It is estimated that about one in ten Americans are affected by a sluggish, or slow thyroid. Have you had cold hands or feet? Cold and/or dry skin and hair? A gain of five or so pounds or difficulty losing weight despite a healthy diet and exercise? Joint aches and pains? Muscle cramps and/or weak muscles?
These are all signs of low thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormones control your metabolic rate. This is the rate at which your body’s cells break down the food that you eat and use it as fuel.
A low thyroid can cause heavy periods, brain fog/decreased mental clarity and an overall lack of energy as well. These symptoms can be confused with an Estrogen imbalance. And, your estrogen imbalance can not be properly solved if your thyroid imbalance is not solved. It is important to look at your thyroid hormone when evaluating your Estrogen, Testosterone, and Progesterone levels.
Standard labs often measure the TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone). This hormone stimulates your thyroid to produce thyroid hormone. Thus, a higher TSH level means that your thyroid levels are low (what we call a reverse hormone). A person’s TSH level can be read as “normal” by the lab values and yet still have a low thyroid. It is important to correlate your symptoms with optimal ranges of TSH.
I give thyroid hormone to people with the appropriate symptoms with mild deficiencies (i.e. TSH in “normal range”) to allow them to achieve optimal range. This can only be done through a prescription and the guidance of an integrative medicine specialist (a physician who has been trained in treating patients to optimal health, utilizing bio-identical hormones among other things)