Latest / Health with Hashimoto’s - Thyroid or Immune Education for Autoimmune Thyroid Disease / 104 // Why do I still struggle so much with my energy?

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104 // Why do I still struggle so much with my energy? · Health with Hashimoto’s - Thyroid or Immune Education for Autoimmune Thyroid Disease

• 0:00
  Welcome to another summer short episode of the Health with Hashimoto's podcast.
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  My name is Esther. I am a registered nurse. I'm the host of this podcast.
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  I have Hashimoto's and I started this podcast out of a need to understand.
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  With all of my background in the emergency department and then going back to
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  school for holistic health education, I was so confused about the thyroid and Hashimoto's.
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  And so when I got my diagnosis, I was like, oh my goodness, if I don't understand
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  all of this, if it's so confusing to me, then what is it like to people who
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  have not gone through four years of nursing school, 17 years in Western medicine,
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  and then two more years back in more school.
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  So that's why I started this podcast and this summer shorts episode series.
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  I'm trying to answer a lot of questions in seven to 10 minutes.
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  And the answer or the question that I'm answering today came from Instagram.
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  Frenchie sent this question. Thank you, Frenchie. She said, I'm on medication,
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  but I still have chronic fatigue.
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  Doctors say my labs look amazing. No other causes are found.
• 1:02
  Why do I still struggle so much with my energy?
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  This is a great question. And Frenchie, you are not alone. If you are listening
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  and you can relate to Frenchie, you are also not alone.
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  This is something that is very common. So there's a couple things that I would
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  want to ask if somebody was approaching me with this question.
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  The first thing I'd want to know is what labs did they do? What labs are they
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  looking at when they say things look quote normal?
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  Because if they're just looking at your TSH, well, that can take 12 years to
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  change after you start to have antibodies and your body is attacking your thyroid
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  and things start to get off.
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  It's like one of the last things to change. You can notice symptoms.
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  So I would want to know what labs did they do? Do they know,
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  did they say what your T4 is, your free T4?
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  Do you have enough? We want to know, is your thyroid producing enough thyroid hormone?
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  And then we want to know, is that T4 converting to T3?
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  T3 is the form that your body can use. It's a little ignition switch or gas pedal for your cells.
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  Your cells can't use T4, they can use T3. So we want to know if your body is converting the T4 to T3.
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  This is also pertinent if you're on T4 medication.
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  Now, levothyroxine and Synthroid are the two most common medications given for hypothyroid.
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  And most people with Hashimoto's have hypothyroid. Their thyroid is not producing enough.
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  So T4 medications are given. But again, T4 is the inactive form and your body still has to convert it.
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  So if your body is not converting T4 to T3, then it doesn't matter that they're
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  giving you the T4 medication because you're still not converting it.
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  So we want to know what is your T3? What's your free T3?
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  But we also want to know what's your reverse T3? Maybe you're feeling so fatigued
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  because your body is converting that T4 medication or your own T4 to reverse T3.
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  The reverse T3 is like the brake system.
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  So maybe that's why you're feeling tired. So, so far, we've gone through several different reasons.
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  Number one, the reason was because they just checked the TSH and your thyroid
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  is actually not doing well.
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  The TSH just hasn't shown that yet.
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  That was reason one. Reason two is maybe you're not making enough T4.
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  Reason three is because maybe your body is not converting the T4 to T3.
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  And reason, what are we on? Four is because maybe it's making a lot of reverse
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  T3, which is like the brake system.
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  We also want to know what is your liver health like?
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  Now, this goes to the environmental toxin and the hormone triggers for Hashimoto's.
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  And if you you have not gone through my Hashimoto's Decoded two courses, I've got two.
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  The first one is questions to ask your doctor. And the second one is helping
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  you figure out your own root causes.
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  Those can be found on the Health with Hashimoto's app and of course down in the show notes.
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  So Hashimoto's Decoded steps one and two are really important for you to take.
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  So when we're talking about liver health, it's because the liver is the thing
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  that converts most of the T4 to T3. There's other spots in your body like every
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  cell can do it a little bit, but most of it happens in your liver.
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  So we want to know how healthy your liver is. Is your liver bogged down because
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  it's so busy and so overwhelmed trying to clean everything out?
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  Like your liver is your main detox organ.
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  I think maybe your skin is also busy.
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  I don't remember which one is first and which one is second.
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  They both do a ton of work.
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  Your liver is also processing all of the hormones and it's taking everything
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  and getting it ready to go into your gut so you can poop it out.
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  So your liver is super important. And if your liver is overwhelmed and cannot
• 5:00
  convert your T4 to T3 appropriately, then that's another root cause that we would want to look at.
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  We really want to know why you don't have energy, but there's so many different
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  reasons. So it's really going down to like which one of these fits you.
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  Some of them we can see on the labs and some of them we have to figure out kind
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  of by trial and error, which is why I made the step three in my three-step system.
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  So step one is Hashimoto's Decoded, the 10 questions to ask your doctor.
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  Step two is the root causes so you can figure out, you know,
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  empower yourself to know your root causes.
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  And then step three is to shortcut your time so that you can know exactly what
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  to do for your root causes.
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  And I have a four-week course to help you through that.
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  So you can save time, you can save energy, you can get the answers and you can
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  start feeling like yourself again. That is the goal.
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  So the last reason that I would, or the last question that I would ask you about
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  why do you not have energy is what medication are you on?
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  Are you on a T4 only medication? Now in Frenchie's question,
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  she said that she's on medication. So the
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  you know, if you're not on medication, then I would ask, have you tried medication?
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  In this case, she said that she is on medication. So I would want to know what medication.
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  Is it a T4 only medication? Because again, if it's a T4 medication and your
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  body can't convert that to T3 to the active form, then your cells are not getting
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  the ignition switch. They're not getting the gas pedal.
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  So of course you're feeling fatigued because your body is not on,
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  like the The cells are not working like they're supposed to.
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  Our goal is to get you feeling like yourself again, to feel like you have so
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  much energy, like you can function and you can live out your purpose in life.
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  That is part of being healthy. Being able to live out the life that you are
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  supposed to live, that's part of your health.
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  And I want you to be fully healthy, even if you have a diagnosis of Hashimoto's.
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  If you wanna go a little deeper into this energy topic, topic,
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  I have three different episodes for you.
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  Episode 35 is how to feel like yourself again, and it's navigating life with
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  Hashimoto's, how to increase your energy levels. That's episode 35.
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  Episode 37 is I need more energy.
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  It's a quick solution for women who have hypothyroid or Hashimoto's.
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  And episode 49 is recharging your energy, and that's strategies for finding
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  balance and prioritizing self-care.
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  So I hope those episodes can help you as you are trying to increase your energy.
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  And of course, using all of the answers to the questions earlier in the podcast
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  to get down to why do you not have energy? I hope this was helpful.
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  If not, I have Hashimoto's health sessions that are available.
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  Of course, you're going to get a lot of your answers as you go through step
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  one, step two, and step three of the health with Hashimoto's path.
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  But I also do do offer those one-on-one sessions if you have other questions.
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  This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only.
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  Please discuss any concerns and plans with your trusted healthcare professional.
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  If you found this episode helpful, will you please share it with a friend?
• 8:12
  I'll see you next week on The Health with Hashimoto's Podcast.
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  Music.