Diseases – Types Of Diseases – Diseases Treatments

What’s the connection between fibromyalgia & your thyroid?

As I work with clients, I find that nearly all of them have undiagnosed thyroid issues. The most common thing for me to recommend in a consultation is for someone to get a full thyroid panel done by a good doctor who understands thyroid disease.

Why? Many symptoms of thyroid disease overlap with fibromyalgia symptoms. It just makes good sense to check to see if some of your fibromyalgia symptoms, or symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), could be caused by low thyroid.

In addition, thyroid issues could be amplifying your CFS or fibromyalgia symptoms, making them worse than they would be if your thyroid was functioning properly. If it is, then…

Treating your thyroid could improve your fibromyalgia.

Here are some of the symptoms of low thyroid that can mimic fibromyalgia:

Fatigue
Insomnia
Depression
Brain fog
Difficulty concentrating
Sleeping more than average
Muscle pain, especially lower body
Muscle weakness
Pain, stiffness, or swelling in your joints
Increased sensitivity to temperature, particularly cold

Other common symptoms of low thyroid are:

Constipation
Pale, dry skin
Puffy face
Hoarse voice
Elevated cholesterol levels
Unexplained weight gain
Difficulty losing weight
Heavier than normal menstrual periods
Brittle fingernails and hair

There are three things that make discovering a thyroid condition tricky.

First, the most common symptoms of low thyroid look like fibromyalgia.

One down side to being diagnosed with fibromyalgia is that doctors may put all of your symptoms under the “fibromyalgia” heading and not look further for causes. This may be what happens with your thyroid.

If you complain to your doctor that your legs are hurting more than normal, but everything else feels the same, your doctor could very well say, “Your fibromyalgia is flaring up. You must’ve done something different with those muscles.”

However, if your doctor is familiar with the lesser known symptoms of low thyroid, you might discover that your leg pain is due to low thyroid.

Second, your doctor and/or lab may not know about the updated lab standards.

In November 2002, new guidelines were published by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) for what the normal range should be for your thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). Before this revision, a range of 0.5 to 5.0 was considered normal.

However, the AACE found that patients within the range of 3.04 to 5.0 had symptoms of hypothyroidism. (This is one test where the higher number indicates low thyroid function.)

In light of this, the AACE shifted the normal range to be 0.3 to 3.04 – a much narrower range.

According to the AACE, this shift doubles the number of people who are considered to have abnormal thyroid function. The reality is, these folks already had abnormal thyroid function; the test now correctly reflects this, allowing these people to get proper treatment.

If your doctor is still using the old standards, I suggest bringing this press release from the AACE to your next appointment. If your doctor remains resistant after reading the press release, it’s time to look for a new doctor – at least for your thyroid needs.

Third, your doctor may only know how to diagnose basic low thyroid.

In order to properly diagnose some thyroid disorders, such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease where your body thinks your thyroid is evil and tries to kill it, your doctor needs to run a full thyroid panel, not just a simple TSH test. Only by running a full thyroid panel, will a doctor who understands the intricacies of thyroid disease have the information needed to treat you.

Your TSH levels can actually look normal while you are having a problem with your thyroid.

It was the thyroid antibodies that told my doctor that I had Hashimoto’s; one of my clients doesn’t manufacture enough T3 from the T4 in her body. These are things you’d never know by only running the TSH test.

Most MD’s will only run the TSH test. However, your thyroid test should include Free T3, Free T4, and thyroid antibodies TPO/TSI, along with the TSH level if you want to get a complete diagnosis.

Of course, you’ll also need to see a doctor that knows how to interpret these test results! Normally, that means visiting a naturopath. If you need help finding a good one, let me know.

You’ve finally gotten a diagnosis of low thyroid. Now what?

When treating your thyroid, there are two options: synthetic medications or natural glandulars.

Most MD’s will prescribe synthetic medication such as Synthroid or levothyroxine to treat your hypothyroidism. These medications only contain the T4 thyroid hormone. I believe that glandulars are a much better option.

Using a natural glandular, such as Armour Thyroid, gives you both the T3 and T4 thyroid hormones. They are made from pig thyroid, which is similar to human thyroid. However, if you go with a natural glandular, choose Armour Thyroid.

Why is Armour Thyroid brand the only way to go?

I’ve read that many MD’s prescribe synthetics because they think that the natural glandulars are not standardized, meaning that you may not get a consistent amount of thyroid hormone in a natural pill.

Forest Laboratories, the manufacturer of Armour Thyroid, tests both the raw material and the actual tablets, to make sure that you are getting exactly what you are prescribed. Armour Thyroid is standardized.

In addition:

Armour Thyroid is gluten free. The generics are not.
Natural glandulars have been proven to work better on depression than many antidepressants! Synthetics cannot make this claim.
Your thyroid produces both the T3 and T4 thyroid hormones. Natural glandulars contain both T3 and T4; the synthetics most MD’s prescribe do not.
It’s almost always true that natural products are utilized by your body more fully than synthetics.

If you want to read more about diagnosing thyroid disease, Hashimoto’s, and how an undiagnosed thyroid disorder could be affecting you, I highly recommend reading Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms? by Datis Kharrazian. It’s an excellent, groundbreaking book about this subject.

Action Steps

Check out the symptoms of low thyroid. Do any of them apply to you?

If they do, make an appointment to talk with your doctor about running a FULL thyroid panel to test your thyroid. Treating your thyroid can make a huge difference in your fibromyalgia symptoms. You owe it to yourself to check this out as soon as possible!

Olive leaf extract can help a person fight the common cold as well as a few other unpleasant viruses. When a person mentions that he or she has a cold it usually is associated with some of the symptoms that this condition produces such as coughing, a runny nose, sneezing and maybe some chills. When someone has a fever than that is associated with the flu. All of these symptoms are caused by someone’s immune system trying to eliminate an unwanted visitor.

There are over 200 various bacteria that could cause the cold symptoms however the most popular is something called the rhinovirus. This virus is transported from people and can get into the cells of someone’s nose where it can breed. Then the immune system jumps into action trying to eliminate this invader and causes more mucus to exit the nose which is why someone with a cold has a runny nose. The reason someone with a cold has a cough is because the virus gets into the lungs and mucus starts to be created. Olive leaf is a product that comes from the olive tree which has been somewhat famous through history. Everything from the Holy Bible to the Olympic Games references this plant and has been known not only as peace but as healing medicine.

One of the ways that olive leaf can help wipe away cold viruses is because it can reduce inflammation and microbial. Inflammation is when someone’s immune system damages healthy cells and tissues while trying to eliminate an unwanted bacterium which can cause harm to someone. A microbial is a bacterium that causes disease in a person and can bring about cold symptoms. Another reason that makes this herb a great pick is that it can affect a cold and also flu virus making it unable to reproduce itself which speeds up its destruction so someone can get well.

There are a variety of ways someone can receive the advantage of the olive leaf such as consuming extract, teas, oils and even supplements. One of the easiest ways would be to take a supplement and in particular a multi-vitamin. We recommend a product that has been around for a long time and over 10 years is even better. This way it reduces the risk because if it was a horrible product than it probably wouldn’t be around for so long. Also that it has a certificate on analysis which helps to validate that the ingredients are safe and actually come in the supplement.

MS or Multiple Sclerosis is a disease that causes degeneration of the nerves in the body. Each nerve has a coating known as the myelin sheath. The sheath not only protects the nerve, but aids with the conduction of impulses that travel throughout the body. Multiple Sclerosis causes inflammation that scars, thins out, and eventually destroys the myelin sheath. Once a nerve finds itself without its sheath, it is left with a lesion that causes the nerve to stop functioning properly, in turn the impulses misfire or completely cease. The symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis are manifestation of the unhealthy nerves, and with time they can become really serious and impact the quality of life of the person affected.

Vision trouble is a very common manifestation of the damage inflicted by the disease. Once the optic nerve is affected by the loss of myelin, the person may start experiencing blurred vision, eye pain or issues with the way their eyes process color. At times, some of the vision symptoms can be temporary, but for the people who have suffered extensive damage to their optic nerve, the symptoms can hinder their normal abilities.

The person plagued by Multiple Sclerosis will suffer damage to the nerves in the spinal cord. Once this happens, the person may experience numbness or weakness along their extremities. For some people, the presence of these symptoms indicates that their condition is about to get more severe, and their normal life is going to suffer a big change. They might start taking note that tasks like arm movement, head movement or their walking ability are becoming more difficult to control. The illness may lead some people to depend on a wheelchair, in order to continue with their everyday activities. For others, their facial muscles are the ones that manifest the extent of the damage to their nerves. People may also suffer from hearing issues, urination issues, balance issues or even breathing issues. Dealing with these kinds of symptoms can cause the person to become emotionally unstable, which could have an effect on the way they deal with their physical symptoms.

The target for bad cholesterol is less than 130 milligrams per deciliter and the target for good cholesterol is over 45 milligrams per deciliter. Triglycerides should be at 150 or less.

The lifestyle changes that should be adopted for lower cholesterol are 1) To stop smoking as it increases dramatically the risk of developing heart disease, 2) If you have diabetes, the risk of heart disease increases with high cholesterol than if you are non diabetic. Hence keeping a healthy weight and an active daily routine inclusive of a daily exercise program is the way to go, and 3) A stress reduction program if you lead a stressful life should be engaged in. Programs such as yoga can be very helpful in this regard.

And now for the main part of how to lower your cholesterol effectively. This would consist of substantially changing your diet to include mainly those foods that are provided by Nature and reducing substantially those foods that are manufactured or man-made. The diet consist of the following food groups – vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds, ground provisions, lean meats and fatty fish.

We can begin with vegetables. These are filled with fiber and do a great job in mopping up and removing bad cholesterol from the system. They also aid in fighting cancer cells and reducing high blood pressure. All these activities by vegetables lead to a reduction in the risk of heart disease.

Fruits – These have inherently low calorific values and hence are low cholesterol foods. They also remove high cholesterol very effectively and are generally full of vitamins and nutrients that are vital for the body.

Whole grains, Nuts and Seeds – These are very high in dietary fiber and energy content. These are very good low cholesterol suppliers and are very good for any weight control program. They also contain lots of vitamins and minerals.

Lean Meats – These are very rich in proteins, minerals and other nutrients. Some examples of lean meats include poultry (chicken and turkey in particular). Avoid all red meats such as beef and pork or meats that are packed with animal fat. Dairy products made from whole milk should also be avoided.

Fatty Fish – These are important for their omega-3 fatty acids content. Certain fish are particularly good at providing this. These are salmon, sardines, tuna, mackerel and herring. Omega-3 is particularly effective in lowering triglycerides (fat in the bloodstream), slowing down plaque growth in the arteries and reducing inflammation.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) gives certain guidelines for a low cholesterol diet. They say that trans-fat intake should be limited to 25% to 35% of total calorie intake. They also say that you should have 20 to 30 grams of fiber every day and your saturated fat intake should be limited to under 7% of total calories.

The ADA also contend that you should add plant stanols and sterols to your diet and eat frequent small meals per day instead of three large meals. Foods that contain plant stanols and sterols can be found naturally in vegetables, fruits, grains, seeds and nuts. Your bad cholesterol intake should be limited to 200mg/dl.

Saturated fats and trans-fats (animal fats, dairy products and certain oils) can be replaced with monounsaturated fats such as contained in olive oil, canola oil and peanut oil. Replace egg yolks with egg whites or maybe use oatmeal for breakfast instead of eggs altogether.

You can still be very creative in designing a cholesterol lowering diet but the foods that are consistently recommended are whole grains, fatty fish, plant stanols and sterols, nuts and seeds and fruit. Consult with your physician regarding these.