Most people don’t give their thyroid a second thought until it’s not functioning properly. When I attended nursing school I had a huge textbook that covered different disease processes. I remember a small blurb about the thyroid gland, how it could be over or under functioning and a one page overview about Graves’ disease ( overactive thyroid) and a thyroid storm. This is where untreated hyperthyroidism leads to a high body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure. It can be fatal.
There wasn’t really any information on hypothyroidism (much less Hashimoto’s). I remember thinking that it was interesting information and wondered why there wasn’t more material to cover. I now see the irony in thinking that back then. I wanted more information and 20 years later I certainly got it!
Your thyroid is the butterfly shaped gland located at the base of your neck under your Adam’s apple. It’s made up of a right and left lobe (picture the butterfly’s wings) and the Isthmus is in the center (like the body of a butterfly). The thyroid wraps around your wind pipe (trachea) and on the back side of the gland are 4 little dots located at the top and bottom of the lobes called parathyroid glands.
This tiny but mighty little gland is the master of your metabolism and it affects every single cell in your body. It produces 4 hormones- T1, T2, T3 and T4. Surprisingly, scientists still aren’t exactly sure what the role of T1 and T2 are. While T1 is still a mystery, T2 is thought to be hormone that combines with certain enzymes to produce more active hormone (helps in the conversion of T3).
The thyroid’s job is to absorb and combine iodine with tyrosine. Once combined this is converted into T3 and T4. Now T4 (or thyroxine) is the INACTIVE form of thyroid hormone and T3 (tri-iodothyronine) is the ACTIVE form. The thyroid produces a little bit of active hormone (T3) but most of what it produces (over 90%) is inactive (T4).
Your body has to convert the inactive (T4) hormone into active hormone (T3) in order to use it and if everything is functioning correctly you won’t end up with too much or too little.
Problems arise when the signaling system goes wonky (this system is called the HPA Axis) and things aren’t regulated correctly. It’s like your thermostat is messed up. Problems also come up when your body is not converting hormone efficiently and most of this conversion happens in the liver and gut.
Every single cell in your body has receptor sites for thyroid hormone. It is essential for energy production, keeps cells working and helps your body utilize oxygen. For years one of my biggest complaints was not having any energy- now it makes total sense, doesn’t it?!
Thyroid hormones affect every system in your body. Metabolism and body temperature are regulated by your thyroid. So are the function of your gall bladder, liver and GI tract. Thyroid hormones support your brain function (brain fog anyone?) and cardiovascular system.
When your thyroid function slows down every system in your body slows down with it. That’s why you have symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, constipation, cold intolerance, digestive issues, weight gain, achy joints and feeling blue. Some signs that appear before lab tests confirm an under functioning thyroid are weight gain, fatigue and depression. This is called subclinical hypothyroidism because you have some symptoms and you know something is off but lab tests aren’t reflecting that anything is abnormal.
The main reason I geared this site towards women is because they are more likely to have thyroid problems than men. According to Sara Gottfried, MD “women are 10 times more likely than men to have thyroid problems.” The main reason for this is because of the hormonal changes a woman goes through in her lifetime. Many women start having thyroid problems after puberty, pregnancy, peri-menopause or menopause. But long periods of emotional or physical stress can also play a role.
I hope this gives you a good introduction to your thyroid gland, what it does and why it’s causing you problems. Soon we’ll build on this foundation and figure out things like whether or not you’re on the right medication and whether it's working for you.
