Dear Thyroid Sufferer

Dear Thyroid Sufferer,

Some 20 million Americans are affected by thyroid disorders....that's 1 in 13 people! And more than half of those people are unaware they have a thyroid problem because it frequently goes undiagnosed....until it gets severe.

According to the National Women's Health Information Center, one in eight women will experience a thyroid disorder during their lifetime. This fact may surprise you because you've probably never heard it explained to you fully. This is because most doctors are only vaguely familiar with thyroid disorders.

Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

•     Fatigue, tiredness, or sluggishness
•     Cold feet and/or hands
•     Require excessive amounts of sleep to function
•     Gain weight easily
•     Have difficult or infrequent bowel movements
•     Depression
•     Lack of motivation
•     Morning headaches that wear off as the day progresses
•     Thinning hair or excessive hair loss
•     Dryness of the skin and/or scalp
•     Mental sluggishness

Symptoms of Hyperthyroidism

•     Heart Palpitations
•     Inward Trembling
•     Increased Pulse (even at rest)
•     Gain weight easily
•     Difficulty gaining weight
•     Nervous and Emotional
•     Insomnia
•     Night Sweats

Hashimoto's Thyroiditis is an autoimmune disorder in which the patient's immune system attacks the thyroid. Patients that suffer from Hashimoto's experience some or all of the above symptoms.

Let's talk about the thyroid gland a bit.

The thyroid "runs" our metabolism. It is the "gas pedal" of the body.

Thyroid hormones have a direct effect on most organs, including the heart, which beats faster and harder under the influence of increased thyroid hormones (this is why heart problems can often accompany chronic thyroid problems in women, and perhaps why heart problems are more common in women under the age of 50).

T3 is the more biologically active hormone. It's more important for cellular function, and in fact, 80% of T4 is converted to T3 in the body's peripheral tissues. Basically, T4 is just a precursor for the more active hormone, T3.

One of the problems in some thyroid disorders is that you may have trouble converting T4 to T3 in your tissues. Have you been checked for this? This can create a deficiency of T3, disrupting the body's ability to properly regulate metabolism, which leads to specific symptoms.