Your thyroid is a small butterfly-shaped gland that sits in the front of your neck, right below your Adams apple.
This little gland produces hormones that regulate your body’s metabolism, it controls your energy level, cardiovascular system, and also affects on other systems.
It’s the gland associated with your Throat Chakra – your integrity, authenticity, standing in your Power.
Thyroid problems are among the most common medical conditions, and are often misdiagnosed because thyroid symptoms usually appear gradually over time, and can mimic other medical conditions such as depression (Thyroid is often a piece in the depression puzzle: sometimes low thyroid can be one of the causes of depression, sometimes depression affects thyroid function).
Thyroid conditions usually fall into three categories:
- Hypothyroidism – underactive thyroid,
- Hyperthyroidism – overactive thyroid,
- Thyroid nodules.
An underactive thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough of the hormone thyroxine. The most common symptoms are fatigue, weight gain, feeling cold, dry skin and hair, heavy menstrual periods, constipation, and slow or muddled thinking. Most often I also find these people have trouble standing up for themselves (throat chakra issues).
Low thyroid is sometimes helped by the color orange.
The most severe hypothyroid conditions are Hashimotos thyroiditis – an autoimmune disorder – and myxedema, with produces profound drowsiness and intolerance to cold. It can lead to coma, and even death, obviously requiring immediate medical treatment.
When the thyroid is overstimulated, it produces too much thyroxine. It’s not surprising that many of the symptoms of hyperthyroid are the opposite of low thyroid: jittery, rapid heartbeat or palpitations, feeling hot, weight loss, fatigue, frequent bowel movements, short menstrual periods. Graves disease is the most common cause of overactive thyroid, and is sometimes associated with bulging eyes.
Too-high thyroid is sometimes helped by the color blue.
A thyrotoxic crisis is the result of very severe hyperthyroid. Symptoms include rapid pulse, fever, and delirium, and requires immediate medical intervention.
Thyroid nodules are fairly common and almost always benign. Occasionally they can be painful, or are large enough to affect swallowing or make the voice sound hoarse. They are often monitored rather than treated.
Iodine seems to help many mild thyroid problems (both under- and over-active) and also seems to help prevent goiter – swelling of the thyroid gland. A good source of natural iodine is seaweed (kelp, dulse, nori), and it contains other important trace minerals as well. You may want to avoid seaweeds sourced from Japan for a few years, because of the radioactive spill there in 2011.
I actually enjoy using dulse powder as a table condiment (instead of salt). Yes, it tastes a little like the ocean, but I happen to like the ocean, and dulse helped normalize my underactive thyroid in my 30’s.
Another way to get a good dose of iodine is Atomidine from the Edgar Cayce folks. The bottle says 1 drop a day, and they’re serious. In fact, you’ll most likely still have liquid in the bottle when the rubber bulb for the dropper deteriorates. Add it to something that will disguise the taste.
How do you know if you need iodine? I’ve been told that you can get topical iodine from the drugstore, apply it to your skin, and see how fast the stain goes away. If it’s gone in a few hours, your body may be slurping it up.
As with most issues in these amazing bodies of ours, I usually find thyroid problems to have multiple causes.
My mother’s hypothyroidism was an interesting case. I don’t believe she’d mind me sharing her story with you since she often used herself as an example when she worked at my health food store, back in the day…
Mom was diagnosed with low thyroid in her mid-twenties. Not a surprise, since her mother and both her older sisters were already taking thyroid medication.
Twenty years later, it was discovered she had thyroid nodules, large enough that her doctor decided to do surgery to remove them. The removal was mostly successful, but a part of one nodule had to be left on her thyroid gland. A talented singer all her life, she quit singing, even at home, because she believed she now sounded like a frog.
In the 1990’s, I was taking a class in Psychological Kinesiology (try saying THAT three times fast!) and she let me practice on her.
Through muscle testing, we discovered her thyroid problems were connected into an inherited emotional condition, up through her mother’s lineage, always passing from mother to daughter. These women had all married (sometimes were forced to marry) an alcoholic, or someone who had alcoholic behaviors. We had traced it up through her great-grandmother, when Mom decided our session was a bit too “woo-woo” for her comfort.
OK, she sorta freaked out at the intensity of these very specific stories, so we stopped the session.
A few years later, she had become more comfortable with my weirdness, and we muscle tested her thyroid function again. We found that her T3/T4 conversion was being stymied because she wasn’t getting enough trace minerals in her diet. She began supplementing with Trace Minerals Research Ionic Minerals and within 3 months was able to greatly reduce her thyroid medication. Her doctor eventually cut it down to half her old prescription.
More good news: a year or so after that, she discovered to her great delight, she could sing again! I was so glad that her last years on this Earth were once more filled with vocal expression.
Interestingly, it was during this same time period that she made the decision to leave an abusive marriage. We had never returned to the “inherited emotion” session begun years before, but of course, I believe this is all related.
Supporting Your Thyroid: A Closer Look at Hyper and HypothyroidismWhat causes poor thyroid function? Many factors could contribute to this, including genetics, an autoimmune attack, pregnancy, stress, nutritional deficiencies, or toxins in the environment.
Do you have a story about your thyroid, or natural thyroid treatment? Please share in the comment box below.
We’re all learning here, and it’s likely that someone may benefit from your experience.
Thanks for explaining some of the common problems that are associated with the thyroid. I can see why it might be hard for doctors to diagnose a thyroid problem because the symptoms are subtle and grow slowly over time. Thanks for explaining some of the treatment options.
You’re welcome, Nathan. 🙂