How Thyroid Antibodies Affect Your Mood

Figuring out the causes of your anxiety and depression can be frustrating. Anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medications and supplements certainly have an important role to play in relieving mood symptoms. But I’m always disappointment when I see that the treatment plan usually stops there. We should be doing a much better job at uncovering and treating potential contributing factors to anxiety and depression. The health of your thyroid is one such factor.   

If your thyroid is overactive or underactive it can contribute to depression and anxiety. Pretty much all health care providers are aware of this so if you complain about your mood or anxiety levels, there’s a good chance your TSH and T4 (maybe T3) will be tested. If these come back normal, your thyroid is crossed off the list as a cause of concern.

But did you know that the health of your thyroid could be affecting your mood even if your thyroid hormone levels are normal? There is growing evidence that elevated thyroid antibodies can play a role in depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and panic attacks even if thyroid hormone levels are normal. I’m starting to see a few more patients coming to me with thyroid antibody test results, but I’m still surprised that antibodies are not tested more often.

What are thyroid antibodies? Your thyroid is a gland in your neck that governs your metabolism and is in charge of a number of different functions. Thyroid antibodies form when your immune system accidentally decides to attack various components of your thyroid. This leads to inflammation and damage in your thyroid. Sure, this damage can cause abnormalities in your actual thyroid hormones - but not always. Just because your thyroid hormones are normal doesn’t mean we can ignore thyroid antibodies.

Testing thyroid antibodies involves a simple blood test and it’s relatively inexpensive. I run antibody tests for my patients all the time and the results help me to decide what treatments are worth while and what aren’t.

Anxiety and depression can have multiple different root causes. Sometimes the causes are obvious and sometimes they’re not. If you really feel ready to do a deep dive into the potential contributing factors to your mood symptoms, reach out to me and we can discuss options. You deserve to have a comprehensive, robust treatment plan for your mood symptoms.  

For a free list of foods linked to lower anxiety levels, click the link below.

Chemicals and Your Thyroid

In a previous article on a similar topic I discussed how household chemicals can impact hormones. In this article I go into more detail on how specifically the thyroid may be affected by self care products. I also list some of my favourite natural alternatives that I use for self care.

It’s not yet clear how exactly chemicals hurt the thyroid. Most of the chemicals studied decrease thyroid function. Some over-stimulate the thyroid. This is a very difficult area to make conclusions about. Chemical effects happen so gradually over time so it’s hard to detect in a study. Much of the research is in its early stages but it's gaining attention.

Not all the chemicals that may hurt the thyroid are in self care products, but some are. Until more is known on this subject it may be worthwhile to play it safe.

What About Antibodies

When you have an auto-immune thyroid condition, your body produces antibodies that lead to an attack on your thyroid. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Graves’ disease both fall into this category. Hashimoto’s is the most common cause of hypothyroidism. Graves’ is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism. 

There is emerging research showing that certain chemicals can increase thyroid antibodies. 

Often people with auto-immune thyroid conditions are genetically predisposed to them. It’s believed that a trigger may be the final straw that “activates” the condition in such people. Possible triggers include infections, mental or physical stress, nutrition levels and chemicals.

Product Inventory

Here are some potential products to keep your eye on with some alternatives that I love:

- Soap with triclosan: choose soaps without this antibacterial ingredient or more natural soaps like castile soaps

- Fragranced perfumes, soaps, shampoos, conditioners, creams: either get more natural versions from a health food store or at least fragrance-free versions

- Perfume: switch to essential oils (many places sell great blends)

- Body, hand, face creams: switch to oils and keep them in a glass jar (yes, it’s long been established that even oily skin benefits from certain plant oils) 

o Face: right now, I blend jojoba and olive oil, I’ve also done grapeseed or almond oil

o Body: in the summer I prefer coconut which is often not hydrating enough for winter, in the winter I prefer olive or grapeseed oil

o If you’re attached to creams use cocoa or shea butter. These have to be melted. You can also use a blender to combine them with other oils so they stay soft.

- Nail polish: I can’t think of a good alternative so I just limit my use!

- Hair spray: same idea as nail polish 

- Exfoliant: just use sugar, coffee or salt blended with some olive or almond oil

- Masks: stick with masks that are just clay combined with some plant oils/ herbs

- Lip balm: use 100% shea in a little glass jar, it warms up as you rub it with your finger

- Spot treatment: tea tree oil or castor oil

- Face cleanser: I don’t wear full makeup often so when I do I will use a makeup remover even if it’s not 100% natural. Otherwise, when I just wear eye makeup I remove my eye makeup with olive oil and wash my face with honey

Try using this list to do a little inventory of your self care products. Pick and chose what you want to swap out.

If you want to learn more about how naturopathic medicine can help your thyroid, book and appointment or free-15 minute consult.

Common Causes of Fatigue

Fatigue is one of the most common complaints I hear about. When I ask patients to rank their energy on a scale of 1 to 10 most people hover around 5 and would like to see their number go up. Fatigue could be a symptom of a huge range of causes from mild to serious. Today I’ll talk about some of the common causes that I see.

The Basics

Some causes of fatigue are simple to spot on a blood test. Examples are:

- low iron

- hyperthyroidism

- hypothyroidism

- low B12

Another basic cause of fatigue is poor sleep quality. This includes issues falling or staying asleep. This is an area that I like to work on with any fatigued patient.

Hormonal Health

Hormone fluctuations or imbalances can lead to fatigue. Some common examples are thyroid dysfunction, menopause and premenstrual syndrome. Other cases are more subtle. You may have completely irregular cycles or painful cramps but no specific diagnosis. Sometimes getting hormones back in balance can help with fatigue in these cases.

Adrenal Health

Naturopathic doctors talk a lot about a type of fatigue called adrenal fatigue. I like to call it burnout. The adrenal glands produce the "stress hormone" cortisol. The theory is that being stressed and busy all the time can push the adrenals to work too hard. Eventually they get overtired and you feel that as an energy crash. With adrenal fatigue, you feel tired but wide awake at bedtime. You feel irritable, frazzled or depressed. Your gut may be acting up and you may be experiencing cravings and weight gain. You also may find that you get sick all the time – or every time you’re on vacation.  There’s more to the theory but I’ll dig into it in a future article.

Gut Health

Poor gut health can contribute to fatigue. This includes diarrhea, constipation, bloating, heartburn or anything else that involves the gut.  A healthy gut means better nutrient absorption. It also means better elimination of toxins and waste products and improved vitality. Food sensitivities and poor diet have also been linked to fatigue.

Immune Health

Most autoimmune conditions are associated with fatigue. Some common examples are rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto's disease and Graves' disease. Hyperactive immune systems (think allergies and asthma) can also be associated with fatigue. Balancing the immune system is an important part of my treatment plan in these cases.

Mental Health

A less commonly discussed cause of fatigue is mental health conditions. Depression and even anxiety can significantly zap someone of their energy. It's important to address these causes of fatigue when needed. Treating these can improve fatigue more than any quick-fix energy boosting supplement could. 

Fatigue is frustrating and getting a handle on it can improve your quality of life in so many ways. If you need help with your fatigue book an appointment or free 15-minute consult today.