Adrenal and Thyroid Management

There is more to energy management than knowing your cortisol and your thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. Your thyroid and your adrenal gland can only function optimally when your brain allows them to. Replacing thyroid hormones may help in the short run but finding and correcting the root cause of low thyroid hormones and low cortisol are essential to restoring your energy.

These symptoms may be from low thyroid hormone:

• Fatigue
• Cold intolerance, cold hands
• Weight Gain
• Constipation
• Depression
• Muscle aches, cramps, and weakness
• Dry and scaly skin
• Brittle hair and nails
• Loss of libido (sex drive)
• Irregular periods or heavy periods

Full thyroid evaluations should begin with comprehensive labs including TSH, Free T4, Free T3, reverse T3, thyroid binding globulin antibody (TBG), and thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO).

Having adequate thyroid hormone production is important but not the only thing contributing to lack of energy. Anything including stress that diverts cellular energy from optimal cellular function can show up clinically as fatigue or any of the symptoms listed above.

The approach can not just look at thyroid. It should look at adrenal, thyroid, and pancreas glands which work hand in hand to manage energy. To get to the root cause we need to uncover the major cellular stresses. Treatment should begin to modify or eliminate those stresses. When those stresses are removed our cells will have more energy for normal cellular functions and we will have more energy and be less tired.