Originally Posted by Alpha-Male
how many times do we have to do this?
"Thyroid hormones, on the other hand, offer significant benefits when used cautiously and "properly". They should not be used haphazardly as a fat loss agent however, instead they are valuable in correcting thyroid dysfunction brought on by androgen use. When done properly, T3 is used as "replacement therapy" and serves only to normalize decreased T3 levels. Research has shown that high dose androgens pushes T3 levels down (14,15). This is significant because the real value of optimal thyroid levels is not for fat loss, but instead for optimum anabolic activity. T3 has diverse facilitative anabolic effects including, increasing GH secretion(16,17), up-regulating GH receptors (18), up-regulating IGF-1 receptors (19,20), and other less well defined anabolic effects (21,22). Don’t get the wrong idea however, for T3 to facilitate anabolism, it must stay in the high normal range. A little too high or a little too low significantly changes the biological effects of thyroid hormones. Bringing T3 levels too high will undoubtedly backfire and lead to muscle, strength losses, and rebound fat gain.
You will need regular ../../affiliates/hormone-levels.htm to determine the optimal dose of T3 (e.g. Cytomel) to bring you up to the optimum range. If you are unwilling, or do not have access to, regular blood work I would not recommend using T3. The old "take your morning temperature" recommendation is simply too inaccurate. Most people use way too much T3 and cause more problems than anything else. However, if you are willing to take care of yourself while optimizing muscle gains, have your free T3 checked before using any T3, yet during your full dose androgen regimen. Try to bring your free T3 levels up to ~7.0-7.4 pmol/L. Your doctor may use conventional units on your blood work which means it will read in "pg/dL". If that’s the case bring your levels up to about 450-480 pg/dL. Doing this will allow optimal caloric intake while minimizing fat gain, as well as optimize the anabolic actions of the androgens you are using."
more info...
"As discussed above, another class of hormones that appears to be important in the normal regulation of muscle protein breakdown is the thyroid hormones. Following thyroidectomy or hypophysectomy, rats exhibit a decrease in muscle protein degradation but administration of T3 or thyroxine (T4) stimulates overall protein catabolism in muscle to normal or excessive levels (N. Tawa, unpublished data). When given experimentally in high doses, or in patients with hyperthyroidism, thyroid hormones cause excessive proteolysis and a loss of muscle mass, and administration of T3 has been found to raise the content of proteasomes in muscle (as well as lysosomal proteases) and to increase the ATP-dependent proteolytic process (as well as lysosomal proteolysis) in muscle (Tawa et al. 1997).
On the other hand, when T3 production falls, there is reduced activity of the Ub-proteasome pathway in muscle, as well as other adaptations that help to conserve muscle protein mass (e.g., reduced proteasome content). Similar changes are seen in muscles of rats fed a low-protein diet and such animals have reduced thyroid function. Clinically, individuals fed a very-low protein diet (but adequate calories) also exhibit a reduction in T3 levels, and there is a decrease in overall protein degradation (Young 1986). As noted above, a reduced thyroid status also underlies the adaptations in muscle that occur in prolonged fasting, and these appear opposite to those occurring in highly catabolic states. Since alternative sources of calories are available in such conditions, suppression of muscle proteolysis would help preserve body protein and essential amino acids"
too little, bad, too much, bad...checking temp., not accurate enough...go ahead Seattle, let's hear it :rolleyes:
AM
