I am so glad I promised, in last week’s post, to add more details about thyroid health and to explain some tests that might help find an answer to unexplained (and unwanted) weight gain. I just read a male author’s article in a conservative magazine that discouraged many blood tests and even said blood tests might confirm “subclinical” (or mild) hypothyroidism, and that is not worth treating. How many women who have “mild” hypothyroidism and are gaining unwanted weight don’t want to treat this disorder? That man’s article just confirmed what I shared last week. Some male doctors (maybe even some female doctors) dismiss a woman’s health concerns when these concerns prove hard to test or when the results are not as extreme as some fatal concern. Men are loaded with testosterone and have a higher muscle mass and easily lose weight, so unrighteous men (not the kind ones) even dismiss this issue as a woman being lazy when in fact it is clinically proven much harder for a woman to lose weight than a man. Furthermore, “mild” hypothyroidism can just get worse, and your body may make less and less of this hormone until you are exhausted.
So I must ask you, if you or anyone you know is gaining weight and frustrated, or in pain or has any other condition, even if a doctor says it is not extreme, wouldn’t you like to find an answer and even a treatment? I believe we should test a woman if she does not feel right, and while I may not know every test her doctor should choose, I can suggest a few things you can ask your doctor to test. And if you have a good specialist, she will know much more than me and can suggest others tests too. I am just sharing what I know. Always work with your specialist. My specialist saved me from so much suffering.
I do my best to be as simple as I can be in discussing these topics. My main goal is for you to listen to your body. I believe the Holy Spirit gives us warnings about our bodies. We’ve lived in them for many years. We have a right to ask for testing when something is not in balance. A medical provider who specializes in our endocrine (hormone) systems can listen to us as we discuss our concerns (and symptoms) and requests tests we need to find out what is deficient in our bodies.
The endocrine system controls all of our hormones, including the thyroid. Since it is just one of many hormones in our body, I will also address some of the other hormones in this post too. I’ve only included a few of these to get you started, and if you want to learn more, please read the work of honest, reliable experts in their fields. If you have a friend who has a good health care provider who specializes in hormones, work with her. Feel free to ask me questions too, because I did not want to bore you to sleep with every detail, but I will share more if you ask.
This may be a complex field, but we need to be informed patients and have a basic understanding of our endocrine system (the system of our hormones). So please bear with me, because I will use simple terms and simple definitions. If you are an endocrine specialist, please don’t judge me for simplifying some of this information. I am writing in a way that makes a complex system of the human body easy to understand, and Lord-willing, something a woman can care for if she does understand it better. Not understanding our bodies can cause us to mistreat them by mistake.
Last week I discussed the three basic tests for our thyroid (TSH, free T4 and free T3). Please read my post “Thinning Hair and Endocrine Health” for those details, as I want to discuss some new information today. If you do have hypothyroidism, you should already ask for a few basic, nutritional tests, because these deficiencies can make your thyroid work too hard. Ask to have your selenium, L-tyrosine, Vitamin D3, zinc and iodine tested. These nutrients really help your thyroid gland. Over time you may need less (or even no) meds, if you meet your body’s need for these nutrients. But never stop taking your medicine either. If you think you are healing, have your blood drawn again to retest.
If you suspect you need more thyroid tests, these are the ones good doctors test when they see your TSH, Free T4, and free T3 are normal but you still have all the symptoms of hypothyroidism.
Your doctor can test for thyroid antibodies (thyroglobulin antibodies and thyroid peroxidase antibodies.) This includes thyroid peroxidase antibodies and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies. This measure helps determine if your body is attacking your thyroid, overreacting to its own tissues (i.e., autoimmune reactions). Physicians nearly always leave this test out.
Don’t worry about how complex those thyroid tests sound, because your doctor will know what they mean. When the three basic thyroid tests come back normal, then a very good doctor requests a whole battery of thyroid tests to rule out any auto immune malfunction.
Your doctor can test for reverse T3, reverse T4. These two are like brakes on a car and sadly they hinder the good T3 and T4 your body needs. If you have normal TSH and normal T3 but high reverse T3, you still suffer hypothyroidism.
If you still have thyroid issues, your doctor can also request the TRH stimulation test. TRH helps identify hypothyroidism that’s caused by inadequacy of the pituitary gland. I do not have this disorder (hence can’t address it in more detail) but your specialist will know it if you have it (and it is rare).
If the test results come back positive for thyroid antibodies, then please also have heavy metal testing done. Heavy metal poisoning is uncommon, but even low levels of exposure can limit our hormones. If you test positive for any heavy metals, rather than discuss this here, please contact me, because I can discuss in further detail some sources where you may have been exposed to heavy metals —such as lead in kitchenware. For example, Lead-free Mamma, a citizen scientist, has a website where she tests household items for lead and other heavy metals that can also very badly impact health.
Some less common tests include those for other nutrients (such as Genova Diagnostic, but usually only high level nutritionists request these labs). Those tests can determine if you are low in many other vitamins and minerals, protein and fatty acids. But I don’t think you need that level of testing, unless no other test helps you find what is missing in your diet or body.
Please don’t fear all of this knowledge. Usually a woman only has basic “hypothyroidism” and only needs the most common thyroid meds (Synthroid and Cytomel.) For some reason pregnancy is hard on the thyroid, and I developed my hypothyroidism during the pregnancy. As such it is essential a doctor check for hypothyroidism when a woman is pregnant.
Many things cause the human body to attack itself, thus causing an autoimmune disorder. People say that stress, nutritional deficiencies, heavy metals (exposure to lead, cadmium and others), and pesticide increased their body’s stress and may have brought on their autoimmune disorder, especially if that person had a genetic predisposition to this disorder. Since these bad exposures can aggravate (or bring on ?) an autoimmune disorder, you may want to address these issues too.
So let’s look again at supplements that help with thyroid function. I listed a few to test for, but this list contains supplements different doctors and nutritionists have used with their patients over the years, and I included affiliate links to the products found at Walmart.com:
Zinc (only if you are deficient–a deficiency can bring on hypothyroidism)
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=zinc
Selenium
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=selenium
L-tyrosine
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=L-tyrosine
The herb thyme
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=thyme
Iodine (I had low iodine blood levels and now I use Lugol’s iodine, a drop or two per day with water).
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=lugols%20iodine%205%25&typeahead=lugol
Vitamin D3
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=vitamin+d3
Guggul This supplement is mainly used by those who have low levels of T3 levels
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=guggul
Korean ginseng – This one helps those who have too much reverse T3 (rT3).
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=korean+ginseng
Ashwagandha
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=Ashwagandha
*If your weight gain may be due to sleep issues, the next three also help
Melatonin
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=melatonin
GABA
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=gaba
5-HTP (a pre-cursor to melatonin–it helps your body make its own melatonin)
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=5-htp
Sleep is surprisingly essential for every single hormone in your body. If you hate to use any supplement, one simple step is to buy inexpensive “blue light blocking” glasses (very ugly, but you don’t wear them all day). Here is a link to some Walmart blue blockers:
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=blue+blocking+glasses
I wear mine 2 hours before bedtime. They have been so helpful. Unless I am stressed, I sleep better when I wear them. In the morning and early hours of the day our eyes are flooded with blue light on the NATURAL spectrum, by the sun. As daylight wanes (evening approaches), the spectrum (light that shines on us) tends closer to reds and yellows.
Whether from the sun or from light bulbs, blue light tells the body to wake up and to stop producing melatonin—this is only bad at night, because melatonin is also a hormone and something we need to fall asleep. So late afternoon or evening blue light is bad for sleep, but computers, TV and light bulbs hit us with an overload of this light. Also cover everything (even red lights) that glow in your room, at bedtime so your body is not confused while you sleep.
But early in the day, sun exposure assists us, because early exposure somehow pushes the body to make more melatonin later in the day. Avoid sunglasses for at least 10-30 minutes (longer if you can stand it) in the early part of the day—even if it means not driving with them (except for places where you would have a wreak if the sun is too bright). If you still have trouble, taking GABA and 5-HTP can help your body produce its own melatonin, or if these doe not work, you can take the melatonin as a supplement but take the lowest dose. There are even sprays and sublingual tabs you can take if you awaken in the middle of the night and have trouble falling back to sleep. Link below to Walmart sublingual tabs:
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=sublingual+melatonin
Because staring directly at blue light all day is also hard on the eyes, I have clip-on blue blocking lenses. I just clip them over my reading glasses. Link to Walmart clip-ons:
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=clip+on+blue+blocking+glasses
Even if you have your nutrients (minerals, vitamins, etc.) tested and you choose supplements to address deficiencies, you still need to address what you eat, because hidden dangers can lurk in food, even what looks “healthy.” At first, as you adjust to thyroid issues, you may want to only eat cruciferous veggies in moderation and only when they are cooked (at least steamed). These foods can interfere with thyroid function if you eat them raw, or eat too many. Here are some of the more common cruciferous veggies: Broccoli, kale, cabbage, cauliflower, mustard green, argula. So I don’t bore you, I won’t list everyone, but you can look them up online.
Because the thyroid gland MUST have iodine (actually so do the breasts, and a surprising number of breast cancer patients were deficient in iodine), you must avoid food and beverages that have any of the three halogens (also called halide when formed with other elements) that compete with iodine (a halogen we need.) Don’t worry about that fancy name. Halogens are just chemicals in the Periodic Table of Elements, that have certain shared characteristics, and your body can get confused and take up one of the “wrong” halogens (chlorine, bromine or fluorine) instead of the iodine, which your body actually needs in the thyroid gland (and breast). One source of the bad halogens is unfiltered water—don’t drink it. Even some bottled water still has the halogens in it such as fluorine and chlorine.
Conventional wheat products (non organic), can harm you because many have bromine (one of those sneaky halogens that compete with iodine), and they are contaminated by glyphosate which is hard on every single hormone in your body.
Sugar is often contaminated with gylphosate too. Sadly you should COMPLETELY avoid millet. Not even fermentation makes this grain safe for those with thyroid issues.
I hope this does not bore you. I confess, I am a biology and chemistry nut, and I like to read nutritional and medical research. I find it fascinating! I know most people are bored by this stuff, so I am only including the most basic info so I don’t put you to sleep.
You may wonder why I suggest vitamin D3. There is a range, and some doctors say it is fine to be at 30, which is the very bottom of the scale (30-100 units). Today some of the best cancer researchers urge their patients to have higher levels closer to 60. In fact, many immunologists also suggest this higher level. Why? This vitamin is actually a hormone—thus it is essential to have high levels if you have low thyroid function. Vitamin D3 supplementation may be needed. I suspect some of the best medical research doctors suggest higher levels, because people with very low levels (even at 30) get sick more often. In our home, I have a level of 63, and I am the one who gets the least colds–very mild ones that heal super fast. I am happy to say certain family members finally realized their vitamin d levels were low and began to supplement with this vitamin too.
A woman’s sexual hormones can also impact her weight. Your doctor may want to test for Free testosterone–yes women need a small amount and without the tiny amount they need, women gain weight and lose muscle mass. Your doctor can test for DHEA, Pregnelenolone, and Estrogen (there are different kinds.) If you are allowed to supplement with any of those hormones, they can help your body to restore levels if you are deficient. Being low in those can cause weight gain! Work with a specialist to determine what you need to take, if you are allowed to use them, since some cancers react to the sex hormones. Sadly you really have to work with all your doctors before supplementing with the sexual hormones, since you don’t want to take anything that contradicts other health concerns. In my case, I don’t have any issues with cancer or my cardiovascular system (heart and blood vessels), so I have freedom to supplement my female hormones as needed. To see what I use, please read my earlier post called “Menopause Relief.”
Next, have insulin tested. Sadly, blood sugar issues can impact your weight (including diabetes), and insulin levels give your doctor an idea about this too. If you find you have blood sugar problems, be sure to read my post called “Blood Problems (sugar, pressure, clotting) and answers I found.”
Finally, have Cortisol tested. We need a balance of cortisol. Too much or too little is bad. Sometimes elevated cortisol can mean you are under too much stress (but can mean other things too.) If you know you are suffering stress, please give yourself permission to rest and abide in the Lord. I discussed this in a number of recent posts, such as: “Abiding in the Lord, part 3 Enjoying the Peace,” “Abiding in the Lord, part 2 Resisting the Blocks to Our Rest,” “Why Abiding in the Lord is Hard.” Low levels of cortisol might mean you are exhausted. For example, low cortisol may be a sign of adrenal fatigue (very rare), which is sort of like a form of long term exhaustion. Another reason cortisol rises is if you don’t have enough glucose in your bloodstream, and then your body makes glucose by secreting cortisol. Again, too much cortisol is bad since too much breaks down your lean muscles, bones and brain to make amino acids that then convert to glucose in your liver. Naturally this loss of muscle leads to weight gain. So our blood sugar levels matter. And when we are low in certain sex hormones, cortisol can really harm us. Some of the sex hormones (pregnenolone, progesterone, DHEA and testosterone) are “anti-cortisol steroids” in that they can help our bodies overcome the damage too much cortisol causes. So when we are low in these hormones, cortisol causes more damage. Your specialist can work with you to figure out why cortisol levels are not right.
These are not all the tests you can have done, but I hope this gives you some ideas of things to look for. I pray you can find a great doctor and a great specialist both of whom will work with your individual needs. I have both a normal general practice (GP) doctor, but also a specialist who can run nearly every hormone test, because hormones are one of her areas of expertise. She has always been right when she has interpreted my tests and made recommendations. I pay out of pocket for her help, but she has saved my life with some of the tests she has run and then how she treated me. If I had listened to her, I would not have ended up in the ER when I had appendicitis, because she found the bowel infection before the appendix was harmed, but I stupidly did not take her advice that one time. I never do that now, and she has saved me by finding other things (like elevated fibrinogen, which could have lead to a deadly blood clot if not caught early). She is both a Nurse Practitioner (and can prescribe meds) and also a special kind of nutritionist with her M.S. If you live anywhere near the South Bay area, her name is Cynthia Furnberg. She has helped me so much and also helped me when my GP tried to handle my thryoid meds and slashed 60% off the levels and sent me into a severe hypothyroid tail spin. The GP got carried away with lowering my thyroid meds too much! This is why I now only work with my specialist for my hormone needs.
May God bless you as you follow your individual health journey. God has made our bodies complex, and they are his gift to us. As the temple of God (1Cor6:19, “ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”) I believe we should care for them. If anyone tells you that you are selfish for caring for your body, please remember that if you become violently sick, you cannot care for others. If you stay as healthy as you reasonably can, you can do so much more for others. So please never believe it is selfish to care for yourself. It is a wise investment in this temporary home (your body) until you die and inherit the wonderful mansion God has for you in heaven (John 14:2 “In my Father’s house there are many rooms (some versions say mansions); if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?”