Thyroid Fix-In 6 Module 1 Slides - Amazon Web Services
Transcript of Thyroid Fix-In 6 Module 1 Slides - Amazon Web Services
Medical Disclaimer The content of the following document is based on research conducted by Jen Wi8man, Thyroid Loving Care and/or The Healthy Plate, LLC, unless otherwise noted. The informaAon is presented for educaAonal purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or prescribe for any medical or psychological condiAon, nor to prevent, treat, miAgate or cure such condiAons. The informaAon contained herein is not intended to replace a one-‐on-‐one relaAonship with a doctor or qualified healthcare professional. Therefore, this informaAon is not intended as medical advice, but rather a sharing of knowledge and informaAon based on research and experience. Jen Wi8man, Thyroid Loving Care and/or The Healthy Plate, LLC encourage you to make your own health care decisions based on your judgment and research in partnership with a qualified healthcare professional. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug AdministraAon. The informaAon in this document and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All rights reserved. No part of this publicaAon may be reproduced, scanned, distributed or transmi8ed in any form, by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in wriAng from the publisher. Any telephone numbers, addresses, prices, offers and web sites listed in this document are accurate at the Ame of publicaAon, but they are subject to frequent change. Copyright 2016 Thyroid Loving Care / The Healthy Plate, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Thyroid Love 101 MODULE 1
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR BODY.
Week 1: Resources
§ The Radical TLC Solu0on Home Healing Plan – Introduc0on & Week 1
§ Thyroid Love 101 book § Temperature Tracker Download
§ Food, Mood & Symptom Tracker Download
Week 1: Daily Action Plan DAY 1 Read through the enAre IntroducAon + Week 1 of your Home Healing Plan guide.
DAY 2 Check your most recent blood tests. Are you within “opAmal” range?
DAY 3 Make appt. w/doctor or order tests if you need updated test results.
DAY 4 Buy/Order Basal Thermometer.
DAY 5 Begin your food journal & digesAve symptom tracker.
DAY 6 Begin tracking your temperature.
DAY 7 Treat yo’self! Do one loving thing for yourself today.
The Current State of Thyroid Health Care § The medical system is sorely lacking in understanding and educaAon of thyroid, autoimmune
and inflammatory disorders.
§ It’s more important than ever to be educated on the basics of these diseases, the tesAng that can help you really understand what’s going on with your body, and how to address the root causes.
§ Misdiagnosis is all too common with thyroid, autoimmune and inflammatory disorders—and an accurate diagnosis is the first step in choosing your best treatment on your road to health.
§ Chances are that you’ll just be given a prescripAon for replacement hormones—without ever diagnosing the cause of your problems.
What we’re going to cover this module:
§ The secret to a healthy thyroid. § How to find the root cause & the right help to treat it. § How to test and track yourself at home. § Your medicaAon: Helpful or Harmful? § How to find the right doctor for you!
The Secret to a Healthy Thyroid
§ Understanding the basic funcAons of the thyroid & other important systems § Knowing the root cause of your thyroid disease and treaAng the cause; not just the symptoms. § Taking a mind, body, spirit approach to healing
Thyroid Basics § Bu8erfly-‐shaped gland located in your throat § Makes, stores and releases thyroid hormones (T3 and T4) into your blood.
§ Affects almost every cell in your body ◦ helps control the body’s funcAons ◦ cellular energy ◦ metabolism
§ Many systems affect the thyroid including your adrenal and gastrointesAnal systems.
How does your thyroid work? The thyroid gland works together with your pituitary gland and hypothalamus to control the amount of thyroid hormone in your body. For some of you, this informaAon will be old hat. But for those just starAng out, here’s a closer look at how the thyroid works.
1. The hypothalamus gland sends a message using thyroid releasing hormone (TRH) to your pituitary gland.
2. Your pituitary gland then determines how to sAmulate the thyroid by sending thyroid sAmulaAng hormone (TSH).
3. TSH sAmulates your thyroid to produce inacAve T4 and acAve T3 (thyroid hormones); ◦ a. The inacAve T4 goes to your liver and intesAnal tract to be converted to acAve T3. ◦ b. AcAve T3 goes straight to the bloodstream to be delivered to your cells.
Important Takeaway
§ AcAve T3 is the hormone used by our cells to produce energy and protecAve steroid hormones. § Our thyroid only makes 10% of the acAve T3 we need to funcAon properly. § 90% of AcAve T3 is created when T4 gets converted in the liver.
Thyroid Conditions While there are several causes of thyroid condiAons, a thyroid imbalance can manifest itself as:
§ Hypothyroidism: too li8le thyroid hormone in your blood. This makes your body and its funcAons sluggish.
§ Hyperthyroidism: too much thyroid hormone in your blood and everything starts racing.
§ Hashimoto’s Thyroidi0s: your own immune system a8acks the thyroid, and ooen results in hypothyroidism but can volley you back and forth between hypo-‐ and hyperthyroid symptoms.
§ Grave’s Disease: a disorder of the immune system that results in the overproducAon of thyroid hormones
Other Thyroid Patterns Under-‐conversion of T4 to T3
As the inacAve thyroid hormone, T4 must be converted to T3 before it can be used by your body, but more than 90% of what your body makes for itself is T4.
If you have inflammaAon and elevated corAsol levels, it can damage your body’s ability to convert T4 to T3. If this is what is happening in your body, you’ll have hyperthyroid symptoms, but your TSH and T4 levels will be normal.
To diagnose this dysfuncAon, have your T3 tested, and it should show as low.
Other Thyroid Patterns Thyroid resistance
With thyroid resistance, your thyroid is working normally, but the hormones it’s producing aren’t gepng where they’re needed and you end up with hypothyroid symptoms. This pa8ern is usually caused by chronic high stress and high homocysteine.
Unfortunately there is no test for thyroid resistance, and your standard labs will all come back “normal.”
Other Thyroid Patterns Hypothyroidism caused by pituitary dysfunc0on
High levels of corAsol, which can be caused by infecAon, blood sugar imbalances, stress, pregnancy, hypoglycemia, or insulin resistance, can faAgue the pituitary gland unAl it stops sending out the signal for your thyroid to release enough thyroid hormone.
In this case, there might be nothing wrong with the thyroid itself, but rather with the pituitary gland
If you have hypothyroid symptoms, your TSH falls below the funcAonal range, but within the standard range, and T4 is low in the funcAonal range, this may be your culprit.
Other Thyroid Patterns Hypothyroidism caused by elevated TBG
Thyroid binding globulin (TBG) transports inacAve thyroid hormone through the blood. If your TBG levels are too high, there won’t be enough free thyroid hormone for your body to use.
High TBG levels are ooen caused by high estrogen levels, usually from birth control or estrogen replacement drugs. You have to get rid of the excess estrogen to clear this problem.
On your tests, TSH and T4 will be normal, but T3 will be low, and T3 uptake and TBG will be high.
Other Thyroid Patterns Hypothyroidism caused by decreased TBG
The opposite of the previous pa8ern, too li8le TBG means that there’s too much free thyroid hormone in your body—and your cells begin to develop resistance to it. So you will have hypothyroid symptoms.
You might guess that this is caused by too much testosterone in your system, and is ooen associated with PCOS and insulin resistance. Gepng your blood sugars under control is key to healing this pa8ern
Your tests will show normal TSH and T4, but high T3. T3 uptake and TBG will be low.
Other Thyroid Patterns Important takeaway:
§ The pa8erns listed above don’t show up on standard blood tests. § If one of those pa8erns is causing your thyroid imbalance, convenAonal thyroid hormone replacement will not be supporAve to healing.
§ That is the challenge with the way our current medical system addresses thyroid disease. It ooen skips the step of discovering the root cause of the imbalance and treats all thyroid healing the same, usually through thyroid hormone replacement.
§ When this method doesn’t work for you, the doctor is leo with the opAon of changing your medicaAon or upping the dosage. If your thyroid disorder is caused by one of these pa8erns, neither treatment will be effecAve.
§ You must treat the root cause of the disorder in order to reverse the disease and eliminate symptoms and knowing the cause of the imbalance will set you on a path for success.
Finding the root cause
§ Blood Tests § Stool Tests § Saliva Analysis
Blood Tests § Go beyond the standard blood panel to understand how the different systems are funcAoning together.
§ Get your thyroid anAbody levels tested (TPO & TBG) § Order tests through DirectLabs.com (APEX-‐5) § Bring tests to your doctor or funcAonal pracAAoner § Make sure you’re looking at “opAmal” ranges; not “normal” ranges.
Stool Tests § Your gut plays a very important role in achieving opAmal thyroid health.
§ A whopping 70 percent of your immune system resides in your gut which controls § DigesAon § EliminaAon § DetoxificaAon § nutrient absorpAon § hormone metabolism § energy producAon
§ 99% of brain chemicals known as neurotransmi8ers in your body are created in your intesAne.
§ T4 must be converted to T3 to be used in the body—and most of this conversion takes place in your intesAnes with the help of your beneficial gut flora.
Stool Tests § Stool tests are vital for everyone who has Hashimoto’s (autoimmune) thyroidiAs because of possible triggers in the gut.
§ Stool analysis will indicate if you have any infecAons that could be affecAng the thyroid gland, if you have any yeast overgrowth (candida), how well you are digesAng food, if you are absorbing nutrients from the food you are eaAng, if you have IBS and if there are parasites, fungus, and/or mold present.
§ Some stool analyses can test for gluten intolerance or gut dysbiosis as well.
§ FuncAonal doctors and pracAAoner can usually order these tests for you.
§ Click on the links in Thyroid Love 101 to learn which tests and which labs are best for stool analysis.
Saliva Tests § The health of your adrenal glands plays a big part in the health of your thyroid. § The easiest test to determine how your adrenal glands are funcAoning is a simple saliva test. § Saliva tests measure different hormone levels including the stress hormones DHEA and corAsol in your saliva. § Saliva tests also check estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels. § It’s important to know your levels: ◦ CorAsol is necessary to sensiAze thyroid receptors. Too li8le or too much can negaAvely affect your thyroid’s acAvity.
◦ Too much estrogen can depress thyroid funcAon, too.
How to test and track at home TRACK YOUR TEMP § Your temperature is the first key indicator of what’s happening with your thyroid. § Tracking your temperature isn’t a definiAve way to diagnose thyroid dysfuncAon but it can clue you in & gauge how you’re healing. § Temperature tracking is the cheapest and easiest thyroid “test” you can take! It’s also relaAvely convenient and discrete. § Track your temperature for as long as you’d like, but I recommend at least 1 month.
§ Don’t get too hung up on your temp and don’t make it another point of stress in your life. § Download the TLC Temperature Tracker in Week 1 of the Home Healing Program guidebook to get started.
Medication: Helpful or Harmful?
HELPFUL
§ MedicaAon is not evil but it can cause a host of unwanted side effects.
§ Best used for hypothyroidism with elevated TSH.
§ Hormone replacement therapy is ooen needed because the body simply isn’t producing enough thyroid hormone to meet your metabolic needs and keep your body funcAoning properly.
§ MedicaAon should always be part of a broader strategy that includes fixing your gut, balancing your blood sugars, and de-‐stressing your adrenals.
§ Carefully monitor your hormone levels with your doctor and adjust your medicaAons accordingly, as you heal, your thyroid will produce more hormones on its own, and you will require less replacement therapy.
Medication: Helpful or Harmful?
HARMFUL
§ For many thyroid condiAons, standard hormone replacement therapy doesn’t work on the root cause.
§ Most of the convenAonal medicaAons out there (Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothryoxine, etc.) supplement T4; not T3
§ Excess of T4 causes a buildup effect and actually slows your thyroid even further creaAng increasing hypothyroid symptoms. Ooen, when the doctor ups your dosage, he/she is just adding fuel to the fire.
§ 80-‐90% of people suffering from Hypothyroidism actually have Hashimoto’s.
§ If you have Hashimoto’s disease, the issue isn’t a hormone issue, it is autoimmune – so you must focus on stopping the immune system’s a8ack against the thyroid.
How to find the best doctor for you! 1. Look for a doctor who prac0ces func0onal medicine
A doctor who pracAces funcAonal medicine uses a holisAc approach where they address the underlying causes of disease instead of treaAng each symptom individually. FuncAonal doctors look at the whole picture.
2. Find a doctor that knows more than the standard thyroid tes0ng & protocols
A common challenge for thyroid and autoimmune sufferers is misdiagnosis or not even being diagnosed at all. If your doctor is only willing to give you the standard thyroid tests and only treatment opAon is medicaAon, he/she probably doesn’t have a lot of experience with reversing thyroid disease.
How to find the best doctor for you! 3. Find a doctor who will listen
Find a doctor whose core value is to listen. Interview the doctor to discover if they are open to discussing your symptoms, providing alternaAves for healing, changing your medicaAon or having tests run that go beyond the standard. You will ooen be able to tell by reading his/her website or descripAons of his/her medical pracAce.
4. Find a doctor who will coordinate with other doctors and complementary prac00oners
A good doctor will create a health team for you comprised of complementary therapies such as acupuncture, Reiki, health coaching, cranio-‐sacral work and massage therapy.
Module 1: Summary Today, we covered… § The secret to a healthy thyroid.
§ How to find the root cause & the right help to treat it.
§ How to test and track yourself at home.
§ The different types of thyroid condiAons
§ Your medicaAon: Helpful or Harmful?
§ How to find the right doctor for you! § The importance of a mind/body approach to healing
Some final TLC… There is no silver bullet or quick fix to thyroid, autoimmune or inflammatory diseases. If I find one, I will shout it to the world!
What I do know is that if we follow tried and true healing processes, customizing them to suit your unique body, mind and life, then you can dramaAcally alter how you feel. With consistency and a dash of self-‐love, you can reduce or even eliminate thyroid, autoimmune and inflammatory dysfuncAon as I have done.
There’s nothing easy about thyroid disease. How I wish it were as simple as taking a pill or purchasing a product! It can be a complicated, messy road to recovery that you and I know all too well.
But I’m here to tell you that there is hope! There is a light at the end of the tunnel. You have already made a huge leap forward toward recovery by joining our Thyroid Fix community. Knowledge is power, and you are powering up to take back your life from this condiAon!
My life’s work is to support you in your healing. Thank you for taking the first steps here with me, and may that light of healing shine brighter on you every day!