About Hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism is one of the more common thyroid conditions you can experience. With hyperthyroidism, your thyroid gland is producing too much of the thyroxine hormone, which leads to an overactive thyroid. This can cause a wide range of symptoms and side effects. Here are some things to know about having hyperthyroidism.
How You Know You Have Hyperthyroidism
People are often confused by the type of thyroid condition, but one good way to tell you have an overactive thyroid and not an underactive thyroid is by looking at your symptoms. For the most part, they are the opposite of the symptoms of when you have hypothyroidism. When you have hyperthyroidism, for example, a common symptom is having sudden and extreme weight loss, while weight gain is more common with hypothyroidism. Some other signs and symptoms to be aware of are:
- Anxiety and irritability
- Rapid heartbeat or irregular heartbeat
- Increased appetite, but weight loss
- Sensitivity to heat
- Menstrual problems
- Sweating
- Tremors
- Nervousness
- Insomnia
- Thinning of the hair
- Fatigue
- Muscle weakness
What is hyperthyroidism
- Bowl pattern changes
The Potential Causes of Hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism can be something you are genetically predisposed to, but it is more commonly caused by a few different medical conditions or your lifestyle choices. For example, Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disorder that can cause the thyroid gland to produce too many hormones, which leads to hyperthyroidism. If you have Plummer’s Disease, this can also lead to hyperthyroidism. You may also develop this condition from thyroiditis, where the thyroid gland is inflamed and can then produce a high amount of the thyroid hormone.
When to See a Doctor
If you suspect that you have hyperthyroidism based on these symptoms, you should consult with a doctor as soon as possible. They will need to run some tests of your blood to determine if this is the thyroid condition you have, then will provide you with some treatment options.
Functional Medicine practitioners are the best doctors to consult with for thyroid conditions because they will look at your health history, lifestyle, environmental, and dietary factors. A full thyroid panel consisting of Free T3, Free T4, Total T3, Total T4, Reverse T3, and thyroid antibodies must be done, along with extensive other blood work to get a full picture of what is going on in the body.
Additional Functional Medicine testing will often times need to be done to get to the root cause of the problem. If you doctor won’t help you to get the proper testing done, find another doctor that will do what is necessary to get the proper diagnosis.
Medications may be necessary in the short term to act as a bridge until you can get your body back in balance. After that, medications are not usually necessary.
It is important that you not delay and consult with a doctor as soon as you notice the pattern of symptoms that might indicate a thyroid problem. The longer you wait, the worse all of your side effects are going to get. These symptoms can affect nearly every part of your life, so it is never too early to get tests done.
For a full thyroid, I recommend consulting with a Functional Medicine practitioner, such as, myself. We keep up with the latest research and use Functional Medicine laboratories, which help to get to the root cause of the problems. I offer a For 30-Minute Thyroid Strategy session. You can book that here.
Get my FREE “Eat Right for Your Thyroid Crash Course” download here. I provide you with 5 days of recipes, meal plans, and a guide to help you reverse your thyroid symptoms.
