Many individuals come into our office when they are highly suspicious that they have a thyroid problem.  With the convenience of the internet today, people have easily been able to research on their own that thyroid blood work is notoriously incorrect.  This leads to very frustrated individuals who are confused and many times are recommended an anti-depressant (because “it is all in their head”). 

Under-active thyroid is much more common than over-active thyroid.  Even though Dr. Nelson will look at the blood work, she certainly does not put all of her eggs in that basket.   She has seen the following scenarios with blood work:

  1. The person’s blood work matches their symptoms and they feel wonderful on their current medication for thyroid (not very common).

  2. The person’s blood work shows that their thyroid is functioning well based on their current medication, but the person DOES NOT feel good and does not know why. (very common scenario).

  3.  A person has a number of unexplained symptoms and the doctor is suspicious of thyroid issues. When the doctor runs blood work  everything comes back "normal," leaving the patient very frustrated because there are "no answers" again.

  4. Dr. Nelson has even seen a few cases in which the person’s blood work falls in the over-active state, but their symptoms are all under-active.  (not as common, but still treatable with naturopathic medicine).

Being told that you do not have a thyroid issue when you in fact do can be very counterproductive, especially if the search for relief sends you on a tangent looking for answers elsewhere, as you struggle with daily symptoms.
 
Thyroid Blood Work Not As Accurate As You May Think


The simple truth is that thyroid lab work is not the most accurate method to determine if an under-active thyroid is present.  Simple symptom tests are WAY more accurate.  Most doctors will not treat their patients using symptom testing.  This is the 4th leading reason that individuals come into Abundant Life Wellness.