CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME

Posted byGervaisPosted inUncategorized

a.k.a. “Low T3 Syndrome”, a.k.a. “Intracellular Hypothyroidism” – symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.

No motivation. No energy. Always tired. What’s the use, anyway?

In November 2021 I received a paper, entitled “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: a case control study”, by Begoña Ruiz-Núñez, Rabab Tarasse, Emar F Vogelaar, D A Janneke Dijck-Brouwer, Frits A J Muskiet PMID: 29615976, PMCID: PMC5869352, DOI:10.3389/fendo.2018.00097, Front Endocrinol (Lausanne), 2018 Mar 20;9:97. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2018.00097. 2018.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5869352/.
Please see the abstract of this important article, followed by my opinion, below.

ABSTRACT (paraphrased, for brevity and clarity)

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a heterogeneous disease, of unknown cause. CFS symptoms resemble a hypothyroid state, secondary to chronic inflammation.
We studied 98 CFS patients and 99 age- and sex-matched controls, measuring parameters of thyroid function, (metabolic) inflammation, gut wall integrity and nutrients influencing thyroid function and/or inflammation.
CFS patients exhibited:
Similar TSH,
Lower free T3 (FT3),
Lower total thyroxine (TT4),
Lower total T3 (TT3),
Lower %TT3 (4.7%),
Lower activity of deiodinases,
Lower secretory capacity of the thyroid gland (14.9%) and
Lower 24-h urinary iodine (27.6%).

The % of reverse T3 (rT3) was higher (13.3%), among the patients. FT3 below the normal range, consistent with the “low T3 syndrome,” was found in 16/98 Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients vs. 7/99 controls.

We also found evidence of low-grade metabolic inflammation (Ferritin & HDL-C).
FT3, TT3, TT4, and rT3 correlated positively with HSCRP in both CFS patients and controls.

TT3 and TT4 were positively related to HSCRP in controls.
Low T3, and the shift from T3 to rT3, may reflect more depressed tissue T3 levels.

The findings in chronic fatigue syndrome patients agree with studies suggesting a hypometabolic state. They resemble “non-thyroidal illness syndrome”, a.k.a. “low T3 syndrome” (I prefer to call it “intracellular hypothyroidism”), experienced by a subgroup of hypothyroid patients receiving T4 monotherapy.
Our study needs confirmation by others: trials with T3 and iodide supplements might be indicated.

Keywords: chronic fatigue syndrome, thyroid, “low T3 syndrome”, triiodothyronine, reverse triiodothyronine, urinary iodine, inflammation, high-sensitive C-reactive protein

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Published by Gervais

I am a Toronto-trained Urologist. I practiced in downtown Toronto, from 1977 to 1997, when I went to Saudi Arabia as chief of Urology at the Armed Forces (teaching) hospital in Tabuk. Returning to Toronto in Y2000, I switched to family practice. In 2007, began to prescribe Hormone Restoration Therapy and in 2012, I became a member of the American Academy of Antiaging Medicine [A4M]. I successfully wrote the A4M's written examination in December, 2013 and In May, 2016 I passed the oral examination, for accreditation as a BHRT consultant. In 2014 I began BHRT practice in Collingwood, Ontario and in January, 2017, joined the Stone Tree Naturopathic Clinic. Now I am 85 and retired, but it seems wasteful to jettison my learning and experience: the medical establishment knows nothing of BHRT / Functonal medicine and I feel obliged to offer my knowledge in the interest of those who are willing to think outside the box. QUALIFICATIONS: MB, BS, (UWI), 1964. LMCC 1969. FRCSC (Urology), 1974. ECFMG 1984. Florida license [inactive], ABAARM 2016. Affiliations: CSAMM, OMA, CMA, SUSO, CUA, RCP&S/C. PRACTICE TO DATE: Consultation in Functional Medicine: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Andropause, Menopause, Teenage and Postpartum Depression/Panic Attacks, Thyroid Hormone malfunction, Infertility, Sexual Dysfunction and “the Undiagnosable”. ALL ARE WELCOME to read, comment or question!