Tag: hypothyroidism

A Thyroid Health Summary Overview

A Thyroid Health Summary Overview

A quick summary from our previous blog post serious on thyroid health from Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND.

Autoimmune Dysfunction Of The Thyroid

Autoimmune Dysfunction Of The Thyroid

Learn more about several autoimmune dysfunctions of the thyroid such as Hashimotos, graves’ disease and more from Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND.

All About Hypothyroidism

All About Hypothyroidism

hypothyroidism

Written by Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND

For further questions or concerns email me at [email protected]

The thyroid can experience multiple dysfunctions. Here’s what you need to know about hypothyroidism.

What Is Hypothyroidism?

Hypothyroidism is where the body doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormone.  This can happen if there is a problem in the thyroid itself or if there is a problem in the anterior pituitary which is the organ that basically controls the thyroid.  For this lecture we will focus on the thyroid itself.†

In typical hypothyroidism blood tests will show higher than usual TSH and lower than usual T4 & T3.  For a more in-depth explanation, feel free to see last week’s blog on thyroid testing.†

ALL ABOUT THYROID TESTS. Read Now>>

Normal TSH is .5 to 5mu/l and normal T3 is 80-220mg/dl. T4 is 5-12ug/dl.  However,  this is where it gets interesting because “normal” doesn’t mean optimum. The optimum range for TSH is 1.3-2.5mu/l.  For example, a value of 3 indicates what is known in the holistic community as “sub-clinical hypothyroidism” and is very often accompanied by symptoms of low thyroid. While sub-clinical hypothyroidism isn’t usually severe enough to warrant conventional treatment, certain supplements have been found in studies to alleviate symptoms.† (1)

What, exactly,  are the most common symptoms of a low thyroid?  To start, you may experience difficulty concentrating as well as fatigue. There is also a feeling of being cold as well as slow heart rate which is often associated with shortness of breath. Weight gain is often associated with low thyroid.  Hair loss is another symptom that often has people coming in to see a nutritionist.  Just a heads up: if you are having hair loss, getting your thyroid tested is a great first step to finding out what is going on. Less commonly known as a symptom is depression.  In women, menstrual cycles can often be heavier than usual (although as the hypothyroidism persists, it can progress to lighter than usual cycles).  Since hypothyroidism is associated with a slowing down of things, it makes sense that there is delayed tendon reflexes. That is where the doctor hits your knee and you get to kick him.  Constipation as well as changes in digestive health are also noted.  I’ve included a picture for a system by stem breakdown of all the symptoms of hypothyroidism since the thyroid affects almost every system.† (2)

hypothyroidism

Now what can potentially lead to the symptoms of hypothyroidism? In many cases too little iodine is a trigger. Also treatment with radioactive iodine can affect the thyroid.  Injury to the hypothalamus or anterior pituitary can also lower the amount of thyroid hormone produced. Obviously, being born without a thyroid or having thyroid surgery can cause the thyroid hormone to be low. Even certain prescription medications can cause low thyroid as a side affect.†

Autoimmune such as Hashimotos Hypothyroidism, Postpartum Hypothyroidism as well as Myasthenia Gravis can cause the symptoms of hypothyroidism. But since this is such a large topic, I’ll talk about this later on.†

Last but not least, any autoimmune disorders such as celiac disease, Rheumatoid arthritis, SLE, and even diabetes can affect the thyroid.  From a more holistic point of view, “leaky gut” can also affect the thyroid. Which is why so many holistic practitioners say treat the gut!† (3)

How to help your thyroid

Working with hypothyroidism is one of those things that requires a gentle touch, if you will.  Many of the studies find herbs and supplements to help moderate thyroid symptoms, but they are very strong. I advise working with a qualified nutritionist from InViteⓇ Health.†

  1. Bladderwrack or kelp: Studies have shown that this helps with providing iodine to help in the case of iodine deficiency which is very common in hypothyroidism. In fact, studies have shown the iodine in kelp to be much easier for the body to use than just taking iodine by itself!† (4)

See InViteⓇ Health Thyroid HxⓇ to find this amazing source of iodine!†

  1. Ashwagandha: Studies once again show that this amazing herb is helpful for the thyroid. Studies have shown that Ashwagandha helps subclinical hypothyroidism in just over 8 weeks! Other studies show an increase in T4 from the baseline.† (5)

See InViteⓇ Health Thyroid HxⓇ to find this amazing plant!†

3.Coleus forskohlii has been found in studies to work to increase synthesis of T4 by the thyroid. In one animal study, levels of TSH went down, while the levels of T3/T4 went up.† (6)

See InViteⓇ Health Thyroid HxⓇ to find this amazing plant!†

  1. Black Cumin seed or Black Seed has been found in studies to have a protective role in hypothyroidism. In 1 study black cumin raised T3.† (7)

See InViteⓇ Health Black Seed with Rosemary and Cordyceps as well as our InViteⓇ Multi for Men!†

  1. L-tyrosine, zinc, and selenium are all important nutrients for producing thyroid hormones.† (8)

See InViteⓇ Health Thyroid HxⓇ, Zinc tablets/lozenges, Immunity HxⓇ, as well as all our wonderful InViteⓇ multivitamins!†

  1. Glandular type supplements are also an option for thyroid disorders and are available at select InViteⓇ stores! For more information call 212-249 -2036.† (9)

These are very basic ideas for hypothyroidism.  But this is a very complex issue. Working on diet, stress and even gut health are all important aspects of helping our thyroid. This is why it is so important to get the blood work and a list of medications you take for any reason and visit a store such as our 71 Street store. This ensures the best protocol for you.†

BEING MINDFUL ABOUT STRESS – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 474. Listen Now>>

Next week, hyperthyroidism!

(1) https://www.uclahealth.org/endocrine-center/normal-thyroid-hormone-levels

(2) Longo DL, Fauci AS, Kasper DL, Hauser SL, Jameson JL, Loscalzo J (2011). “341: disorders of the thyroid gland”. Harrison’s principles of internal medicine (18th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0071748896.

(3)[8] Garber JR, Cobin RH, Gharib H, Hennessey JV, Klein I, Mechanick JI, Pessah-Pollack R, Singer PA, Woeber KA (December 2012). “Clinical practice guidelines for hypothyroidism in adults: cosponsored by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the American Thyroid Association”. Thyroid. 22 (12): 1200–35. doi:10.1089/thy.2012.0205. PMID 22954017.

(4)Catarino, M. D., Silva, A., & Cardoso, S. M. (2018). Phycochemical Constituents and Biological Activities of Fucus spp. Marine drugs, 16(8), 249. https://doi.org/10.3390/md16080249

(5)Sharma, A. et al.  (2018). Efficacy and Safety of Ashwagandha Root Extract in Subclinical Hypothyroid Patients: A Double-Blind, Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial. Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 24(3), 243–248.

(6)Hameed, S. I., Al-Shahwany, A. W., & Salih, S. J. (2020). Evaluation of the Activity of Some Plants Extracts on Thyroid Gland Regulation in Female Albino Rats. Iraqi Journal of Science, 254-265.

(7)Ismail, M. et al. Effect of Nigella sativa L. on serum concentration of thyroid hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone and glucose in alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits. Ir Vet J. 2003;59(9):462–4.

(8)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19594417/

(9) https://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/2014-08/thyroxine-and-triiodothyronine-commercially-available-thyroid-supplements

 

 

All About Thyroid Tests

All About Thyroid Tests

Do you know what thyroid tests you need in order to make sure the gland is functioning properly? There are several different options that can give you an indication of your thyroid health.

The Basics of the Thyroid

The Basics of the Thyroid

You’ve probably heard about how important the thyroid is for your overall health, but do you know why? Learn all about this powerful gland from Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND.

Levothyroxine, a Thyroid Drug, and Its Interactions with Nutrition – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 486

Levothyroxine, a Thyroid Drug, and Its Interactions with Nutrition – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 486

thyroid

Subscribe Today!

Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsiHeartRadioSpotify

Please see below for a complete transcript of this episode.

Levothyroxine, a Thyroid Drug, and Its Interactions with Nutrition – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 486

Hosted by Jerry Hickey, Ph.

*Intro music*

InVite Health Podcast Intro: Welcome to the InVite Health Podcast, where our degreed healthcare professionals are excited to offer you the most important health and wellness information you need to make informed choices about your health. You can learn more about the products discussed in each of these episodes and all that InVite Health has to offer at www.invitehealth.com/podcast. First time customers can use promo code PODCAST at checkout for an additional 15% off your first purchase. Let’s get started!

*Intro music*

Jerry Hickey, Ph.: Your thyroid is a gland that releases thyroid hormones and when it’s not working well, which is pretty common… When it under functions, which is called hypothyroidism, you could feel very fatigued. It might be hard to focus. You pretty much feel miserable. So where is your thyroid gland and what does it do? A gland releases hormones. Hormones are kind of messengers that travel throughout the entire body, and they knock on the door of every cell and the cells that need it allow it to come in. So your thyroid affects literally every cell in the body. It stores and releases several thyroid hormones and conditions that affect the thyroid are very common, especially under function. But more on these thyroid hormones later, I’ll explain what they do.†

Now, the thyroid hormones in general are essential for the function of every cell in your body. They help regulate growth, including muscle development. For children, they need it for growth, and they need it for brain function. They’re needed for the rate of all the chemical reactions that take place in your body every second, all those tens of thousands of reactions. That’s called metabolism. Now your thyroid hormone’s needed for brain function. So if the levels are low, that leads to feelings of stress or anxiety or even depression. Commonly, these people experience brain fatigue. That could be accompanied by nervousness and brain fog, or even an inability to concentrate and carry on a good conversation. If it’s really advanced, low thyroid function, which is called hypothyroidism, I’ll repeat that a couple of times throughout the conversation here. Thyroid hormones affect our heart rate. In fact, sometimes when you got a prescription drug of thyroid hormone that could make your heart race like levothyroxine, which is also called Synthroid. So it’s always good when you first get a thyroid hormone to underestimate the dose, to start at a lower dose than the doctor thinks you need and this way, you don’t get side effects and the body can kind of adapt to the thyroid hormone.†

So people with an overactive thyroid, which is not very common, that’s called hyperthyroid, overactive thyroid. Their heart races, they burn all the fat in their body. They burn all their muscle, they lose bone. They’re very anxious and nervous. They’re very overactive. Their eyes can bulge out. That’s called ophthalmos. Too much thyroid hormone, like I said, can make your heart race, but it can also affect your blood pressure. Now it does affect your, your body temperature. So if you’re low in thyroid hormone, you could feel really cold in the winter. Thyroid hormone’s very important for metabolism, a major part of metabolism is converting food into energy. So if your thyroid is under functioning, you can feel really fatigued.†

HOW VITAMIN A BENEFITS IMMUNITY AND VISION – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 197. Listen Now>>

So where’s it located? It’s located in the lower part of your neck. So in a man, it would be just below the Adam’s apple. It wraps around your trachea. Your trachea is the pipe from your nose and mouth to your lungs, so it’s called your windpipe. The thyroid wraps around the trachea. It kind of has a butterfly shape, so it has two wings, one on each side of the trachea, they’re called lobes, and they’re attached in the middle part by something called an isthmus.†

So today we’re going to discuss Synthroid. It’s also known as levothyroxine or T4. This drug is very commonly prescribed. It’s always among the top five prescribed drugs in the United States and worldwide. Millions and millions and millions and millions and millions of people are on it. They use it for treating hypothyroidism. So hi, my name is Jerry Hickey. I’m a nutritional pharmacist. I’m also the Senior Scientific Officer over here at InViteⓇ Health and welcome to my episode: Levothyroxine, a Thyroid Drug, and Its Interaction with Nutrition. Thanks for tuning into today’s InViteⓇ Health Podcast episode. You can find all of these episodes for free wherever you listen to a podcast, or just visit invitehealth.com/podcast. Please subscribe and leave us a review. You can also follow us on Facebook (I think that’s called Metaverse today), Twitter, Instagram @invitehealth, and the information on this episode is linked at the episode description, so I really want to get going here.†

Well over 30 million people suffer from a thyroid condition called hypothyroidism. That’s in the United States. It’s under functioning of your thyroid gland. So it happens when your thyroid doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormone. It’s pretty common and it becomes more common with age. It leads to a slowing down of metabolism. You get fatigued, brain fog, dry skin, weight gain, problems with the heart, inflammation, elevated cholesterol, digestive tract issues, nervousness and more. I mean, it’s very common for people to have some depression, moodiness, forgetfulness, poor concentration. Some people get goiter. The thyroid in the neck enlarges and they have like a swollen thing in their neck. They can develop brittle nails, brittle hair. In fact, they can suffer with hair loss. Their face gets puffy. They can have a slowed down heart rate because you need thyroid hormones for the rate of your heartbeat. They can have problems like diarrhea and constipation. Their cholesterol goes up. The good cholesterol goes down and the bad cholesterol goes up. It can affect fertility. It can affect women’s menstrual cycles if they’re younger. But you have a loss of energy, persistent fatigue, cold sensitivity, like it’s cold outside, you really feel it. Your joints can ache. You can have muscle cramps and stiffness. A lot of stuff. Dry, itchy skin. Just a lot of things. †

So a lot of people think metabolism is just how fast they burn calories, because that’s, you know, that’s what the weight loss companies tell you. Metabolism. It’s all about burning calories. No, no. That’s a vast oversimplification of the term. Metabolism is sustaining your life. It’s a life-sustaining process. It involves all of the different chemical reactions that take place in your cells every second. Tens of thousands of them are going on right now. So it maintains your ability to live. So death is a lack of metabolism. I mean, that’s really the definition of death. So thyroid is needed for metabolism.†

Now, the number one thyroid drug is called Synthroid, but it’s widely available as a generic, which is called levothyroxine, which is T4. So let me tell you the various thyroid hormones. Your thyroid generally releases two hormones: T4, which is the levothyroxine also called Synthroid, and T3, and it releases mostly T4 with a little T3. The thing is, T4 is not that active. It’s really the T3 that does the job. So you get a little T3 so you have instant energy and instant metabolism and slowly but surely, the T4 is converted into the active form in like your liver and your muscles, etc. So T4 is supposed to convert to T3, and then it works. When you get Synthroid (levothyroxine), it’s only T4. That doesn’t work in everybody. Some people have trouble converting that to T3. They could get a second hormone called Cytomel, which is also called liothyronine. You get a low dose of that. That’s actually active T3. You see that more in people with Celtic background and Irish backgrounds, where they have an inability to convert T4 to T3 adequately, so they seem to have a little bit of ADHD kind of thing going on. So they actually… they actually might do a lot better with a different thyroid called Armour Thyroid, which is a natural thyroid. It’s a prescription, but you get the thyroid combination released from your own thyroid. You get the T4 and T3, so a lot of people do better on the Armour Thyroid than they do on the levothyroxine.†

There’s another hormone called TSH, and that’s very useful for diagnosing problems with the thyroid. So normally there’s a certain amount of T3 and T4 in your blood. There’s like a normal range, and when there’s not enough, the brain makes note of this and it releases TSH to push the thyroid to work harder. So you really shouldn’t see much TSH in the blood. So even if your level is high, but it’s on the high end of normal, excuse me. But even if your level of TSH is normal, let’s say again, even if your TSH is normal, but it’s kind of like in the high end of normal, that might be an indication that you have a sluggish thyroid. So TSH is released from the brain when the thyroid is not producing adequate amounts of thyroid hormones, so it’s really pushing the thyroid to work. It stands for thyroid stimulating hormone. So when you see low levels, that means the thyroid is probably over functioning and when you see high levels, that means the thyroid is under functioning.†

Now, when you take Synthroid, levothyroxine, T4, they’re all the same thing, it lasts all day long. It has a very long half-life. You have to take it away from everything. So I told people who take it like, take it a couple of hours before your breakfast, take it a couple of hours before your multivitamin. You don’t want to take any minerals with it because thyroid hormone is essentially made out of an amino acid that comes out of a protein called tyrosine and iodine. And if you get a lot of minerals, like divalent minerals like potassium, magnesium, calcium, etc., they’re going to attach to the thyroid hormone. They’re going to attach to the iodine and the drug won’t work. So that’s why we don’t like you to take anything when you’re taking thyroid hormone, we like you to wait a couple of hours. Now you have to avoid these almost universally.†

So this is important: If you’re on thyroid medication, you have to avoid these things. Seaweed. Seaweed is loaded with iodine. There’s been reports for many years of people with normal thyroid function, snacking on chips made out of seaweed, who develop an overactive thyroid. So you don’t want to have the seaweed chips if you’re on a thyroid medication. And even if you have normal thyroid function, you don’t want to overdo seaweed. Now, another name for seaweed is bladderwrack, so you want to stay away from bladderwrack. You’ll be getting too much iodine. And you don’t want to take kelp because that’s also iodine. But here’s the thing. Part of your thyroid is still working, so it still needs to be nourished. So you do want to get some iodine. We’ll address that in a minute.†

So if you’re on a thyroid medication, you really want to avoid the next two herbs. Ashwagandha root. Everybody is going crazy today with ashwagandha. Ashwagandha increases thyroid function. If you’re on thyroid medication, that could be potentially dangerous but also Coleus forskohlii. That’s another herb that affects the thyroid. So if you’re on thyroid medication, you don’t want to have seaweed. You don’t want to have Coleus forskholii. You don’t want to have ashwagandha root. You don’t want to have a lot of iodine. You also don’t want to take your thyroid with food or with other supplements. You want to take it at least two hours before.†

Now, we all still need some iodine, even if we’re on thyroid medication. See, I always tell people, think of the thyroid as an apple pie with different slices and people with an under functioning thyroid, they still have some of that pie. They still have some slices. They’re just missing some slices. So they give you the amount of thyroid appropriate to make out for the percentage of thyroid functioning you’re lacking. So they’re not replacing your entire thyroid hormone release. You’re still releasing some thyroid hormone unless you’ve had your thyroid surgically removed or destroyed by radioactive iodine. So you still need some iodine, but get it from your multivitamin, typically they give enough iodine for people that it won’t interact with their thyroid medication.†

ALARMING FINDINGS ON NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES – INVITE HEALTH PODCAST, EPISODE 303. Listen Now>>

Now let me give you another tip. If you’re put on levothyroxine and it’s making your heart race, tell the doctor because they should lower the dosage, but take a supplement called L-carnitine. Everybody thinks L-carnitine increases energy. It’s a lot more complex than that. L-carnitine is an energy regulator, so if you’re fatigued, it brings up your energy. But if you’re hyperactive or your metabolism is racing, it brings down your energy. So if you took too much levothyroxine and your heart’s racing and you feel all nervous and all, and this becomes a problem, you might want to try some L-carnitine. Now, even though you’re on thyroid medication, the remaining part of your still-functioning thyroid needs to be nourished, so you do need some iodine. About 150 micrograms a day is plenty.

You still need selenium. Selenium converts T4 to T3. So if you’re taking Synthroid, levothyroxine, it’s T4, you need to be able to convert it to T3 for it to function. The body requires selenium to accomplish that. But the body also requires zinc and Vitamin A to accomplish that. So a lot of these things could be found in a multivitamin, the iodine, the selenium, the zinc, the Vitamin A. So T4 is not very active, that’s the Synthroid, the levothyroxine prescription. You have to change that into T3 for it to work. It’s much more active. You require selenium, zinc and Vitamin A to achieve that. You also should use some Vitamin D because Vitamin D helps prevent your thyroid from becoming further inflamed. You need some iron. Iron blocks reverse T3. Reverse T3… If the doctor looks in your blood, your thyroid hormone levels might be normal, but if you have a lot of reverse T3, that’s blocking the thyroid hormones from working. So if you have sufficient iron in your blood, that blocks reverse T3 and it allows your thyroid hormones to work.†

You need protein to get tyrosine to make thyroid hormone. That’s how it works. It’s attached to iodine. So T4, which is levothyroxine, which is Synthroid, is a chain of four molecules of iodine attached to tyrosine. For it to become active, it has to become T3, which is a chain of three molecules of iodine attached to tyrosine. So you need to eat some protein to get the tyrosine. You also need B-vitamins. There’s eight B-vitamins because you need them to utilize the energy that the thyroid hormone is going to release properly.†

So I hope I’ve been some help here. Nutrition is important for your thyroid, even if you’re on thyroid hormone because there is some thyroid function remaining and that has to be nourished. I want to thank you for listening to today’s episode. You could find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen or just visit invitehealth.com/podcast. Please subscribe and leave us a review. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @invitehealth. I hope to see you next time on another episode of the InViteⓇ Health Podcast, and thank you so much for listening. Jerry Hickey signing off. †

*Exit music*