The Other Big Thing That Might Be Wrong With Your Thyroid

After All of That, Still Something’s Wrong!

So, let’s say you’ve been brave, and went ahead and had your thyroid tested using the criteria stated in my previous blogs. For more information on how to understand a thyroid test, go to:

http://thyroid.about.com/library/howto/htthyroid-test.htm.

Let’s say you were diagnosed as being hypothyroid and began taking some type of thyroid

medication, and for a while you felt better. But then, you started slipping into the same yukky sick fog of hypothyroidism again. What could be wrong?

It could be a problem with Reverse T3.

What the heck is Reverse T3? And what is it doing in my body?

Remember from my previous blogs that the main storage thyroid hormone is called T4, and that the active hormone is called T3. T4 is converted mainly by the liver to T3. Sometimes your body makes too much T4, and the unneeded part gets converted to another hormone called Reverse T3. Reverse T3 is the inactive form of regular active T3. The problem arises when under certain circumstances too much T4 gets converted to Reverse T3. This is a problem because Reverse T3 docks at the same receptor sites as T3, and when that happens your body is not getting enough active T3, and you start feeling sick again. What causes your body to convert T4 to Reverse T3?

STRESS! (Aren’t you tired of hearing that word?) But, sadly, it’s true.  When your body feels that for the health of your system, you need to slow down, it will convert T4 to Reverse T3 in order to slow down your metabolism. Some of these physical stressors might include:

1.     Chronic or acute illness

2.     After surgery

3.     Physical trauma, i.e. car accident

4.     Extreme Cold

5.     Chronic inflammation

6.     Low iron

7.     Prolonged un diagnosed or under diagnosed thyroid treatment

One of the ways our bodies compensate for not enough thyroid hormone is for the adrenal glands to produce more cortisol. Excess cortisol inhibits the conversion of T4 to regular active T3. After a time, your adrenal glands can become “fatigued,” and your cortisol levels drop. Some of the symptoms of chronic adrenal fatigue are:

1.     Chronic anxiety

2.     Poor coping skills

3.     Paranoia

4.     Nausea

5.     Sensitivity to light or sounds

6.     Other psychological problems

Chronic emotional stress, even low level stress, can also chemically trigger your system into converting T4 into Reverse T3. If you want to know more about Reverse T3, and how it can significantly impact your health, check out this website. This woman knows everything about the thyroid gland.

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/reverse-t3/

How can you discover if you have a problem with too much Reverse T3, and what you can do about it?

Stay tuned…..to my next blog.