In 1997 I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. My mother had it, and she noticed the symptoms in me, I went and had blood work done, then I was put on Armour thryoid medication. I was always cold, forgot things all of the time, depressed, felt sluggish, had no energy, gained weight easily, and my hair was always falling out. These are some signs of hypothyroidism. I’ve been on the medication, lost some weight, and felt great ever since.
What is hypothyroidism? This is a condition resulting from the thyroid’s inability to produce enough hormones for it to function properly. These hormones are responsible for helping cells convert oxygen and calories into energy. For this reason, the thyroid is considered the master gland of metabolism. The thyroid regulates temperature, metabolism, and cerebral function which results in increased energy, temperature, and warmth. It increases fat breakfdown resulting in weight loss as well as lower cholesterol.
Now that I’ve entered the holistic world, I want to rid the medication completely. If you do have to continue on thyroid meds, insist that your doctor prescribe Armour. It is the only one that is not synthetic, so it won’t totally destroy the function of your thyroid like the rest of them will.
Before you try getting a prescription, you should see a holistic doctor. You may just be iodine deficient. Doctors are increasingly prescribing thyroid medication to their patients, when they could be cured simply by consuming more iodine.
When you go to your regular doctor, they usually just test for TSH. This is not an accurate reading of your thryoid.
Triiodothyronine (T3) and Thyroxine (T4) are the key hormones produced by the Thyroid . Thyroid homrone is produced in the thyroid gland as a storgae form of T4. Once in the body, T4 is converted to T3. Mitochondria (energy cells) need thyroid hormone to burn oxygen and produce ATP which is the fuel that runs the body. If the mitochondria are weakened due to an inadequate supply of thryoid hormone, then we will not be able to burn up proper amounts of oxygen, giving us less energy and symptoms of thryoid insufficiency.
**11/11
Autoimmune Diseases and how the thyroid gland works
Thyroid is one of the most complex hormone producing, or endocrine glands in the body. TSH is the thyroid stimulating hormone. T4 is thyroxine, (has 4 molecules of iodine), T3 is triiodothyronine (3 molecules)
20% of thyroid hormone activity depends on healthy gut flora, or bacteria. Antibiotic use can dampen thyroid function. Birth control pills create too much estrogen and this fatigues the pituitary gland and creates too many thyroid binding proteins.
Thyroid metabolism
Hypothalamus sends thyroid releasing hormone (TRH) to the pituitary gland, TRH sends a message to the body that it needs to speed up metabolism ---->
Pituitary gland releases TSH to thyroid gland ----->
TSH stimulates thyroid peroxidase (TPO) activity to use iodine to create T4 and T3 hormones.
TPO combines iodine with hydrogen peroxide to create T3 and T4. Once TSH gets to the thyroid gland it produces a protein called thyroglobulin. T3 is the predominant thyroid hormone the body uses.
Here are some of the functions that come under they gland’s influence:
Thyroid can affect one’s calcium status. Hypothyroidism prevents the ends of long bones from forming fully or correctly.
Gastrointestinal function-slows down the amount of time it takes for food to move through intestines, this increases potential of gut infections from yeast and bacteria.
Makes the gallbladder and liver sluggish.
Fat burning, building muscle through exercise is hard.
Insulin and glucose metabolism, Glucose metabolism in the rate at what the body uses glucose to make energy. Poor memory is due to hypo. The brain is the main consumer of glucose, so when glucose metabolism is poor, so is the brain function.
Thyroid hormones and cholesterol
With hypo, you make fat more quickly than it’s burned, which drives up triglycerides and cholesterol.
Estrogen, metabolism, and breast cancer
Estrogen must first be made water soluble in liver to be eliminated from body. During this process, some of the hormone forms a secondary type of estrogen, estradiol. Hypo hinders pathways in the live that make this possible, which results in too much proliferative estrogen, which may lead to breast cancer, uterine fibroids, and ovarian cysts.
Liver detoxification
Thyroid hormones affect liver cells responsible for detoxification most of all.
Phase 1, fat soluble hormones are made water soluble so body can eliminate.
Stomach acid production, enough acid helps digest food, helps gastrointestinal tract. Production of Hcl depends on the hormone gastrin, which diminishes with hyper causing heart burn, bloating, gas
Hashimoto’s disease
This is an autoimmune condition in which the body attacks and destroys its own thyroid gland.
Some red flags for the disease:
pernicious anemia
gluten intolerance
celiac’s disease
Measuring TSH alone is model for failure. TSH alone doesn’t measure pituitary function, whether thyroid hormones are working normally, or whether an autoimmune disorder is the culprit.
Thyroid symptoms and signs:
fatigue
weight gain
depression
constipation
hypersensitivity to cold weather
poor circulation and numbness in hands and feet
muscle cramps while at rest
increased susceptibility to colds and other viral/bacterial infections
slow wound healing
excessive amount of sleep to function properly
chronic digestive problems, such as lack of stomach acid
itchy, dry skin
low (body heat) temperature
edema, especially face swelling
loss of outermost portion of eyebrows
Signs that can indicate autoimmune hashimoto’s disease:
heart palpitations
inward trembling
increased pulse rate, even at rest
insomnia
night sweats
difficulty gaining weight
You can have a serum antibody test to see if a hypothyroid that can be attributed to Hashimoto’s. Because it’s an autoimmune disease, Hashimoto’s often goes diagnosed. People with it don’t respond well to thyroid replacement hormones, or they experience symptoms of over and under active thyroids. Numerous studies show a link between gluten intolerance and Hashimoto’s. If you have the disease, eat a gluten free diet. The gluten molecule is very similar to thyroid gland molecule, it confuses the immune system in a gluten intolerant person.
A TPO and TGB serum antibody test helps identify it.
6 Patterns of low thyroid function and how to find them on a blood test.
Most people have a functional hypothyroidism, not a thyroid disease, some facet of their health is breaking down and producing hypothyroid symptoms but the condition does not warrant lifelong medication. You must order and interpret a panel of blood chemical tests.
Have a naturopathic doctor use functional blood ranges. Functional TSH range is 1.8-3.0 uIU/mL T4 functional range 6-12 ug/d
www.thyroidbook.com
**11/11
Autoimmune Diseases and how the thyroid gland works
Thyroid is one of the most complex hormone producing, or endocrine glands in the body. TSH is the thyroid stimulating hormone. T4 is thyroxine, (has 4 molecules of iodine), T3 is triiodothyronine (3 molecules)
20% of thyroid hormone activity depends on healthy gut flora, or bacteria. Antibiotic use can dampen thyroid function. Birth control pills create too much estrogen and this fatigues the pituitary gland and creates too many thyroid binding proteins.
Thyroid metabolism
Hypothalamus sends thyroid releasing hormone (TRH) to the pituitary gland, TRH sends a message to the body that it needs to speed up metabolism ---->
Pituitary gland releases TSH to thyroid gland ----->
TSH stimulates thyroid peroxidase (TPO) activity to use iodine to create T4 and T3 hormones.
TPO combines iodine with hydrogen peroxide to create T3 and T4. Once TSH gets to the thyroid gland it produces a protein called thyroglobulin. T3 is the predominant thyroid hormone the body uses.
Here are some of the functions that come under they gland’s influence:
Thyroid can affect one’s calcium status. Hypothyroidism prevents the ends of long bones from forming fully or correctly.
Gastrointestinal function-slows down the amount of time it takes for food to move through intestines, this increases potential of gut infections from yeast and bacteria.
Makes the gallbladder and liver sluggish.
Fat burning, building muscle through exercise is hard.
Insulin and glucose metabolism, Glucose metabolism in the rate at what the body uses glucose to make energy. Poor memory is due to hypo. The brain is the main consumer of glucose, so when glucose metabolism is poor, so is the brain function.
Thyroid hormones and cholesterol
With hypo, you make fat more quickly than it’s burned, which drives up triglycerides and cholesterol.
Estrogen, metabolism, and breast cancer
Estrogen must first be made water soluble in liver to be eliminated from body. During this process, some of the hormone forms a secondary type of estrogen, estradiol. Hypo hinders pathways in the live that make this possible, which results in too much proliferative estrogen, which may lead to breast cancer, uterine fibroids, and ovarian cysts.
Liver detoxification
Thyroid hormones affect liver cells responsible for detoxification most of all.
Phase 1, fat soluble hormones are made water soluble so body can eliminate.
Stomach acid production, enough acid helps digest food, helps gastrointestinal tract. Production of Hcl depends on the hormone gastrin, which diminishes with hyper causing heart burn, bloating, gas
Hashimoto’s disease
This is an autoimmune condition in which the body attacks and destroys its own thyroid gland.
Some red flags for the disease:
pernicious anemia
gluten intolerance
celiac’s disease
Measuring TSH alone is model for failure. TSH alone doesn’t measure pituitary function, whether thyroid hormones are working normally, or whether an autoimmune disorder is the culprit.
Thyroid symptoms and signs:
fatigue
weight gain
depression
constipation
hypersensitivity to cold weather
poor circulation and numbness in hands and feet
muscle cramps while at rest
increased susceptibility to colds and other viral/bacterial infections
slow wound healing
excessive amount of sleep to function properly
chronic digestive problems, such as lack of stomach acid
itchy, dry skin
low (body heat) temperature
edema, especially face swelling
loss of outermost portion of eyebrows
Signs that can indicate autoimmune hashimoto’s disease:
heart palpitations
inward trembling
increased pulse rate, even at rest
insomnia
night sweats
difficulty gaining weight
You can have a serum antibody test to see if a hypothyroid that can be attributed to Hashimoto’s. Because it’s an autoimmune disease, Hashimoto’s often goes diagnosed. People with it don’t respond well to thyroid replacement hormones, or they experience symptoms of over and under active thyroids. Numerous studies show a link between gluten intolerance and Hashimoto’s. If you have the disease, eat a gluten free diet. The gluten molecule is very similar to thyroid gland molecule, it confuses the immune system in a gluten intolerant person.
A TPO and TGB serum antibody test helps identify it.
6 Patterns of low thyroid function and how to find them on a blood test.
Most people have a functional hypothyroidism, not a thyroid disease, some facet of their health is breaking down and producing hypothyroid symptoms but the condition does not warrant lifelong medication. You must order and interpret a panel of blood chemical tests.
Have a naturopathic doctor use functional blood ranges. Functional TSH range is 1.8-3.0 uIU/mL T4 functional range 6-12 ug/d
www.thyroidbook.com
