Recently I'm noticing more and more cycles including T3 / T4 as a routine part of a cutting cycle. It's not my intention to lecture or tell anyone not to make their own decisions, but what I would like to do is share with you all some personal experience I have in that area. Some of you may have heard my story before, but I'd like to give you a little more information.

In my teens and twenties, my life revolved around martial arts. I started at the age of 5, and at the age of 20 I represented my country and was honoured to do so. At the time when I was at university, it was a delicate balancing act between study and a heavy training regime. I never complained about the work, I loved the sport. What I didn't enjoy was making weight categories through extensive diet and cardio.

I was coached by what I can only refer to as a fitness fanatic. The sort of guy that doesn't stand still, walks around at 6-7% BF who never ate any crap whatsoever. I, however, always liked my food and probably averaged 12-14%BF at this point in time. I competed at a number of different weights in my career, but my main level was the 95KG class (210lbs approx.). I typically weighed in at 220-230lbs outside of competition, and I'll be honest, I HATED dropping weight. Cardio was never my love, and dropping 10-20lbs before a competition used to have a huge negative impact on me. It was, however, the weight I was best suited to compete at, results proved that fact.

So, I looked into "chemical assistance". At the time I was doing my final year of a biochemistry degree and had spent a year out in industry on placement year and had learnt a lot about endocrine medications as a result of the environment I worked in. I made the decision to cut a few corners and run levothyroxine (T4). It was cheap, effective and didn't seem too risky at the time. This was just before my 22nd birthday.

Worked beautifully! I didn't need 8 weeks of suffering before a competition, I now needed 4 just by running low doses of T4, (around 50mcg typically), and I could pretty much eat as I always did, clean but not obsessively clean. This continued to be the way I handled the situation until I was 28. No big doses, no long runs, nothing stupid. I continued my career into research science, so I knew what I was doing with drug application, or so I thought.

At 28, I won a prestigious competition, the highlight of my martial arts career. Unfortunately it was also my last competition of any significance. As I'd got older, I'd gained more muscle, I was naturally bigger and still battling for 95kg's, which was by now probably a weight category I had no right to hit. In order to get there, I was having to come in really lean, I'm talking 6% ish. Not ideal for the sport, and not ideal for your health. After the tournament, several weeks after stopping T4, I was continuing to lose weight. I increased what I ate, I dropped my cardio back significantly, weight continued to drop. 3 months after this tournament, I was 8KG's under my competitive weight and had lost a lot of muscle. My hands were shakey, I had a constant mild headache, shortness of breath and for the first time in my life my mood was very unpredictable. I went to the doc for the first time in about 7 years.

He took blood and noticed my resting heart rate was 105BPM. 3 months ago I was a fit international standard athlete, how could that be? It was because my thyroid was overactive. The typical range of "nomal" T4 is viewed as 11-22 here in the UK. Mine sat at 143. I was put onto a drug called carbimazole and referred to an Endo. We discussed the situation, and I openly and honestly explained my thyroxine use. I was lucky enough to be treated by a well known endo, who informed me I was not the only athlete he had seen in this situation. Things went downhill quite rapidly now, my weight continued to drop, I looked like a heroin addict to be quite honest. I struggled at work,. I'm sure people thought I was taking drugs. Eventually the carbimazole got me back to a eurythroid state, but I still felt like utter crap. I had developed a heart murmur, which wouldn't go back to normal which eventually resulted in having my heart stopped and restarted (not something I recommend, especially when you've got a 3 month old child). Eventually I had a total thyroidectomy at the age of 30 and I now take T4 for the rest of my life.

I'm ok now, but there's a few things that don't go away and I never feel particularly great. I still overheat really easily, (I walk around in a T shirt in winter), and I have the inconvenience of blood tests and daily medication. Whenever anything goes wrong with my health, the doctors response is immediately endocrinology related as a result. It still has a big impact on my life.

A long read, for which I apologise, but if it makes one person avoid what I had, it was worthwhile. Cardio and diet might seem like too much hard work, but I promise you do not want thyrotoxicosis.