Just a note for anyone who might be able to help with my thyroid issues. I was taking T-3 at 25-50mcg per day for the last couple of years, until I started feeling unwell (lethargic, sleepy) and tried to come off it starting in February. Being off T-3 makes me anxious and nervous, but if I try to take T-3 or T-4 I get very sleepy and depressed. So I have been off thyroid meds for three months now, with no improvement in numbers or symptoms.
For the last 3 months my thyroid numbers have been stuck at the same low levels for both T-3 and T-4, but TSH is also low. On the advice of others here, I had Reverse T-3, antibodies, and DHEA checked (still waiting to see my doctor so I can have cortisol measured.)
My Reverse T-3 is high out of the normal range, and my DHEA sulfate is at the very low end of the normal range, with T-3, T-4, and TSH all still at the same low numbers.
May 28:
T3, FREE 2.6 NORMAL 2.3-4.2 pg/mL
T4, FREE 1.1 NORMAL 0.8-1.8 ng/dL
TSH 1.23 NORMAL 0.40-4.50 mIU/L
Reverse T3 26 HIGH 8-25ng/dL
THYROGLOBULIN ANTIBODIES <1 NORMAL <=1iu/ml
THYROID PEROXIDASE ANTIBODIES <1 NORMAL <=9iu/ml
DHEA SULFATE 58 NORMAL 38-313 mcg/dL
I should mention that taking T-3 used to make me feel "up", but now just makes me feel groggy and sleepy. I actually have to take more caffeine, ephedrine, yohimbine, or another stimulant if I try to take more T-3. I've been taking stimulants for years to help with alertness and workouts, but am trying to avoid them now because they raise my blood pressure and make me jittery and anxious.
Is this a sign of some kind of adrenal "fatigue" or insufficiency, as I've seen others mention? Perhaps I've just taken too many stimulants for much too long, and overtaxed the ability of my body to keep up with it all?
Any thoughts will be appreciated. My next step is to check cortisol with the 24-hour saliva test, just to try to figure out what is going on with me.