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Could you have an overactive or underactive thyroid and not even know it? Millions of Americans -- and a high percentage of women in menopause and premenopause (the decade or so before menopause during which hormonal, emotional, and physical changes begin) -- do. Thyroid imbalances are not always easy to recognize. Only recently have physicians even begun to accept that minimal thyroid imbalances have an important effect on mental and physical health.
Do you have any of the following symptoms?
- Always fatigued or exhausted
- Irritable and impatient
- Feeling too hot or too cold
- Depressed, anxious, or panicky
- Bothered by changes in your skin or hair
- At the mercy of your moods
- Inexplicably gaining or losing weight
- Losing your enthusiasm for life
- Sleeping poorly or insomniac
Are you feeling burned out from having acted on an excess of energy for several months? Are you listless, forgetful, and feeling disconnected from your fiends and family? Are people telling you that you've changed? Are you taking Prozac or a similar drug for mild depression but still feeling that your mind and mood are subpar? Or have you been treated for a major depression in the past five years?
If you suffer from more than one of these symptoms or answered yes to one or more of these questions, you could be one of the many people with an undiagnosed thyroid condition. Although some of these symptoms may seem contradictory, all of them can be indications of a thyroid imbalance.
The Thyroid Solution:
A Mind-Body Program for Beating Depression
and Regaining Your Emotional and Physical Health
pages 11-12
Scientists now consider thyroid hormone one of the major "players" in brain chemistry disorders. And as with any brain chemical disorder, until treated correctly, thyroid hormone imbalance has serious effects on the patient's emotions and behavior.
Once the important thyroid hormones, T3 and T4, are released into your blooodstream, they enter cells of organs and play an important role in regulating major functions in the body. Adequate amounts of thyroid hormone are also required throughout your life if your brain is to function normally. Most of your cognitive abilities -- such as concentration, memory, and attention span -- as well as mood and emotions depend on normal thyroid hormone levels. Mounting evidence suggest that T3, the most potent form of thyroid hormone, is a bona fide brain chemical. It is found in the junction of nerve (synapse) cells that allow these cells to communicate with one another. This thyroid hormone also regulates the levels and actions of serotonin, noradrenaline, and GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), now accepted as the main chemical transmitters implicated in both depression and some anxiety disorders. Maintaining normal serotonin and noradrenaline levels in the brain depends to a great extent on whether the correct amount of T3 is available. Extensive animal and human research has led scientists to conclude that serotonin levels in the brain decrease if T3 is not delivered in the right amount. Also, a deficit of T3 in the brain is likely to result in noradrenaline's working inefficiently as a chemical transmitter, and noradrenaline deficiency or inefficiency is, in some people, the chemical reason for depression.The Thyroid Solution:
A Mind-Body Program for Beating Depression
and Regaining Your Emotional and Physical Health
page 88
Ten Ways That Thyroid Conditions May Change Your Personality and Relationships...
...Thyroid patients, particularly those with hypothyroidism, want peace and quite. They feel the need to withdraw from activity and noise. They have a low tolerance for sound. In essence, they wish to insulate themselves in a surrealistic world of tranquillity. One hypothyroid patient told me, "I would want peace and quiet at home. If I didn't get it, I would start shouting at my children and at my husband. Anything that made a lot of noise or movement irritated me. The TV was a nuisance to me. I couldn't watch it. The children's making a lot of noise was a frustration."
Patients may become withdrawn from friends, and they do not want to talk or go out with people. They may lose all interest in doing things with their partners... Hypothyroid patients want to be left alone. They just want to sleep and withdraw from those around them. In some cases, they realize the people around them are doing the best they can, but they still want to maintain their isolation.The Thyroid Solution:
A Mind-Body Program for Beating Depression
and Regaining Your Emotional and Physical Health
pages 153-156
[from the hardbound edition]
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