Let’s start here!
What is a thyroid? To put it simply, your thyroid is a small butterfly like gland that is located on the front of your neck, right at the base. Your thyroid produces hormones Triiodothyronine (T3) and Thyroxine (T4), these two hormones can have a huge impact on your health and metabolism if they are even slightly out of line!
What happens if you have too much thyroid? This is called Hyperthyroidism. Producing too much thyroid can cause: alterations in your mood, rapid heart rate, problems with your bones, muscles, menstrual cycle, fertility, trouble sleeping, trouble tolerating heat and frequent bowl movements.
What happens if you have too little thyroid? Too little thyroid is called Hypothyroidism. This is caused when your body makes too little thyroid hormone. Some symptoms include, weight gain, chronic fatigue, hair loss, dry skin, constipation, depression, memory loss and decreased libido.
The best way to figure out if you are either Hyper or Hypo is by getting your thyroid levels checked! This way your doctor can make a plan to get you moving in the right direction!
This week we are going to highlight a patient success story!
I’m Megan! I am a 34-year-old super busy mother of two! I run my own business and am always on the go!
This past year I started to get more and more exhausted no matter how much I would sleep. I also started gaining weight like it was my job. I was eating in a calorie deficit and working out five days a week. Nothing was helping.
To top it all off, my anxiety was at an all-time high, AND my hair started falling out. I knew something more serious was wrong.
I went to see Dr. Collins to try and figure out why all of this was happening. He immediately told me we needed to run an in-depth thyroid panel. So we did.
I went back into the office the next week and did not expect to hear what I did. I not only had hypothyroidism, but I also found out I have an auto-immune disorder called Hashimotos.
If you don’t know what that is, Hashimoto’s disease is a condition in which your immune system attacks your thyroid. Basically all odds are stacked aginst you when it comes to losing weight.
If you can imagine, this was a very daunting result to get. However, Dr. Collins not only put me on the right medication, but he taught me how to change other things such as my diet to help heal from within.
It’s been four months since my diagnosis, and here is what has changed:
- I am no longer on anxiety medication. Anxiety medication that I have been on for over eight years.
- I finally have energy again! I am not exhausted by 10 am after getting a good night’s sleep.
- I sleep much better!
- My hair is growing back.
- My skin has completely cleared up
- AND I have lost 16 pounds and 3% body fat, and the scale is still dropping!
I feel like a completely new woman. And non of this would have changed if I wouldn’t have gotten my thyroid checked. If you think you have Hyper or Hypothyroidism, I 100% recommend getting labs done and sitting down with Dr. Collins. He has completely changed my life.
If you are local to San Deigo and want to get your thyroid checked give us a call (858)-333-5196
