Hyperthyroidism Remedies NYC - Dr. Alicia Armitstead

Treating hyperthyroidism is essential because untreated, it can lead to serious health complications, such as heart disease, osteoporosis, and thyroid storm, which can be life-threatening. Proper management helps alleviate symptoms that significantly impact quality of life, including anxiety, weight loss, and fatigue. Contact us today for a natural solution.

-Dr. Alicia Armitstead

Natural Remedies for Hyperthyroidism at the Healing Arts NYC Health and Wellness Center in Manhattan NY 10017 and Connecticut

What is Hyperthyroidism?

When the thyroid is overactive and produces too many hormones, we call this hyperthyroidism. Your thyroid can be hyper due to an old infection, hormone imbalance, stress, or an acute infection. If you think your thyroid is not optimal, we can find the reason and help support it with the right nutrition and lifestyle changes.

Common Symptoms

The thyroid gland makes two hormones, T4 and T3. These hormones travel through the bloodstream and affect everything in the body. They support the rate at which your body uses fats and carbohydrates. They help control body temperature. They have an effect on the heart rate. So, when someone is making too much T4 or T3, it can cause heat intolerance, excessive hunger, fatigue, mood swings, nervousness, heart palpitations, insomnia, irregular menstruation, abnormal protrusion of the eyes, and hair loss. It affects women a lot more than men and affects about one person in 100 people. 

Common Causes

The most common cause of an overactive thyroid is due to an old infection in the body. When the body fights an infection but doesn't completely get rid of it, the infection can burrow itself into the thyroid tissue. When this happens, the thyroid can produce too many hormones. It's an autoimmune condition called Grave's disease. Other common causes include:

• Toxic Nodular Goiter: This condition involves the formation of nodules in the thyroid that produce excess thyroid hormones independently. These nodules can be single (toxic adenoma) or multiple (toxic multinodular goiter). 

• Thyroiditis: Inflammation of the thyroid gland, known as thyroiditis, can lead to a temporary increase in hormone production. This can occur after a viral infection or as an autoimmune response (such as in Hashimoto's thyroiditis). 

• Excessive Iodine Intake: Iodine is essential for thyroid hormone production. However, consuming too much iodine, through diet, supplements, or certain medications, can lead to increased hormone production, resulting in hyperthyroidism. 

• Medications: Certain medications, particularly those containing thyroid hormones or amiodarone (a drug used to treat heart rhythm disorders), can cause increased thyroid hormone levels and lead to hyperthyroidism. 

• Pituitary Adenoma: A noncancerous tumor on the pituitary gland can cause the gland to produce excess thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), which in turn stimulates the thyroid gland to produce more thyroid hormones. 

• Factitious Hyperthyroidism: This is caused by the ingestion of excess thyroid hormones, typically through misuse of replacement hormones for weight loss or performance enhancement without a prescription. 

A hyperthyroid can also occur if a part of the thyroid grows and becomes overactive. We call these thyroid nodules. Thyroid nodules are noncancerous lumps that make the thyroid bigger and produce more T3 and T4 than usual. 

A hyperthyroid can be due to an inflamed thyroid that makes too many thyroid hormones. We call this thyroiditis. Thyroid inflammation happens soon after an infection occurs in the body, and the germs that caused the infection are now hindering the thyroid. The inflammation swells the thyroid, making it bigger. If it's not taken care of, it can become an autoimmune reaction. Thyroiditis can also happen to a woman after giving birth due to hormonal changes. If it occurs, it happens 1-3 months after giving birth and takes 12-18 months to settle back down.

Too many hormonal changes also occur if the body has too much stress. If the hyperthyroidism is due to stress, the nervous system must be controlled so the thyroid can heal. There is a gland in the brain called the hypothalamus gland that produces a hormone called thyroid releasing hormone. The hypothalamus gland releases it when it senses low levels of T3 and T4 in the body. When released, it signals the pituitary gland, also in the brain, to secrete a thyroid-stimulating hormone. When the thyroid picks up the thyroid-stimulating hormone, it is stimulated to produce its T3 and T4 hormones. So, with hyperthyroidism, what you will see on blood work is very little to no thyroid-stimulating hormone released from the pituitary gland and an excess of T4 and T3.

Western medicine will treat hyperthyroidism with radioactive iodine you ingest to kill thyroid cells. The fewer thyroid cells, the fewer thyroid hormones will be secreted. Two other drugs may try to reduce thyroid hormones. If the heart rate is involved, they may give a beta blocker. They also give the option of surgery, removing part of or all of the thyroid, and then giving thyroid medication to make up for the loss of the thyroid hormones. 

These treatments seem extreme when what we do in the office is muscle test to identify if the real reason you are having these symptoms is due to an imbalance in the thyroid, hypothalamus or pituitary and why. Once the root cause is found, we then give the right supplement support to help the thyroid function better.

Holistic Care and Natural Remedies

The hypothalamus gland will overproduce thyroid-releasing hormone as a stress response, which will then up the thyroid-stimulating hormone and T3 and T4 levels, so make sure you are not having a stressful week when you get blood work for the thyroid. If the thyroid is hyper due to stress, one of my favorite supplements to support the body is Stress Relief which is a supplement I developed to support the nervous system to calm down and produce more neurotransmitters in order to feel better. With the right amount of neurotransmitters, the hypothalamus gland will produce the right amount of thyroid-releasing hormone. 

Hyperthyroidism Left Untreated

Hyperthyroidism, if left untreated, can lead to complications of the heart pulse, creating atrial fibrillation. It can also lead to osteoporosis because too much thyroid hormone doesn't allow calcium to be deposited in the bones. Too much thyroid hormone can also create a situation where someone has a fever, a fast heartbeat, nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. We call this a thyroid storm, where the body is just overloaded with T3 and T4 and is trying to get rid of it by sweating it out and having vomiting or diarrhea.  

Additional References

• Hyperthyroidism, Also Called An Overactive Thyroid - MedlinePlus
• The Most Powerful Anti-oxidant to Keep You Young - Healing Arts Blog