Month: April 2016

11 Signs You May Have a Thyroid Problem

 

I don’t know about you, but sometimes my life is crazy as hell – hectic, drumming up the sensation of a merry go round, and at the end of the day I feel like I can barely kick my shoes off. Many women if not most are fatigued, stressed, and can begin to feel burnt out. That’s to be expected with our hustle and bustle culture and our busy, full days.

Are you part of the 40 percent suffering with low thyroid?

But what if it’s more to it than that? What if your fatigue never goes away? What if your brain is in a constant state of fog? What if you never feel like – normal, or healthy, or rejuvenated? Like you’re a cute but sad little puppy? Or like you’re constantly spinning your wheels? And what if no matter what you do you just feel like sh*t?

Cute sad puppy

Don’t be like me and think, “Noo, that could never be my problem”.

According to the United States National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Health an estimated 27 million Americans suffer from thyroid disease and 13 million go undiagnosed each year. If I haven’t bummed you out yet then let me try again. The risk of thyroid disease increases as you age and women are seven times more likely to have thyroid issues than men.

There’s always a solution to a problem but first you must know the problem

Cheer up my people, there’s good news. No way would I bum you out with facts and just leave you hanging’. Don’t waste years of good, vibrant, health (like I did) and not figure out the problem. If you’re struggling with fatigue, or brain fog, and to feel more vibrant and you think you’re doing everything right but still feel like crap, please please get your thyroid checked. The good news is thyroid disease is very treatable and can be easily diagnosed, often times with just a simple blood test. Yet women need to know some of the most common signs, (and I had a few of them), so here they are:

  1. Sluggishness
  2. Fatigue
  3. Coarse or dry hair or skin
  4. Constipation
  5. Irritability
  6. Depression
  7. Weakness
  8. General feeling of malaise or not feeling right
  9. Trouble sleeping
  10. Weight changes (can’t lose weight or consistent weight loss)
  11. Brain fog or the inability to think clearly

These are some of the most common symptoms but there can be others as well. Typically these symptoms address the condition of hypothyroidism but can also be symptoms of hyperthyroidism as well. If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms on the regular and nothing you do seems to be work, I’d say it’s time to give your health care practitioner a call and have your thyroid checked.

Do This to Fight Brain Fog Naturally

 

Are you struggling with low energy and fatigue and the constant battle of brain fog? Does it often feel like you’re functioning in a cloud of haze? Do you have a hard time feeling motivated? You’re not alone. Many women suffer from low energy and brain fog particularly as you hit perimenopause and menopause. Symptoms of brain fog may include:

  • low motivation or feeling hopeless or depressed
  • anxiety
  • low energy
  • irritability
  • forgetfulness
  • insomnia
  • difficulty concentrating
  • headaches

Don’t be part of the 60% percent

Often times brain fog rolls itself in as a result of hormonal changes. According to a study by the University of Rochester and the University of Illinois, showed that “women between the ages of 40 and 60 have trouble staying on tricky tasks and stumble with something called “working memory” which helps you to do things like adding up a bunch of numbers in your head”. In a study done by The Seattle Midlife Women’s Health Study “60 % of women between the ages of 33 to 55 reported an unfavorable memory change in their cognitive function over the past few years”.

ache-19005_1280

Try one or all these tips to make your life better

Many of these women cited stress as being the cause of much of their fuzzy thinking. Whether stress or hormones or some other barrier that prevents you from functioning at your best, there are natural solutions that can help you sharpen your mental focus while boosting your energy as well. Try these strategies to make quick and lasting changes in your daily life:

  1. Sleep – I know this is stating the obvious but getting seven to eight hours of quality sleep each night will be a huge help to combat brain fog. You’d be surprised at how many of us don’t make getting quality sleep a priority. According to the National Institute of Health “sleep helps your brain work properly and helps form new pathways to help you remember things”. Whether it’s cutting down our screen time or putting the kids to bed early enough to allow down time, quality sleep is critical. Sleep helps your body to heal and rejuvenate. If you have difficulty falling or staying asleep try taking a natural supplement such as melatonin or Calm Magnesium before bed. It can help you fall asleep and help in getting a deeper  sleep. (I’ll be writing more on sleep or lack thereof in a future post, so stay tuned).
  2. Cut Out Sugar – I know you hate me right now, but I’m telling you this cause I love you and I care about you. As fitness guru and health expert Jackie Warner says in her book This is Why You’re Fat, “sugar is the devil”. Brain fog basically is a form of inflammation and sugar makes that inflammation way worse. Instead of eating chocolate donuts with your coffee or tea try a bowl of oatmeal with raisins. Instead of a Bagle and cream cheese make an egg sandwich on whole grain bread. Avoid simple carbs because they turn into sugar and go straight to your belly and your brain. And not in a good way. Add complex carbohydrates like fruit or mixed berries, sweet potatoes and yams.
  3. Get Enough Protein – If we’re filling up on simple carbohydrates like pasta, rice, and too much bread we could be cutting ourselves short by not getting enough necessary protein. Healthy lean proteins like grass-fed red meat, chicken, fish, especially salmon, and cage free eggs are key to a healthy, vibrant brain because it provides essential amino acids that the body cannot make on it’s own. Not only will these help with brain function but it will help fight weight gain and depression.
  4. Manage Stress – I can’t say enough about managing stress. I mean it’s something that all of us have to contend with everyday, so since we can’t avoid it we need to learn how to manage it. If you find yourself so wound up at the end of the day, find productive ways to unwind. Go for a 20 or 30 minute walk in the sunshine. If the weather doesn’t permit, throw in a DVD or look up a walking exercise video on YouTube and exercise indoors. Find 15 minutes of quiet just to sit and do nothing. Listen to a 10 minute guided meditation. Do deep breathing exercises for 10 minutes. Garden. Play with your pet for 15 minutes. Ask yourself “is the world gonna end if you don’t get everything done’? Pray. Sing. Listen to music. Managing stress is just as important as eating right. Find productive, fun ways to manage yours.
  5. Exercise – Maybe you hate me even more now, after all, I’ve told you to cut out sugar or at least cut it down substantially, and now here I go telling you to exercise. But let’s keep the big picture in mind which is to get rid of brain fog and fight fatigue. Exercise gets your heart rate up and increases blood flow to the brain which improves memory and overall brain function. So not only will it help you feel better, add muscle tone, improve your heart, but studies show exercise actually increases brain volume. Don’t try and do a marathon, 10 to 30 minutes of exercise has been shown to make huge differences in the state of our health.

Perhaps you’ve heard this advise a thousand times before, and if you have, then there must be some truth to it. We have to start somewhere and we have to start sometime, why not today? Try one or all of these remedies, and remember Rome wasn’t built in a day, and consistency is key. Here’s to having a healthy, fully functioning brain!