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What Caused My Underactive Thyroid?

What Caused My Underactive Thyroid?

Originally published on 2nd August 2016 Last updated on 12th March 2019 TW: Suicidal Feelings A…

An Open Letter: "Dear Doctor, It's Not All in My Head"

An Open Letter: “Dear Doctor, It’s Not All in My Head”

This ‘open letter’ has been inspired by the large amount of thyroid patients who are told by doctors…

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theinvisiblehypothyroidism

Did you know that some people on thyroid medicatio

Did you know that some people on thyroid medication need MORE when the weather gets colder? 🥶 🧊

•••

💙 The main purpose of thyroid hormone, produced by the thyroid gland (or put in manually via thyroid medication), is to ensure that the metabolism is running properly.

💙 People with an underactive thyroid or hypothyroidism may have symptoms associated with a slow metabolism, such as feeling cold a lot of the time. Though these tend to go with optimal treatment.

💙 We need the correct amount of thyroid hormone in our bodies to burn calories in order to create heat and fuel, which is important, in particular for your body temperature and energy levels.

💙 In the colder months, due to the body often needing to work a bit harder to keep us warm and energised, we may need a little more thyroid hormone, and it is for this reason, that some thyroid patients find they actually need to increase their thyroid medication slightly in the autumn / winter or when they go on holiday to a cold country, with the guidance of a doctor of course. I definitely do not suggest you do this on your own!

💙 It’s definitely worth talking to your doctor about this if you notice that you feel particularly worse at a certain time of year, and think you could do with a slight medication dosage adjustment. You may also feel hypothyroid symptoms returning if you require a slight increase of thyroid medication in colder months.

‼️ You should aim to have your thyroid levels (the full panel) tested twice a year if possible; once in the warmer months and once in the cooler months, so your doctor can adjust your dose as soon as possible. You don’t want to be over or under medicated.

•••

❓Did you know this piece of information and has your doctor ever adjusted your dose when the seasons change?

❗️As always, you can get all this need-to-know info in my book “Be Your Own Thyroid Advocate”!
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- Rachel 🦋💙

🥱 Mornings can be hard for those with hypothyro

🥱 Mornings can be hard for those with hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s.

😔 In my worst days, I would wake up feeling very fatigued, achey and brain fogged. I would feel nauseous and sweaty. Like I had the flu or a bug.

•••

❤️‍🩹 Getting ready for work (showered, dressed) was hard but walking to work was even harder.

❤️‍🩹 Even sitting at a desk in an office job was difficult some days, so I applaud anyone who works a more manual and active job with a thyroid condition.

❤️‍🩹 But many of us wade through the fog and do the best we can without other people knowing the struggle.

❤️‍🩹 If you’re battling your hypo symptoms this Thursday morning, feel free to share and vent below. Others may not, but I and our thyroid family here believe and understand you.

•••

🦋You can find so much support on this on the resources linked in my bio as well as the highlights at the top of my page. I haven’t experienced this in years, after implementing the things I mention in my posts.

- Rachel 🦋💙

❓I’ve been asked many times “Why do you refe

❓I’ve been asked many times “Why do you refer to your hypothyroidism / Hashimoto’s as a chronic illness? It’s not!”

Errr, it is. 🥴

•••

❗️“Chronic illness” can sound dramatic to those who don’t understand its meaning.

It refers to a health condition that:

💙 Is ‘persistent’ or in other words long lasting E.g. a health condition you’ll have for life.

💙 Cannot be cured (or usually cannot) which is why you’re expected to have it for life.

❗️Hypothyroidism in most cases is not curable, so we’re given thyroid hormone replacement medication for life. Blood tests are then required to keep on top of managing it.

❓Whether YOU do or do not like to use the term ‘chronic illness’ is a personal choice and preference! But it is technically correct.

❗️I find it an easier term to use than explaining my thyroid condition every time, which can be met with confused faces and people who switch off. Emphasising that it is something that’s lifelong and requires monitoring helps to get across its importance and what it means to me and my life.

❗️However, I certainly don’t feel limited by having a chronic illness. I live symptom-free day to day and my thyroid condition is under control. It doesn’t run my life and I hardly even think about the fact I have it. It’s not a label to me.

•••

❓How do you feel about this term? Let me know below 👇

- Rachel 🦋💙

🫣 Did you know that people with hypo are more l

🫣 Did you know that people with hypo are more likely to have high cholesterol?!

✔️ I had mine checked a month or so ago (and it thankfully came back normal).

•••

❗️Hypothyroidism is linked to cholesterol levels. ❗️

🩸An underactive thyroid / hypothyroidism can cause cholesterol to increase and you may not even be aware that this is the cause or a factor for your high cholesterol.

🩸The main purpose of thyroid hormone is to ensure the metabolism is running properly. The metabolism’s job is to produce heat and fuel but also to regulate cholesterol levels.

🩸So, with reduced metabolic function comes poor processing of cholesterol, as the metabolism slows down from hypothyroidism, causing cholesterol levels to increase.

🩸If you have hypothyroidism and are found to have high cholesterol, then treatment for the high cholesterol may be delayed to wait until your thyroid treatment is optimal, as this often brings the cholesterol levels down on its own and so removes the need for statins (source: NHS website).

…

Other Considerations:

💊 Statins are also more likely to cause muscle damage in people with hypothyroidism (source: NHS website).
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🍲 Diet - by reducing the amount of high-cholesterol foods you eat and increasing low-saturated fat and high fibre foods, you can improve cholesterol levels.

🐟 Omega 3 - increases ‘good’ HDL cholesterol and Omega 6 lowers ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol.

🥱 Vitamin B3 - can also reduce LDL and increase HDL.

🚶‍♀️ Increasing exercise - starting off slow and going gently, can also help to lower high cholesterol.

• • •

👇 Let me know your experiences with this in the comments and as always, follow me for more thyroid info and please check out the resources linked in my bio for more support!

- Rachel 🦋💙

© Rachel Gask and The Invisible Hypothyroidism, 2015-2023. All Rights Reserved.

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