Full Transcript Introduction to Thyroid and Adrenal Health 0:07 Hi, ladies. 0:08 Welcome back. 0:10 Day five. 0:12 I know your brains are exploding 0:15 with all this new information, and it's just been so fun. 0:20 And I have to tell you, 0:22 I had seven days to pick the seven topics I wanted to share with you. 0:27 And of course, in my live program, Mastering the Menopause Transition. 0:32 In the nine weeks, we're going to go deeper, we're going to go broader. 0:35 We're going to bring in other things. 0:37 But when kicking what I wanted to talk about today's topic, the thyroid 0:41 and adrenal, I call them the seesaw or the excess is super important. 0:46 I wanted to make sure you heard a little bit about it from me. 0:50 So where do we start? 0:52 I know when we're going through our hormonal journey, 0:54 we are constantly focused on our estrogen, our progesterone, 0:59 maybe sometimes our testosterone, which hopefully we are. 1:02 We think about our insulin and our blood sugar levels, 1:07 which you're learning a lot about during this summit. 1:10 And we have to think about our adrenals and our thyroid. 1:15 And so in my experience, these are two important areas 1:20 that are constantly overlooked or 1:23 misdiagnosed or not treated properly. 1:26 And so I wanted to 1:27 just bring you a little information today so you can be empowered 1:31 and know what to ask your physician and know what to be looking for.
Understanding Adrenal Function and Cortisol Patterns 1:36 So let's start with the adrenal glands, because there is little nuggets that sit 1:42 on top of your kidney that have so much to do 1:45 with our sleep wake cycle, with our energy, 1:50 with the inflammation in our body, with our immune system. 1:55 They just 1:56 dictate so much allergies whether you're allergic or not. 2:00 And so it's really important. 2:01 And I know a lot of us have heard, oh, I have belly fat, I have high cortisol. 2:06 And that is just one NC teensy bit of this story. 2:10 I can tell you that so many times the women I evaluate 2:14 who are dealing with belly fat do not have high cortisol. 2:18 They actually may have low cortisol. 2:21 So cortisol is our stress hormone, and a lot of us 2:28 have a lot of stress or have had stress or we don't know how to handle our stress. 2:32 And so I always tell my patients and my students 2:35 that we are going to get rid of stress only when we die. 2:40 So the the deal is not to banish stress from your life. 2:46 That happens when we die, because stress is a normal part of life. 2:50 The deal is to learn how to dance with stress, 2:55 how to respond rather than react. 2:58 And tomorrow I'm going to dive deep 3:02 into mindfulness, which please, please, please join me. 3:05 Because even though it's on the sixth day, it is one of the most important pieces 3:09 of how we heal. 3:11 So that's coming tomorrow. 3:13 So adrenals. 3:14 And so sometimes we have been so stressed out that we have secreted 3:19 all our cortisol and our bodily body finally says, you know what, I'm done. 3:24 I'm tired. I'm not secreting cortisol anymore. 3:26 So by the time patients get to me and I check them, their adrenal, 3:30 their cortisol levels are actually flatlined. 3:34 And so the goal then is not to reduce cortisol to get rid of belly fat. 3:39 It's actually to bring up cortisol. 3:42 And so cortisol, like so many things in our bodies in our lives is circadian. 3:48 It has a diurnal rhythm and it should be high in the morning. 3:51 And as the day goes on, it should go down. 3:55 So I describe it as a ski slope. 3:57 8:00 you're up on the top of the ski on the mountain and you're ready to go down. 4:02 And as you're going down, you're going down. 4:04 And by the end of the day, you're at the bottom. You're exhausted. 4:06 You want to take a hot tub, have a cup of tea and go to bed. 4:09 And that's where our cortisol levels should be at night. 4:12 They should be low. 4:13 And so the only way to really even see 4:17 how this cortisol rhythm is happening is to do saliva 4:21 testing, is to take four samples in the morning, the afternoon, 4:26 the evening, and then at midnight so we can plot them and see. 4:30 Do you actually have that beautiful ski slope or do you have the raised versus 4:34 are you low in the morning and get high as the day goes on, 4:38 or are you flat lined or are you totally high, 4:41 or are you sometimes at the right place, but then you drop down or you shoot up. 4:45 And so it really gives me a good look to see what's going on in your life. 4:50 So usually when I run a saliva test on a patient, I say, okay, 4:54 don't tell me anything. 4:55 And I'm going to kind of tell you how your day goes. 4:57 You get up, but you are exhaust state.
Supporting Low Cortisol Before Thyroid Treatment 5:00 It takes you a while to get going. 5:02 You finally get going. 5:04 You crash in the afternoon, 5:05 you get a second wind around 8:00, and then you're like, let's clean 5:08 the fridge, let's scrub the floors, let's do the laundry. 5:11 And then you have a hard time falling asleep. 5:13 And that would be someone who has low cortisol levels. 5:17 And then they kind of came up, but then they crash and then they shoot up again. 5:21 So I'm able to predict it's kind of like the cortisol levels are my magic 5:26 magic crystal ball. 5:27 And I can kind of predict how your day goes and 9.9 times out of ten 5:32 when someone does their cortisol readings, I can really tell them. 5:35 And it gives us a lot of information because 5:39 cortisol levels need to be addressed appropriately. 5:43 If you have too much cortisol and you give someone, 5:47 let's say glycyrrhizin, which is licorice, which is a hormone, herb 5:51 that extends the half life of cortisol, you're going to make them feel worse. 5:56 And so if you are 5:59 have high cortisol levels at night, you don't need fast titles. 6:02 Serene. You might need melatonin. 6:05 You definitely need some stress reduction techniques. 6:08 You may need to have an orgasm bring those levels down. 6:11 So there's lots of different ways to treat but it's really helpful. 6:15 Remember I'm all about testing. 6:18 Not guessing. 6:19 And so this simple saliva test can really give us a lot of information. 6:23 And the reason why I'm talking about cortisol in the adrenals 6:26 before I'm talking about the thyroid 6:29 is because you always want to fix 6:32 or balance or address 6:35 or send some TLC to the adrenal glands before you balance the thyroid, 6:40 because if you rev the thyroid 6:42 and the adrenal is tired, you're just going to make it more tired. 6:45 Down goes the seesaw, up goes the thyroid. 6:48 And so I will never put a patient on thyroid hormone replacement bioidentical. 6:52 Of course, 6:53 unless I've properly evaluated their adrenal glands 6:57 and if their adrenal glands are in need of support, we support the adrenal glands 7:01 for a minimum of four weeks before we add on the thyroid. 7:06 So we don't do more harm than good. 7:07 We have to remember the hormones are a symphony, and they play 7:12 the best music when they are all tuned up and all paid attention to 7:18 the other thing I'd like to bring up before I move on to the thyroid 7:21 with the adrenal glands is that if you do have low cortisol, 7:26 one of the best things I utilizes bioidentical cortisol 7:30 for patients to bring their cortisol levels up. 7:33 And I had a patient ask me the other day, does that mean my adrenals 7:37 are going to stop making cortisol because you're giving me some? 7:39 And that was a great question to ask. 7:41 But the truth is no. 7:43 If we keep it under 20mg and there's a great book called 7:47 The Safe Uses of Cortisol by Doctor Jeffries.
Thyroid Testing, Symptoms, and Optimal Ranges 7:50 It's an old book, but it's a good reading. 7:54 That book has helped me changed thousands of patients lives 7:58 and their cortisol and their adrenals and their hormones and their energy 8:01 and their immune systems and all that good stuff. 8:03 So if you're love to read, I highly recommend checking that book out. 8:08 And so when I give bioidentical cortisol to answer that patient's 8:11 question, know when we support the body with some bioidentical cortisol. 8:15 It's like telling your adrenal glands okay head out to the Bahamas. 8:19 Head out to your favorite beach, hook up that hammock and go take a rest. 8:24 Because we are going to support you while you rest. 8:28 So then you can come back from your vacation and you can start 8:31 participating again. 8:32 And so it's the equivalent of like going on a vacation and unplugging, 8:37 getting rid of a laptop, getting rid of the cell phone and really chilling out. 8:42 And so that's what bioidentical cortisol can do for 8:46 for someone who's adrenals are really shot. 8:48 And remember the adrenals will secrete high cortisol. 8:53 But at some point most people 8:57 their bodies will get tired and then that high cortisol will just drop. 9:01 And so sometimes that's where I'm seeing you. 9:03 And that's why it's so important to test and look at your levels 9:06 through cortisol, through saliva, cortisol levels through saliva. 9:10 Because that is where the hormone is the most free and bioavailable. 9:14 And that's where we can get the best readings on it. 9:17 Okay. 9:18 So that's my, my little, public service announcement on the adrenals. 9:22 And now let's just talk about the thyroid. 9:25 And so the thyroid. 9:28 Oh, it's an epidemic. 9:30 It it is gotten to the point where if I have a woman come into my office 9:34 and her thyroid is functioning optimally, I'm kind of shocked 9:38 because I'm so used to seeing imbalances in the thyroid. 9:43 And so these imbalances can be coming from the pituitary gland 9:47 in the, in the brain. 9:49 And so it could be that the pituitary gland 9:52 is not telling the thyroid what to do. 9:54 That the communications are shut off. 9:56 It's the same. 9:57 We didn't talk about it about the adrenals. 9:59 But there's the hypothalamic pituitary axis. 10:02 And so we need to make sure the brain is talking to the gland 10:05 and that the gland can hear it. 10:07 There can be a problem with the gland itself where there is 10:11 a lack of selenium or iodine or mercury toxicity and lack of vitamin 10:17 D, there are so many issues that can throw the thyroid off. 10:21 And so it's not producing enough hormones. 10:24 It can produce the T4 that it produces, but then in the periphery where it needs 10:28 to be converted into T3, which is the free and active hormone, 10:33 there's stress, there's toxins, 10:36 there's too much hormones, too much estrogen. 10:39 There's things that are there's nutrient deficiencies. 10:41 There's things that are interfering with the conversion. 10:45 So we don't get the free active hormone. 10:48 We can be producing reverse T3 rather than regular T3, 10:53 which looks like T3 but doesn't act like T3 and clogs the receptor sites 10:58 and prevents our active hormone from making cellular changes. 11:03 There is Wilson's temperature syndrome, which is a low body temperature. 11:08 Even if your blood levels look good, 11:10 there's making sure you get the right blood levels. 11:13 And so I'll just rattle them off here real quick. 11:15 You want your doctor to ask for a TSH, a free T3, 11:19 a free T4, a reverse T3, 11:22 an anti TPO and Spiro globulin antibodies. 11:26 Those are the basics. 11:27 Six levels you want to have run to properly evaluate your thyroid. 11:32 Don't let the doctor run a total T3 or a total T4. 11:35 It needs to be a free because free is what's bioavailable 11:39 and active in the body. 11:40 That's a mistake I see all the time. 11:43 And then you want someone who understands optimal levels to really be evaluating. 11:49 One of the things I see often is someone will have free T3 is usually 11:53 the range is about 2.4 to 4.2, and if someone has a 2.5 11:58 or a 2.6, they'll be told it's okay because they're in range. 12:02 My experience again, of working with women for over 20 years 12:06 is that a lot of women need to be up at the high end, 12:09 or even sometimes over the high end, for them to be feeling good 12:14 and feeling normal and have their thyroid symptoms reduced. 12:18 And so it's really important you work with someone who looks at you, 12:22 who looks at your symptoms, who listens to you and doesn't just look at blood work. 12:28 I always first and foremost put you and your symptoms 12:33 at the front of what I'm doing. 12:35 And then we correlate the blood work. 12:37 And if the blood work correlates, we're like, yes,
Autoimmune Thyroid Triggers and Root Causes 12:40 you and your blood work are matched and it makes sense. 12:42 But if the blood work's a little off, I just remember you are an individual, and 12:47 what is optimal for you may not be optimal for who they decided the range for. 12:53 So it's really important 12:54 you have someone who listens to you and works with you and guides 12:57 you and helps you to make those changes, especially if you are sitting 13:01 there as the poster child for low thyroid function. 13:05 Your hair's falling out, your thyroid, 13:07 your eyebrows are thinning, especially the outer third. 13:11 You can't lose weight. 13:12 Your body temperature is low. 13:14 You have muscle pains, 13:15 your nails are brittle, you're constipated, you have brain fog. 13:20 You're fatigued, and on and on and on. 13:22 And we also have to remember that those antibodies I mentioned, 13:26 the anti TPO and the thyroid globulin antibodies. 13:29 If those are elevated that means you have an auto 13:32 immune condition that your body is attacking the thyroid. 13:37 And so those treatments are very different than a primary hypothyroidism 13:43 or an anterior pituitary that's under functioning. 13:47 These are these autoimmune issues need 13:50 to be evaluated and treated differently. 13:54 You need to look at the toxins in your body. 13:56 You need to look at your diet and what your body is reacting to. 14:00 So a big one is gluten, especially with Hashimoto's. 14:04 And so when you eat gluten, 14:07 your body recognizes the gluten as a danger. 14:10 But the gluten is so molecularly similar 14:13 to the thyroid cells that it starts to attack your thyroid gland. 14:17 And we have to remember that molecular mimicry for gluten 14:21 can occur from rice and dairy and other foods. 14:26 So just because you've got the gluten now doesn't mean you've gotten everything out 14:30 you need. 14:30 And that's why I do specific testing so we can really see 14:34 and really get the foods out of your diet that are doing harm. 14:38 Another big thing I see I mentioned before was mercury. 14:41 If you have a amalgams in your mouth or you've had them removed 14:45 or they removed improperly, or you had them removed 14:47 and you weren't detox properly, 14:49 that mercury can be causing an autoimmune reaction against your thyroid. 14:53 You also want to make sure your vitamin D levels are optimized. 14:56 I like them between 80 and 90, especially with someone who's dealing with 15:00 an autoimmune disease process, and you want to make sure you have 15:03 optimal glutathione and your detoxing properly. 15:07 And so it's a lot different than just taking some thyroid hormone 15:11 to give yourself some extra T3. 15:14 So my time is up. 15:17 I tried to get a lot in there. 15:19 There's a lot more to be said, but this will give you a good foundation 15:24 even if you, don't choose to join the nine week program with me, 15:29 this is a good start for you to go 15:32 and talk to your physician and really start getting to the root 15:35 causes of your imbalances, so 15:38 I trust that this is beneficial. 15:41 I am so grateful you were here and I will see you soon.
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