Are you Hypothyroid?

“I must really be falling apart,” said a 43 year old female as I began taking her case history.  She went on to list a large number of symptoms that bothered her regularly.

            Let me give you readers the list and you can try to figure out what was troubling this woman:  fatigue, headaches, easy weight gain, constipation, irritable bowel, allergies, depression, PMS, fluid retention, dry skin, hair loss, irregular periods with heavy flow, and a constant sensation of being cold.

            How many of you suspected low thyroid?  Great, so did I.  After a thorough interview I told this patient I thought low thyroid was her problem.  She said it couldn’t be that because her doctor had run many tests due to the myriad of symptoms and low thyroid was ruled out.  According to test results, she should be healthy.

            I sent her home with an experiment to perform.  She was to take her oral temperature every 3 hours, 3 times a day, starting 3 hours after waking, and averaged for several days.  The few days prior to her period were not to be used since her temperature would be higher at that time.

            After a couple of weeks the woman was back in my office reporting that her temperature never went above 36.4 degrees and one day averaged 36.  This confirmed my suspicions.

            I explained that it is possible to have functional hypothyroidism without having clinical hypothyroidism.  The latter is diagnosed when blood tests show elevated thyroid stimulating hormone or low levels of thyroid hormone. 

            In this day and age it is usually chronic physical, mental, or emotional stress that impacts the thyroid.  Examples include:  childbirth, divorce, death of a loved one, job or family stress, surgery or accidents, excessive dieting, and so on.  Another cause, low iodine in the diet can be a contributor as well.  Especially since people are cutting down on salt (most table salt is iodized).

            My patient had been in a bad marriage and went through a messy divorce.  Her symptoms came on during her divorce.

            To treat this condition I emphasized how important it was to have strategies to help decrease the effects of stress on her body.  A gentle exercise program of walking and yoga was suggested combined with doing regular visualization or meditation. 

            On the nutritional side, I recommended a high potency multivitamin/mineral with lots of B vitamins and Siberian ginseng for stress.  For the thyroid, I prescribed a professional product with iodine, L – tyrosine, dessicated thyroid and other nutrients to feed and nourish her thyroid.

            When I saw her after 1 month, her symptoms were beginning to improve.  After 3 months, she was significantly better.  She was so happy to get control of her health again.

            If you have symptoms that make you suspected that your thyroid is not working as efficiently as it should, see your doctor and get it checked out.  Your ongoing good health depends on a healthy thyroid.