Why Menopause Women Are At Risk Of Thyroid Disease

After struggling for months, you seek out the advice of your family doctor, worried that maybe your thyroid is out of balance.

You present the following symptoms of hypothyroidism:

• rapid weight gain,
• fatigue,
• constipation,
• hoarseness,
• increased sensitivity to cold,
• dry skin or brittle hair,
• eyebrows thin or falling out.

Your doctor rolls his eyes and says this is simple. You’re aging! And probably eating all the wrong foods. Your eyes well up with tears and you beg for a thyroid panel. Begrudgingly, he agrees to test TSH alone. Test results come back positive for hypothyroidism, and he puts you on Synthroid “for life.”

Months go by and you see no improvements. Fearful of your doctor’s response you instead seek the advice of an Integrative Practitioner, thinking that perhaps thyroid imbalance goes hand-in-hand with menopause, or that it all starts with thyroid imbalance leading to menopause.

The confusion begins. Is it menopause or is your thyroid out of balance? Or is it both?

Suddenly the symptoms start to kick in. Your body is gaining seemingly uncontrollable weight, your mind is clouded and fogy. Your doctor tells you your cholesterol is high even though your nutrition is on the mark, and you exercise regularly. Your mood swings are erratic, often making you feel out of control - almost like a split personality. You’re exhausted by mid-afternoon, reaching for more caffeine to power through, yet at night you struggle with insomnia. Your libido is in the dumpster even though you are still deeply in love with your partner. Your hair is falling out in chunks and your thermostat fluctuates from hot to cold.

Desperate for relief you grasp for hope, trying treatment after treatment. You may start with the herb of the month mentality and purchase black cohosh. Eventually you circle back to your physician who may prescribe HRT (hormone replacement therapy) leaving you in a fog of fear for all the potential side effects.

Is it any wonder women struggle so deeply with symptoms when our bodies are going through the natural journey of menopause? Our symptoms are overwhelming, and the weight seems to come on in layers. The first layer being thyroid disease and the second layer attributed to menopause.

The good news is our symptoms are extremely treatable with thyroid medication, if required and the proper mix of natural supplements. Synthroid is rarely the only answer plus treating the thyroid alone will often have minimal success. An integrative approach embraces herbs multi-targeted to support the thyroid gland, adrenal gland and our sex hormones, estradiol, and progesterone at specific dosages.

Remember that treating hypothyroidism can sometimes ease symptoms of early menopause or prevent early menopause from happening!  Restore your life and take control back!