with Sophie Shepherd
In this Episode:
- What is the Thyroid & what it controls in the body
- My Journey Through Thyroid Healing
- Symptoms of Hypothyroid & Hyperthyroid
- What is Graves vs Hashimotos
- Common Contributors of Low Thyroid function including hormonal birth control
Episode Summary:
January is Thyroid Awareness Month and as a Hashimoto’s warrior this topic is so near and dear to my heart.
Having struggled through my thyroid journey alone my mission is always to bring awareness and education to you so you may feel empowered with your new found knowledge and be able to work with your practitioner on next steps to optimal health.
In part 1 on thyroid health, we are going to cover some baseline education you need to know about the role the thyroid plays in your body, the common symptoms associated with both hypo and hyperthyroidism, define what Hashimoto and Graves disease are and what are some of the root causes.
In later episodes we’ll be going into the nitty gritty of solutions, lifestyle changes, medications, and how the entire body can support thyroid health.
20-60 million Americans have some form of thyroid disease
Up to 60% of those with thyroid disease have no idea
Women are 5-8x more likely to have thyroid issues than men
The chances of this affecting you or someone you know is very high so make sure to save this episode to relisten and share it with your girl friends.
Your thyroid impacts Breathing, Heart rate, Central and peripheral nervous systems, Body weight, Muscle strength. Menstrual cycles, Body temperature, Cholesterol levels
So it’s easy to see why it’s such an important topic and why there are so many symptoms related to thyroid disease. This is also why most women who come to me with thyroid issues find themselves dealing with symptoms that they think are unrelated like depression, constipation, hair loss and infertility and they are treating each of these symptoms separately, not realizing there is a deeper imbalance
It is important to know if you have the autoimmune conditions Grave’s Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (that cause a majority of the thyroid issues in this country.) The reason this is important is because autoimmune conditions are a signal that the immune system is in hyper drive, where normal tissue (self) is confused with a pathogen or other trespasser (non-self) and a rogue immune response launches a seek-and-destroy mission on otherwise healthy tissue. When we know that is happening in the body we can take a lot of steps to calm that hyperactive immune system.
There are many common causes or associated factors to consider when looking into root causes of thyroid dysfunction. These range from stress, endocrine disrupting chemicals, estrogen dominance, nutrient deficiencies, poor conversion of thyroid hormone (T4 to T3), autoimmune disease, Leaky Gut, and Hormonal Birth Control. I get into why each of these is something to consider when trying to remove your triggers and support your thyroid.