Let me paint you a picture: You feel tired all the time, run down, constipated (which makes you feel even more sluggish). Your skin is dry and flaky, and wait- is your hair shedding more than usual? Hair loss, oh no! You’re starting to worry about your health.
You’ve tried to lose weight but it doesn’t seem to budge. So easy to put on, but losing it is impossible. You’re too tired anyway, unmotivated and it’s difficult to concentrate, but also increasingly anxious. How can this be?
You might be trying for a baby, but your period is whack. Your hormones are all over the place and you may have even suffered a miscarriage or two.
You don’t feel like yourself. And you’re sick of it.
If this sounds like you, you probably have an under-active thyroid. Well, I’m here to tell you that this is unfortunately super common. The good news is, there’s so much you can do naturally to turn your health around. Thank goodness!
Hypothyroidism (or decreased thyroid function) occurs when your body isn’t making enough thyroid hormone. This is either because you don’t have the nutrients needed to make your hormones, or your immune system is in overdrive and you have an autoimmune thyroid condition (Hashimoto’s or Graves). It can also be a bit of both, just for fun.
So how can you tell if you have hypothyroidism, or if it’s Hashimoto’s?
Firstly, symptoms are a good indication, so if you have a few of the above you should get some testing done with your GP or naturopath.
Standard testing is a blood test called a ‘thyroid panel’, and includes TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), T4, and T3 (your thyroid hormones).
T4 and T3 should be at a ratio of 3:1. T3 is your active thyroid hormone so you need to make sure your body is making enough of this. Your body needs vital nutrients like zinc, iron, selenium and B vitamins to convert T4 to T3.
If your TSH is above 3.0 it’s not at an optimal level and you need to do some further investigating. Even though it is within the lab’s reference range, it indicates that your thyroid is not functioning at an ideal level. And when it comes to our health- we want ideal!
Get tested for thyroid antibodies. Unless you have a family history of thyroid disease, getting thyroid antibodies tested is not a standard procedure, but you really should! TPO antibody and TG antibody levels can indicate whether your immune system is getting feisty with your thyroid and causing your symptoms. This is so important to check.
How can I make my thyroid happy again?
So your labs came back; your TSH might be high, your T3 low, and you may have some elevated antibody levels. Your doctor might discuss medication with you (thyroid hormone replacement), and that depends on your situation. You results might all be within the reference and your doc might tell you that your thyroid is fine, but this is not always the case (remember optimal levels are what we want, and you can’t ignore that you still fell crappy, right?).
Whether or not you take thyroid hormone you can still make massive changes to your thyroid health by:
Boosting your nutrient levels with a nutrient-dense, thyroid-focused diet.
Healing your gut to balance your immune system and reverse autoimmunity.
Your thyroid didn’t just get sick overnight. It’s been a work in progress for months, often years. Healing is going to take time and dedication, and most likely some serious changes to your diet and lifestyle. But the great thing is, this is achievable- you can definitely do it! And you can feel so much better again, just like you used to.
Personalised health plans can be helpful for when you feel overwhelmed and need direction. Work with me to optimise your thyroid health.
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