Hypothyroidism Support Group
Hypothyroidism is the disease state caused by insufficient production of thyrohormone by the thyroid gland. There are several distinct causes for chronic hypothyroidism, the most common being Hashimoto's thyroiditis and hypothyroidism following radioiodine therapy for hyperthyroidism. Advanced hypothyroidism may cause severe complications, the most serious one of which is...
http://thyroid.about.com/od/t3treatment/a/Reverse-T3-triiodothyronine-RT3-Thyroid.htm
http://sufairchild.com/ENDO/thyroid.htm
What kind of medication are you taking for your thyroid right now? Are you taking any T3 only medicine?
Here is where you're at within the ranges:
Free T4 60%
Free T3 26.3%
Hopefully MButterfly or someone else will chime in too because I don't know a ton about this, but you should really get another opinion, hopefully from a doctor that actually understands thyroid health and who cares. I suspect you would be helped by adding a T3 only medication to what you already take.
If you were new here and had no other physical ailments and on no other medication, I would tell you that you're hypothyroid and need treatment.
However, as I see from some of your other posts you are on other medications that I have no experience with, you're experiencing trouble with your blood sugar, and you have A-Fib. That's nothing to mess around with. You need a qualified doctor to manage your care.
I am not a doctor. We're just people familiar with certain ailments and treatments that fall within the hypothyroid scheme of things.
I can tell you from MY experience that having several specialists often muddies the waters. They look only at a small section of your health rather than the overall health and well-being of the patient. You end up with lots of dx's and lots of rx's and often feel the worse for it.
My ONLY advice to you is this: Find a GOOD doctor. ONE. Go over ALL your symptoms, conditions, and medications with ONE doctor (preferably a GP who has alot of experience) and keep going to that ONE doctor until you get the answers you need.
To answer your question about reverse T3 - it's not a reliable indicator in people who have "other health issues" just as Free T3 is not always reliable indicator in people who have "other health issues". Free T3 will most always take a dip of there's poor health (other than simply hypothyroidism). Why? You can't exercise or eat as a healthy person normally would. Your body is trying to protect you. I say this based on studies of chronically ill people. I can share those studies, but they read like a chemistry book written by the dullest human on earth.
Good luck to you, Sir. I hope you find the answers you need soon.