Thyroid Symptoms

The thyroid sets the pace of nearly every system you have, so when it underperforms the symptom list reads like a list of everything. The frustrating part for most patients is not the symptoms, it is being told repeatedly that the test came back fine. A single TSH result is a screening tool. It was never designed to describe thyroid function completely.

Signals Worth Testing

• Exhaustion that rest does not touch
• Cold hands and feet, or being cold when nobody else is
• Weight gain, or weight that will not move on a real effort
• Hair thinning, dry skin and brittle nails
• Constipation and sluggish digestion
• Low mood, poor memory and mental fog
• Puffiness in the face, or a swollen sensation in the neck
• Heavy or irregular periods

What Gets Measured

A full panel measures TSH, free T4, free T3, reverse T3, thyroid peroxidase antibodies and thyroglobulin antibodies. Free T3 is the active hormone your cells actually use, reverse T3 shows whether stress or illness is blocking conversion, and antibodies identify Hashimoto's, the autoimmune condition behind a large share of hypothyroidism. Ferritin, vitamin D, B12 and selenium are checked alongside, because the thyroid cannot work properly without them.

How It Gets Treated

Treatment follows the panel. Where thyroid support is warranted it is dosed against free T3 and free T4 as well as TSH, and re-tested. Where antibodies are present, the conversation widens to the immune and inflammatory drivers behind them, because medicating the gland without addressing what is attacking it leaves half the problem in place.

Common Questions