A phrase I often hear from clients is, “I feel like I have thyroid issues, but my thyroid labs are always normal”. The reason for this is because after a quick Google search of slow thyroid symptoms, they realize that many of the symptoms hit home for them… 

• They feel exhausted, sluggish & foggy 24/7 
• They feel bloated & constipated 
• They feel like their hair is shedding & their nails are getting brittle 
• They feel like they are not sleeping well or they sleep 7-8 hours, but never waking up rested  

But it doesn’t matter how often they get their blood work taken – year after year the answer is always the same – “Your labs are normal”. Does this sound familiar? 

Even though you’re making and converting thyroid hormone (which is a GOOD thing)- you can have whats called cellular hypothyroidism. This meaning, thyroid hormone has a hard time getting into the cell to do its job. This making it feel like you have hypothyroidism, despite your labs always being normal.

What causes poor cellular thyroid health? 

• Not eating enough calories/day (chronic dieting, under-eating)
• Unmanaged stress (all stress) 
• Not eating enough carbs or protein (cough cough fad diets) 
• Mineral deficiencies (esp potassium, copper, selenium, zinc & iodine) 
• Over-exercising (esp excessive cardio & HIIT) 
• Poor blood sugar control 
• Fasting too often/ too long 
• Skimping on sleep 
• Poor gut health (aka gut infections, bacterial overgrowth, low beneficial bacteria, parasites, etc)

To get a better picture of cellular metabolic health, I will run additional labs in addition to a standard thyroid panel to get the full picture.

Key labs I run for the full picture…

• TSH
• Free T4
• Free T3 
• Reverse T3 
• Thyroid antibodies 
• Liver markers (we convert T4 to T3 in the liver) 
• Blood sugar markers (glucose, insulin, hemoglobin A1c) 
• HTMA (hair mineral testing) 

Now, it’s important to note that – beyond energy, good sleep, and thicker hair – the thyroid is a crucial piece to improving digestive and gut health. Simply because the thyroid is like the “engine of the digestive system”. If the thyroid slows down, digestion also slows down. This refers to not only bowel movements, but also digestive enzyme production, stomach acid production & bile production – all important digestive juices to properly break down the foods you’re eating.

So, if you feel stuck tackling SIBO, or stubborn bloat, reflux and/or wonky bowel movements in addition to feeling exhausted … poor thyroid health might be one piece of the puzzle you’re missing. 

It was for Meg: