Is It My Thyroid or My Immune System or…?
Posted on October 16, 2016 by Dr. G
An immune system run amok.
In our most recent post, we discussed the role common viral infections have on our long term health. We considered the possibility that chronic activation of the immune system from a resurgent virus from many years ago could challenge the nervous system for energy resources and cause symptoms of chronic fatigue. This would be an example of a chronically dysregulated immune system. In this case, we speculate that the problem is not the presence of the very common virus but rather an immune system that is not able to keep the virus dormant.
In previous posts, I have discussed the fact that autoimmune reactions, particularly common reactions involving the thyroid gland and GI tract also result in symptoms of chronic neurological fatigue, brain fog, lack of motivation and energy, depression, anxiety, etc.
Often, we blame the symptoms on the tissue or organ experiencing the autoimmune attack. For example, many symptoms of autoimmunity are symptoms shared with hypothyroidism. This leaves people to immediately blame their symptoms on medication dosage or thyroid hormone levels being mismanaged as the cause of their symptoms. I have to often warn against trying to manipulate symptoms with changing types and doses of thyroid hormone medication. This can lead to a “chasing your tail” phenomenon that results in matters getting worse. Again the culprit here may be the dysregulated immune system. Doctors are pressured to prescribe, change dosage of medication, change brands of medication, etc. in an effort to manipulate one side of the equation, the thyroid hormone while ignoring the other possibilities, the immune system.
Sometimes, both of the above situations are happening at the same time. This requires us to manage our environment in a way that brings balance to the immune system, allowing the normal innate responses to work as they are meant to work.
In conventional medicine, there is too little known about how to differentiate between immune symptoms and hormone symptoms. This level thinking requires the doctor to think outside the box and apply clinically relevant facts recently brought to light by basic science research. Sometimes that flies in the face of conventional wisdom. This is a clinical skill that needs to be developed. Once it is determined where the symptoms are coming from, what should follow becomes more apparent. If the problem is hormonal, there may be some need for hormone replacement therapy as well as lifestyle adaptation (which includes functional nutrition) to improve the function of the glands that make hormones like the thyroid gland. If the problem is immunological, the recommendations may be completely different.
As an alternative medicine practitioner, I have seen too many of my colleagues (both conventional and alternative) pursuing too much information with excessive diagnostic testing. Excessive testing is not only wasteful of financial resources, it can make it more difficult to prioritize what the next steps should be. We should not underestimate the value of a simple comprehensive wellness blood panel that is not very expensive. Even without health insurance, you can gather a wealth of information for less than $300. Additional testing is always available if it becomes necessary to dig further for answers that may not be confirmed by initial history review, exam, and comprehensive blood panel.
One of my most influential mentors taught us as doctoral students that diagnostic testing should be performed to confirm what we strongly suspect based on a good clinical history and exam. Testing should not be used as a “shotgun” effort to find things wrong.
Thanks for reading!
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