My nine year old son’s lab work

[Juliampersand]

I started my son on Cynoplus this week due to his extreme fatigue. He had a blood draw from a new naturopath a few days after he started. I should have waited till after his blood draw but I was desperate. So the numbers are probably skewed. The doc thinks he doesn’t have hypothyroidism but probably fatty liver. Any help interpreting?:
TSH 0.58
T4, free 1.0
T3, free 5.4
Cortisol, pm 3.7

 

[tasfarelel]

This "extreme fatigue" can have so many potential causes. And not just nutrition, but also environment and lifestyle = what you make him do. Have you ruled out everything before starting to think about his thyroid?

 

[Juliampersand]

Thanks for your response, @tasfarelel
I’ve been measuring his temperature intermittently. Morning ones can get as low as 95. I’ve been following Peat principles for over a year with him, although he has gained more weight. A few reasons for this I’ve learned is I should have upped his thiamine with the increase in sugar consumed. He also had three asthma attacks in the span of a year and I’ve learned that lack of oxygen causes fat accumulation. I’m especially weary because everyone around me including my husband thinks he just needs to follow “calories in calories out.”
The extreme fatigue is setting in even in fun activities with his friends which is really disheartening.

 

[chrstn4o]

I started my son on Cynoplus this week due to his extreme fatigue. He had a blood draw from a new naturopath a few days after he started. I should have waited till after his blood draw but I was desperate. So the numbers are probably skewed. The doc thinks he doesn’t have hypothyroidism but probably fatty liver. Any help interpreting?:
TSH 0.58
T4, free 1.0
T3, free 5.4
Cortisol, pm 3.7

Hi, it seems a little extreme to use Cynoplus with someone so young. I've written a book on autism and children's health and work with parents with kids with a lot of health issues. Invariably, literally every time, there is some sort of gut pathogen and dysbiosis. Every single time. This is a big driver of fatigue and the myriad of other symptoms that can manifest as a result of gut dysfunction. Unless that is addressed, we can throw the kitchen sink at the symptoms, but that is all we are doing: playing whack a mole with symptoms.

 

[Juliampersand]

Thanks for your reply. Checking out your website.
I was using really tiny amounts of Cynoplus. It does seem to help his energy and temperature. I paused it after getting the lab results today.

 

[youngsinatra]

T3 can quickly lower TSH from my experience. For how many days have you given him thyroid, also how much?

Free T4 is on the low side, which would be understandable because T4 takes 2-3 weeks to build up in the serum and he took it only for a few days apparently.

Free T3 looks solid, could be due to him taking T3-containing Cynoplus.

Unfortunately you likely need to stop taking thyroid, wait 2 weeks and then do blood work again to get a baseline value.

His PM cortisol looks low-ish, but I don’t know your reference range. One measurement doesn’t tell enough.

Good that you are working with a naturopath and wanting to improve your son‘s health! *hats off*

 

[HumanLife]

Hi, it seems a little extreme to use Cynoplus with someone so young. I've written a book on autism and children's health and work with parents with kids with a lot of health issues. Invariably, literally every time, there is some sort of gut pathogen and dysbiosis. Every single time. This is a big driver of fatigue and the myriad of other symptoms that can manifest as a result of gut dysfunction. Unless that is addressed, we can throw the kitchen sink at the symptoms, but that is all we are doing: playing whack a mole with symptoms.

This is what I was more or less going to say.

Try the shredded carrot salad with coconut oil. Take note of bowel movements. Pineapple has bromelain which is a mix of digestive enzymes that aid digestion. When digesting foods, see that he adapts to munching his food more to produce more saliva. Digestion starts in the mouth, and if he eats the food whole without moistening it enough with saliva and properly crushing it, it would just be harder on his gut.

He needs to rest a lot as well. Lack of sleep decreases the effectiveness of every organ; the thyroid, liver, heart, digestive system, and even bowel movements. At 9 years old he must be sleeping a lot as well to recover.

 

[Juliampersand]

Thanks for your encouragement, @youngsinatra ! I would cut the tablet into 16ths and give him one three times a day for the past four days. Cortisol reference range is 3.0-17.0.
Thanks for your suggestions, @HumanLife !

 

[Peatful]

Hello.
Find the origin of his “stress”.
Address that.

Sun is a thyroid surrogate.
Make sure he has plenty of sun and friends and being a boy
Play is therapeutic beyond measure

As said above
Rest is important too

My opinion: the thyroid is solving nothing
But possibly pushing UP his stress response
I would not give my girls this

 

[Juliampersand]

Thanks, Peatful! We did a lot of sun this summer and hoping to continue being outside as much as possible here in the pacific NW.

 

[CellularIconoclast]

Were those blood tests before or after starting cynoplus? There is probably another cause, with TSH that low it seems very unlikely that his fatigue will be treated with thyroid.

I do not think you should be giving a kid that young thyroid, unless they have an extremely high TSH that a normal doctor would prescribe thyroid for. They cannot consent to the risks, or understand what it is. It is a totally different thing from an adult doing this themselves.

Why does the doc think fatty liver?

 

[Juliampersand]

It wasn’t a fasting blood draw, and he had a pretty fatty lunch beforehand but the numbers were still quite high:

Total cholesterol: 173 H
Ref: <170 mg/dL

HDL cholesterol: 33 L
Ref: >45 mg/dL

Triglycerides: 536 H
Ref: <75 mg/dL

Alkaline phosphotase: 402 H
Reference range: 117-311 U/L

AST: 39 H
Ref: 12-32 U/L

ALT: 63 H
Ref: 8-30 U/L

 

[haidut]

I started my son on Cynoplus this week due to his extreme fatigue. He had a blood draw from a new naturopath a few days after he started. I should have waited till after his blood draw but I was desperate. So the numbers are probably skewed. The doc thinks he doesn’t have hypothyroidism but probably fatty liver. Any help interpreting?:
TSH 0.58
T4, free 1.0
T3, free 5.4
Cortisol, pm 3.7

Free T4/T3 means next to nothing unless total T4/T3 are also measured at the same time as well as SHBG and thyroglobulin. The whole theory that only "free" hormones are active is fraudulent and dead in the water and my guess is the only reason doctors still test for "free" hormones only is that it is cheaper to do so and they are being pressure by insurance companies to do it. For example, a male with a total testosterone below 350 will be almost always totally impotent and infertile, yet his "free" testosterone levels could be through roof, especially if he has liver issues (common in hypothyroidism) so he does not produce much SHBG.

All Steroids (not Just Unbound/free Ones) Are Bioavailable

One of the recurring points of contention in Peat's writings that I have not seen addressed yet is his comment on total vs. free hormones and the relevance this has for common blood tests for thyroid and sex hormones. The mainstream medical claim is that only free hormones are capable of...

raypeatforum.com

Levels of total steroids, be that testosterone or thyroid, gives info on how well the glands producing those steroids are working, and that is what the goal of those tests is. Free levels of hormones diagnose nothing except possible liver disease (if SHBG levels are low).

 

[Juliampersand]

Thanks so much, haidut! I will let my doc know this!

 

[John mcclain]

I'd be worried about those triglycerides and you say he is gaining weight and no energy sounds like insulin resistance to me I'd do the complete opposite of peat principal's and go carnivore pull all carbs and for god sake no more hormones. Hes body is rejecting something my guess is the food...haven't eating peaty for over 2 yrs and gained lots of weight and feeling like garbage and taking all sorts of crap only carnivore has me feeling normal...good luck

 

[youngsinatra]

Free T4/T3 means next to nothing unless total T4/T3 are also measured at the same time as well as SHBG and thyroglobulin. The whole theory that only "free" hormones are active is fraudulent and dead in the water and my guess is the only reason doctors still test for "free" hormones only is that it is cheaper to do so and they are being pressure by insurance companies to do it. For example, a male with a total testosterone below 350 will be almost always totally impotent and infertile, yet his "free" testosterone levels could be through roof, especially if he has liver issues (common in hypothyroidism) so he does not produce much SHBG.

All Steroids (not Just Unbound/free Ones) Are Bioavailable

One of the recurring points of contention in Peat's writings that I have not seen addressed yet is his comment on total vs. free hormones and the relevance this has for common blood tests for thyroid and sex hormones. The mainstream medical claim is that only free hormones are capable of...

raypeatforum.com

Levels of total steroids, be that testosterone or thyroid, gives info on how well the glands producing those steroids are working, and that is what the goal of those tests is. Free levels of hormones diagnose nothing except possible liver disease (if SHBG levels are low).

Very interesting perspective, thanks for sharing.