-
Body Temperature
Hi,I check my body temperature everyday first thing in the morning for the BBT method to track ovulation. I’ve noticed that my body temperature (pre ovulation) tends to be in the lower range. It ranges from 35.8 – 36.3 C. It does go up as the day progresses.
It is pretty cold where I live (1-8 degrees C), and I don’t turn on the heater when I sleep but I also don’t feel the need to because of my comforter. I generally don’t feel too cold, but my feet do in the winter months (I usually keep socks on for most of the day).
I’ve gotten a full thyroid panel and everything is in the normal range according to the thyroid video, but here are my results as well:
TSH: 2 mIU/L
Reverse T3: 23 ng/dL
Free T3: 3.1 pg/dL
Total T3: 100 ng/dL
Free T4: 1.3 ng/dL
Total T4: 8.3 mcg/dL
Thyroglobulin Antibodies: 1 IU/mL
TPO: <1 IU/mLWhat could be causing the lower body temperature?
Thanks!
-
8 Replies
-
Hey ,
What kind of thermometer are you using? Is it for example an electric ear thermometer? Is it an old-fashioned under-the-tongue kind of thermometer?
Ear thermometers:
I have noticed that some ear thermometers can produce different readings. This can have different reasons, but here are 2 common ones:
• If your thermometer came from a colder ‘room temperature’ it needs to be ‘warmed up’ to your ear. If you do a few measurements behind each other, you will notice that the temperature readings of your thermometer will increase with every measurement until they stabilize. In my experience, it takes 3 or 4 measurements before you will see the same measurements on your thermometer.
• Make sure your ears are clean. A second influence can come from earwax influencing the outcome of your ear thermometer.There could be other factors at play of course, but let’s rule out this one as first!
-
It’s a under the tongue digital thermometer. I do try to take 2-3 readings in the morning to make sure they are accurate. I have noticed that my second or third reading sometimes is higher. However, the ranges that I provided take those second and third readings into consideration.
-
I was also looking at your labs. I was wondering if you could take a look and check the numbers and the units. For example, you wrote your fT3 was 3.1 pg/dl. The reference range in pg/dl is usually between 250-400 pg/dl. 3.1 would be extremely low.
In pmol/l this number makes more sense but isn’t necessarily high as well. In this case, the other labs would probably be in mol/L as well.
If there are any reference ranges mentioned in the papers as well? They can vary bit per laboratory. It would provide us more details as well!
-
Sorry, it was a typo. It was pg/mL. I’ve attached a copy of the results with the reference ranges as well
[image.png] -
there is ‘slight’ sluggishness in thyroid function. Both Free T4 and Free T3 could be slightly higher – especially if you’re symptomatic. Remember, what’s happening intracellularly cannot be measured in the blood. But what is of note here however, and what is likely contributing to your hypothyroid symptom is the higher Reverse T3.
And this is the perfect example of why testing reverse T3 is so important. If it wasn’t measured, like you said, we’d think that thyroid is working well. And it likely is, except that your body is choosing to de-activate your T3 thyroid hormone into the inactive reverse T3.
What causes higher rT3? Usually some sort of inflammation/infection and stress. Has your CRP been checked? Cortisol levels? Watch this video for more examples of causes for higher rT3.
Inflammation (and increased CRP) reduces intracellular T3, but not serum T3. So labwork may show optimal levels of thyroid hormones, and yet someone will still present with thyroid symptoms. Does that make sense?
-
Hey ,
Bernadette explained you really well how with perfect thyroid values still some uncertainty can be there.
In addition, I would like to mention that a lower body temperature can also happen with forms of anemia. Anemia could for example be caused by an iron deficiency, a B12, folate and/or B6 deficiency. Typically people experience cold hands & feet with anemia. Other symptoms that sometimes play depending on the severity of the anemia are:
• Poor memory/focus
• Feeling tires and sleeping doesn’t help
• Looking pail/yellowish (The skin under the eyes and behind the lip can look pale as well)
• Shortness of breath
• Tingling sensation in the arms or legs.I would also like to give the tip to use a different thermometer, just to rule out whether the thermometer has an inaccuracy. It happens!
-
Thank you and !
I’ll start off by using a new thermometer and checking my CRP levels (since I’ve been wanting to measure it anyway) before I do any additional testing for nutrient deficiencies.
I was reviewing the videos from mineral balance, and I don’t think I have any deficiency (except Magnesium, but I do take supplements for it) from what I can tell based off of signs and symptoms
I had two follow up questions:
1) What CRP test would I do? My local lab has the following options: hs-CRP or just CRP.2) Since poor liver health can contribute to high rT3, I’m wondering if taking taurine will help. I recently got it, and plan on taking it starting this week for billiary tract congestion (based on the recommendation Bernadette provided on my Gut Health post). What dose should I take, how often, and should it be with or without food?
Thank you!
-
Hey ,
This depends a little on what you expect. If you don’t have any complaints (except a lower body temperature) I would go for hs-CRP. The ‘hs’ stands for ‘high sensitive’, so this test is more sensitive at low CRP levels. If you are for example assessing for low-grade vascular inflammation.
If you expect high levels of CRP because of inflammation caused for example by infections, operations or other inflammatory diseases, then usually the standard CRP test is chosen.
We like to aim at CRP levels below 1 since these levels are associated with the best cardiovascular health outcomes.
The forum ‘Ask Your Questions’ is closed to new discussions and replies.
