# more thyroid hormone when you start exercising?



## cat76 (Mar 29, 2011)

I am new to this forum and I hope someone will be able to answer my questions:

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis in 2001 and have been on thyroid hormone replacement ever since. I have tried all meds available - T4 only meds, T3/T4 synthetic combos, Armour (up to 240 mg/dag) and Armour (90 mg/day) + T4 meds. Both synthetic T3 and Armour made me seriously hyperthyroid (free T3 three times the normal lab reference value and suppressed TSH, along with symptoms like tremor, rapid heart beat, excessive sweating and enormous appetite making weight loss extremely difficult).

I have been on 200 mcg of T4 for the last year, and at first I felt great. So I decided to start exercising. I took up jogging after several years, then went on to aerobics. Now, I exercise strenously 5-6 days a week. In December 2010, I went to the lab to be tested prior to my annual doctor's appointment. Results:

TSH 0.05 (ref 0.2-4.0; my doctor wants it between 0.05 and 0.2 to keep the antibodies down so that is just fine)

free T4 1,5 (ref 0.8-1,8)

free T3 2,7 (ref 1.7-3.7)

According to my doctor, I am just fine and not many people need as much as 200 mcg of T4 each day. However, since all my lab tests came back normal, he renewed my prescription.

But for a few weeks now, I have been feeling more tired, not as energetic as I used to, a bit of brain fog, difficulty waking up in the morning...so I am beginning to wonder if all that physical exercise makes me need more thyroid hormone? My doctor tends to keep an eye on my TSH, ignoring the T3 and T4 values as long as they are within the normal reference range, but my free T3 was just in the middle of the range...could/should it not be higher in order for me to regain optimal health? My T4 was good, so I am beginning to wonder if I am no longer converting enough T4 into T3 (the last time I tried Armour/T3 meds was back in 2004, and I imagine quite a lot could have happened to my thyroid function since...).

I am currently thinking about adding 25 mcg of Thyroxine a day just to see how I react...any thoughts or suggetions? Has anyone else experienced this when you started exercising?

I might add that I live in Europe where thyroid hormone pills are available in strengths from 25 mcg to 200 mcg. Therefore, most doctors believe that you should never take more than 200 mcg a day, and that taking more could even be dangerous. However, I understand that in the US, pills are available in other strengths as well (up to 300 mcg)?


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

cat76 said:


> I am new to this forum and I hope someone will be able to answer my questions:
> 
> I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis in 2001 and have been on thyroid hormone replacement ever since. I have tried all meds available - T4 only meds, T3/T4 synthetic combos, Armour (up to 240 mg/dag) and Armour (90 mg/day) + T4 meds. Both synthetic T3 and Armour made me seriously hyperthyroid (free T3 three times the normal lab reference value and suppressed TSH, along with symptoms like tremor, rapid heart beat, excessive sweating and enormous appetite making weight loss extremely difficult).
> 
> ...


Hi, cat76 and









Right off the bat, I see the problem. Your FREE T3 is right at the mid-range of the range given by your lab. It should be a little higher; say @ 75% of the range given by your lab allowing for daily and hourly fluctuations, of course.

What I experienced when I first joined the gym and was working very very hard with free weights, cross trainer and lots of other stuff, I had to see my doc every 8 weeks for further titration upward until I felt well again.

Consistency is "key" here. I was working out 6 days a week, twice a day (circuit training), never missed a beat. That way we knew the titration process was going to work well and it did.

So, I say the answer is yes; try it. See what happens. Also consider taking Selenium because it aids in the conversion of T4 to T3.

And..................................check your Ferritin level. It should be 50 to 100; the closer to 100, the better.
Ferritin http://www.thewayup.com/newsletters/081504.htm

Mini meals, mini meals...........................go for the gold!!


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