Getting to the bottom of why you’re tired all the time can be difficult. If you’re so run down that you see your doctor, chances are good that you’ll have your Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) level checked. If it’s normal, your doctor will assume it’s not thyroid-related, and move on to other tests, such as a Complete Blood Count (CBC), Lyme disease, vitamin D, B12, and occult blood in your stool. Liver enzymes, hepatitis exposure, sleep studies–the list of possible tests is endless.
While some of these tests might be worthwhile, depending on your symptoms and risk factors, there’s always a simple and inexpensive test that I would always recommend first. It’s so low-tech that you can do it yourself. Check your body temperature. See if it is consistently low, especially if it’s below 97.8 F (36.56 C)
To do this, take your temperature by mouth, every 3 hours, three times a day, starting 3 hours after waking. Do it for several days (but not the 3 days prior to the period in women since body temperature is higher then.) For best accuracy and safety, use the new mercury-free Galinstan thermometer, which functions the same as a mercury thermometer. For each day, add the 3 temperatures together and divide by 3 to get the average. There’s a convenient temperature chart you can use on my website. (See How Are Body Temperatures Measured?) If your temperature consistently averages below 98.6 F. (37 C.) then you may be suffering from Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome (WTS).
WTS is low body temperature and other vague but debilitating symptoms such as fatigue and weight gain, caused by low metabolism when thyroid blood tests are normal. This is often due to low levels of cellular T3, the active form of thyroid hormone, and can occur even when TSH levels are normal. That’s because TSH tests don’t measure the T3 levels inside the cells of the tissues of the body. Many doctors simply do not recognize that many people have problems converting T4, the inactive form of thyroid, to T3. WTS is very real and is much more common than most other thyroid problems.
A simple course of several months of T3 therapy–and, of course, taking your temperature daily to see if it comes up to normal–will help determine if, indeed, your fatigue is being caused by slow metabolism due to low T3. Measuring your temperature is the best way to check to see if your slow metabolism is due to low T3 stimulation inside the cells because T3 stimulation inside the cells is the largely what determines your body temperature.
You can discuss taking a course of T3 with your doctor. Your doctor can call us at 800.420.5801 or 800.420.5801 to get more information about how to use T3 and to discuss your individual case.
I have always said that body temperature should be the first thing we check, not the last. I once had a patient get a $30,000 workup at the Mayo Clinic, and after all those tests, they still didn’t know why she felt bad. She came to me, and I had her check her temperature. It was low, we fixed it, she recovered, and she was flabbergasted that such a simple and inexpensive test did for her what “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men” and all their tests couldn’t do to put her back together again. Temperatures are certainly worth checking!
REFERENCES
Bianco AC, Salvatore D, Gereben B, et al. Biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, and physiological roles of the iodothyronine selenodeiodinases. Endocrine Reviews 2002; Feb;23(1):38-89.
Hennemann G, Vos RA, de Jong M, et al. Decreased peripheral 3,5,3’-triiodothyronine (T3) production from thyroxine (T4): a syndrome of impaired thyroid hormone activation due to transport inhibition of T4- into T3-producing tissues. JCEM 1993;77(5):1431–5.
Yellin BA, Reichman AJ, Lowe JC. The process of change during T3 treatment for euthyroid fi bromyalgia: a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study. Clin Bull Myofascial Ther 1996;2(2–3):91–124.
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