How many of these symptoms do you currently struggle with?
Tiredness
Trouble falling asleep and waking up
Craving salt and sugar
Unexplained weight changes
Reliance on stimulants such as caffeine
Nonspecific digestive problems
Increased cold sensitivity
Constipation
Dry skin
Muscle aches and tenderness
Irregular menstrual periods
Hair thinning
Depression
If this sounds like you, then it is highly likely that you have an under-functioning thyroid. Ever wondered what caused your thyroid to go out of whack in the first place? 1 in 8 women will have a thyroid issue during her lifetime! And most of the time it is not enough to just take a thyroid replacement – let's go after the root cause of your disease! The secret missing link to figuring out the underlying culprit for your thyroid disorder is …. ADRENAL FATIGUE! Prolonged stress can cause adrenal fatigue, which will then suppress your thyroid function. Your thyroid is responsible for your metabolism, but so are your adrenals! Adrenals are responsible for regulating your blood pressure, electrolyte balance, blood sugar, immune system function, digestion, and much more.
Here are the ways in which chronic stress can LOWER your thyroid function:
When you are stressed, your body secretes high amounts of cortisol (which is your fight or flight hormone). High cortisol acts as a negative feedback to your brain (hypothalamus and pituitary), signaling to suppress any additional hormones that help with stress, including the thyroid hormone.
Cortisol also lowers the conversion of the T4 (inactive) to T3 (active) thyroid hormone. It also increases the conversion of your T3 to its inactive form called Reverse T3 (RT3).
Stress releases cytokines (immune cells) that makes your thyroid receptors less sensitive to the thyroid hormone. So even if you have an abundant amounts of thyroid hormone, your body doesn’t recognize the thyroid and your metabolism slows down.
Cortisol increases your thyroid binding globulin, which literally grabs your thyroid and holds on to it, not letting it get to your tissues to be used.
High stress will also create tons of immune related inflammation, which will increase your chance of developing autoimmune conditions, such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis or Grave’s disease.
So when doctors tell you that stress likely caused your thyroid issue, it is entirely true! Thankfully there are many treatment options available to help your body restore its proper adrenal and thyroid function! If you feel that you have the adreno-thyroid condition, reach out to Dr. Alice to explore different options! Everybody is different, and you need a treatment protocol that is unique to you!