Many people go to their medical doctor for various thyroid symptoms such as: fatigue, poor stamina, depression, feeling cold, gaining weight, dry hair and skin, hair loss, constipation, achy joints etc. Doctors will usually run blood tests to determine if you have a thyroid condition. When the results come in, most people are told everything looks normal. Due to a “normal” test result, the medical doctor might then recommend a prescription for an anti-depressant.
Does this sound like you?
Far too often we see patients that are still suffering with their symptoms but getting nowhere with conventional medicine.
As years go by without a diagnosis, the adrenals become overworked trying to keep you afloat resulting in adrenal fatigue symptoms including: anxiety, fear, difficulty coping, sleep problems, and not waking up refreshed to name a few.
What is the common thyroid condition that most conventional doctors do not screen for? It is called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.
What is Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis?
It is an autoimmune condition where the body’s immune system is attacking the thyroid gland. As this process continues the thyroid is slowly destroyed. Patients with OBVIOUS hypothyroid symptoms are being told they have no thyroid problem because of a “normal” TSH level. When only looking at your TSH levels, you never get the whole picture of the thyroid function. You must also check Total T4, Total T3, FT4, FT3,RT3 and thyroid antibodies.
Additionally, conventional medical doctors use the ‘normal’ lab reference range as their guide. Functional Medicine Physicians go over the patients symptoms and use ‘optimal’ ranges for blood work analysis as one of the many tools to determine if the patient is heading for disease.
By looking at the patients whole clinical picture, Functional Medicine Physicians are able to order additional testing to determine the cause and recommend a personalized plan of clinical supplements and diet to help you regain your health.
If you would like to find out more, contact our office for a blood work evaluation from a functional medicine perspective.
I routinely screen all of my patients for autoimmune thyroid disease by ordering Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPOAb) and Thyroglobulin Antibodies (TgAb).