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Do you wake up in the morning completely exhausted? Is the coffee pot the first thing you reach for because without it you can’t get going in the morning? Are you fighting exhaustion throughout the day? Does strenuous exercise wipe you out for days? Are you irritable and grouchy and is that unusual for you? If you answer yes to any of these questions, you may have adrenal fatigue.

The adrenals are two glands that sit on top of your kidneys and produce a variety of substances and hormones that help regulate your response to stress. We are living an increasingly stressful life. Lack of sleep, workplace stress, over scheduling, toxic relationships, financial hardships, drugs, alcohol, irregular meal patterns, fear and anger can overtax our adrenals and lead to burnout. Properly functioning adrenals are important for thyroid function and hormone production. Adrenal fatigue occurs in stages.

• Stage 1 Adrenal Fatigue: Arousal Stage
  • may be asymptomatic.
• Stage 2 Adrenal Fatigue
  • weight gain around the middle
  • irritable/anxious or lack of energy
  • night sweats
  • depression
  • sugar cravings
  • increased infections
  • poor sleep. Wired and tired with awakening around 2 am.
  • poor memory
  • muscle tremors
  • memory loss
  • confusion
  • shaking between meals
• Stage 3 Adrenal Fatigue: Exhaustion
  • muscle aching/pain
  • fatigue, especially in the morning and around 3 pm
  • anxious
  • paralyzed by fear
  • brain fog
  • crave sugar
  • crave salt
  • low blood pressure with dizziness upon standing
  • depression, worse in the evening
  • poor sleep
  • over-react to stressors

At honest wellness center, we believe properly functioning adrenals are key to proper thyroid and sex hormone production. If you have a dysfunction involving the thyroid or hormone production, we start with balancing adrenal function.

A major biochemical pathway in the body is the methylation cycle. Proper functioning of methylation is needed for:

• Immune function
• Energy production
• Detoxification
• Balancing mood
• Maintaining DNA

We each have our own unique genetic code. Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms or SNPs are genetic variations between people. Most SNPs occur in DNA between genes. When a SNP is located in a gene or near a gene, it may affect the gene’s function and have a profound effect on the methylation cycle. Poor methylation can be a contributing factor in the following conditions:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Pulmonary embolism or DVT
• Autism
• Cancer
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Alzheimer’s
• Miscarriages or infertility
• Immune system dysfunction
• Thyroid disease
• Diabetes
• Neurological conditions
• Depression
• Bipolar disorder
• Fibromyalgia

Your DNA is not your destiny. Just because you have a certain genetic code does not mean you have to get a certain disease. Research is proving that the expression of our DNA is affected by a host of chemical markers and switches known as the epigenome. These epigenetic switches lie along the DNA and can be turned on and off via environmental signals. Some environmental signals are detrimental, such as radiation or toxins. While vitamins and nutrients from foods can have a beneficial impact on these markers and switches. These epigenetic influences can be passed down to our children. We used to think that once our DNA code was established that it couldn’t be changed but we’re learning that this code can be influenced throughout our life.

Dr. Brewer has a special interest in methylation and epigenetics. We offer comprehensive genetic and nutrient testing to develop individualized wellness plans.

Do you have symptoms of an under-active thyroid?

Common symptoms of an under-active thyroid

• weight gain or difficulty losing weight
• feeling cold all the time
• brain fog
• fatigue
• high cholesterol
• high blood pressure
• constipation
• irregular or heavy periods
• dry skin
• brittle fingernails
• hair loss
• depression
• joint or muscle pain
• an enlarged tongue
• fluid retention

Have you gone to your doctor, convinced you have under-active thyroid, and you’ve been told your hormone levels are normal? Maybe you’ve been to visit your doctor multiple times and your doctor hasn’t been able to find a lab abnormality and has suggested you’re depressed, only you know there is something else wrong.

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) estimates 27 million Americans have abnormal thyroid function. Unfortunately, conventional medical schools do a poor job of training physicians to identify and treat thyroid dysfunction and most doctors are treating based on an outdated paradigm. The majority of conventional physicians, including endocrinologists who specialize in treating thyroid dysfunction, rely solely on the TSH to evaluate thyroid function. A TSH level alone gives an inadequate picture of thyroid function and the reported lab ranges for TSH are outdated.

Reference ranges for the TSH are developed by taking a sample of healthy individuals and measuring the TSH levels. Once the TSH levels are established, the range is set as those values which include 95% of the healthy patients. There are several problems with setting the reference range for TSH using this method. First it is estimated that 13 million people have undiagnosed hypothyroidism. Therefore, patients with hypothyroidism who are “presumed healthy” are included in calculating the reference range for TSH. Researchers are finding that many patients with TSH levels near the upper end of “normal” go on to develop hypothyroidism. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) has recommended that doctors consider treatment for patients who test outside the boundaries of a much narrower range for a TSH level of 0.3-3.0 mIU/L. Despite these recommendations, most lab companies have not adopted the new reference range recommendations and still follow the old ranges. Additionally, most physicians don’t know about these new recommendations. Therefore, many patients with hypothyroidism are miss diagnosed by their doctors.

Many hypothyroid patients who are being treated by their physicians still don’t feel well and that’s because most conventionally trained doctors do not address adrenal function. Without addressing adrenals, it’s difficult to get the thyroid functioning properly. Additionally, most conventional doctors treat under-active thyroid with levothyroxine or T4 hormone. T4 must be converted to T3 in order for the cells in the body to use it. Unfortunately, chronic stress and liver disease can prevent this conversion and many hypothyroid patients with a normal TSH can still have symptoms of hypothyroidism. At honest wellness center, we take a comprehensive approach to treating under-active thyroid. First, we evaluate adrenal function since adrenal function is critical for proper thyroid function. We then run a comprehensive thyroid panel to get a complete picture of your thyroid function. If indicated, we treat with a combination of T4 and T3 hormone to get the body functioning more like it was intended to function.