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About Rachel
Start Here!
- Symptoms of Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s
- Order Your Own Thyroid Tests
All Articles
Newsletter
My Books
- About My Books
Store

Browsing Tag

Pooling

Waking up Feeling More Tired or Not Refreshed

Originally published on 27th May 2016 Last updated on 8th April 2024 A common symptom that…

Many Thyroid Patients Aren’t Converting Their Medication

Originally published on 5th June 2016 Last updated on 2nd February 2024 Many thyroid patients are…

My First Endocrinologist Appointment

Originally published on 15th January 2016 Last updated on 1st October 2018 Today, I had my…

General Update #7

Read the last blog in this series. After finding out I had adrenal dysfunction in the form…

My Second Endocrinologist Appointment

I’ve just got back from my second appointment with the endocrinologist. If you remember the first one,…

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theinvisiblehypothyroidism

This music gets me every time 😆 ••• The

This music gets me every time 😆

•••

The NHS needs help. People are struggling to get appointments, and when they do, then struggle to be seen on time or for the full time slot. We feel rushed and unheard. Doctors are overwhelmed. We’re not being thoroughly assessed and having all the correct tests ran.

We’re taking years to be diagnosed.

•••

👇 Thoughts?

- Rachel Hill, thyroid patient advocate 🦋💙

😩 Feeling terrible in the mornings is a common

😩 Feeling terrible in the mornings is a common complaint of thyroid patients.

🥱 Ever wake up feeling MORE tired than when you went to bed the night before?!

•• Check these thyroid puzzle pieces 🧩 if this is you: ••

✔️ Thyroid Levels:

Are they optimised and not just in range? See my posts from the other day about this!! You may need a different type or dosage of thyroid med.

✔️ Vitamin Levels:

Low iron, B12, Vit D, etc. can all make us feel this way in the morning too.

✔️ Diet:

Are you focusing on protein and fats in the morning? Doing so can really help to balance your blood sugar and reduce or eliminate that sick, nauseas, brain foggy feeling.

Caffeine can exacerbate adrenal issues, so be mindful about this and tune in to how it makes YOUR body feel.

Alcohol can make many of us feel dreadful the next day.

✔️ Adrenal Health:

Many of us with thyroid issues also have stressed out adrenals.

How you are exercising should be taken in to account with this.

✔️ Gut Health:

An unhappy gut can make use feel terrible, especially in the mornings.

✔️ Sleep Hygiene:

So maximise restful sleep, head to bed early enough that you can benefit from at least 7-9 hours if possible, stop tech and blue lights 1-2 hours before bed, and try meditating, yoga, baths or reading for winding down.

•••

📢 This caption will only let me fit so much in, so feel free to ask questions below and I can expand there or in my stories.

- Rachel Hill, thyroid patient advocate 🦋💙

You may relate to these top brain fog moments of m

You may relate to these top brain fog moments of mine:

🫤 Using my house key but it wasn’t working. Then realising I was trying to get in to a neighbour’s house.

🫤 Putting lipstick on my eyes.

🫤 Whilst in the bath, squeezing conditioner on to my hand then running it all over my face as if it were face wash.

•••

⁉️ What Causes Thyroid Brain Fog?

There are quite a few possible causes, so we’ll dive in to them below!

1️⃣ Low Thyroid Hormone Levels

Thyroid hormones T3 & T4 have major influences over virtually every brain activity. So if you don’t have enough of these thyroid hormones, brain fog can occur to varying degrees.

T3 has an important role in the health and optimal functioning of your brain, including cognitive function, the ability to concentrate, mood, memory and attention span.

2️⃣ Inflammation

Inflammation in the body can mean:

Poor gut health
Gluten sensitivity
Adrenal dysfunction
Hashimoto’s / high thyroid antibodies

Looking at quieting the immune response by lowing thyroid antibodies can be helpful since it means the condition is in remission.

3️⃣ Low Iron, Vitamin D and Vitamin B12

They are notorious for causing brain fog, and come hand in hand with thyroid issues all too often.

4️⃣ Blood Sugar Spiking and dropping..

Symptoms of blood sugar issues can include headaches, feeling faint, dizzy, hungry, tired, irritable and foggy minded.

Since realising that I needed to adjust my diet to allow more protein and fat (and less sugar and carbs) in order to balance my blood sugar and avoid spikes and dramatic drops, the irritable moods, groggy feeling and brain fog were no more.

Healthy fats play a big role in our mood and brain function.

5️⃣ Sleeeeep

Poor quality sleep, not enough sleep and overexerting yourself can cause or exacerbate brain fog.

•••

👇 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 Hill, thyroid patient advocate 🦋💙

🖤 Are you a thyroid patient struggling with you

🖤 Are you a thyroid patient struggling with your mental health?

TW: mental health, depression, suicidal feelings

•••

🖤 The 10th of October is #worldmentalhealthday, a day to show your support towards better mental health knowledge and awareness, and to learn how you can promote well-being in yourself and others.

🖤 Those with chronic illness, including thyroid disease, are more likely to experienced mental health struggles such as that of depression and anxiety.

🖤 At the height of my autoimmune hypothyroidism wreaking its havoc, I was suicidal. I was having daily panic attacks, was anxiety ridden and depressed.

🖤And I know i’m not alone in those experiences. I hear from many other thyroid patients who experience the same or similar.

🖤 I strongly believe that the link between thyroid health and mental health needs repeating until everyone is aware of the importance.

🖤 My mental health was all over the place for years, until I was finally diagnosed and optimally treated for my thyroid issues. I had to piece together this puzzle to regain better health yet I couldn’t start it from a place of deep depression without first optimising my thyroid hormone levels. 🧩

•••

🖤 The article on my website goes in depth about all of this, including what we can do to support and perhaps even improve our mental health with thyroid conditions.

🖤 Comment “ME” and I’ll happily DM you the article.

👇 And feel free to share your experiences of thyroid + mental health in the comments.

- Rachel Hill, thyroid patient advocate 🦋💙

© Rachel Gask and The Invisible Hypothyroidism, 2015-2024. All Rights Reserved.

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