First off you should have beginning blood work to base off what the ending was or will be.
I don't know why everyone is big on T4 I guess they fell for the article AR wrote huh?
ALL things like clen ephedrine T3 T4 (if your body converts it) AAS (especially tren) and GH affect the thyroid.
I think all anabolic ergogens such as Gh and AAS effect thyroid to a degree. Is it enough to warrant self medication and shut down? I don't know myself.
Blood readings of thyroid activity are pretty vague to show changes I think.
Reviewing my bloodwork from years back for thyroid function I always noticed my TSH levels dropped while on AAS. Free T3 and T4 remain relatively unchanged. I always leaned out on cycles of test only and part of the rebound effect in my mind when I'd soften up a bit after the cycle was over was due to a lower metabolism IMO. Things like tren and clen and even ephedrine will effect the thyroid, it may not show up on blood work but there are some things going on there.
There are a couple of studies on AAS and thyroid function summarized in Nandi's article on how the thyroid is effected by AAS and it seems inconclusive such a vast array of doses and protocols exist among we lifters to really say yay or nay or how much.
Thyroid problems are huge in the general public my mom and aunt had goiters and nodules on their thyroids my mom's was partially removed. I think a lot of the thyroid problems stem for over stimulation of the thyroid with iodine, the thyroid cells are the only cells in the body that will uptake iodine and will only make so much T4 and convert T3 based on negative feedback to the hypothal, so I think that iodine is altering the cells some way to enlarge them and multiply in a non cancerous and benign fashion.
There also is of course problems with goiters and nodules in countries which the people have an iodine defeciency of course as well.
There is so much WE don't know about the thyroid there are the hormones T1 and T2 that play a role but the medical and scientific community on recognize and treat for T3 and T4. that's why armour thyroid can be an invaluable medicine choice for euthyroid individuals instead of straight T4 and T3, as it is dessicated pig thyroid tissue and contains T1 and T2 and other thyroid facotrs we may not have considered. But then again this applies to those who have had their thyroid removed completely. I have done a ton of research on the hypothyroid medications and thyroid diseases for my mom and aunt but only know wha'ts in the literature and still feel like there is a ton more to find out.
It's hard really to say what's the best form of thyroid meds especially with from the reading I did, it seems to be armour becaue of the mix of t4 nd t3 and the other thyroid hormones the endo's choose to ignore.
Synthroid is the gold standard but the problem there is the body has to convert it to T3, and I have seen even in blood tests where T4 T3 and TSH are perfect the patient feels like absolute shit, their metabolism is in the can and they have no energy but the endo won't do anything. When T3 is added in in, magical things tend to happen these people who have suffered from what I call syn-hyopthyroid-T4 syndrome. Everything improves like coming out of a fog of depression low energy low sex drive. Everything.
Check this out on T3 and T4 it's non scientific but backs up a lot of points I have made about T4 and T3 (most of this won't apply to people with healthy thyroids -that's why Anthony Roberts T4 theory was BS- a healthy person taking T4 most likely won't convert much of it if at all IMO)
http://thyroid.about.com/cs/thyroiddrugs/a/armour.htm
More here as it is worse with people that have their thyroids and they give T4 to to try and restore normal levels-
Summarized NEJ study on T3 and T4
http://thyroid.about.com/cs/t3controversy/a/NEJMT3study.htm
http://www.drpodell.org/natural_hypothyroid_therapies.shtml
For hypothyroid patients:
I would encourage anyone that is on T4 to look at T3 as well, it saved my mom and aunt's life it took me 2 years to work through it all but we finally found a doc that worked above and beyond blood tests and cared about how his pateints felt.
http://www.altsupportthyroid.org/t3/t3medrefs2.php
I know I got off track a bit but the thyroid is something that is near and dear to me heart.
There is also a huge inconsistency in generics and potency with T4, I can't believe the gov't let's this go on as thousands suffer on the generic meds-
**broken link removed**
http://thyroid.about.com/library/reportcard/bl-drugcos.htm
Potency of T4 is affected by many things, that's why I am concerned with black market sources of T4 and T3 the storage an handling are a big factor as well.
I would be curious to see others blood work on using T4, most endos make adjustments in dosages every 4-6 weeks for the most part because of the conversion and half life.
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