. This is because the FDA will NOT allow any "suppliement" to be sold without a perscription that has any amount of hormone in it at all. So you will essentially be wasting money.  besides, Thyroid meds are really pretty darn inexpensive.  The key thing of course if getting a Dr to prescribe the medication.

Many people have had good luck with an online lab order from healthcheckusa.  The cost used to be about $85 for TSH, Free T4 and Free T3 tests.  As pointed out above the two Free hormone tests are really the mother load of information as to determine thyroid health.  TSH is a screening test and a relatively poor indicator.

Also being "somewhere" within the so called "normal" or reference range for many if not most people is NOT enough.  Rather in order to feel well many people here have found that they need their values well up into the range.  In fact the rule of thumb seems to be the target range were many start to feel well is when:

1) The Free T4 is in the MIDDLE of the range or slightly higher

and (that means in addition to)

2) The Free T3 to be in the UPPER 1/3 of the range.

Therefore it is COMMON to find people who are symptomatic and in need of medication when they are in the lower portions of the "normal" range.  Do NOT let a Dr tell you that you are fine and "normal" it is not your thyroid if you are in the bottom end of the range.  Just go find a new Dr.

[gimel]

Welcome to the Forum.  You do have some symptoms that can be related to thyroid issues.  Basal temperature can also be an indicator; however, your basal temperature results were so close to the lower range level suggested many years ago by Dr. B. Barnes, there is no real confirmation there.  

Of your lab tests, two are really not very revealing and largely a waste of money to test.  Those are Total T4 and T3 uptake.  Please help us in trying to see if there is anything shown by the Free T4 test by posting the reference range that goes with that test, as shown on the lab report.  Test results need to be evaluated against the range from the lab that ran the tests.  

Unfortunately you missed the most important thyroid hormone test, which is free T3.  Free T3 largely regulates metabolism and many other body functions.  Scientific studies have shown that Free T3 correlated best with hypo symptoms, while Free T4 and TSH did not correlate.  If possible you should get the Free T3 and Free T4 tests done whenever any thyroid testing is to be done.  Note that Free T3 and T4 are not the same as Total T3 and T4.

As for potential adrenal issues, I wondered what sent you in that direction.  If you look at this listing of symptoms of adrenal deficiency, do you think you have some of those?

http://endocrine-system.emedtv.com/adrenal-insufficiency/adrenal-insufficiency.html

I would not recommend self medicating.  You don't have nearly enough info to understand what is going on.  A short trial may show nothing and could cause problems.