Too Much Tyrosine and Iodine Affecting TSH

[WantRice]

I just got the results back from a TSH test and I am completely surprised. I would have totally expected to be HYPOthyroid based on my symptoms, but the test results indicate HYPERthyroid. My TSH was 0.14 mU/L (reference range 0.38-5.5). I checked my results online and haven't spoken to the doctor yet, but just noticed that she has ordered a free T4 test as well. I'm freaking out a little bit because treatment for hyperthyroid seems pretty extreme. I'm hoping that my T4 comes out normal and not low (pituitary problem) or high (hyperthyroid).

Anyway, I'm just wondering if some of the things I have been doing could have messed with my TSH or T4 in some way. I take tyrosine and iodine (for my hypothyroid symptoms) and have increased them both a little bit in the last month or so. I also started eating one brazil nut per day for the selenium which also affects the thyroid in some way I understand. I guess I'm wondering if these supplements could be increasing my T4 somehow and hence the low TSH number. Does anybody know or have any theories? I've been feeling great lately too which makes me even more confused!

Thanks!

ETA: Just got the Free T4 results and they are high 21.0 pmol/L (reference range 10.5-20.0) Crap.

[tanyalynn]

It seems quite plausible to me that the supplements you're taking are affecting your bloodwork, that's the point, right? You want to improve your thyroid function with these supps, so it sounds like that's starting to happen, so that's good.

If I had high free T4, I'd start taking extra selenium (I'd take at least 200 mcg, that'd be at least 2 brazil nuts, and then give it some time to even out a bit), it helps with converting T4 to T3, and T3 is what your body uses.

When I make changes with our supplements, I use a spreadsheet keeping track of changes in symptoms and when I change supps or dosages. It may be helpful to see trends over time.

[WantRice]

Thanks Tanyalynn.

I've never actually had any blood-work indicating HYPO, but my symptoms are mostly hypo so I wasn't expecting this test to indicate HYPER. I guess maybe my supplements have swung me in that direction and I should ease up a bit. I will start taking 2 brazil nuts. I fear that the doctor is going to want to start treating my for hyperthyroid right away. She's not very natural-minded and will probably not be receptive to me wanting to try some nutritional-based things and re-test in a while. sigh.

I think my ferritin is also on the low side which could also be a problem. My ferritin was 28 ug/L (reference range 15 to 180). I guess it's normal but probably not ideal right?

ETA: I like your spreadsheet idea. I will give that a try.

[tanyalynn]

My DO and my acupuncturist both wanted me to supplement iron when my ferritin was 70. I'd find a good iron supp, you want ferrous bisglycinate, and do that for a while. FWIW, I took one bottle's worth of Perque's anemia guard, I think 25 mg of iron per day? We decided that if I didn't notice an improvement after that, then it probably just helped my iron a bit but my fatigue was due to other causes.

Hopefully, if you don't have any hyper symptoms, your doc won't want to do anything. The treatments for hyperthyroid are more serious and, in fact, I'm not sure most family practice docs/GPs/whatnot would be comfortable doing them, they'd probably refer you to an endocrinologist, who'd probably want new bloodwork anyway.

Have you seen the adrenal fatigue thread? I found it difficult to distinguish the fatigue from hypothyroid from the fatigue due to my adrenals being worn down, and I guess a lot of people have both involved. That may be something to look into--some of the stuff that helps is non-supplement related, things like massively reducing stress, regular meals, early bedtimes--you know, I just realized it's sort of like what kids need to be at their best. I always thought of it was babying myself but I didn't make the next obvious connections.

[WantRice]

Well, I haven't heard from my doctor yet so maybe she's not overly concerned with the TSH and T4 levels. I got myself some iron and started taking it yesterday. I've also had a few good steaks and have been eating or drinking something with vitamin C to help with the iron absorption. It's funny but even a couple of days before I went for the bloodwork I found myself craving steak so I'm interested to see over the long term if the iron supplements make a difference in my energy level. At least I now have an idea what I feel like with a ferritin level of 28.

I have read a fair bit about adrenal fatigue and I'm sure that there's some of that coming in to play as well. I'm one of those people who wakes up every single night between 2 and 4 AM. It's really annoying. I also often get sleepy between 1 and 3 PM and then I get an energy burst between 6 and 7 PM. It's weird. My naturopath (Dr. Hal Brown for anyone in Vancouver) seems to think my adrenals are fine though.

I think I'm going to work on improving my iron stores and also upping the vitamin C to help with absorption and to support the adrenals. We'll see how far that takes me. I have stopped taking the iodine and tyrosine, but I'm not sure if that is a good or bad idea because the iodine has helped tremendously with painful breasts before my period. I just don't want it to mess with my thyroid too much.

I ordered Dr. Brownstein's thyroid book. Has anyone read it?

[Panserbjorne]

instead of eliminating iodine you could consider reducing it. How much were you taking? That's one of the things I'd suggest starting slowly with, no question.

[WantRice]

I've been taking iodine pretty consistently for the past year. It's not Iodoral or Lugol's that I'm taking though and I haven't been taking anywhere near what is in even one Iodoral tablet which is why I'm not sure how the dosage I'm taking could be having that much of an effect.

Anyway, about a year ago I started with 3 drops. Each drop is 150mcg of potassium iodide from kelp so that's 450mcg per day. I started increasing about 3 months ago. So in 3 months I've gone gradually from 3 drops to 10 drops. That's till only 1.5mg per day. Isn't Iodoral like 12.5mg per tablet?