Hypothyroidism: Is It Possible or Probable? Part 3

Time to finish up this segment, but first a quick recap.

It all starts with your doctor's ability to pull out useful information from research and textbooks to know what to look for to make a confident diagnosis of hypothyroidism. They can add to their level of confidence by performing a good history, a full exam and necessary testing. This will give you and your doctors clues to what might be causing it, what to do about it and how to see if things are getting better.

OK, example time.

While there are many different presentations that a person with hypothyroidism can show, we are going to keep it simple here. 3 women all come in with fatigue, stubborn weight loss, painful joints, signs of thinning hair, normal TSH levels and were told that their thyroid was not the problem (as indicated by their lab work). They were given pain meds and told to eat less and exercise more.

All 3 women go for a second opinion, which they get after a good history and full exam were performed.

Woman #1. Her problems started after she gave birth to her first child. She is a long time soy milk drinker, eats microwaved dinners for lunch at work, long time birth control user, irregular menstrual cycles, and states that her breast are tender to the touch.

She might need some hormonal testing. It is "probable" that her issues are stemming from an estrogen imbalance, so steps in reducing any excess exogenous estrogen intake and making sure that her elimination system is working as needed would be a great place to start.

Woman #2. She says that her problems have been a gradual progression. She is a type A personality, gets stressed at work and home and only has time for a coffee for breakfast. She took her last doctor's advice and eats 1200 calorie diet and jogs for 1 hour 5 times per week. She did loose weight according to the scale, but she feels that her belly fat has actually increased.

She might need some testing for stress hormones. These can really limit the ability of the thyroid to produce hormone, as well as for that hormone to be utilized. She would need to make some major life changes (including the diet and exercise program) to better manage levels of stress.

Woman #3. She claims to drink tap water, use fluoride toothpaste, only really eats salads and salmon to try to loose the weight and has dental fillings.

She might need to get testing for heavy metals. These also can disrupt the thyroid and thyroid hormone. Getting rid of the fillings, eliminating outside sources of toxins and ramping her body's detoxification system would be a good start here.

All 3 woman have very different stories, but the same symptoms. While non of them are textbook hypothyroidism, all are suffering from direct and indirect influences causing what should fall under the blanket diagnosis of hypothyroidism (but you can call it whatever you want). Wouldn't it make sense to address those problem areas that are affecting the thyroid? Most treatment programs are geared towards just the thyroid. If you ask me if I think that would work, I would say it is possible, not probable.

To treat every person with the diagnosis of hypothyroidism the same would be a mistake. To rule out thyroid problems because of normal TSH lab test would be a mistake as well. By truly understanding what is going on with the individual, you are truly working from probability instead of possibility.

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