Tips for Healthy Living

We’ve partnered with Dr. Doug Husbands of Holistic Health Bay Area to bring you a new set of Tips for Healthy Living. Dr. Husbands is a functional medicine doctor, clinical nutritionist, anti-aging health practitioner and doctor of chiropractic. I appreciate that he encourages visiting the doctor to focus on staying healthy instead of only visiting when you’re sick.– Carmelo Sigona

Recognizing  and Combating Chronic Fatigue

Subclinical Hypothyroidism and Adrenal Fatigue are nothing to mess around with. Recognizing the symptoms and making changes can help!

By Dr. Douglas Husbands

At this time of year with the hustle and bustle of holiday gift-giving, family gatherings, and special holiday events you may feel like you are tired and not recovering from day to day.

Are you among those who get 7 or more hours of sleep, but still feel tired, even upon waking up in the morning?  Do you feel completely fatigued after a flurry of relatively normal activity?  How do you know you are experiencing Chronic Fatigue, Hypothyroidism and/or Adrenal Dysfunction?

Persistent tiredness is not normal when you experience some of the following signs and symptoms:

• intolerance to cold
• cold hands and feet
• easily fatigued/decreased energy and stamina
• thinning, dry hair
• thinning eyebrows and eyelashes
• dry skin
• easily chipping nails
• fuzzy thinking or “brain fog”
• mild depression
• increased tendency to gain weight
• poor libido/no sex drive
• increased breast tenderness
• intolerance to exercise/long post-activity recovery
• moodiness/easily agitated
• high anxiety level
• heart palpitations
• sleep apnea
• insomnia

There are different causes of Chronic Fatigue.  The symptoms above are typical symptoms of low thyroid function, or hypothyroidism, and/or adrenal dysfunction that’s accompanied by chronic fatigue.

A typical general practitioner or family physician will test your thyroid function by checking the TSH and total T4 levels through a blood test.  If your doctor runs the blood tests and the results show “normal” but you are having many of the signs and symptoms above, you will need to find a doctor who does the complete thyroid testing.
Complete thyroid testing includes free T4, total T3, free T3, reverse T3, TPO, thyroglobulin antibodies, along with TSH and total T4.  To accurately objectively assess adrenal gland function salivary cortisol and DHEA-S are necessary.  These tests will show a more precise diagnosis of hypothyroidism and or adrenal gland dysfunction.  It will also help identify if adrenal dysfunction is an underlying cause of the thyroid problem.

Even many endocrinologists may not be able to properly diagnose the underlying source of excessive tiredness or fatigue.  Getting a prescription for thyroid medication alone may not result in eliminating the thyroid problem.  Identifying the underlying cause, along with a complete treatment plan that includes diet, nutrition and lifestyle changes are the keys to correcting the problem.

About Dr. Doug:
Dr. Douglas Husbands is a Functional Medicine Doctor, Clinical Nutritionist, Anti-Aging Health Practitioner, and Doctor of Chiropractic.  As a health advocate and coach, he is dedicated to achieving optimal health through resolving the underlying disease processes through diet, nutrition and lifestyle modification.   To contact Dr. Doug, call 650-394-7470 or visit http://www.HolisticHealthBayArea.com

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