As I suspected, my recent blood test shows that my thyroid is underactive. I've been very symptomatic with increased fatigue, sensitivity to cold, regular headaches, slowed fat loss, hair thinning, and dry skin. My TSH came in at 3.43 which isn't horrible but with how I've been feeling and with being 7 weeks out from my first show, my doctor and I agreed on starting synthroid at a low dose. Starting 25mcg per day in the morning upon waking. Downing it with a bottle of water before I do my morning fasted cardio. I told my coach about this and he's cut my cardio back by 5 minutes per session until we see how I respond to the medication. I'm also folic acid, B12 and vitamin D deficient. Mind you nearly everyone is pretty vitamin D deficient though from what I understand. Ah prep life.
Hypothyroidism
- Thread starter Little K
- Start date
K - Before heading in the direction of Synthroid, a couple of alternatives exist. The natural supplements L-Tyrosine, Iodine, Kelp, ...etc. Some people respond to them very well, and others dont at all.
The other alternative is more of the natural desiccated thyroid like Nature-Throid and Armor Thyroid. I tried both, Natrue-Thy is MUCH stronger mg for mg , at least imo, i am MUCH more comfortable on Armor Thyroid. And the honest opinion is even with low doses, i find 6 weeks to be the max i can go without this becoming EXTREMELY CATABOLIC, i mean visible loss of muscle tissue. Its a known side of thyroid meds, like everything else some people are more susceptible to this side than others, nevertheless everybody experiences that side effect to a diff degree. So K - keep the catabolic factor in mind, and check into the natural desiccated thyroid options. They are super cheap and super effective, and MUCH less sides than Synthroid.
Going as natural as possible. I discussed a few of the options you mentioned with my doctor and knowing how I generally respond to Synthroid (favorably with no sides), we decided to try the low dose for now over the alternatives. I don't usually go this route but with how long supplements normally take to benefit me and with how close my show is, my coach and I felt this was best. At least for now. We are going to keep a close eye on catabolism and energy levels during the remainder of this prep (7 weeks) and redo blood work in 8 weeks. We'll reevaluate at that time and take my off season into consideration when deciding how to proceed.
Thanks for the solid advice, Swole!
I have a slightly under active thyroid and I found I-Thyroid, an iodine supplement, does the trick. It is very cheap (under $10) and can be found on Amazon with free shipping if your are a Prime member.
Vitamin D is VERY important for muscle growth and neurological pathways. It has too many benefits to even list here. Just make sure you do not take to much as is is fat soluble and does build up in your body. Depending on your deficiency 10,000iu's/ED for 4 weeks and than a maintenance dose of 2000-5000iu's/ED is typical or GET YOUR A$$ OUT IN THE SUN! 
I think you are taking the correct course for now. A small dose of synthroid for a short period of time should not cause a catabolic effect as long as you maintain the correct diet and keep your protein intake up.
SEMPER FI
you have zero sides to Synthroid? You must be a down right beast Thats awesome. If you are comfortable with taking that route, then by all means thats what you have to do. I dont know the half life of the synthroid you are using, but make sure to check that, if its 6-8 hours, make sure to SPLIT the dose into 2: morning like you're doing now, and the rest of the dose 6-8 hours in (whatever the half life is) to keep steady levels in the blood, and to keep repeaing the benefits
Rock on K !!!
blastthru23
Moderator
Just a quick aside, mushrooms are high in vit d. I was working a job a couple years back where i was getting almost no sun at all. Both my co-worker and i were feeling under the weather, but not sick about 4 months in to the project. I began eating a ton of mushrooms with every meal, and i rather quickly turned that ship around.
Thanks, guys.
Swole, if you're talking about headaches and insomnia, I've already got those. The headaches are something I'm closely monitoring but my doctor thinks they're from my thyroid likely because my caffeine consumption is reasonable and consistent. Plus I'm very well hydrated. The insomnia has actually improved this past week since starting the synthroid and vitamins. What other sides do you know of besides catabolism and the others I mentioned?
Semp, that's exactly what I'm starting with - 10,000 IUs. And with the show coming up I'll be tanning again soon. My coach did cut my cardio back by 5 minutes per session just to play things safe. And my protein intake is at 210g per day while weighing 140 pounds. It's pretty high for my bodyweight and I keep getting stronger so we're leaving it for now!
Blast, no mushrooms in my diet at the moment.
k - sides are mostly associated with Thyroid going to high, OR a person's intolerance to the substance or the fillers in the substance. So, when i pushed Armour thyroid to 80-100 mcg per day, a few days in, i would feel alot of anxiety, sweating for no reason. Doc tells me its classic high thyroid caused by thyroid meds. So catabolism, anxiety and sweating are the main sides IF you're Thyroid is going too high. Blood draw is cheap and would tell the whole story. Ofcourse my appetite seems to open up real well on Thyroid, but thats not a side imo Its cause the metabolism is increasing so you burn more calories faster, hence more hungrier.
i can say that you let me in on a great thing. I actually didnt know about it. I just signed up & verified my account. myquest.questdiagnostics.com
i apparantly have to wait 24 hours before i can see my labs from 60 days ago on the site. So ill check there tomorrow.
+1 for the tip K !! thanks.
Glad I could help! Quest has an even more in depth service called Blueprint for Athletes. It's a paid service and I've found the basic free data tracking to be more than sufficient for my current needs. Just something to keep in mind should you want further access down the road.
hey, i want further access now lol i saw this blueprint thing, they have diff packages it seems. Hormone package, Lab package,...etc. Whats that all about, i didnt spend too much time but maybe u can give me a quick high level on it. Hey, if you already used it why dont i squeeze your brain for info!
Beautyizabeast
New member
I read through everyones posts on this thread and did not see any mention of treatment of Hypothyroidism with Levothyroxine, Which is what i was prescribed by my doctor. I had all of the symptoms that you mentioned and the Levothyroxine took care of everything .. I took some T3 and T4 which are also basically the same as Levo... You should look into it! It worked great for me
