We have learned through experience that there can be many causes of the same symptom so often when we treat one thing, another issue can seem to crop up. What is really happening is treating the first thing is uncovering the real issue. Example you are tired so your doctor tells you to add B12 when really you have an iron issue, or adrenal issue or are just hypothyroid.
We have found there are key things that we need to work on in our journey to wellness. Note: Even after becoming optimal, if you start to feel poor again come check this list.
1: Thyroid. This is not about being in the lab range but by being optimal. Optimal means a Free T3 that is in toward top of range (at least in upper ¼) and a Free T4 that is mid-range. Often items 2 and 3 below need to be worked at the same time in order to become optimal.
2: Adrenals: We have found that adrenals and thyroid are linked, and both are responsible for providing your body with hormones. Per experience if we have struggling thyroid our adrenals can be overtaxed and eventually lead to an HPA Axis Dysregulation. We test our adrenals using a four-point saliva test. Low cortisol and high cortisol can have similar symptoms, so it is crucial to test. Please see our Adrenals page for more information.
3: Female Hormones: Ovarian hormones are linked with adrenals and thyroid through the Ovarian Adrenal Thyroid (OAT) axis. Progesterone for example can impact cortisol. We have also found that a lot of hypothyroid patients have estrogen dominance. See our Female Hormone page for more information.
4: MTHFR: methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. It is estimated that about half the population have this genetic defect. We have seen that a significantly high proportion of thyroid patients have had this gene express itself. This gene can cause issues with Methylation of Vitamin B, issues with Heavy Metals and more. These issues can tax your adrenals further. Please see our MTHFR page to understand more.
5: Iron: We have learned that if our iron is not optimal, we can have issues with conversion of the T4 in NDT to T3 that our body needs. Because of this we can end up with RT3 or Pooling issues. It is important to test and treat our iron in order to become optimally treated on thyroid meds. See our iron page for more details.
6: Stomach Acid: We have found that many thyroid patients have low stomach acid. This causes issues with absorbing our thyroid meds, our iron meds and more.
7: Vitamins and Minerals: There are many vtamins and minerals we have found essential to thyroid wellness (vitamin D, Bs, Magnesium, Selenium and much more). And these again are not about being in range but where in the range you are. Please see our labwork page for more information.
Other issues:
If you have worked on all of the above and still have symptoms then it may be time to talk with your doctor about the following issues:
- Lyme Disease
- Inflammation
- Candida
- H. pylori
- Parathyroid
- Blood Sugar
- Epstein Barr Virus
- Mold exposure
Additional helpful links:
Blog on Immune system:
Blog on Nutrients for Thyroid health:
https://farmorpharma.com/your-thyroid-hormones-need-specific-nutrients-to-function-at-their-best/