Hyperthyroidism is an overactive thyroid (when it produces too much thyroid hormone) and Hypothyroidism is an underactive thyroid (when it does not produce enough). Hypothyroidism is more common than hyperthyroidism. Although the two conditions have different signs and symptoms, several of them are the same.

A diagnosis of hyperthyroidism vs. hypothyroidism, or vice versa, comes down to how much hormone the thyroid gland produces. Hyperthyroidism can cause body functions to speed up. As Hypothyroidism produces too little hormone this can result in body functions slowing down.

Although there are some overlapping symptoms, in general, hypothyroidism tends to make you feel sluggish and tired, while hyperthyroidism may give you symptoms like a racing heart or high blood pressure.

After having my third baby, I experienced awful immunity issues and was eventually diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. My son didn’t sleep (adenoid/tongue tie and tonsil issues but that’s for another blog!). Anyway, the sleep deprivation was pretty traumatising. It’s actually affected me in ways I don’t think can ever be reversed – anxiety, autoimmunity, hormones and injuries have in my opinion have all stemmed from this.

Sleep is one of the biggest essential part of anyone’s life and when we’re down on sleep we simply cannot function, recover or think properly!

So how does this link to hyperthyroidism?

Your thyroid gland produces Cortisol thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). When cortisol levels are high, it signals the thyroid gland to stop producing as much thyroid hormone. Cortisol also restricts the conversion of the thyroid hormone T4 to the active thyroid hormone T3, which is the form of thyroid hormone that cells can use.

If you are not sleeping, not eating and training too hard too often, you will be triggering cortisol production more which in return can lead to these things.

Symptoms of Hyperthyroidism

• Fatigue
• Weight loss or gain
• Feeling extra warm
• Diarrhoea
• Hair loss
• Increased sweating
• Light and short periods
• Racing or pounding heart
• Nail thickening, flaking
• Anxiety and nervousness
• Bulging or puffy eyes
• Muscle weakness
• Insomnia

Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

• Fatigue
• Weight gain
• Feeling extra cold
• Constipation
• Hair loss
• Decrease in sweating
• Heavy and irregular periods
• Slow heart rate
• Brittle nails
• Irritability and depression
• Puffy face
• Muscle or joint pain
• Insomnia

And what about hypothyroidism?

An underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism) is where your thyroid gland does not produce enough hormones. Common signs of an underactive thyroid are tiredness, weight gain and feeling depressed. It can often be successfully treated by taking daily hormone tablets to replace the hormones your thyroid is not making.

There’s no way of preventing an underactive thyroid. Most cases are caused either by the immune system attacking the thyroid gland and damaging it, or by damage to the thyroid that occurs during some treatments for an overactive thyroid or thyroid cancer.

But lifestyle changes are absolutely essential to help combat both.

Here’s four things that helped me regulate mine:

1. Do not not eat – that is a stress on the body and not eating will cause higher stress.
2. Moderate exercise – going hard is not the right thing for thyroid issues
3. Sleep! 6-8 hours as a minimum.
4. Ensure a balanced diet enriched with vitamins minerals and essential fats.

Thyroid disease is common. In the United States, it affects an estimated 20 million people and up to 60% of those who have thyroid disease are undiagnosed.

The thyroid gland is a butterfly-shaped organ that produces hormones. Two of these hormones, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), regulate your metabolism, help your heart, brain, and other organs function, and have a major impact on almost every cell in your body.

The thyroid is regulated by the pituitary gland in the brain. This gland produces a hormone called thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) to tell the thyroid to make more T3 and T4. When any part of this system is damaged or malfunctioning, the thyroid can produce either too little or too much T3 and T4. This can cause body-wide symptoms.

Unfortunately life and lifestyle can cause massive negative effects to our thyroid with stress being the biggest factor.

Sleep, good food and moderate exercise is key to enable good thyroid health! Keep looking after you.

Source: NHS

Natalie Bhangal is a personal trainer who has a passion for health, fitness and strength training. She trains beginners, athletes, pregnant and postnatal women, those with injuries and injury prone clients. For more information email natalie@graftfitness.co.uk