Thyroid Problems

 Thyroid is a small gland located in the front of the neck. This gland produces thyroid hormones which help regulate many body functions including regulation of body’s metabolism, temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure.

There are a multitude of thyroid disorders that can appear in the body. Some of the more common thyroid disorders include:

o   Hypothyroidism: This is when your thyroid is not producing enough thyroid hormones which can result in symptoms such as fatigue, unintended weight gain, depression, cold sensitivity, constipation, and muscle weakness.

o   Hyperthyroidism: This is when your thyroid is producing too much thyroid hormone which can result in symptoms such as excessive sweating, unintended weight-loss, irregular heartbeat, heat intolerance, anxiety, and diarrhea.

o   Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: This is an autoimmune condition of the thyroid gland. Simply put, the body does not recognize the thyroid gland as its own and therefore, will try to “attack” it causing inflammation. Typically, we see an initial presentation similar to hyperthyroidism and overtime, symptoms shift more to hypothyroid-like symptoms.

o   Grave’s Disease: this is another type of autoimmune thyroiditis that results in the overproduction of thyroid hormones.

·      The thyroid gland may also function differently during and after pregnancy, so it is important to get your hormone levels checked routinely.

·      Conventional diagnosis is usually made by just a TSH-value. TSH is thyroid stimulating hormone. This is the hormone made in the brain to let your thyroid gland know to make more or less thyroid hormones. While this can provide some information about your thyroid functioning, it is important to check your actual thyroid hormone levels (T3 and T4) as well as thyroid antibodies to make a more accurate diagnosis and curate an individualized treatment. Our approach includes a full medical workup for suspected thyroid-related concerns.

Approaches to Thyroid-related concerns include:

o  Addressing enviornmental toxin exposure

o  Addressing underlying infections and pathogens 

o   Nutrition counseling

o   Botanical medicine

o   Supplementation

o   Hormone therapy: prescribed thyroid medication