May is Thyroid Health Awareness Month
I know that I have written about thyroid health in recent months, but it's such a common (and often under diagnosed) issue for women that I thought that I would revisit it in line with Thyroid Health Awareness Month...
Is your thyroid affecting your health or your weight?
Your thyroid is an important endocrine gland located in your neck. It has two lobes, which meet across the windpipe at about the level of your 'Adam's apple'. The lobes are not usually visible, but can be felt and in some thyroid conditions may enlarge to become obvious.
Your thyroid, like all other endocrine glands, is in involved in hormone production and has an effect on many functions within your body.
Your thyroid has an influence on your metabolic rate, affecting energy production and utilisation. It also supports body temperature regulation.
Symptoms of an under-active thyroid
If your thyroid is under functioning, one of the common symptoms is weight gain and difficulty losing weight.
Other common symptoms of an under active thyroid:
- fatigue
- foggy thinking and poor concentration
- hair loss or eyebrow hair loss
- low libido
- dry skin
- constipation
- headaches
- feeling the cold / temperature sensitivity
- menstrual problems
- difficulty conceiving or maintaining a pregnancy
- joint aches
Common symptoms of an over active thyroid
- weight loss (although some women with overactive thyroid also experience weight gain)
- increased appetite
- heart palpitations
- anxiety
- increased heart rate
- insomnia
- diarrhea
- menstrual problems
- difficulty conceiving or maintaining a pregnancy
- hair loss or eyebrow hair loss
Apart from considering the symptoms, how can you find out if you have a problem with your thyroid?
A thorough thyroid health blood test will measure:
- thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH),
- T4 and T3 ( thyroid hormones)
- thyroid antibodies
- Reverse T3
Most commonly, GPs will measure only your TSH. Which is a great indicator, however only provides part of the picture. Naturopaths tend to be very thorough when requesting pathology tests for thyroid health and will usually request tests for the other thyroid hormones and thyroid antibodies as well as TSH.
Is there auto-immune involvement?
There can often be an auto-immune component to thyroid issues (both under-active and over-active). It is important to establish whether this is relevant for you if you have a diagnosed thyroid condition. Just taking thyroxine or other prescribed thyroid medication won't address the autoimmune component.
Testing thyroid antibodies helps to establish autoimmune involvement. If there is an issue it can easily be addressed holistically to improve your thyroid health.
'Normal' TSH but experiencing lots of symptoms of an under active thyroid?
It is always important to ask for a copy of your thyroid function test results, or at least ask what the TSH number was.
The current clinical reference range for TSH is 0.5-5.0. Anything in this range is considered fine by most GPs.
Naturopaths and many Endocrinologists work within a different reference range and like to see the TSH between 0.5-2.0.
Many people experience what is termed 'Sub-Clinical Hypothyroidism' where the TSH is above 2.0 but under 5.0 and they will be experiencing symptoms associated with an under active thyroid.
Naturopathic and nutritional care provide many natural options to support your thyroid whether alongside pharmaceutical thyroid medications or as an alternative (if appropriate), reducing symptoms and preventing further under activity or imbalance.
There are also lots of options for working with an overactive thyroid, however, clinically I do tend to see more women with under active or sub-clinical thyroid health issues.
Lots can be done on a nutritional and dietary level to support thyroid health. These include:
- herbs and raw foods
- metaphysical mental/emotional aspects
- lifestyle tweaks.
If you suspect that you might have a thyroid issue and would like to discuss further natural and holistic health support, book in an appointment to see me. Consultations are available in person and online.
