So the doctors says, “Your thyroid looks fine.” Is it though?
Many women experience inadequate thyroid function. Your thyroid is responsible for your metabolism and how you store and/or burn energy. According to the national institutes of health, 5% of Americans ages 12 and up have symptoms of hypothyroidism. Many more suffer from sub optimal thyroid function that does not qualify for the official diagnosis of hypothyroidism. Women tend to be affected more than men. Causes include:
Ø Lack of intake or digestion of necessary nutrients such as iodine, iron, selenium, vitamin A, tyrosine
Ø Autoimmune processes like lupus, celiac disease or Hashimoto’s, where the body attacks thyroid tissue
Ø Radiation or removal of thyroid
Ø Meds including cancer meds, bipolar meds, and heart meds
Ø Type 1 or 2 diabetes
Ø Family history of hypothyroidism and more
Symptoms can include:
Ø Fatigue
Ø Weight gain
Ø Poor tolerance to cold
Ø Muscle and joint pain
Ø Hair thinning
Ø Dry skin
Ø Heavy periods, irregular periods, fertility challenges, and even miscarriages
Ø Depressed mood
Ø Hooded Eyelids
Ø Scalloped edges on tongue
How do you know if your thyroid is not working optimally?
Ø Most doctors will order a TSH with reflex to T4. What this means is that if your TSH is off, then they will run a T4. Unfortunately, conventional labs look for ranges that indicate disease state and a TSH is not enough to tell the whole story and truly define if your thyroid is a problem. TSH says, “hey body I need thyroid hormone” so when it is high it means the body doesn’t have enough and is looking for more. Many women feel better when their TSH is below 3.0 but a diagnosis of hypothyroid won’t happen until their TSH reaches 4.5 or higher. When TSH is adequate we make T4 which says, “hey I am here and ready to do work but I need activated”. Both of these markers can be in a good range, yet the thyroid can still be in suboptimal state. This is why just looking at TSH and T4 is not enough if you feel you are suffering from inadequate thyroid function. T4 can be adequate, quieting down TSH, but T4 needs to be turned into T3, the most active thyroid hormone that helps you burn calories appropriately. Nutrients are needed for this activation and good digestion is a well! If you struggle with either of these, your thyroid could be in trouble. Too much stress, inflammation and undereating can also make that active T3 turn into reverse T3, again slowing thyroid function.
Ø A functional approach is to look for “optimal” ranges that would head off true disease state. Here are ranges for optimal thyroid function: A https://drhagmeyer.com/dr-hagmeyer-explains-functional-ranges-for-thyroid-lab-testing/
Ø If you are out of the functional range, you need to work with a provider to get the thyroid under control to prevent further health issues.
Ø Things you can do right now include limiting fluoride exposure, ensuring adequate iodine intake via food, not supplements, ruling out iron anemia and ensuring daily protein intake containing tyrosine and working on healthy digestion. A few Brazil nuts a day can also help with selenium needs although farming practices can cause varied selenium amounts. Be sure not to go over 200mcg of selenium daily if supplementing directly.
Ø Finally be an advocate for yourself and request a full thyroid panel that would include TSH, Free and Total T3 and T4, reverse T3, and thyroid antibodies (TPO, TBAG)
Sources:
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/endocrine-diseases/hypothyroidism
https://healthfully.com/eye-problems-associated-with-hypothyroidism-4399137.html