Hypothyroidism, Thyroid Disease
Since creating Hypothyroid Mom in 2012, I’ve heard from reader after reader telling me that they feel better with regular use of infrared saunas. It’s one of the hottest (quite literally) anti-aging trends in the celebrity world. I’ve taken some frequently asked questions to the best in the industry, Sunlighten. [Read more…]
September is Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month. Have you checked your neck?
[Read more…]
I know. I know. Losing weight with hypothyroidism can feel impossible. You’re trying your best to make changes to your diet in the hopes of losing some of the stubborn weight and you figure artificial sweeteners with fewer calories are a good option. But are they? [Read more…]
When a Hypothyroid Mom reader contacted me with this letter that she wrote to her family (and she asked me to share but keep it anonymous), I thought wow she hit the nail on the head. She expressed the frustration we feel living with an invisible illness so perfectly. We may look “normal” on the outside but struggle in ways no one understands, not even our loved ones.
[Read more…]
You feel like a truck ran over you but your doctor keeps repeating that your thyroid is NORMAL? Your doctor only tests TSH? Your doctor refuses to do any additional tests? You’ve read at Hypothyroid Mom that the number one cause of hypothyroidism is the thyroid autoimmune disease Hashimoto’s, yet your thyroid antibodies have never been tested?
Do you know you can order your OWN lab tests?
YES SERIOUSLY.
Often times doctors do NOT run full thyroid testing. Without proper lab testing, doctors and patients are trying to heal hypothyroidism lacking the information that could make all the difference.
If you find your doctor unwilling to run these tests, one option is to order YOUR OWN lab tests without your doctor. Do you know that’s possible?!
A trusted online place where you can order lab testing yourself is True Health Labs. They have comprehensive thyroid assessments that include TSH, Free T4, Free T3, Reverse T3, Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies, Thyroglobulin Antibodies, and more. What I love about True Health Labs is that they offer one-on-one results review with one of their Functional Medicine doctors so that you understand your lab test results and next steps. If you have a Flex Spending Account (FSA) with your employer, all lab tests ordered online at True Health Labs are FSA-friendly.
Use coupon code Limited_5 for 5% off your order for Hypothyroid Mom fans.
Here below are the thyroid lab tests that I recommend.
The very first place to start is with a complete thyroid panel to point out major thyroid dysfunction. One of the main problems with mainstream medicine’s approach to thyroid health is the reliance on one lab test TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone). This one lab test FAILS to give a full picture of thyroid health. Failure to run complete thyroid lab testing is one of the key reasons why there are hundreds of millions of undiagnosed and inadequately treated hypothyroidism patients in the world.
Comprehensive Thyroid Assessment for USA (not available in NY, NJ, MA & RI)
Comprehensive Thyroid Assessment Kit for Canada (this kit can also be used in the USA except in NY, helpful if you are not near a Quest draw center, reside in a rural area, or live in Canada)
Comprehensive Thyroid Assessment for Europe
* It amazes me every day the number of people that follow Hypothyroid Mom from countries all over the world. This is truly a global website and I wanted to be sure to include lab tests available internationally.
Your adrenal glands (located on top of the kidneys) perform many tasks ranging from blood pressure to immune system functions. A major hormone secreted by the adrenal glands is cortisol. There is a strong connection between cortisol function and thyroid function. If one system isn’t working the other will naturally be faulty as well.
Testing cortisol levels is vitally important as test results will tell you if abnormal cortisol production is affecting your thyroid.
Normal cortisol levels should be high in the morning then drop during the day, returning to a higher level overnight. For many with hypothyroidism, the norm of “high in the morning, low at night” might actually be low in the morning and high at night! And, this will wreak havoc on thyroid function and can cause the common problem of insomnia. You can’t imagine how many readers contact me all hours of the day and night from every region in the world struggling to sleep at night.
How to know if you should check your cortisol levels? Common symptoms of adrenal dysfunction include fatigue, insomnia, chronic pain, headaches, migraines, anxiety, depression, weight gain, joint inflammation, gastrointestinal issues (constipation or diarrhea), tendonitis, bursitis, low libido, fibromyalgia, irritability, anger, fidgetiness, nervous, addictions, obsessiveness, frequent urination, heart disease, blood pressure problem too high, blood pressure too low, light-headedness, and dizziness upon rising.
Adrenal Cortisol Test for USA (not available in New York State)
Adrenal Cortisol Test for Canada and New York
Adrenal Cortisol Test for Europe
Hormones Comprehensive Panel including Cortisol for Other Regions
You can think of organic acids like this: imagine testing your car’s exhaust system to understand how well the internal components are working. Organic acids work the same way in your body. In a split second, your body goes through billions of chemical reactions. Like with every chemical reaction there are byproducts.
Poor health, including hypothyroidism, can be triggered and promoted by errors in these chemical pathways. Organic acid byproducts are dumped into the urine and can be easily measured with lab testing. If you are struggling to recover from hypothyroidism, testing for organic acids is especially important.
Organic Acids Test for USA (not available in New York State)
Organic Acids Test for Other Regions
What’s being tested? Fatty acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, energy production, B Vitamin markers, methylation markers, neurotransmitter metabolism, antioxidant markers, detoxification indicators, bacteria, L.Acidophilus, Clostridial Species, yeast/fungus.
Low vitamin D levels can be seen in Hashimoto’s as well as other hypothyroid states. A study published in the International Journal of Health Sciences revealed that people with thyroid issues have significantly lower vitamin D and calcium levels. This is not a surprising discovery since we already know every cell in the body is capable of using vitamin D. When there’s not sufficient vitamin D available, the entire body will suffer.
Vitamin D insufficiency (<40 ng/dl) needs to be increased to a functional level (50-70 ng/dl). Mainstream healthcare may try to tell you that vitamin D levels in the low 30’s are perfectly okay. Keep in mind, however, mainstream medicine’s primary concerns are with the symptoms you develop from vitamin D deficiencies. Unfortunately, promoting our bodies’ optimal “right function” is not taught in medical schools…yet.
Since vitamin D is a hormone, it’s important that you don’t over-supplement. Like any hormone, if you are overexposed your body becomes resistant to it. A good example is insulin resistance. Too much insulin hormone = Resistance. Too much vitamin D hormone = Resistance. Levels of 50-70 ng/dl of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (Vitamin D) seem to work best for most people.
With that said, it’s important to test your vitamin D levels every two months until you reach the optimal level.
Vitamin D Test for USA (not available in NY, NJ, MA, RI)
#1 selling test is Health Check Plus Vitamin D which includes many important tests including Vitamin D all in one for USA (not available in NY, NJ, MA, RI)
I can’t overstate how important sex hormones are for the proper function of our whole body including our thyroid system. Sex hormones are extremely powerful. In fact, most labs measure hormones in picograms (1000 times smaller than a nanogram). This means that small changes in hormone levels make big differences in function. I discovered that a major reason for the sudden onset of hair loss at age 42 was the result of a rapid shift in my sex hormones. Perimenopause was wreaking havoc on my hair!
For women who are still menstruating, it’s not only important to make sure hormone levels are optimal but also the flow of hormones. It is critical for hormones to rise and fall at particular times during the cycle. If it doesn’t happen, this can change the way other body systems work even outside the reproductive system!
Premenopause Panel (perimenopause can begin as early as 10 years before menopause) for USA (not available in New York State)
For those who are postmenopausal, it’s important to reach hormone levels optimal for postmenopause. Many women take hormone replacement medication but don’t realize that those hormones (even bioidentical) can store in fat cells and eventually overexpose your body to excess hormones, potentially creating ill health.
Postmenopause Panel for USA (not available in New York State)
Hormonal Health Panel for Canada
Here are the 10 most important lab tests for men. Yes sex hormone testing is important for men too.
Having good gut health can “make or break” the hypothyroidism state.
What is good gut health? Your city’s “award-winning” gastroenterologist may tell you that good gut health is not having an infection or your stool looking a certain way. Here are several areas to look at for truly good gut health:
Gut Health Profile for USA (not available in New York State). *This is True Health Labs’ most popular test.
I know. I know what you are thinking. A poop test! I felt uncomfortable the first time I pooped for a lab test but I can’t tell you how important this turned out to be for me. I discovered a high level of yeast in my gut that had been crushing my health for years.
Food sensitivities are common in patients with thyroid disease. Some of the most common food culprits include gluten, dairy, nuts, eggs and nightshades but there are many more. Imagine if removing just one food from your diet could make all the difference. I hear from Hypothyroid Mom readers all the time that discover the incredible change in their body from identifying food sensitivities.
MRT Food Sensitivity Test 150 for USA (excluding NY State) & Canada
MRT Food Sensitivity Test 150 for Canada
MRT 150 Food Sensitivity Test for Europe
I recommend adding one-on-one results reviews with our functional medicine doctors to your cart so that you understand the results of all of your lab tests.
Ways to use TrueHealthLabs.com:
Discovering that I was severely deficient in magnesium turned out to be life-changing for me. For years I struggled with chronic constipation, nervousness, anxiety, headaches, persistent eyelid twitches, blurry vision at times, recurring bladder infections, kidney stones, frequent urination, sensitivity to bright lights and loud noises, tension in the upper back, shoulders, and neck, physical and mental fatigue, PMS, menstrual cramps, and the peculiar feeling that I couldn’t take a deep breath accompanied with frequent sighing. Then came the first time I was shaving my legs in the shower and I couldn’t feel my legs. The numbness and tingling scared me and I rushed to the doctor who had no answer for my questions.
It was thanks to a great new doctor who tested my RBC (red blood cell) magnesium that I discovered my serious magnesium deficiency and all the symptoms made sense. Supplementing with the magnesium glycinate mentioned in this article every night before bed has completely eliminated these symptoms and has helped me have better sleep on top of it all.
[Read more…]
Without proper lab testing, doctors and patients are trying to heal hypothyroidism lacking the information that could make all the difference. Often times doctors do NOT run full thyroid testing, let alone the non-thyroid lab tests mentioned in this article that could change a patient’s life.
If you find your doctor unwilling to run these tests, one option is to order YOUR OWN lab tests without your doctor. Do you know that’s possible?!
A trusted online place where you can order lab testing yourself is True Health Labs. They have comprehensive thyroid assessments that include TSH, Free T4, Free T3, Reverse T3, Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies, Thyroglobulin Antibodies, and more. What I love about True Health Labs is that they offer one-on-one results review with one of their Functional Medicine doctors so that you understand your lab test results and next steps. If you have a Flex Spending Account (FSA) with your employer, all lab tests ordered online at True Health Labs are FSA-friendly.
Use coupon code Limited_5 for 5% off your order for Hypothyroid Mom fans.
* It amazes me every day the number of people that follow Hypothyroid Mom from countries all over the world. This is truly a global website and I wanted to be sure to include lab tests available internationally.
After 3 years of taking thyroid medication for hypothyroidism every day, I found a great new thyroid doctor and for the first time discovered that I was taking my thyroid medication all wrong. I was taking my medication at the very same time as foods, medications, and supplements known to interfere with the absorption of thyroid medication. Yet my previous thyroid doctor and pharmacists never thought to tell me such important information.
I no longer take a T4-only levothyroxine medication like Synthroid, which is a popular prescription for hypothyroidism in mainstream medicine. I felt awful on T4 only. Some do great on these medications but I just didn’t. Our bodies are all different. I now take natural desiccated thyroid which contains both T4 and T3 thyroid hormones. My doctor has me divide my dose to twice a day to spread the affect of T3 in NDT to keep up my energy throughout the day. I take half of my dosage first thing in the morning when I wake up and the other half in the afternoon several hours apart from the food, supplements, and medications mentioned below in this article. First speak to your doctor before changing how you take your thyroid medication.
Dieting? Exercising? Still can’t lose weight? Dr. Kent Holtorf shares 10 surprising factors likely contributing to your weight loss challenges with hypothyroidism that you probably haven’t considered (and your doctor probably hasn’t considered). [Read more…]
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