The largely overlooked player in your hormonal health

Charting your cycles is such a cool way to get a window into what is happening with your hormones, but it can also be nerve wracking for some people.

When I was going through teacher training we were sharing what they “hard” part of charting was for all of us. A lot of people mentioned actual charting issues (this was very early in our course, and most of my classmates were also talking about what their issues were previously or in the beginning) and then we came around to me and I said: “Not constantly freaking out about my hormonal health” (I was already health obsessed AND around the time I started studying to teach fertility awareness I had come out of my ‘I never want kids’ mode and had baby fever like a mo-fo).

It was just so easy, though. I could see anything any cycle that was a bit off and wonder what implications it had on my hormonal health (here’s a trick: don’t look at individual cycles for evaluation but overall trends).

But one of the main things that had me worried was my temperatures. They seemed so freakin’ LOW. I’d often be getting into the 96.8 F (36 C) range before ovulation and after I was lucky if they passed 98.0 F (36.65 C) for very long in the luteal phase (which is the time after ovulation, when your temps are naturally higher).

I started reading a lot about thyroid health and trying to figure out if it actually was an issue for me. It seemed that I may have had a slight issue that I resolved by changing around a few things, but the fascination with thyroid health and that it is so prevalent never really left me.

Enter the guest on today’s podcast. I found Lara Briden’s blog a while back and loved the clear writing and great tips for those struggling with hormonal issues, but when I saw her post about thyroid I knew I had to get her on the podcast (P.S. Don’t you miss these podcasts? I know I do, it’s been a while).

(Do you know nothing about the thyroid? Quick primer: The thyroid is a a butterfly shaped endocrine gland in the throat area. It produces multiple hormones referred to as thyroid hormones. Because all hormones are connected, it can affect other hormonal levels and be effected by them, as well. See more here).

In the podcast today we talk about:

• How thyroid is connected to so many sex hormone issues
• How common Thyroid problems are and why they are so common
• What questions to ask your doctor and tests to ask your doctor for if you suspect a thyroid issue
• What numbers you want to see on your thyroid tests and why you shouldn’t always trust your doctor telling you you are “in range”
• What symptoms you may see if your thyroid is underactive, including how important your temperatures are to alerting you of thyroid issues (and what temperatures to look for).
• When you should rely on natural measures to fix your thyroid issues and when you should take thyroid hormone
• What some of the best natural measures are for increasing thyroid health
• How you should monitor your thyroid hormone during/before/after pregnancy, especially if you have been on thyroid hormone in the past or are currently on it

Whatcha waiting for? Give a listen:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

 

Check out Lara’s site here and see her book that will be coming out next week here.