Have you been told you have an underactive thyroid? Are you curious about how to support your thyroid health? At first, knowing you have an underactive thyroid can make you feel helpless and defeated, like you’ll never achieve your health and wellness goals. I wasn’t surprised when I had my diagnosis as I have a family history, but nevertheless, I was frustrated and sad at how this would impact my quality of life. I spent some time feeling my feelings and then found the motivation to do some research and make some changes. I knew I wanted to start having children and this diagnosis had implications when it came to my fertility. I had to learn how to manage hypothyroidism with lifestyle to overall support my thyroid health.

I came off birth control after being on it for 13 years. I was learning who I was and what my body was like without these hormones on board. When I came off birth control, that’s when I started to notice things about my body. My symptoms of hypothyroidism were individually very minor, but together it was a lot and I didn’t realize I was truly experiencing these things. 

My Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

I started planning my days so that everything I needed to do was done by 3 pm. 3 pm was when my energy level ran out every day. I constantly had cold hands and feet, I was gaining weight and having trouble losing it because I had no energy for exercise. With any activity, I became short of breath and my heart rate would skyrocket. My baseline heart rate has always been in the 50’s which is low but normal for me. I was constipated and my gastrointestinal system was slow. I had a low appetite and only wanted to eat simple carbohydrates. My main concern was the brain fog. At a certain point, I was having difficulty thinking and focusing. 

Some people might experience these symptoms and their bloodwork does not indicate there is an issue with their thyroid. If that might be you, the concepts below could help you as well. 

What does your thyroid do?

The thyroid is part of the endocrine system and produces hormones that regulate how your body uses energy. In other words, it controls your metabolism, temperature, and heart rate. The brain sends Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) to the thyroid telling it to make T4 and T3 which are the regulators. The thyroid gland is located in your neck. It produces hormones like T4, T3, Calcitonin, and RT3. To make these hormones, your body needs iodine. Iodine is found in seaweed, cod, fortified foods, and iodized salt. 

Subclinical Hypothyroidism

I was diagnosed with Subclinical Hypothyroidism, or “underactive thyroid”. I have all the physical symptoms of hypothyroidism and too much TSH in my blood. But my T4 and T3 are normal. My brain is telling my thyroid to work but something is preventing my thyroid from working properly. I have yet to explore this further and will see a naturopath in the near future to help me figure out what is causing this for me. I am currently pregnant, and pregnancy alone can impact your thyroid. So I will wait for balance in my body again when I deliver to further explore this.

What I have learned helps my body and thyroid

When I found out I had to go on medication (for an unknown length of time) it took me time to process this and come to terms with it. I wanted to find other things that I could do to better support my thyroid. As a nurse, I know there are always actionable lifestyle changes that people can do to support their health. I had to figure out what I could do. Here are some lifestyle factors to help your hypothyroidism.

Medication

I started on Synthroid and I tried to find the best time of day I could take it. Synthroid was disruptive to my life. The pharmacist said to take it on an empty stomach and not to have dairy, iron, or other multivitamins for 4 hours after taking my Synthroid. I tried taking it first thing in the morning and that lasted a few months before I got so sick of my dairy-free breakfast options. Then I tried taking it before bed and it had to be 3 hours after eating (so my stomach was empty) and I am an evening snacker. I found I didn’t want to stay up that late. So I have returned to taking my pill first thing in the morning and I am trying my best to find various dairy-free breakfast options. If you have any suggestions please let me know!

There are some supplements that can support thyroid health. Often they will have L-Tyrosine, iodine, zinc and/or iron. If you experience similar symptoms and are unsure where to start, talk to your doctor or naturopath about it!

Nutrition is KEY

What you put in your body determines how it feels. We all have a certain microbiome of bacteria that live in our bowels, and studies increasingly are showing a relationship between our gut health and overall health. It is important to make sure you get iodine in your diet to support your thyroid health. When you consume a diet that promotes bad bacteria it can cause inflammation, leaky gut syndrome, bowel diseases, and cancer. I have been doing lots of reading on how to increase the good bacteria in your gut and how to support gut health. Fermented foods, fiber, and pre/probiotics are great for gut health. Foods I have successfully started incorporating into my diet are raw sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, yogurt with live cultures, and miso.

I also listened to so many podcasts and I fell in love with The Wellness Mama Podcast. I found so many similar things like the struggles with hypothyroidism, gut health, and fertility. I have also learned from this podcast about inflammatory foods and have started to slowly eliminate them from my diet. I have also started drinking bone broth every morning and it has been fantastic.

Exercise helps with energy

In my experience, exercise can take a lot of work and require energy. I knew my symptoms were bad when I didn’t have enough energy to exercise. Typically when you exercise, it increases your energy. When I started on medication I finally had the energy to exercise and move my body. I felt my body have a snowball effect and when I exercised I had more energy and slept better. Here is a link to one of my favorite fitness routines.

Exercising also boosts your metabolism which is what people with hypothyroidism (slow metabolism) need! I started slow and increased as I had more energy. 

It is also important to set yourself up for success and plan the time of day you will do your workouts. I need to do mine first thing when I wake up or they will not happen. Energy can also help with improving mood for those with SCH, as a symptom might be depression or low mood. I like to get out walking with my dog. Lately, I have also been enjoying pilates.

Stress Management

Managing stress is important to manage inflammation in the body. Stress signals to your adrenal glands (also part of the endocrine system) to release cortisol. Cortisol can cause a lot of inflammation in the body and can prevent the thyroid from doing its job creating T3 and T4. See here for more information. Managing stress and preventing long-term amounts of cortisol from circulating in your body can support people with SCH. People have various ways to manage their stress. For me, I use the following strategies:

• meditating

• having realistic expectations of myself

• being compassionate with myself and others

• moving my body

• calming my body 

• get lots of sleep

• talking with others (when they have the emotional space to listen)

Maintain a healthy body weight

This can seem difficult or daunting since it can seem like the cards are stacked against you. Once you find a good rhythm and improvement with the above-mentioned things then this will be easier for you. Managing your weight is important to decrease the chances of developing other chronic health issues later in life. Increasing weight can lead to metabolic syndrome, obesity, and other comorbidities like diabetes, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, and lots more.

SCH can be difficult to manage but if this is something you struggle with you are not alone. I second-guessed myself when it came to the symptoms because as I mentioned, individually you don’t think much of it. Collectively, they pointed to SCH and how I really needed some medication to balance my thyroid. I learned that I needed to listen to my body and trust my feelings. I found these lifestyle factors helped my hypothyroidism and allowed me to increase my overall quality of life. These lifestyle changes are actionable and support you in healing your body with underactive thyroid.

*This post does not provide medical advice and is used for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. *