Overview
An underrated epidemic of low-functioning thyroid conditions has emerged, affecting millions of people. The thyroid gland, a small gland in your neck, regulates your body’s metabolism through hormone production. Thyroid-related issues are commonly misdiagnosed due to limited blood tests conducted by conventional doctors. These problems can stem from nutrient deficiency, inflammation, chronic infections, or harmful exposure.
Symptoms & Conditions
Thyroid disorders can lead to a variety of symptoms and conditions, including:
- Weight gain or difficulty losing weight
- Hot flashes or night sweats
- Irregular or painful menstrual cycles
- Difficulty conceiving or maintaining a pregnancy
- Fatigue and low energy
- Trouble sleeping and feeling unrested
- Decreased sex drive or erectile dysfunction
- Loss of muscle mass and increased body fat
These are some of the common symptoms that may indicate a hormone imbalance. Since hormones play a crucial role in regulating bodily functions, disruptions can lead to a variety of issues. If you notice these signs, it’s important to seek medical evaluation to identify and address any underlying hormonal issues.
Testing
We look beyond standard lab results, considering your symptoms, medical history, and a complete thyroid panel to get a holistic view of your thyroid function. This allows us to tailor treatments that address the underlying causes of your symptoms, even if your initial lab results appear normal by conventional standards.
- Functional testing. We start with a comprehensive thyroid panel that includes testing for TSH, Free T3, Free T4, Reverse T3, and thyroid antibodies. This helps us accurately diagnose the condition and understand the full picture of your thyroid health.
- Recognizing the limitations of lab tests. We understand that lab tests alone may not reflect optimized thyroid function. We pay close attention to your symptoms and how you feel, adjusting treatments to meet your individual needs.
If you’re experiencing symptoms like fatigue, weight gain, or cold intolerance but your labs are normal, it’s worth exploring a functional medicine evaluation to get to the root of the issue.
Treatment
Once we’ve completed a thorough hormone evaluation and identified an imbalance, our next step is to explore the available treatment options. It’s crucial to first identify and address any underlying causes contributing to the hormone disruption. As mentioned earlier, various factors can lead to hormonal imbalances, and without targeting these root causes, the imbalance is likely to continue.
Here are some of the methods we use at The James Clinic to restore thyroid balance:
- Aggressively treating hypothyroidism symptoms. Our focus is on your overall well-being, not just lab results. We treat hypothyroidism symptoms aggressively to improve your quality of life, ensuring that you feel better and more energetic.
- Supporting prescription medications with essential nutrients. Prescription medications for thyroid issues are supported with essential nutrients to enhance their effectiveness. We particularly focus on enhancing T3 activation to ensure optimal metabolic function.
- Addressing elevated Reverse T3. If elevated Reverse T3 is detected, we identify and address its potential causes. This includes looking at factors like stress, inflammation, and nutrient deficiencies that can impair metabolism.
- Evaluating autoimmune thyroid conditions. For autoimmune thyroid conditions like Hashimoto’s, we take a gut-centric approach. We evaluate your gut health and prescribe dietary recommendations aimed at healing the gut and reducing inflammation, which can improve thyroid function.
Products & Services
Frequently asked questions
We have the information you need for our thyroid treatment protocol and the common questions we answer for our patients.
It’s not uncommon for patients to experience symptoms of thyroid disorders even when their lab results appear normal. This discrepancy often arises from the difference between functional and conventional medicine ranges for thyroid function.
Conventional medicine typically uses broader reference ranges for thyroid tests, such as TSH, Free T3, and Free T4. These ranges are designed to identify overt thyroid disease but may not detect subclinical or early-stage thyroid dysfunction. As a result, you might be told your thyroid is “normal” even if your symptoms suggest otherwise.
Functional medicine, on the other hand, uses narrower, optimal ranges that aim to identify imbalances before they become full-blown diseases. By focusing on these functional ranges, we can detect subtle shifts in thyroid function that conventional methods might miss. For example, a TSH level within the conventional range might still be considered suboptimal in functional medicine, prompting further investigation and early intervention.