Two Hidden Causes of a Sluggish Thyroid That Won't Show Up On Normal Blood Testing.
One of the biggest sources of frustration for many women is the thyroid.
They can have every sluggish thyroid symptom in the book and still have normal blood work.
Or, their blood work shows a sluggish thyroid and they go on meds. Over a period of time their ‘levels’ return to normal but they don’t feel any better.
Why does this happen?
It’s because they don’t have a thyroid problem. Their thyroid is a victim of another, deeper issue.
It’s important to know that your thyroid is a puppet. It’s controlled by your pituitary and hypothalamus.
Anything that affects your pituitary gland and hypothalamus will also affect your thyroid.
Also, there are many other hormones that have a DIRECT effect on your thyroid.
This is why many have thyroid symptoms and have ‘normal’ testing.
In my opinion (after analyzing tens of thousands of patients), there are TWO hormones, when out of balance, are thyroid killers. And a problem in both of these hormones share a lot of the same symptoms as a sluggish thyroid.
Symptoms like low energy, hair loss, poor sleep, fat gain, dry skin, and a poor memory for example.
TWO BIG CAUSES OF A SLUGGISH THYROID.
1. Estrogen Dominance.
This is a big one.
What I mean by estrogen dominance is the ratio between your estrogen and progesterone is off and as a result estrogen has become dominant.
You can become estrogen dominant by having too much estrogen, or not enough progesterone, or both high estrogen and low progesterone.
The most common scenario is high estrogen and low progesterone.
In many ways, your thyroid and estrogen have opposite functions. An increase in thyroid hormones will boost your metabolism and lead to fat loss. Estrogen on the other hand is a fat storing hormone. Both a sluggish thyroid or estrogen dominance will lead to weight gain.
How does too much estrogen affect your thyroid?
One way that estrogen dominance causes weight gain is by increasing Thyroid Binding Globulin (TBG). TBG binds and carries the thyroid hormones throughout your body.
This is a good thing.
BUT, a serious problem occurs when there’s too much TBG because of too much estrogen. When you have too much TBG, all of your free thyroid hormones are bound up.
And no free thyroid hormones means no ability for them to do their job.
If you are estrogen dominant then you will also have symptoms of a sluggish thyroid. It’s crucial to treat both your thyroid and estrogen dominance.
2. High Cortisol.
Cortisol is one of your stress hormones.
When you’re stressed, your cortisol levels go up.
Even if you don’t “feel” stressed, there are many things that your body considers as stress.
Chemicals, pollution, processed foods and even poor sleep all trigger a stress response and high cortisol.
Why is too much cortisol a bad thing?
One of the main jobs of cortisol is to raise your blood sugar levels. When you’re stressed, your body goes into the “fight or flight” mode and it thinks it needs energy to fight or get away quickly.
In order to get energy, your adrenal glands secrete cortisol which then causes a rise in your blood sugar levels.
Once your blood sugar levels rise, your body will secrete insulin to help lower it again. This is the reason why a stressed person typically craves sugar and carbs. Their blood sugar levels are up and down like a yo-yo.
It’s also pretty much impossible to lose weight if you have chronically elevated cortisol levels.
What affect does high cortisol have on your thyroid?
High cortisol will suppress a hormone called TSH. Your thyroid needs TSH to work properly.
High cortisol also does one more thing to hurt your thyroid. It will increase the production of another hormone called ‘reverse T3’. This is bad news because ‘reverse T3’ blocks the action of the very important thyroid hormone called T3.
T3 is the active form of your Thyroid hormones. You need T3 for your metabolism and thousands of other functions. High cortisol levels causes a sluggish thyroid.
When you think about it, high cortisol is a double-whammy when it comes to weight gain. It both raises your blood sugar levels and it suppresses your thyroid.
If you have a lot of symptoms of a sluggish thyroid but are frustrated that all your testing is normal, then you most likely have estrogen dominance or high cortisol…or both!
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