I had a patient, Danielle, that was 42 when she found me. She gained about 35 lbs. and was unable to lose it. She had tried all kinds of diets and nothing was working. She had no energy, had brain fog, and was suffering from mood swings.
Danielle went to her primary care doctor that did blood work and tested her TSH levels. Her TSH levels came back normal, so her doctor told her that there was nothing wrong with her. Her doctor suggested that she eat better and workout.
Danielle had changed her diet. She had no energy to workout anymore. It seemed that her symptoms were just getting worse, but no one was taking her symptoms seriously.
Danielle found me. I explained that her doctor was not thorough in getting blood tests for her thyroid. I gave her a prescription for her blood work to get all of the testing that was necessary.
We found out that she had:
TSH = low
Total T4 = low
T3 Uptake = low
Free T4=high
Total T3=low
Free T3 = low
Reverse T3 = high
TPO antibodies = high
To give you some background on how I interpret thyroid lab tests, it is important to understand the way labs report the results. You get two numbers, which are, your test results and the laboratory range. The laboratory range is an average that is calculated based on the individuals that are getting lab work in a geographical area in a specific amount of time. The problem with this is that most people getting lab work are sick people. Therefore, normal ranges are ranges of sick people. As a Functional Medicine Practitioner, we want our clients to achieve optimal health.
Functional Medicine Practitioners, such as myself, look at the Functional Medicine optimal functional ranges in analyzing blood work.
Many doctors do not look at, or are even aware of optimal functional ranges for bloodwork. If you are seeing a doctor, like Danielle was, who did not do a full thyroid panel and did not look at optimal functional rages, you need to find a doctor that does.
In addition to the thyroid hormones and antibodies being out of normal ranges, Danielle had high glucose and cholesterol levels, which is common with individuals who have Hashimoto’s. She, also, had anemia.
We first needed to address the anemia and determine the root cause. If we didn’t address the anemia first, nothing else would work. We got adrenal and gut functional medicine testing done. Next, we addresses the blood sugar issue with diet. Once we got her blood sugar under control, we addressed her leaky gut and stress to help her adrenal glands.
It took about 9 months to get Danielle’s symptoms under control and have her lab tests return to normal, but she got there. She has lost the weight she gained, now has energy to do the things she wants, gets great sleep, and feels the best she has in many, many years.
If you would like to get to the root cause of your thyroid problem and would like to schedule a Free 30-minute Thyroid Strategy Session with me, click here to go to my calendar.
