Weight loss is hard with a thyroid imbalance.
And harder again if you have Hashimoto’s.
And harder again if you are in perimenopause!
But there is good news! You can lose weight with a personalised approach, an amazing functional program, and experts in your corner guiding you on your way.
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“Since having a thorough testing and starting treatment I have had heaps more energy, been sleeping better, and have lost weight. I have been much more productive at both work and home. Could not recommend The Lucy Rose Clinic more.” – E.C.
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Symptoms that the thyroid is out
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Unexplained weight gain
- Sensitivity to cold
- Constipation
- Muscle aches and pains
- Hair loss, brittle nails
- Trouble breathing
- Changes in menstrual cycle
- Palpitations
- Eyebrow and/or eyelash thinning
To determine if these symptoms are truly thyroid-related, a full thyroid test needs to be done including TSH, reverse T3, Free T3, and T4.
Weight becomes an issue when…
Autoimmune imbalances often start with you losing weight due to extra thyroid hormone being released into the blood in response to the immune cells attacking the thyroid.
No-one complains about losing weight, having more energy, and feeling on a high, so most people ignore these changes! If anything, the main complaint at this stage is the sleeplessness and heart rate changes.
This can last for months to years for some people, and while they come to feel that this is their level of ‘normal’, they are actually burning the candle at both ends and on the way to adrenal burnout. Long term issues normally swing between high and low, making diagnosis really hard, as the test will only reflect that blip in time when the blood was taken, and because the thyroid hormones can swing from high to low, testing can be inaccurate.
Often this shift occurs at a hormone crossroad, such as pregnancy or peri-menopause.
It can also be triggered by extreme stress, such as running a business, facing financial drama, studying full time, raising a family, dealing with divorce, caring for sick or elderly family, or complex and negative relationships that include trauma or emotional manipulation – and many times we are having to cope with more than one of these big stresses at a time!
Suddenly everything changes, weight doesn’t come off the way it did before with diet and exercise, and fatigue and brain fog start to become the new normal.
If you have had the GP run all the normal tests and it is all normal – but you feel anything but – then what you need is a functional approach to discover the driving factor behind your hormones and holistic treatment to help get you back to balance.
Motivation
A huge stumbling block for autoimmune people is often motivation. This becomes an issue in the later stages of disease when the glands are exhausted and the nervous system has been over taxed for too long.
I often see people pushing through on mental will power for YEARS until they literally can’t do it anymore. Brain fog sets in – first in small bouts, later more permanently. Many people fear onset of dementia, and staying in this poor health state will increase your risk. Luckily, if we catch it early, we can reverse it, with most people noticing the brain fog lift within 6 weeks of treatment.
The reason for the low motivation and changes in mood is actually scientific. There are 2 main issues.
1. Low nutritional status. Our mood is affected by nutrition. Low levels of neurotransmitters in the brain (particularly dopamine, noradrenalin and serotonin) can result in mental fatigue, low motivation and mood disorders. These neurotransmitters depend on nutrients such as zinc, magnesium, B6, B12, amino acids, and good gut function. If any of these factors are lacking, it affects your mood.
2. Leaky gut. Any functional issues with our digestive tract affect our ability to absorb nutrients. Proteins and minerals need good HCl (Hydrochloric acid) production in the stomach, so if you are on a PPI such as Nexium, this will be affected. If you have an existing autoimmune disease that damages the gut, such as Celiac disease, or you suffer with any digestive symptoms, your gut health needs to be improved.
People with Autoimmune conditions are under constant stress – internally. This activates our sympathetic nervous system, switching us in a fight, flight or freeze response. This response is nutrient hungry, using up high amounts of nutrients, and stealing them from the production of feel good neurotransmitter production.
Stress also drives leaky gut – it’s a catch 22! Both need to be addressed.
Treatment needs to replenish the nutrient levels to improve mood, and put the autoimmune disease in to remission (if possible) with a functional approach.
Do you want to discover why we can treat autoimmune thyroid when others have told you that you can’t?
Book a call and ask!
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“I have struggled with constant exhaustion and gut issues for some time now and it got to the point that I just started to think that they were just ‘normal’ for my body. Well I was wrong! I have never felt so good since diagnosing and starting treatment for my gut and thyroid along with multiple deficiencies and intolerance’s I never knew I had!” K.W.
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Stress
Many autoimmune patients don’t understand the level of stress this condition causes them internally. Your body is attacking itself!!! This activates the fight and flight response, keeping your nervous system armed and ready at every moment.
Any additional stress in your life has BIG consequences, flares the immune response, and causes misery. That’s why when treating autoimmune, we must balance the immune system, support the nervous system, and have a stress management plan in place.
This stress results in nervous system dominance, cortisol dysregulation, and glucose resistance. This is where we see the weight issues become the problem, and careful treatment coupled with stress management and the right form and intensity of exercise is vital.
It only takes 6 weeks of constant high stress to set a permanent change in the brain and the way the nervous system operates. This is where stress reduction techniques are needed to be implemented until the body has learnt a new way of being. This can take anywhere between 4 weeks to a year depending on what is happening in your life, and the depth of stress dealt with in the past.
For proper weight management, you need to balance the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis. Any type of stress can lead to HPA dysfunction and related disorders such as chronic stress, panic disorders, hypothyroidism, adrenal insufficiency, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, etc. Dysregulation of the HPA axis is a leading cause of metabolic problems that can contribute to body fat accumulation.
Testing is required to understand the depth of the problem. We run 3-point salivary cortisol tests, melatonin, inflammatory markers, methylation factors, thyroid hormones, blood sugar markers and leptin hormone to get a good picture. You must find the triggers in order to heal.
Treatment options use scientifically validated natural medicine in practitioner only grade dosing and purity to effect therapeutic outcomes.
How to put autoimmune into remission
- Consult with people trained and experienced in solving your health symptoms.
- Get thorough functional testing to understand the mechanisms behind your symptoms.
- Follow an integrated health approach that addresses multiple factors – not just one.
- Manage stress, improve your lifestyle, and learn which foods to eat to support your unique healing needs.
Book a FREE 15 minute consultation with a naturopath so you can discuss your symptoms and find out if we can help you finally meet your health goals.
If you are ready to have better health, vitality and weight, book an Introductory Call by clicking here.
We take all the guesswork out, do thorough testing, and create an individualised treatment approach to get you well.