Because of friends and clients with biochemical conditions requiring  lithium 
treatment and also with severe hypothyroid symptoms, I have  been concerned 
for years about how they are treated (or mis-treated).  The  posting about the 
effect of lithium on the cells' ability to take in and use T3  is significant 
and seems to answer some of my questions.  
 
 
If the lithium helps you otherwise, don't quit it.  
 
Are your doctors willing to learn from your previous doctor?  

 
T4 is the 'storage' form, ready to be converted.  T3 is the form that  gets 
into the cells if it can get in.  Reverse T3 is the form that is not  usable, 
but it gets counted with the normal T3 in the usual blood tests that  only 
count iodine atoms on the molecule.
 
I have wondered about the role of cortisol and the role of the pituitary in  
those biochemical conditions.  
 
Cortisol levels fluctuate in the day normally, but what happens in people  
with biochemical conditions that need lithium for treatment?  Apparently  
cortisol levels affect whether T4 converts to T3 at all and whether it converts  to 
T3 or Reverse T3 (the unusable form).  Is it also a factor in whether  normal 
T3 gets into the cellular receptor sites?  Anyway, the unused and  unusable 
thyroid hormones, if they stay in the body, lower TSH even if the  person is 
hypothyroid at the cellular level and has all the symptoms of being  hypothyroid.
 
I also wonder if cells that have been starved for T3 are like human victims  
of starvation.  When starved and emaciated humans first get real  food, they 
can only take in a little at a time (starting with broth) until  'ready' to eat 
normally.  I developed that theory because of my  experiences.  
 
Peg

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