What most people are familiar with are hormones like testosterone, adrenaline, perhaps serotonin. Most women know oestrogen; those affected are also familiar with insulin, possibly glucagon; and many older people know thyroxine (T4). Most people have a rough idea of what these hormones are good for.
But hardly anyone knows what they can be bad for as well. And on top of that, there are many more hormones involved. Just to name a few: dopamine, progesterone, serotonin, melatonin, noradrenaline, T3, gastrin, growth hormone (GH), parathyroid hormone, oxytocin, TSH, DHEA — and the list goes on.
Managing thyroid hormones
What symptoms can occur when something is out of balance here?
For example:
-Fatigue / lack of drive
-Concentration problems, poor memory
-Reduced libido (little or no sexual desire)
-Obesity
-ADD/ADHD-like symptoms
-Sweating, trembling
– No weight gain, a very lean build
-Depression
It’s not only bodybuilders who interfere with hormones — doctors have done so as well. Over the past decades, this has happened, for example, with thyroid hormones. Very often, misdiagnoses were made because not all three values were examined — namely TSH, free T4, and free T3. In many cases, doctors prescribed a T4-only preparation (thyroxine) without carrying out a follow-up examination (hormone screening). This is problematic because some people suffer from secondary hypothyroidism caused by insufficient TSH production in the pituitary gland. In such cases, free T3 levels are below the normal range, while the T4 level — which is often the only value tested — may still appear normal. The reason is that the body may not be able to convert enough T4 into T3. To raise T3 levels to a healthy range, the pituitary gland would need to produce TSH in greater quantities — which often does not happen. It is therefore not sufficient to focus solely on the TSH value and/or free T4.
Another problem is the excessively broad tolerance range used for these values. Depending on the laboratory, reference ranges are often given between 0.3 and 4.2. If a person falls within this range, most general practitioners will say they are “healthy”. However, at a TSH level of around 1.0, the pituitary gland is already signalling the need to produce more thyroid hormone. Doctors usually only begin treatment once TSH rises well above 4.2 — yet patients with such values are often already in a significant state of hypothyroidism.
There are also numerous medications that interfere with thyroid metabolism and prevent or slow the conversion of T4 into T3. These include, for example, statins (CSE inhibitors used to lower cholesterol). Beta blockers also inhibit the conversion of T4 into T3.
