I dont understand thyroid......but I have been wondering if the weight loss was from it.......I had a thyroid scan which they said was normal......but I found out I have 2 nodules on it.......tsh 1.45 (.40-4.5) t4free 1.4 (.8-1.8) t3 142 (97-219) thyroidPeroxidase <10 (<35)........Im cold all the time......have rapid heart rate most of the time.........fasting Cortisol in AM was 17.5 (4-22 for am)..........and help would be great..........I just want to find a reason that this all came on rapidly..........thanks Valerie

Hi Val,
Your T4 looks OK (60% of range) but your T3 is low (37% of range) You do not seem to be converting the T4 to T3 well, and studies have shown that even a slight deficiency of T3 can cause symptoms. The TSH looks good, but that is a pituitary hormone and cannot be relied upon for the whole picture. A trial of Armour thyroid is in order to see if it relieves your symptoms.

The cortisol looks OK, but you probably should do a saliva cortisol test where you spit in a tube 4 times/day. Your morning cortisol can be normal, but you could have low adrenal reserves which can only be ascertained by getting several readings during the day.

Have you had a ferritin level done? Low iron stores can cause you to feel cold, fatigued, and have a rapid heart rate. Have you had heavy periods?

Also, dehydration can cause a rapid heart rate, are you drinking 8-10 glasses of water/day?

Will your doc allow you a trial of Armour?

thanks for the quick reply Sariah ..........Im post 23 months now........Im seeing a new endo on thursday so will ask him about the armour.....my morning are my worst time so thats why the cortisol was only done in am......how about the nodules on thyroid scan could they be causing problems? you are best!! Valerie

(((((((((((((((valerie)))))))))))))))) long time no see. I'm sorry you're struggling and I wish I had some info. for you regarding your test results. I hope you find an answer.


Sariah, you seem to be so knowledgeable....I'm impressed. I've read other posts you've written too. Are you in the medical filed?

Nodules are quite common, but they are not all the same, some are 'cold', some are 'hot', some are dense. Usually if they are of a certain size an FNA will be done (fine needle aspiration) to be sure there is no cancer, but sometimes they are done to confirm a Dx of Hashimoto's thyroiditis. I have nodules also, but the are tiny and I did not want an FNA done. And the ultrasound and the antibody test already confirmed that I had Hashi's.

Ideally, you should do a saliva cortisol test prior to starting Armour. If your adrenals are fatigued, the Armour could push you over the edge. I made the mistake of starting even a low dose of Armour prior to a saliva cortisol test, and let me tell you, that was several months of hell I endured even though I only took the Armour for 3 days. It must have put my adrenals over the edge. I also found out I had low ferritin, and that made the symptoms worse. I have a study showing that low ferritin can cause people to be intolerant of thyroid meds.

The the proper order is to first test the adrenals and ferritin and adress those issues first if they are a problem, then start Armour at a very low dose. It took me many months and lots of patience to slowly increase the Armour, but I did not want a repeat of what had happened before. I am really starting to feel like I can function again, so it has been worth it.

Thank you, I am a nurse, but I did not obtain any of this knowledge at nursing school or on the job. It was due to desperation and feeling terrible and not being willing to accept that as my life. I have spent countless hours, weeks, months, and the past couple years researching, reading, belonging to various thyroid/adrenal/hormone groups, asking questions, learning from others who went before me. Although I do think the medical knowledge I did have made it easier to understand the published medical journal articles and studies.

It's called learning something the hard way. It's been a lot of ups and downs with my health, but I'm seeing progress so it's been worth all of it. And a side benefit is that I get the satisfaction of helping others feel better also.