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If
you are experiencing the typical signs and symptoms of an underactive thyroid
but your Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, free T4, and even your free T3 appear to
be normal you may want to consider checking your reverse T3, which is an
inactive form of T3.
This
article answers the question ‘what causes high reverse T3’.
Firstly,
what does a high reverse T3 mean to your health?
Too
much reverse T3 can trigger a range of symptoms associated with an underactive
thyroid such as fatigue, depression, hair loss, muscle weakness, low blood
pressure, and a slower than normal pulse rate.
The
single reverse T3 test
is included in the top 5 thyroid blood tests
that are most useful to check your thyroid health. Many integrative doctors and
Naturopaths now consider the reverse T3 blood test to be essential to
effectively diagnose and manage hypothyroidism.
What
causes high reverse T3 (RT3)? {There are 5 key reasons}
+
Unrelenting
physical and emotional stress.
Ongoing
stress and anxiety cause cortisol to soar. Cortisol is the hormone that helps
you cope with stress.
There
is a flip side to having excessive amounts of cortisol circulating in your
blood stream. High cortisol inhibits normal thyroid hormone activity. This
leads to an excess amount of reverse T3 being produced.
Health
experts propose this is a protective response to slow metabolism and conserve
energy during times of prolonged stress. Your body knows it simply cannot
survive on high alert for too long. It can lead to burnout.
+
Extreme, or
yo-yo dieting.
Cutting
calories in an effort to lose weight sparks the body’s hard wired famine
response. Your body feels the need to conserve energy when food becomes scarce
and it achieves this by putting the brakes on your metabolic rate.
The
easiest and quickest way your body can slow your metabolic rate and thereby
conserve energy is by producing a massive amount of reverse T3.
+
Low iron is
leaving you tired and breathless.
Chronic
iron deficiency is a common finding of an underactive thyroid. This deficiency
needs to be addressed as a lack of iron impairs proper thyroid hormone
metabolism. More specifically, low iron decreases healthy conversion of
thyroxine (T4) to more active triiodothyronine (T3).
Adequate
levels of iron are especially important to help fight fatigue as this mineral
is required by your red blood cells to carry oxygen around your body. When iron
is low your oxygenation levels are low and your body cannot utilise T3 at a
cell level.
+
Long term
exposure to toxins.
Toxins
such as heavy metals, pesticides, and industrial chemicals switch on a physical
stress response. Toxins also have serious effects on your thyroid health.
At
a cellular level toxins can block the thyroid cell receptors so the thyroid
hormones cannot perform their job, and toxins can enter the thyroid causing
damage to the actual thyroid tissue.
These
factors sabotage day to day function of your thyroid leading to an underactive
thyroid. Over time the stress of dealing with toxins and the diminishing
function of the thyroid can activate far greater production of reverse T3.
+
Systemic
illness is a factor.
It
is difficult to recover from reverse T3 dominance when a chronic underlying
illness is not addressed. When your body feels under threat by a long standing
illness it slows metabolism. Your body hits the ‘hibernation’ button to lessen
the impact of a chronic illness.
For
example, a latent viral infection may be causing widespread problems. This can
lead to chronic fatigue syndrome which is often associated with over production
of reverse T3.
If
you have low T3 you should get your reverse T3 checked, especially if you have
some type of long standing illness. On testing it’s typical to see low T3 and
high reverse T3.
Treating
excess reverse T3 secondary to a specific chronic illness is best discussed
with a skilled healthcare practitioner.
Watch
this Video Below Here from Dr.Richard Hagmeyer - How High Reverse T3 Causes Symptoms Associated with an Underactive Thyroid
Read
the following related articles:
Author Bio:
Louise O’ Connor,
the author of The Natural Thyroid Diet –The 4-Week Plan to Living Well, Living Vibrantly, who
is a specialist in Thyroid Health. She is a highly regarded Australian
Naturopath and founder of Wellnesswork.
The Natural Thyroid
Diet goes beyond diet advice and offers practical and effective ways to achieve
healthy thyroid levels within just a short period of time. For more details,
Click on
The-Natural-Thyroid-Diet.com
