Hey guys, how's it going?
This is Coach Justin Lam here and today I have Dr. Jeremy Lam with me.
We're going to be talking to you about subclinical hypothyroidism.
So, that's kind of little bit of a long name there a little bit of a mouthful.
Why don't you tell us a little bit about what that actually is Dr. Jeremy?
So, a lot of our clients come in on thyroid medications
and they state that their primary care doctor put them on thyroid medications
because some of their lab values came back abnormal.
They might also be feeling fatigued, tired, have some hot and cold temperature intolerance.
Subclinical hypothyroidism definition actually is a normal thyroid hormone level,
but it's an elevated thyroid stimulating hormone level.
So the TSH is high, but the thyroid hormone level is normal, and so your thyroid hormone level actually isn't low.
So that's why they're calling it subclinical.
But in most cases, your primary care doctor will put you on thyroid medications even though your thyroid hormone is normal.
In these cases, treating the subclinical hypothyroidism isn't really getting to the bottom of what's going on.
Oftentimes, you might have adrenal fatigue and treating the subclinical hypothyroidism does not treat the adrenal fatigue.
Yes, it's really interesting actually.
Adrenal fatigue and your thyroid or your adrenals and your thyroid are part of the hormone circuit in the NEM stress response.
It's your adrenals, your thyroid, and then your gonadal your gonads rather than ovaries or your testes for men.
So, your adrenals and your thyroid are actually very closely regulated with each other
and they have to regulate your metabolism inside your body.
So if you're feeling sluggish or you're having trouble with weight,
oftentimes, you’ll go to the doctor and the first thing they'll do is test out your thyroid,
and your thyroid-- like you said-- it will come back normal.
So, you may want to dig a little deeper in those circumstances and maybe see if it's your adrenals or not.
That's how they can be connected to each other.
Right, and actually, when you're undergoing constant stress in your life,
your adrenals take a shot and they're actually trying to put out cortisol to fight the stress and fight the inflammation.
Now, when your adrenals are experiencing stress and your body experiences stress,
it's trying to slow everything else down so that you are ready to fight the stress that's coming on.
So in that circumstance, your body decreases your thyroid function-- which is what it's meant to do
so that you can fight what your stress response is trying to do.
That's why the TSH, which is the thyroid stimulating hormone, goes up and your thyroid hormone is still normal.
So again, when you're experiencing stress, the adrenals are doing what it's meant to be doing
by decreasing all the other functions that it needs to be doing,
but instead of treating the thyroid,
you should be treating the adrenals and getting to the bottom of what's going on.
So generally, what do you see as far as progression is concerned
when you're working with your adrenals and working with your thyroid as far as that goes?
Is it like when you take care of your adrenals then your thyroid starts to get better by itself?
Or how does that work?
I think it's a continuum. Every client is very different,
but if you find yourself on thyroid medications and you have subclinical hypothyroidism,
a lot of cases they end up just keep going up and up on their thyroid medication and they’re still feeling very fatigued.
They're still gaining weight and things like that.
So that's when you have to shift your focus and focus on the adrenals,
and that’s when you can really truly find that you’ll start feeling better when we focus on your adrenals.
When you do focus on your adrenals, then the thyroid will automatically get back on its right track.
So I think it starts with the adrenals and in that continuum then your thyroid will get better.
Yes, that's a really good point.
You do want to be careful when you're approaching this because there are a lot of hormones and different factors in play.
So it's very important that you work with a practitioner when you're going through these things,
making sure you're getting your levels checked,
making sure that you're taking the right supplementation to both support your adrenals and your thyroid.
Always consult with your local primary practitioner before doing anything else as far as that is concerned.
Now, as far as subclinical hypothyroidism is concerned,
do you often see that it has an effect on your bioenergetics and your metabolism as well?
I know with the bioenergetic circuit in NEM it’s composed of the thyroid.
It's also composed of your liver and your pancreas as well,
and so, how does your metabolism work when you're in subclinical hypothyroidism?
So actually, your metabolism actually does slow down.
That's why some people with true hypothyroidism do need the thyroid medications to increase their metabolism,
but in the case of adrenal fatigue and then having some subclinical hypothyroidism,
again, I think we need to treat the underlying problem and everything will kind of shift into perspective and get on the right track.
Okay, all right.
So in conclusion, you want to make sure that you support your adrenal health if you have subclinical low thyroid function.
Make sure you work with your doctor closely on that or your local health practitioner.
This is Coach Justin Lam and I have once again Dr. Jeremy Lam here
and we're here to empower you to take control of your health.