Getbiggers with HYPO-thyroidism?

[Matt]

I just did a series of health tests, and all is well, aside from being a touch of hypothyroidism.

I can't really blame this one on veganism even though it started during my initial period of reducing meat and dropping body weight - but it's largely from my simply reducing OVERALL calories.

My TSH is now over 4.00 [normal range = 0.32 to 4.00 mIU/L] which means hypothyroidism [HIGH TSH = LOW thyroid function].

Basically, if my thyroid keeps slowing down at the current pace from the past five years, I'll *need* thyroid medication by age 70.

I'd rather deal with this now though.

I'm getting some tests done, just to rule out autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto's disease.

My doctor said the one drawback to caloric restriction is that it can reduce your thyroid function. Surper-centenarians [people who live to age 110+] have a few things in common - one is caloric restriction. Large cholesterol molecules is another common one.

It's all a trade-off, right? I literally know people younger than me with diabetes because of high calories. I also have a family member who may need to go from Metformin to insulin because of diabetes. I was talking to Flexacon about this, and he was advising on it - I honestly think Flexacon knows more than my family member's doctor.

My TSH is high, but my Thyroxine is fine. So...hopefully, this is just from my low calories. I want to fix this now though, before it becomes a problem - if I have any autoimmune disease, I'm asymptomatic. I have a family member with Celiac disease, but I don't have too much family history here.

Out of curiosity, do any Getbiggers have a slow thyroid? If so, how do you deal with it. Someone recommended an iodine supplement, if I recall correctly.

Maybe it's time for me to just let my body weight go up a little. I can't seem to get much leaner when I lose body weight, possibly because of this.

Technically at my height, 202-lb is "obese" on the BMI scale. Even at 175-180, I am overweight on the BMI scale.

[Matt]

I have previously said I'm a touch in ketosis, due to the ketones in my urine.

Am I technically correct saying that?

I read that a kidney eGFR of 60-89 is Stage 1 kidney disease, but only if protein is excreted in your urine.  Mine was 100...so would a drop to 89 represent a risk?

If I go on a light gear cycle and increase my protein, would I be at any risk of burdening my kidneys, or is it usually ok on low dose PED's? I wouldn't be doing anything heavy, because...that's just how I am [if I even do a cycle - everyone knows me...I talk about it, but then never do it, but I actually want to now, if my next tests come back ok. My doctor is looking forward to my results, LOL].

Also, is there anything I should pay mind to, even though these results are all within the normal ranges [except my TSH]?:

[carl164]

TSH between 4-10, one treat if symptoms. If you are sluggish, cold or constipated etc... 25 microgram of T4 is probably enough. Pretty irrelevant how much T4 is in blood sample.

About your kidneys...could not see how much keratin was? And your weight?

[carl164]

kreatinine

[wes]

I just did a series of health tests, and all is well, aside from being a touch of hypothyroidism.

I can't really blame this one on veganism even though it started during my initial period of reducing meat and dropping body weight - but it's largely from my simply reducing OVERALL calories.

My TSH is now over 4.00 [normal range = 0.32 to 4.00 mIU/L] which means hypothyroidism [HIGH TSH = LOW thyroid function].

Basically, if my thyroid keeps slowing down at the current pace from the past five years, I'll *need* thyroid medication by age 70.

I'd rather deal with this now though.

I'm getting some tests done, just to rule out autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto's disease.

My doctor said the one drawback to caloric restriction is that it can reduce your thyroid function. Surper-centenarians [people who live to age 110+] have a few things in common - one is caloric restriction. Large cholesterol molecules is another common one.

It's all a trade-off, right? I literally know people younger than me with diabetes because of high calories. I also have a family member who may need to go from Metformin to insulin because of diabetes. I was talking to Flexacon about this, and he was advising on it - I honestly think Flexacon knows more than my family member's doctor.

My TSH is high, but my Thyroxine is fine. So...hopefully, this is just from my low calories. I want to fix this now though, before it becomes a problem - if I have any autoimmune disease, I'm asymptomatic. I have a family member with Celiac disease, but I don't have too much family history here.

Out of curiosity, do any Getbiggers have a slow thyroid? If so, how do you deal with it. Someone recommended an iodine supplement, if I recall correctly.

Maybe it's time for me to just let my body weight go up a little. I can't seem to get much leaner when I lose body weight, possibly because of this.

Technically at my height, 202-lb is "obese" on the BMI scale. Even at 175-180, I am overweight on the BMI scale.

[Grape Ape]

Calvin H is busy watching Top Gun but he texted me to tell Matt to fuck off

[Matt]

TSH between 4-10, one treat if symptoms. If you are sluggish, cold or constipated etc... 25 microgram of T4 is probably enough. Pretty irrelevant how much T4 is in blood sample.

About your kidneys...could not see how much keratin was? And your weight?

Thank you.

My creatinine is 23.2 mmol/L as measured by urine, and 86 umol/L as measured by blood.

Both are within the normal ranges...although I take kidney function pretty seriously, as I understand kidney disease is a silent killer. So I try to keep my blood pressure below 110/70 [or - anywhere around there is fine].

I am 181-lb right now at 5'8.5" / 174cm.

I just don't take anything for granted, as WAY too many people drop dead of heart attacks every day in their 40's, and I'm 40 now.

However, I would like to just run a little something, and at least look better than I ever have while I'm still able to do it.

I don't have any noticeable symptoms of a slow thyroid...but will T4 help speed up my metabolism a little? Lol. I'll take anything to give me a bit of an edge would help, if it's not a big health risk.

And hopefully at least a little cycle this summer.

Thanks again.

[Matt]

Calvin H is busy watching Top Gun but he texted me to tell Matt to fuck off

Tell him I fear for my health.

I fear for everyone's health!

But this time, it's actually somewhat for real - I mean, this hypothyroidism may explain why I never get much leaner than I've always looked.

I spoke to a former competitive bodybuilder, and when I didn't initially tell him I had a touch of a slow thyroid, he said I should have mentioned it, as it is a factor to how well you respond to diet.

I also met two people who has TSH levels of around 7 mIU/L, and they both said they were pleased taking their pharmaceutical solution to it.

I mean...unless it has massive side effects, I may as well fix it?

Assuming autoimmune diseases get ruled out [I'll know next week].

Bast told me to check for Hashimoto's disease, and that's exactly what my doctor said. Bast = doctor level knowledge. 

[Matt]

I'll put it this way: I sort of always felt like someone just diagnosed with a disease. Just as a normal state of being.

I don't get why no one cares - yet there are 300-lb obese people getting mad at people not wearing masks for putting the health of others at risk. 

So everyone is terrified to die, yet no one wants to do ANYTHING proactive about their health? People are dumb.

Kudos to you for quitting smoking cold turkey, wes. That's hard, and not too many people do it.

I just noticed the blurb below. I wonder why that is. 

[Matt]

Remember when John Meadows posted his perfect blood work, then dropped dead of a heart attack? 

[Matt]

This might the correct order - they might have gotten out of order when I sent them to myself:




^ What should I be watching for with cholesterol?

Is there any easy way lower it...or is there no point? It doesn't show the target ranges there, so I don't know what is OPTIMAL - just basically, I'm not at immediate CVD risk.

Sarcasm said our cholesterol levels only depend on how much cholesterol our livers produce.

My doctor said nothing about this...he was only concerned about my TSH, and was probably more surprised than concerned that my testosterone level was on the low end of normal.

As of now, the only thing I supplement with is Vitamin D. But I'd take something else, for health, if it's just another daily tablet to pop.

Do former testosterone ABUSING [not just using] bodybuilders ever recover to normal levels without TRT?

^ EDIT: at just after the 5 minute mark, King Kamali explains his current testosterone level + current stack.

[Gym-Rat]

LDL cholesterol (bad)   < 3.5 mmol/L
HDL cholesterol (good)   > 1.0 mmol/L males   > 1.3 mmol/L females
Total cholesterol   < 4.5 mmol/L (6 to 19 year olds)  < 5.2 mmol/L (20 to 79 year olds)
Ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol   < 5.0

Your lipids are just a touch out of what they want them to be, so they are fine.
They push statins on people like crazy and keep lowering these ranges to do so.
Biggest drug-push in history (statins) and they dont do much for the average person's life expectancy.

When way out of whack, a large familial issue, maybe they can help some folks.
Some heart-doc's despise statins and know they arent needed for most. Seems like your Doc is OK with you good-levels.

[Matt]

LDL cholesterol (bad)   < 3.5 mmol/L
HDL cholesterol (good)   > 1.0 mmol/L males   > 1.3 mmol/L females
Total cholesterol   < 4.5 mmol/L (6 to 19 year olds)  < 5.2 mmol/L (20 to 79 year olds)
Ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol   < 5.0

Your lipids are just a touch out of what they want them to be, so they are fine.
They push statins on people like crazy and keep lowering these ranges to do so.
Biggest drug-push in history (statins) and they dont do much for the average person's life expectancy.

When way out of whack, a large familial issue, maybe they can help some folks.
Some heart-doc's despise statins and know they arent needed for most. Seems like your Doc is OK with you good-levels.

Thanks for the information, Gym-Rat!

Whoa...so our drug cartel medical industry is both pushing statin drugs while changing these ranges, so more people qualify for them?

That's awful, but nothing surprises me anymore. It seems like it's all just a legal drug business to me.

Ideally, I'd still like to get my lipids in the ideal ranges...I feel it's better to do it now when it's optional, before the day comes that I'm told I have to.

Canadians = pop pills, and don't make any lifestyle changes when they get bad health outcomes.  Then call 9-1-1 on people for not wearing a mask. 

[bhank]

Matt you are fine I had 17 flags on my bloodwork 2 in my thyroid panel but just like yours just out of range. My bloodwork claims .45-4.50 is normally range and you are at 4.66

You have been talking about taking PEDS for a year then claim you are worried about your health and a bunch of other nonsense. Just fucking do it already or shut up about it. Either Shit or get off the can

[bhank]

Apparently, there is a cure but the "disease" sounds better to me

https://www.yahoo.com/news/kourtney-kardashian-says-doctor-told-144922810.html

[Gym-Rat]

All of my markers come back in-range. Though I am one of the rare ones who really needs a statin. (Most do not).
My liver produces lots of cholesterol. Before statins, my total got close to 400 (where 200 is supposed to be the limit).
Even when I was an 18-yr old ripped teen, I tested that high back in 1984. Doc was kinda amazed at that high-level, but not concerned since I was young, and it was way before the statin-push.

With a low dose statin Im right around 180-200 total now. (I did have a very high HDL, (double), which brought me up as well, but all levels were high).
Trig's, LDL, HDL, etc.

Blood sugar and hematocrit are ones Im happy to have in range (and everything else).
I put on muscle naturally as a teen/young adult very easily, as testosterone is made in your cholesterol. I always had very high test-levels UNTIL taking statins.
They tank your test-levels. (Lower your cholesterol, you lower your test as well since test is made in cholesterol).

[Van_Bilderass]

Regarding supplements for health, astragalus is very interesting for kidney health. I think it was Dante Doggcrapp that popularized it. It appears to really improve kidney markers. I'm not sure about the mechanisms, how it purportedly "protects" the kidneys but the kidney marker effect is very interesting. I do the Dante recommended 2 grams twice daily and it appears to improve my kidney markers, the few times I've gotten tested while taking it. For US customers Dante recommends Vitamin Shoppe brand. Others may be good also but other brands like Now Foods do not "work" for some reason. If someone here does fairly frequent blood work it would be interesting if they took the astragalus. More data points. Of course if your kidneys are already shot it will probably not do anything - didn't work for Bostin.

Another very interesting supplement for health is berberine. If you are bulking or otherwise at risk for insulin resistance. If you take Gh or other PEDs. It appears to work similarly, and as effectively, as the diabetes drug Metformin. Some life extension guys do Metformin or berberine even if they are healthy because theoretically it could extend lifespan.

And Matt, to trigger your hypochondria, lots of people think vitamin D supplements can be bad for your kidneys 
It's obviously dose related and individual though.

[wes]

Kudos to you for quitting smoking cold turkey, wes. That's hard, and not too many people do it.

It was pretty easy due to this little incentive called fucking lung Cancer......kind of a no-brainer to quit wouldn`t you say...... mister five butts a year worrywart?   LOL 

[joswift]

Apparently, there is a cure but the "disease" sounds better to me

https://www.yahoo.com/news/kourtney-kardashian-says-doctor-told-144922810.html

epic double bluff

semen slurper

[Rambone]

Get T3 free, iron and T4 free labs, Matty. TSH isn't looking good. I'm hypo and had all of the signs. Cold hands, fatigue, and limp dick tightness in my throat. My TSH was in the 5s when symptoms were really bad. I would start supplementing with iodine and selenium and start increasing calories in the form of carbs.

[Freemason]

EGFR is not a true test of kidney function. Stands for estimated glomeralar filtration rate. Really it is simply a tabulation of a simple math formula using your creatine level. Problem is if you put on muscle you naturally produce more creatine. I carry a lot more lean tissue than the average person as likely you do as well, so your creatine goes up and correspondingly your egfr goes down. An actual test of kidney function requires a 24 hour urine challenge. The egfr is only good for watching an average person making no muscular gains to monitor if something is wrong renally.

If you are concerned just request the 24 hour test. If your BUN is holding normal 99.9% chance nothing wrong with your kidneys just physiological creatine increase with no renal impairment.

[Van_Bilderass]

EGFR is not a true test of kidney function. Stands for estimated glomeralar filtration rate. Really it is simply a tabulation of a simple math formula using your creatine level. Problem is if you put on muscle you naturally produce more creatine. I carry a lot more lean tissue than the average person as likely you do as well, so your creatine goes up and correspondingly your egfr goes down. An actual test of kidney function requires a 24 hour urine challenge. The egfr is only good for watching an average person making no muscular gains to monitor if something is wrong renally.

If you are concerned just request the 24 hour test. If your BUN is holding normal 99.9% chance nothing wrong with your kidneys just physiological creatine increase with no renal impairment.

Yup. I was just arguing with an anesthesiologist about my kidney labs. I said higher muscle mass means higher creatinine. She said it's just the opposite. Unfortunately we didn't resolve the disagreement 

[carl164]

86 creatinine is normal for you.

[Matt]

Get T3 free, iron and T4 free labs, Matty. TSH isn't looking good. I'm hypo and had all of the signs. Cold hands, fatigue, and limp dick tightness in my throat. My TSH was in the 5s when symptoms were really bad. I would start supplementing with iodine and selenium and start increasing calories in the form of carbs.

Hang on...just FYI, I can still get hard, but...my mind just isn't there.

Could my whole avoiding women/fucking have caused these changes?

Once I stopped dating/fucking, these numbers got worse.

I'm not trying to put the chicken before the egg here...but it seems related.

Everything on my tests so far were in the normal ranges, except for TSH. My doctor has ordered me another blood test for next week to rule out autoimmune diseases, like Hashimoto's disease.

He thinks my obsession with low calories [1,200 max daily] has caused my body to essentially slow down.

[Matt]

EGFR is not a true test of kidney function. Stands for estimated glomeralar filtration rate. Really it is simply a tabulation of a simple math formula using your creatine level. Problem is if you put on muscle you naturally produce more creatine. I carry a lot more lean tissue than the average person as likely you do as well, so your creatine goes up and correspondingly your egfr goes down. An actual test of kidney function requires a 24 hour urine challenge. The egfr is only good for watching an average person making no muscular gains to monitor if something is wrong renally.

If you are concerned just request the 24 hour test. If your BUN is holding normal 99.9% chance nothing wrong with your kidneys just physiological creatine increase with no renal impairment.

Wow...for some reason I thought working out increases creatine kinase, not creatinine. But...it's creatine levels that change?

And as I understand it, as long as protein is not being excreted in urine, an EGFR of 60-89 is fine?

Mine was 100, and I didn't want a cycle to push it way down. That said, I am also chronically dehydrated.

How much water do you drink daily?

How much is optimal?