Thyroid Testing Tip – September 14th, 2018
Nutritional Endocrinology Practitioner Training (NEPT)
Clinical Pearl
September 14th, 2018
Thyroid Testing Tip
If a client gives you prior labs to look at (a good idea), be sure to notice the TSH levels. If they tend to fluctuate widely — even if in “normal” range or ideal range, suspect autoimmunity.
Test TPO (thyroid peroxidase antibodies) and Antithyroglobulin antibodies. I like to see TPO under 10 and antithyroglobulin under 1. If elevated, you’ll need to follow the suggestions in the Thyroid Module for handling autoimmune thyroid issues. There’s a great PDF that’s in part 5 of our Thyroid Revive and Thrive (TRT) program in the client site.
We recently had a caller from the TRT program share her labs from another nutrition-oriented practitioner, and I was shocked. He told her that antibodies in the 400s were nothing to be concerned about. She started our course, and asked him to run a complete battery of the tests we recommend. He thought it was pointless, but did it anyway. Her TPO had risen to over 900, and TSH was 33. T3 and T4 were low, even by lab standards, and his comment was, “I guess there really is a problem, and we may need to put you on medication.” No mention about healing leaky gut, identifying stressors like heavy metals, viruses, or trauma. I was shocked, as he’s a prominent doc in the nutrition world. In a 10-minute conversation, we came up with a plan, and figured out that her fatigue and thyroid symptoms started after a bout with mono. Before that, she was an energetic athlete.
I share this to empower you to use what you are learning, and have confidence in your ability to help people who’ve not been helped by other practitioners.