Could thyroid disease be the culprit behind your lack of energy?

When you don’t feel well, even simple things become difficult. Day-to-day tasks like getting up for work or making dinner can become laborious and dealing with other people can turn into an intense challenge making managing your work-life balance impossible. Even your sleep cycle can become undone.

All of these things may point to the same issue: your thyroid.

Whether the disease runs in your family, you’ve been suspicious of your thyroid all along or you’ve never questioned whether you are at risk, we reached out to some experts to learn more about this relatively common illness that could be to blame for your lack of energy.

Dr. Steven Hotze has helped more than 30,000 patients with natural treatments at the Hotze Health & Wellness Center in Houston, including those with thyroid disease. An expert on thyroid issues, Hotze has even written a book on thyroid issues, called “Hypothyroidism, Health & Happiness: The Riddle of Illness Revealed.”

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According to Hotze, the first signs of thyroid disease include ridged fingernails, an enlarged tongue with teeth indentions around the edges, cold hands and feet, hair loss, high cholesterol or pasty, puffy, pale skin. Other common symptoms include fatigue, weight gain, headaches, fertility issues and constipation.

Doctors aren’t sure what causes the disease. There is evidence, however, that thyroid disease is at least somewhat tied to an individual’s genetics.

With so many signs and symptoms, many of which can be confused with everyday aches and pains, how do you know if your thyroid is the culprit?

Men, women and children can all have thyroid disease. However, women are especially prone. In fact, Dr. Stephen Wander, who works at the Integrated Health Center of Maryland, says that the ratio of men to women diagnosed with thyroid disease is as unbalanced as 25:1.

Women post-childbirth or who are taking synthetic hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which is typically given to women who have low estrogen and progesterone levels as a result of menopause, have especially high susceptibility compared to other demographics.

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Thyroid disease is a complicated illness. According to Dr. Wander, many people who believe they have it actually have an autoimmune disease that attacks the thyroid. The only sure way to know if its truly thyroid disease is to talk directly to your doctor.

“A person should look for a doctor who practices functional medicine,” suggests Dr. Wander, “a doctor who will look for the root cause of the issues and treat all of them versus just trying to treat a lab value or symptoms,” he said.

Typically, thyroid disease is treated with medication, such as synthroid, levothryoxine or armour. However, a doctor in functional medical will consider many options, including medications and also natural remedies, which aim to cure the whole self instead of just temporarily soothing the symptoms you are experiencing in the moment.

Have you ever worried that you might be suffering from thyroid disease? Let us know your thoughts by tweeting to @YahooStyleCA.