If you often feel you\u2019re dragging yourself through the day or you’ve been struggling to lose weight for a long while despite eating all the right things, it might be worth considering whether your thyroid is doing the job it should.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The thyroid \u2013 a butterfly-shaped gland located in the neck \u2013 is the body\u2019s internal motor, effectively setting the speed at which the body works. If it\u2019s not up to scratch, you might experience a whole host of uncomfortable or annoying symptoms (see below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hormones it makes affect most cells in the body by increasing the basal metabolic rate, as well as augmenting heat production. That\u2019s why people with an underactive thyroid often struggle to lose weight, feel the cold more easily and have low energy \u2013 imagine a record player playing a record at reduced speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do any of these sound familiar?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If more than a few symptoms resonate with you, visit your GP to discuss symptoms and ask to get your thyroid tested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of three things will happen after you have a blood test at the GP. The doctor may tell you your results look normal, in which case no further action will be taken*. Or you might be sent for further testing, if the result looks a little off, either immediately or for a retest in a few months\u2019 time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s much more common to have an underactive thyroid than an overactive one, and more common still for the underactive thyroid to be an autoimmune condition called Hashimoto\u2019s, where the immune system destroys the thyroid gland to the extent that it can no longer function normally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, even with a diagnosis, many people still experience symptoms in spite of treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the UK, the first thing doctors test is Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels. TSH is the hormone that tells your body to produce the actual thyroid hormones. If TSH is within range, your GP is unlikely do any further tests on the assumption that the rest of the thyroid hormone-producing cascade is working correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If TSH is raised, your body is working harder than necessary to produce the right levels of thyroid hormones. At this point, your doctor may repeat the TSH test in a few months in order to compare levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alternatively, they might test your Thyroxine (T4) levels to determine whether or not you\u2019re producing the right levels of this hormone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If this level is below range, you\u2019ll likely be prescribed a synthetic form of thyroxine to supply the body with what it is not making itself. If the levels is above range, which suggests an overactive thyroid, you may be prescribed carbimazole and perhaps a beta-blocker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This a common problem. Initially, you may start to feel better, but many patients report sliding back into their previous pattern of symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reasons why you\u2019re not feeling better can be complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00d8 Supplementing with T4 might not work, as what\u2019s going on in your body might be more complicated and involve several issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00d8 Some people produce enough TSH and T4, but T4 isn\u2019t actually the hormone that does the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00d8 Triidothyronine (T3) is the \u2018work horse\u2019 that needs to be converted in the liver from T4. Some people, for various reasons, simply don\u2019t convert it very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00d8 In other cases, you might produce enough TSH, T4 and T3, but the body negates the effects of the usable T3 by making reverse T3 (rT3) \u2013literally reversing the action of T3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00d8 Everything may \u2018look normal\u2019, but if you\u2019re still dragging yourself through the day, you could have sub-clinical thyroid problems. GP ranges are quite broad, so it\u2019s easy to fall outside the limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s worth knowing that regular GP testing does not cover T3 or rT3, so if you\u2019re still feeling below par, it\u2019s worth getting a full thyroid blood screen done privately. I work with all major private laboratories and can arrange this for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another vital piece of information, which isn\u2019t often covered by the standard GP test, is for the presence of autoimmune thyroid antibodies (thyroid peroxidase and thyroglobulin). This indicates your immune system is attacking your thyroid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The autoimmune disease Hashimoto\u2019s Disease (a form of underactive thyroid) is incredibly common but unless your GP tests for the antibodies, you won\u2019t know that you have it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GPs generally don\u2019t test for this as it doesn\u2019t affect their clinical management of you \u2013 whatever the diagnosis, you\u2019re still going to be prescribed thyroxine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, this test is important to nutritional therapists, as the diagnosis requires an entirely different treatment protocol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may have high levels of these antibodies, but no symptoms of an underactive (or overactive) thyroid. The autoimmune element always comes first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hashimoto\u2019s (underactive) and Graves\u2019 (overactive) Disease affect the thyroid, but they are actually immune system disorders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thyroid health is closely connected with your adrenals (two walnut-shaped stress glands located on your kidneys). If you have had any significant stress, your adrenal glands may not be performing optimally \u2013 and this is very bad news for thyroid health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adrenal stress disrupts the complex network of interactions needed to make the right amount of thyroid hormones, suppressing the thyroid function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are tests available privately for this. Unfortunately, adrenal problems are not recognized by UK GPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Addressing adrenal problems is important because the effects of stress affect energy production, fat storage (storing fat around the middle) and female hormone health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you know that the mineral iodine is essential for the manufacture of thyroid hormones triidothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4)? Thyroid hormones contain three or four iodine atoms respectively. If you\u2019re serious about fixing your thyroid for once and for all, you could consider a urine test to determine whether or not you have sufficient levels of iodine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a number of different tests, which we can use to measure your thyroid levels. These include a full blood draw, finger prick blood spot test and a urine test. We take a full medical history and evaluate my clients before deciding on the best option. If you have an underactive thyroid and are feeling<\/p>\n\n\n\n below par, despite medication, we can help. Medication is just a piece of the puzzle.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you often feel you\u2019re dragging yourself through the day or you’ve been struggling to lose weight for a long while despite eating all the right things, it might be worth considering whether your thyroid is doing the job it should. The thyroid \u2013 a butterfly-shaped gland located in the neck \u2013 is the body\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[41],"class_list":["post-983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-5-5-minutes"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aspiranthealth.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aspiranthealth.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aspiranthealth.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aspiranthealth.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aspiranthealth.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aspiranthealth.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aspiranthealth.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aspiranthealth.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aspiranthealth.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aspiranthealth.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
GP testing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What actually gets tested?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
*Still feeling tired and \u2018rubbish\u2019 despite treatment?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Do you have an autoimmune thyroid problem?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Adrenal stress – the missing link in thyroid treatment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The importance of iodine<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Ready to get that thyroid back into shape?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n