Low Thyroid in 21 Lessons (Article 18)

Hello,

I am Dr Michael Teplisky, a holistic medical doctor from Low Thyroid Doctor.com and this is lecture 18 in our seminar about low thyroid called “Hypothyroidism in 21 Lectures.” 

In the last lecture I talked about specific foods that are good and bad for thyroid. Today I want to talk about things you can do at home to see if you have low thyroid. You can do them before you see a doctor and have a blood test. 

1. Symptoms

First, let’s look at symptoms. By now you know the most common:

Low energy, feeling tired.

Depression, brain fog, lack of motivation.

Feeling colder than others.

Weight gain, difficulty controlling weight.

Dry skin, which can be cracking or scaly or inflamed.

Hair loss.

Constipation.

Aches and pains in the muscles and joints. 

You can download a complete list here and see how many you have. The more symptoms, the higher the chance of having low thyroid. 

1. Temperature

You know that low thyroid makes your metabolism go down, so you burn fewer calories to produce energy and heat. That’s why you feel colder than others. And that’s why checking the temperature is one of the tests for low thyroid. Normal temperature is around 98.6 in most people. That’s during the day, when you are moving, working, doing something. If you were to check the temperature in the morning before getting out of bed, it could be one degree lower, 97.6 or thereabout. This is called basal temperature, in other words the real temperature, when the body is not moving and not doing anything. 

If you check your basal temperature and find that it is 95 or 96 or even 97, this is a strong suggestion for low thyroid. You can put a thermometer by your bed before going to sleep and check the temperature first thing in the morning, as soon as you wake up. Then right it down. Keep doing it every day for 5-7 days. If your temperature is consistently below 97, then you have a very high chance of being hypothyroid.

In my experience, people with untreated hypothyroidism have low temperature even during the day. I have seen many patients whose temperature was 94 or 95 during the day, when they came for an office visit. 

Check your temperature, either basal or just randomly during the day for 5 to 7 days. If the temperature is significantly lower than normal, then you most likely have low thyroid.

1. Heart rate

According to the textbook, normal heart rate in adults is 60 to 100 beats per minutes (bpm). But most people do not have 60 bpm or 100 bpm. Most are around 70-80. There are two exemptions.

One – trained athletes. Their cardiovascular system becomes so efficient that they can have lower bpm, 40 to 60, sometimes even as low as 35. Another group with low bpm is people with low thyroid. They may have 50-60 bpm. 

The easiest way to count your pulse is manually, by feeling the pulse and counting how many beats you have per minute. You don’t need to count for the whole minute. You can count for 10 seconds and multiply it by 6. Or 15 seconds and multiply it by 4. Of you can use a gadget, like an apple watch or something similar that checks your pulse.

If you are not a trained athlete, if you don’t run 10 miles every day and you have slow heart beats, it’s another strong suggestion that your thyroid may be low. 

1. Swelling

Because in people with low thyroid the heart slows down and does not move blood efficiently, because the kidneys are not as effective, there is fluid accumulation in the body. Sometimes in places that you cannot see – around the heart or around the lungs. Fluid in the carpal tunnel can produce carpal tunnel syndrome. 

But there are places where you can see water accumulation. Toes, feet, lower legs can be visibly more swollen or you can see a round imprint when you take your socks off.

Face may look puffy or there may be puffiness under the eyes. 

Tongue can become slightly swollen and press against the teeth. It’s usually mild, so people do not notice it, but in rare cases it may interfere with speaking and swallowing. 

There is a simple way to check whether your tongue is swollen or not. Stand in front of the mirror and stick the tongue out slightly, not all the way. If it is swollen, you will see teeth impressions on it. Normally, the tongue should fit in the mouth perfectly and not press against the teeth. If you see toothmarks, it’s another strong suggestion of low thyroid.

1. Hair loss

Hair loss is one of the common symptoms of low thyroid. You can lose hair on the head, on the body and wherever else you have hair. Everyone loses some hair every day, but in low thyroid the loss is noticeably much heavier. 

Also, there is one spot that is particularly typical for low thyroid. It’s the outer third of the eyebrow. 

If you mentally divide an eyebrow into three parts - inner (closer to the nose), middle and outer, the inner and the middle parts will look OK. But the outer third will look a lot thinner. This is also a very strong sign that you may have low thyroid.

Speaking of hair, it can look more coarse than usual. Skin may appear yellowish and may be dry and rough. 

Nails may have ridges on them, they may be brittle, weak, and break easily. 

1. Iodine deficiency

You know that thyroid cannot make hormones without iodine. You also know that many people are deficient in iodine, which could cause low thyroid. In this case they need to eat more iodine-rich foods and may need a supplement.

Here is a short explanation on how to do a home test for iodine deficiency. You can download a longer, more detailed version from LowThyroidDoctor.com. Take a bottle of liquid iodine they sell in the “first aid” isle in the pharmacy. It’s sold under the names Betadine, Povodine, and others. People put it on scrapes and bruises as an antiseptic. 

Dip a Q tip in it and paint a circle the size of an egg or a tennis ball anywhere on your skin. Forearm, abdomen, inner thigh – any place you like. Or you can soak a cotton ball in iodine to paint the circle. 

Once you have a nice solid circle, note the time. Usually, iodine stains stay visible for a few days, but at least 24 hours. However, if you are low in iodine, your skin will absorb iodine much faster. The stain may be gone within just a few hours. If that happens, there is a very high likelihood that you are low in iodine and more prone to low thyroid.

I want to emphasize that all these things are not diagnostic. In other words, you cannot say that you definitely have low thyroid if your temperature or hear rate are low. But they are very suggestive. If you have the symptoms and one or more things that I just talked about, it’s time to contact a knowledgeable doctor who will do the proper thyroid tests, not just TSH.

Please make sure to subscribe to my newsletter which you will get about once a week. If you know someone who might benefit from this information, please forward it to them. Also, if you have questions or comments, please email them to info@LowThyroidDoctor.com. I try to read and answer all of them, time permitting.  

Also, please keep in mind that if you suspect that you have low thyroid or you are being treated and are not getting better, you can get a free, no obligation 30 min phone consultation with me to see if I can help you get better. Just book it online or call my office at 718-769-0997. 

I’ll see you in the next lecture. 

Until then, I am Dr. Michael Teplisky from LowThyroidDoctor.com wishing you the best of health.

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