COMPENDIUM ON FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE - Flipbook - Page 352
classic symptoms of hypothyroidism. She was always cold and had
low energy, thinning hair and muscle and joint pain.
The practitioner took her recent Medicare bloodwork. TSH was
normal, and CBC was normal too. She ordered a small panel
through Evexia Diagnostics at a discount of only $30 to check her
TSH, FT4, FT3, and CMP.
Her FT3 was slow. Her CMP had her liver enzymes elevated. For the
past two years, the patient has been taking liver support herbs
containing milk thistle every few days. Milk thistle has been
recently discovered to alter thyroid hormone transporters.
She started taking it at a different time of day than her thyroid
medication. Her hope is her joint pain will continue to decrease.
Case Study by Dr. Angela Davenport, DC, FMACP
Dr. Davenport had a 37-year-old female patient whose chief
complaints included weight gain, a desire to balance her
hormones, dissatisfaction with her body, and a need for guidance
on her health journey. She reported that she had previously been
able to maintain her weight but had gained 20 pounds about two
years ago and has been unable to lose it despite calorie restriction
and exercise.
The patient had an egg retrieval two years ago and was taking
hormone injections and gained extra weight around that time. Her
current weight is 175 pounds, and she wants to be 130 pounds.
She is also having her IUD taken out this month after five years. The
patient had basic lab work done, but what stood out was her TSH
levels. Both her mother and sister have hypothyroid conditions and
are on medication. She had the following history of test levels,
which have gone up through the years. We performed an
expanded thyroid panel as TSH isn't enough to understand her
thyroid fully. Her T4 level was low at 6.5, and her T3 uptake was 37,
considered a normal range, but the optimal value is again high.
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