It's very common for women to experience thyroid issues when we are transitioning through the stages of menopause. This is largely due to stress. As our hormones change we are in a stressed state, add to that dieting and lifestyle practices and that's a recipe for issues with the thyroid! In this episode I talk about what to look for and what I experienced personally.
Common symptoms are: Fatigue Hair loss, Cold hands and feet and Unexplained weight gain or weight loss Here is what to test for and the optimal ranges:
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH): The ideal range for TSH is typically between 0.5 and 2.5 milli-international units per liter (mIU/L), but this can vary slightly depending on the lab. However, many experts believe that for optimal thyroid function, TSH should be closer to the lower end of this range. Everyone's optimal will vary a bit.
Total T4 (Thyroxine): The optimal range for total T4 usually falls between 6.0 and 11.9 micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dL).
Free T4: 1.4 to 1.8 (ng/dL).
Free T3 (Triiodothyronine): Free T3 should ideally fall within the range of 3.4 to 4.4 picograms per milliliter (pg/mL).
Reverse T3: An optimal reverse T3 level is generally considered to be less than 15 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dL).
This is Mastering Menopause. By using fitness, nutrition, lifestyle, and mindset, you can master your hormones and get your body back. I'm Cathy Coté with Catalyst Fitness and Nutrition. Let's get into it. Welcome back to Mastering Menopause. Last week, I touched on my thyroid issue that I had. And so today I want to go more in depth about my experience and my symptoms, and what you should look for if you think that you may have a thyroid issue. You might have thyroid issue or hormonal issues, some reason why you can't lose weight or why you're always tired. We're talking about thyroid today and how to test for your thyroid and learning the optimal ranges versus the clinical ranges that's going to help you know how to advocate for yourself. Thyroid issues are usually brought on by stress or trauma. In my case, it was definitely stress, very high stress, maybe a little trauma with the upheaval of my life that I talked about last week, but usually it's the stress piece or a traumatic event, like maybe the loss of a parent or even a job or something like that. And so for me, the symptoms looked like, and this was a little bit of a slow roll. The summer before I had really dry, cracked heels and I had no idea why. And so I feel like I definitely had the thyroid issue then I just didn't know. And as I kept ramping up my stress, then I started having more symptoms, but I didn't really know that this was thyroid issues at all. So again, starting with the cracked heels that I didn't know that wasn't a thyroid issue at the time, but that was definitely something that I had and then started moving into being cold, like having cold hands cold feet. I couldn't I would come home from the gym and I would just be cold and I would have to take a hot shower to get warm. And so that is definitely a symptom is having, the cold hands, the cold feet and feeling cold. And then I think the telltale sign of a thyroid issue, and this is what got my attention was fatigue waking up and just feeling tired, even though I had slept well the night before. And just, There were several times when I would get up, get ready for the gym and go back to bed, like I wouldn't even I would just sleep in my clothes. I was that tired. And so it wasn't always like going back to bed. But sometimes I get to the gym, but I just didn't have the energy that I had would usually have. And then I would get home and I would take a nap. a nap at 11 and then I would take another nap at 1 p. m. and then I would take another nap at 5 o'clock and I said, what is going on? Like I'm just so freaking tired. I was going to bed at a fairly decent time. It wasn't like, I was staying up until one, one o'clock in the morning, but I was just really fatigued and that's when I started to, put things together and realize like I probably should go see the doc. Another thing that I had was I was having trouble swallowing food sometimes food would just get stuck in my throat and I was just like, this is weird and it's sometimes that happens, but it was happening frequently and it was just weird. I was just like, why is this happening? Again, at that time I hadn't put together like that. There was something wrong with my thyroid, but it's something to look for, if you're finding that you're getting food stuck in your throat, it's not comfortable at all. And then the last thing was hair loss. And so my hair was just getting really thin. It was coming out by the handfuls. And so this time last year, I had extensions in my hair. My hair was really thin. I think I wore extensions for, cause I noticed this didn't just happen all at once, right? This would, this happened. Probably about a year and a half before started wearing extensions and just my hair was really thin and so I finally went to the doc I requested a full thyroid panel and sure enough, that they came back that I was definitely had a full on thyroid issue. And so I want to talk about, what to test for, what are the optimal ranges, and then what you can do when you find that you are having issues with your thyroid. You could be normal, But that could literally be one point away from clinical hypothyroidism or even Hashimoto's. And so I just want to go into what you can look for. So the first thing you want to get tested for is TSH. TSH stands for Thyroid stimulating hormone, TSH tells your thyroid how much thyroid hormone to make. And if the thyroid hormone levels in your body are too low, then your pituitary gland is going to create more TSH to tell your thyroid to kick into gear. So optimal TSH level, and this is a range, is from 0. 5 to 2. 5 and everybody's optimal is going to vary a bit. but look for those levels and then we also want to look for free T3. So this is a great marker to measure active thyroid hormone in your body. If your body isn't converting T4 to T3, it can contribute to hypothyroid symptoms despite having those normal TSH markers. So it's important to have the full panel done. The optimal range for free T3 is 3. 4 to 4. 4. And then the next thing that you want to test for is total T4. So total T4 is going to measure the entire amount of thyroxine in the blood, T4 is the inactive form of thyroid hormone and the optimal range is 6. 0 to 11. 9. And then there's Free T four. So that's another one that, so there's total T four and free T four, the free T four optimal range is 1.4 to 1.8. The last one we're gonna talk about is reverse T three. Reverse T three, opposes free T three at the receptor site high cortisol stress and inflammation contribute to a higher. reverse T3 in your system. Having too much reverse T3 can contribute to low thyroid symptoms and you can see weight loss resistance. And so optimally that would be less than 15. So I got my results back and I was put on armor for my thyroid, but I also knew that it was time to address some lifestyle changes. And having a proper nutrition protocol in place that you can actually stick to is key with a balance of protein, carbs, fat, and fiber. And this would be something that would be specific for you. But I definitely was not getting a great amount of fiber in at the time. So that was, something that I addressed. This is also not the time to go into a deficit or to eliminate carbs, right? You definitely need your energy. So I stayed in maintenance. I was going to do a plan cut in the spring, but I just stayed in maintenance. And honestly, so this was all through maintenance December and January I cut down on alcohol and that, that's a big one when you have thyroid issues. And so I did dry January and then I cut way back after that. And I also brought in some supplements. Ashwagandha is great for stress. So I take that in the night and the day. I should say AM and PM and ashwagandha is great because it is an adaptogen and I'm just telling you what I'm, what I was taking, right? I'm not recommending. that you go run out and get Ashwagandha, right? Make sure you check with your doctor first. This is just for information purposes only. But I did find and Ashwagandha is great too because it's very inexpensive and it is an adaptogen. So while it calms your nervous system and helps bring stress down. And so it would help me sleep at night, but also in the morning, it wasn't, it's not like it makes you tired. So more so it was just keeping me focused and more calm so that I wasn't like task hopping all over the place. So I tend to have a monkey mind and that helped with sleep as well. How you sit there and you just think about, Oh my God, what. Did I answer that person's text or, I should have said this instead of that. So calming that. So ashwagandha is great for that. But make sure that you're looking at the contraindications for that. Not everybody can take ashwagandha. And then I also was taking a thyroid complex from neutrodine. So that's for thyroid health and then bone broth. So bone broth is so good for your thyroid and I'm no stranger to bone broth, but I definitely committed to making that. So I make that at home. I'm super. It's very easy. If you want the recipe, let me know. I can just shoot me a message and I'll give you the recipe. It's very easy. We cannot neglect the power of your lifestyle. You cannot out supplement poor habits. And so for me, I made sleep an absolute priority and I had a, a no phone after 9 PM rule. I made sure that I was reading for an hour and then bed by 1030, no later than 1030. I think I was also supplementing with magnesium as well. So magnesium glycinate or glycinate, I'm not really sure how you say that that helped with sleep as well. And so taking, addressing those big rocks that we tend to ignore, right? And really focusing on bringing the stress down. And so for me, what that looked like was time management. Stress management is key and time management is a big part of that. And having a schedule for my day rather than just, looking at my phone and task hopping and not getting anything done, making sure that it was scheduled and regimented. So this is when I'm going to get this done. So time management is definitely a huge one for me. And I also worked in, so at the time I was at a planet fitness and so I made sure to put into my schedule that I would sit in those massage chairs after or do the hydro and not be on my phone, right? Sit there and actually just unwind and Get ready for the day, basically cause I worked out in the morning. And so that definitely helped. And now that I miss those chairs, honestly, they don't have a planet fitness out here, which is fine. I love the gym that I go to, but I do miss those massage chairs. And then I also was incorporating some deep breathing techniques on my morning walk as well. So doing those little things, making sure I was getting, getting my nutrition in check, making sure I'm drinking, plenty of water, getting in my steps that helped, with that stress piece as well. And now that I'm here in St. George, I don't have, the massage chairs, but I do go to a really great, Yoga class as well that helps. Everyone's protocol is going to look a little bit different, but we have helped a ton of our clients with thyroid issues and hormonal imbalances get back to themselves by using simple protocols, not aggressively dieting or going on elimination plans. Not everyone has to give up gluten or dairy, even if you have Hashimoto's. Everyone's going to be a little bit different. Typically you would. Be cutting back on gluten and dairy when you have Hashimoto's, like I said, everybody is different. So if you suspect that the reason that you can't lose weight is because of your thyroid or hormones, then send me a message because we can definitely help you. Be on the lookout for our black Friday specials as well. You can find that on my Instagram or my. Facebook, and if you haven't already, join my free Facebook group, the No BS Menopause Secrets. It's a great group with a ton of information in there. I'm going to drop the link for all of that in my show notes. And I hope this was helpful. If you know someone that might be having thyroid issues or hormonal imbalances, then please share this episode with them. And I look forward to talking to you next week. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.