Hypothyroidism Help In Greenville SC
Hypothyroidism or low thyroid is the most common thyroid condition people experience. Some of the symptoms associated with low thyroid include an inability to lose weight despite eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly, sleep disturbances, hair loss, depression or mood swings and brittle hair or nails. People with hypothyroidism may have a low sex drive, skin problems such as eczema, or suffer from constipation.
It’s important to seek medical care for thyroid symptoms, because it’s very unlikely the condition will resolve on its own. In fact, many people feel worse over time. This is especially true for those who also have the related autoimmune disease known as Hashimoto’s. Autoimmune diseases account for approximately 90% of all hypothyroid conditions in the U.S. by some estimates, and the most common cause is Hashimoto’s disease. With Hashimoto’s, the immune system attacks and destroys the thyroid, killing cells and tissue over time. As the thyroid malfunctions, patients may experience hypothyroid and related symptoms, overactive thyroid, or both, as thyroid function swings one way and then another.
Despite it being a very common cause of low thyroid, doctors typically do not test thyroid patients for Hashimoto’s. Yet if you have Hashimoto’s, it’s very important to address this underlying disease if you hope to achieve and sustain optimal health.
One reason standard medical care doctors do not test for Hashimoto’s is because whether the low thyroid patient has the disease or not, the care prescribed is the same. Thyroid hormone is prescribed to ‘replace’ what is missing. The theory is the patient will then feel better. As more function is lost by the thyroid (which is the expected outcome for low thyroid patients), the patient is given more or additional medications to address symptoms, such as antidepressants for depression or mood swings, medication for insomnia in the case of sleep disturbances, and so on.
Low thyroid patients often seek an alternative to this standard approach to low thyroid care, as it fails to help them feel better and presents additional problems in the form of medication side effects. Fortunately, there is another option.
A functional wellness care provider will focus on the root cause of your thyroid condition, whether it is Hashimoto’s, another autoimmune disease, or an entirely different set of dysfunctions. Healing your body, establishing balance and facilitating proper function are the goals. Therapy is aimed at restoring optimal health long term without the use of medications, or with only the minimal amount of medicine necessary if the thyroid has been severely damaged. Although some patients do need to take low thyroid medication long term, they often find it works much better for them when other root causes of their thyroid problems are addressed.
Functional wellness care and support is a terrific choice if you’ve been told you do not have a thyroid problem based on blood work, yet you’re struggling with one or more symptoms. Why wait for your condition to progress to the point where you ‘need’ medication before you begin taking steps to improve your health?
Functional wellness practitioners use in-depth testing to identify exactly what’s going on in the body. They gather a great deal of information and analyze this data to determine how best to help you today. Natural therapies such as adjustments to diet, nutritional supplements, lifestyle changes and stress reduction can go a long way in helping you manage Hashimoto’s if you have the disease, or whatever is causing or exacerbating your condition.
