You just want to feel “normal” again…

You don’t want thyroid issues keeping your from looking and feeling your best.

If your thyroid or the hormones you are taking are not working properly, you will continue to struggle with health issues…period.

Unfortunately, if you wondering if you have a thyroid problem or if you have a known thyroid issue your treatment and management comes down to 1 or 2 thyroid tests and a prescription for Synthroid…if your hormones levels are “bad enough” to warrant medication.

In most cases, the only solution you are offered…if you are offered one at all, is thyroid medication.  Unfortunately, medication is not always enough to get you feeling like your normal self again.

Thyroid function is typically not tested very well; meaning only 1 or 2 thyroid tests are ordered. I recommend a full thyroid panel to my patients that typically covers 9 thyroid tests. This provides a much more detailed explanation of what your thyroid is doing and how your body is using its hormones or the thyroid hormones you are taking.

There is so much more to thyroid health than a “normal” TSH blood test. This test is often the medical standard for evaluating your thyroid function and making medication adjustments. TSH is not even produced by the thyroid gland! It comes from the pituitary gland in your head. So for many, not even their thyroid gland is being tested!

There is a huge health gap between thyroid function that has crashed so far down that medication is now required and low thyroid function that is affecting your quality of life. You can suffer with low thyroid function for years before it gets “bad enough” to require medication. This is like waiting for your blood sugar to get so high that you develop diabetes; then prescribing diabetes medication. The problem and the damage it can do began long before you developed diabetes!

Your thyroid hormones affect all the cells in your body, every organ and system. I cannot overstate the importance of healthy thyroid function. To restore your health and wellbeing, you must get your thyroid and its hormones working optimally.

Do you experience any of the following?

1. Weight gain or difficulty losing weight?
2. Brain-fog or problems concentrating?
3. Insomnia?
4. Irregular or menstrual cycle problems?
5. Digestion problems?
6. Fatigue?
7. Elevated cholesterol?
8. Hair thinning?

There are many symptoms that can be caused by poor thyroid function; above are some of the most common I see in my clinic.

Even if you are taking thyroid medication, you can be suffering the effects of poor thyroid health.

Functional medicine takes a different approach because we not only take into account the thyroid and thyroid hormones; we evaluate the other systems of the body that can interfere with optimal thyroid health.

Areas to look into:  

1. Digestive health
2. Inflammation / immune system
3. Deficiencies of key nutrients like vitamins, minerals, amino acids and fatty acids.
4. Balance of hormones like estrogen, progesterone and testosterone.
5. Adrenal gland problems and cortisol issues
6. ETC

I could keep going, I just wanted to make the point that the thyroid and thyroid hormones do not function in isolation.

In addition to a genuine thyroid problem, you may suffer with additional health imbalances like the ones listed above. The combination of which can make solving health problems very difficult when you are trying to do it on your own. I’m guessing your primary care physician or endocrinologist are not discussing these other contributing factor with you. Nor would I expect them to. These are not their areas of training and expertise. You need to have these conversations with a functional medicine doctor who specializes in these areas.

If you are located in Aurora, Downers Grove, or other surrounding areas AND are interested in functional medicine, contact us today!

You do have options

You can feel better than you do now. You can increase your health and move closer to your heath goals. 

You can experience a better quality of life.

You don’t need to feel stuck in your current situation…you are not stuck, because you can move forward.

We would like to help you do this.

Contact my office and talk to our functional medicine consultant and see if our office is good fit for you.

I wish you health, happiness and a better quality of life!

If you would like more information about functional medicine and integrative medicine or Dr. Sexton go to napervilleintegratedwellness.com

Do your own research, inform yourself and ask lots of questions. When collecting information, you MUST consider the source. There is no shortage of false, misleading, outdated, profit-driven and utterly biased information in healthcare today; even from the most respected sources and organizations.

This approach to healthcare is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease. Why? The FDA enforces its position that these words can only be used with drugs. This approach does not use drugs.