Hypothyroidism

Millions of people struggle with low thyroid symptoms, and millions more experience the symptoms of a low thyroid only to have their labs come back negative. They're told they are "normal," and are left with no answers. Symptoms like fatigue, cold intolerance, depression, brain fog and weight gain can ruin lives for years. 

The thyroid

The thyroid is a gland in the neck which makes mainly two thyroid hormones, thyroxine (T4) and tri-iodothyronine (T3), both created from iodine and tyrosine. The production of thyroid hormones is regulated by thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) secreted from the pituitary gland, which itself is regulated by thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) produced by the hypothalamus.

Thyroxine is the inactive thyroid hormone, which needs to be converted into T3 by the body in order to be used. The role of thyroid hormones, put simply, is to regulate the metabolism of virtually all cells in the body. It controls our metabolism and everything energy-related, it regulates how quickly we burn calories, which explains why weight control is such a problem when the thyroid is out of whack. Hypothyroidism is a condition in which are highly underdiagnosed, and in Norway alone, 1 in 4 people with this condition are not diagnosed. In america, it's estimated that about 60 millions, men and women, struggle with thyroid problems. Most who don’t even know it. Unfortunately, too many physicians mistake the symptom for the problem - weight gain and depression, for instance. They tell you to go loose weight and put you on anti-depressant, although these things aren't the actual problems, they are just symptoms of a low thyroid function. 

When your thyroid are working properly, you have good energy levels, you think clearly, your weight is easier to manage, your bowel movements are regular, you don't wear socks to bed and you say yes to life. If it's not:

SYMPTOMS

- Fatigue and low energy levels

- Cold intolerance (freezing and being cold almost always)

- Cold hands and feet

- Dry skin

- Hair loss

- Memory loss

- Weight gain

- Constipation

- Depression 

- Irritability

- Low sex drive

Feeling tired all the time? Maybe you are hypothyroid.

You can be hypothyroid even though your lab tests are normal

Fatigue and low energy is a relevant symptom in 1 of 5 consultations at the doctors office, which hypothyroidism (or low thyroid function) often is the reason behind. However, most conventional doctors often respond with skepticism to pasients asking for thyroid help, and if they do agree to test you for hypothyroidism, there's plenty of faults about the tests used. Read further to understand why you still can have thyroid issues, even though your blood work says you don't. 

1. Many doctors rely on the myth that numbers don't lie, as well as relying on a limited lab test such as TSH, more than they believe what their patients are telling them. It's a common misconception that low thyroid symptoms always are accompanied by an abnormal TSH, so if your doctor agrees to run a lab test to check your thyroid in the first place, they often just run one (TSH) of many, because of this misconception. Just measuring TSH is not enough, as it shows just a very small piece of the whole puzzle. However, if they did choose to not only run one (TSH), but the whole hormone panel; it's still not a complete diagnostic tool, because:

2. Low thyroid function doesn’t have to be that you have too little hormones available, it can be something else that is wrong as our metabolism consists of many processes, in which can go wrong. It can absolutely be hormone related issues, or an hormonal issue can be a part of the problem, but it can also be due to mineral deficiencies, heavy metals toxicity as well as other toxins, leaky gut, high cortisol or liver inefficiencies. So yes, you can have hypothyroidism without it showing up on a blood panel. Just because your hormones shows up as normal, doesn’t necessarily mean that you are healthy, which is why you can not only go on hormone test as it don't addresses everything that can be causing a low thyroid. Back in the days, they diagnosed hypothyroidism not only by blood tests, but by clinical tests and by looking at your symptoms, like basal body temperature. 

3. It takes a tremendous amount of problems in the body for a hormone to show up as out of balance on a blood test, because often times, the imbalance doesn’t show up until far into the advanced stages. This means that if your blood tests do show a low thyroid, it.has.gone.far. So why wait? Many people are told by their doctors to come back in six months to check the thyroid levels again because it dosen’t show up at the moment. And then they do that over and over again until you have the condition. And THEN they treat it. 

4. Many doctors use outdated reference ranges, a reference range that includes patients with hypothyroidism. Yes you read it, includes. Not to mention, doctors can say that your levels are "normal", but normal looks different for everyone. And even though your blood tests shows up as fine, if you don’t feel fine, that’s the truth. You know best. Listen to your body. And get the help you need from a professional who looks at the bigger picture. 

Given the depth of suffering, we can not longer ignore that so many people are burned out, frustrated and under functioning. Who here is dealing with or has dealt with a thyroid disorder?