Fatigued and Forgetful? 13 Tests to Ask Your Doctor for...

Fatigued and Forgetful? 13 Tests to Ask Your Doctor for

According to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), 27 million Americans have thyroid disease, but more than half remain undiagnosed. Why? Because doctors are not running the proper tests. Many of them hear the common complaints of weight gain, depression, hair loss, abnormal periods, etc. and they often mistake those symptoms for other problems. Some of them presume people are overeating or not exercising enough. Some of them think acne, PMS, and abnormal periods should be managed with birth control pills, even though those pills might cause a stroke or blood clot. Without even testing for hormones, several of my former doctors suggested I take birth control and zoloft. The answer was NO. I knew that was not getting to the root cause of the problem.

Warning
If you have a sluggish thyroid, it can progress into hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism and eventually can progress into autoimmune disease and even cancer. That is why it's important to get your lab work done early on before it becomes a bigger problem. If you suspect your thyroid is not functioning well, insist on tests 1-5 in the following list.
Also if your thyroid is not functioning well, it's very possible you may have related nutritional deficiencies such as Vitamin D, Magnesium, Zinc, Iron, B12 (Tests 6-8 plus Iron, which is usually included in basic bloodwork.
Tests 9-10 are far better indicators of health disease risk than your cholesterol number. Tests 11-13 may help you get to the root cause of what is causing your symptoms. Finding the root cause is the correct way to address any health problem. As opposed to putting a drug/bandaid into your system that may mask your symptoms but will never help you heal the problem.


Lab Tests

1. TSH
2. Free T3 and T4
3. Reverse T3
4. Thyroid Antibodies - Thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO) or antithyroglobulin antibodies
5. Vitamin D
6. Serum B12
7. Zinc
8. Magnesium
9. Homocysteine
10. C-Reactive Protein
11. Metals (mercury, lead, aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, etc.)
12. Lyme disease, Epstein Barr and other infectious organisms (if symptoms are present)
13. Adrenal function (saliva test - usually only offered by alternative practitioners)