What’s Included in a Full Thyroid Panel + Why You Need One
This week on the Here for Healing Podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Carly Brawner, a non-toxic living expert, Certified Health Coach, and Hashimoto’s disease patient and advocate. We spoke in depth about what symptoms she first experienced with Hashimoto’s, and how she eventually healed on her own. Carly explained to me some of the tests that are performed to diagnose immune disease and certain thyroid disorders, but most importantly, we reviewed the significance of completing a full thyroid panel and how limited testing may result in misdiagnoses.
When Carly was going through the first throws of symptoms and beginning her voyage of finding answers, she was referred to an endocrinologist for testing. Typically, and was the case for Carly, the endocrinologist ordered a Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH) test. This is a common test that measures how your brain is picking up thyroid hormone in the blood stream. Additionally, an endocrinologist or provider may order a Free T4 test, the specific hormone secreted by the thyroid. Using the result of the TSH and T4 tests, Carly was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, meaning her thyroid was not producing enough T4 hormone. What Carly points out, however, is that these two tests alone are not enough to get a full picture of thyroid function; more testing is needed.
Eventually, after continuing to struggle with symptoms, Carly switched to a holistic health practitioner and was given a complete panel of thyroid tests. With this, she was finally able to get some real insight into her health and how to go about her healing. In addition to the TSH and Free T4 tests, her new healing team looked at her T3 hormone, TPO and TG antibodies. As some background, T4 and T3 are the main hormones your thyroid produces; it mostly produces T4, which is converted to T3 in the gut and liver. T3 is then used by the cells in our bodies. The T3 test, therefore, will test for problems in the conversion of T4 into T3 within the body (in the liver, heart, muscle, gut, and nerves).
Finally, testing for the TPO and TG antibodies, establishes if the immune system is part of the problem causing hypothyroidism and therefore ascertaining it as merely a symptom of an autoimmune disease. Without the full thyroid panel, offered only by Carly’s holistic team, and not typically used by an endocrinologist, she would still be taking the wrong medications to correct erroneously diagnosed hypothyroidism when her problem was always with her immune system (Hashimoto’s disease).
Thankfully, once Carly switched providers and was working with a holistic team, they were able to quickly diagnose her health problems as the autoimmune disease Hashimoto’s, and from there she was able to start healing properly. Eventually, Carly regained her health from the proper combination of medications, non-toxic living, and detoxification. During our conversation, we discuss which medications Carly was taking before the full panel, and how those changed after switching to her holistic team. We also talk about the toxic products she eliminated from her household and non-toxic practices she uses to stay well and manage her immune disorder. To listen in on our conversation, click HERE for access to the full episode.