Do you know that saying “Bad things happen in threes”? Well, that seems to be the case when it comes to a set of symptoms. Depression, obesity and fibromyalgia seem to cluster together, and may actually have a common cause–low body temperature due to problems with thyroid hormone.
Thyroid hormone–specifically T3–regulates the body’s metabolic rate, and so, determines your body’s usual temperature. When thyroid hormone is low, or isn’t being used properly, your body temperature drops, and many of the biochemical processes in your body slow down. Energy metabolism slows, which means you don’t burn as many calories as you would at normal body temperature. That makes you more likely to slowly gain weight over time, even if you are cutting calories. Low body temperature can also cause decreased production of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, implicated in depression. (Antidepressants inhibit neurotransmitter breakdown.) As for fibromyalgia, with its muscle pain, brain fog and fatigue, low body temperature may contribute in any number of ways, including low energy metabolism in muscles, reduced neurotransmitter production, and constricted blood vessels.
If you have these three health problems, I suggest you start taking your body temperature. (See “How are body temperatures measured” for complete instructions.) If it is consistently below 97.8 F. (36.56 C.) you may have a condition called Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome. Your Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) level may be normal, but you are having trouble utilizing T3, the active form of thyroid hormone. Your body may not be able to convert T4 to T3.
People with Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome can benefit greatly by taking T3 (not T4, the usual form in which supplemental thyroid hormone is given) to normalize their body temperature. T3 may in fact address an underlying cause of all three of these health conditions, and, in doing so, be the boost your body needs to regain balance and recover completely. Your body temperature should return to normal within a few weeks, and you should start to feel better soon after that.
You can discuss taking a course of T3 (active thyroid hormone) with your doctor. Your doctor can call us at 800.420.5801 to get more information about how to use T3 and to discuss your individual case. The object of T3 therapy is to normalize your oral body temperatures to average 98.6 F. (37 C.) during treatment and afterwards.
REFERENCES
Agnihothri RV, Courville AB, Linderman JD, et al. Moderate weight loss is sufficient to affect thyroid hormone homeostasis and inhibit its peripheral conversion. Thyroid. 2013 Jul 31.
Garrison RL, Breeding PC. A metabolic basis for fibromyalgia and its related disorders: the possible role of resistance to thyroid hormone. Med Hypotheses 2003 Aug;61(2):182-9.
Hage, MP, Azar, ST. The Link between Thyroid Function and Depression. J Thyroid Res. 2012;2012:590648.
Lowe JC, Yellin J, Honeyman-Lowe G. Female fibromyalgia patients: lower resting metabolic rates than matched healthy
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