Getting Testy

Getting Testy

I had some blood tests done recently to check a few things because hey, I’m in my 40s now, and I really haven’t seen a doctor for a while. For the most part, things were as expected, but a couple results surprised me. Though looking back on it, maybe they shouldn’t have.

First surprise was a good one: my testosterone has basically doubled since the last time I had it tested three years ago. Clean Keto seems to really be agreeing with my system in that regard. Better yet, my free testosterone was nearly at the bottom of the scale. So not only are my levels much better, but it’s all being used.

I also had them test my estradiol due to the dacron patch in my heart, as phthalates act as estrogen-dominant endocrine disruptors. As (somewhat) expected, I was about 50% above the maximum range. I need to figure out how to lower that, because that’s way too much estrogen. And that’s after removing plastic food storage and sticking to filtered water. I’ve read good things about indole-3-carbinol here, but I need to be careful since my estrogen is exogenous. I don’t want to block my “good” natural estrogen and have it replaced by whatever is coming from the dacron patch.

Bad surprise was that my TSH is over 8, and anything over 2 is a strong indicator of hypothyroidism. I’ve gotten high readings ever since I was in my 30s, but I suspect this problem started earlier than that, given how often I feel cold for no reason. I’m not talking about having cold hands or being chilly, but enjoying sitting in hot cars warmed by the sun like some kind of lizard.

When I started keto, I slowly weaned myself off of basically all of my meds. I wanted to see what I still needed once my body became accustomed to burning fat as a fuel source rather than sugar. What could heal once I reduced inflammation caused by food I shouldn’t eat according to my genetic report?

Unfortunately my thyroid was not on that list. But hey, this is why we check things, right? I can deal with a Synthroid pill every morning. I do have some concern that Synthroid is just T4, and that means I’m not really getting T3 and any other compounds produced by my janky thyroid. I may need to see if my doctor will consider desiccated thyroid tablets like Armour Thyroid or NP Thyroid. But I’ll see how things feel after a couple months first.

I still have a way to go on all of this, but hey, it’s a start.

Until Tomorrow