Do You Have Subclinical Hypothyroidism?
Many women suffer hypothyroidism and often it is missed on conventional blood tests. As a practitioner specializing in hormone balancing and women’s issues this is a hormone imbalance I frequently see in women.
Typically a thyroid test includes a TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) test and and T4 (thyroxine) test. Sometimes only the TSH test is done and many medical doctors rely solely on the TSH test to determine if you are in the normal range of thyroid hormone. If this hormone test is on the border of high or slightly over the lab range of high, your doctor may determine that your thyroid is functioning properly especially if your T4 is in the normal range. However, if you are having symptoms we call this finding subclinical hypothyroid.
Some of the symptoms of hypothyroidism are:
•hair loss
•weight gain or difficulty losing weight
•dry skin
•facial puffiness
•constipation
•fatigue
Catching hypothyroidism at this stage is important as we can more easily treat it using a natural approach. It may not be necessary to go on thyroid hormone. Using Chinese medicine and herbs and nutrition, we can correct the imbalance and alleviate the symptoms you may be experiencing.
It is important to catch a thyroid hormone imbalance early to avoid it progressing to the stage where hormone replacement is necessary, or where it is affecting other body systems. It is also important in the case that it is an autoimmune hypothyroid disease. If we catch it early enough we may be able to reverse it and return the thyroid to a healthy state.
A case study.
A patient came to me for help with getting pregnant. She was 39 years old. Her OB/Gyn had put her on a low dose of thyroxine as her blood work had indicated she had thyroid antibodies and resulting hypothyroid. She had an early case of autoimmune hypothyroid.
We worked together with acupuncture and herbs for a while and she wasn’t getting pregnant. I began to consider that perhaps the treatment for infertility had helped correct her thyroid situation since some of the herbs in the formula also help to eliminate and correct the autoimmune antibodies. If by taking the pharmaceutical thyroxine she was getting too much of the hormone it could keep her from becoming pregnant.
I asked her to get her doctor to retest for her thyroid function although he didn’t believe it could have changed. When the tests came back it no longer showed thyroid antibodies or hypothyroid. She was taken off the thyroid medication as I had hoped and she shortly became pregnant. Once her body function was returned to normal she was able to easily become pregnant.
While this patient didn’t come in to be treated for hypothyroid, it shows the power of natural treatment to correct an underlying condition of hypothyroid.
If you suspect you might have subclinical hypothyroidism call to make an appointment for a complementary 15 minute consult to find out if you might be a good candidate for natural treatment. If you have recent lab work have it handy for your appointment. 310-367-1564