The thyroid glands produce powerful hormones which control the level of metabolism in every cell in your body. If you have dry skin, are frequently cold or have trouble regulating temperature, are fatigued, have lots of body aches, hair thinning or other symptoms, it is possible that you suffer from low thyroid function. New research suggests that in addition to our traditional understanding of hypothyroidism, there may be other forms which are not typically diagnosed or treated.
Most people with low thyroid function are cold. Not only do they feel cold they have a low body temperature so all the chemical processes of the body slow down much like a lizard on a cool day. So brain, muscle, digestion, hormone production, tissue repair, heart, all these processes slow down. Weight gain and depression are common consequences.
Many patients with chronic muscle pain are actually hypothyroid. They may be given the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. When I was working in the office of a medical doctor who treated chronic pain patients, he said he often saw patients who looked like they were hypothyroid, and by their history and symptoms sounded hypothyroid but had "normal" thyroid labs. When he gave them some natural thyroid hormone they typically felt better.
I have noticed the same thing, that is, patients who benefit from improving thyroid function but have "normal labs". This last week I received a newsletter from Dr. John Lowe with several articles explaining why this is so.
The biggest problem is all this is that patients are frequently put in the middle between their body, their
Oprah's Thyroid Problem Causes Weight Gain and Fatigue
"Talk show host Oprah Winfrey's announcement that she developed a thyroid condition -- revealed in her O Magazine column last month, and explored this week on her talk show -- has heightened interest in thyroid problems, but spawned many important questions." About.com
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medical doctor and me. Here is the typical scenario. The patient complains of thyroid symptoms such as chronic general muscle pain or being unable to lose weight even with good diet and exercise. Their thyroid labs are "normal," but kinesiology and basal temperature tests indicate low thyroid function. I give them supplements to increase thyroid function. Within a week or two the patient starts to feel better, their pain gradually improves or they start to lose weight or their long standing depression lifts. On their next physical their medical doctor notes that the thyroid labs show an overfunctioning thyroid and tells the patient to stop taking the supplements. When they stop all the symptoms return. So the patient is put in the middle. This is a difficult problem for all three of us. I have no doubt that the MD is trying to do the right thing for the patient based on "standards of care," but in my opinion they are just not listening and using good clinical sense. The patient is not an expert and is forced to decide between two, otherwise trusted professionals.
The other part of this issue is that even if the labs are normal most MD's will only prescribe the synthetic form of the thyroid hormone, Synthroid, which has been shown to have serious problems and is not effective in many, if not most, patients. Mark Star, MD, wrote a book about this called Type Two Hypothyroidism. Dr. Star runs a chronic pain clinic. About half of his patients arrive already taking Synthroid. He gives all of his patients a symptom questioinaire. He found that there was no difference in the patients taking Synthroid, and those patients who arrived at his practice with hypothyroidism that was untreated. So the Synthroid will treat the lab values but will not solve the patient's problem.
What is going on here. Dr. Lowe wrote an article for chiropractors about this issue. The answer is a bit technical but this issue is extremely important to you as a patient if you have thyroid problems. I sugest you go to this link, print it out and send it to your MD. In my experience that may not change your MD's mind but it may clarify the situation for you.
The basic story is that Synthroid is strongly promoted by endocrinologists, the doctors who specialize in hormone problems. There is strong evidence that this is because of financial ties to the makers of Synthroid. Even the FDA is beginning to question the safety, reliability and effectiveness of Synthroid, which has never been shown to be effective for long term use in a clinical trial. And there is new emerging evidence that in people with long term hypothyroidism, it may be necessary to bring the TSH down well below "normal" levels to bring thyroid function back to normal -- contrary to conventional medical wisdom. Your doctor is listening to the endocrinologists and does not know this.
Finally, thyroid function is part of a complex dance of hormones. Correcting thyroid function may require looking at sex hormones -- progesterone increases thyroid function and improves cell response to thyroid hormones; stress hormones, which depress thyroid function; toxins especially heavy metals such as mercury, bromine, and industrial chemicals; subtle, "stealth" infections; and common nutritional deficiencies including iodine. Most patients can improve thyroid fucntion with a fairly simple, straightforward approach without the use of drugs. More difficult cases can require the kind of detective work which is my specialty.
If you think you may have thyroid problems you can look through lists of symptoms here, take a short self test here or take the home basal temperature test here. None of these are substitutes for professional evaluation.
If you have any questions about your thyroid email or call me at my office. I always offer a free 15 minute consultation to see if my approach is likely to help you or someone you care for.
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 Why Do I Still Hve Thyroid Symptoms When My Lab Tests Are Normal?
A new book by Dr. Datis Kharazian. DHSc, DC, MS
"Dr. Datis Kharrazian's book presents a revolutionary breakthrough in understanding Hashimoto's and hypothyroidism. By connecting the dots, Dr. Kharrazian is pioneering the future approach to supporting thyroid disorders. Given its complexity, especially when it comes to autoimmunity, it is no wonder that the immune system is uncharted territory for many medical professionals. Dr. Kharrazian draws on his years of clinical experience for specific recommendations to help nutritionally address abnormal chemistries. --Aristo Vojdani, PhD, MSc, MT" more ...
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Hypothyroidism Risk/Symptoms Checklist
You can use this checklist to bring to your doctor to help aid in getting a proper diagnosis of hypothyroidism, or as background information in your discussions regarding fine tuning your dosage. more ...
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Why You Need Alternative Health Care
We Don't Have a Health Care System, we have a disease care system and it's not working. Americans spend more than any other country on health care and have the worst outcomes of any major industrialized country. The medical system in not only an economic disaster but has been fundamentally corrupted by its financial ties to the drug and insurance industries. more...
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For more information from other websites:
Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms? A video interview with Dr. Kharazian. His site is a wealth of information on thyroid immune disorders. |
