The Investigation Thyroid issues are not a one-size-fits-all. If you’ve been listening to my podcast for a while, then you know I talk a lot about hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s because I see so many people struggling with these issues.  One of the main reasons they struggle is because traditional medicine tends to treat hypothyroidism one way - by measuring TSH and then medicating to get TSH back into range.  There is so much more to optimizing the thyroid and the key is to take a more individual approach.  The best news is that you can balance your thyroid and your immune system and you CAN feel good again. You can feel like the old you, the pre-war you as I call it, when your body was not battling itself every day. Yes, it is possible to be: Full of energy Reach and maintain your ideal weigh Sleep well every night Have great skin and hair Think clearly (no more brain fog) But this can only happen when you look at your thyroid not from the perspective that it is slow, but more about what type of slow down you have. There are several types of slow downs.  I call these “Thyroid Types”. Knowing your Thyroid Type will allow you to properly balance it, not just reverse the speed of it. When you balance your thyroid, you can actually deal with the symptoms that are hanging around even though your doctor says your thyroid tests show the medication is working and you are in range.  That’s right, you do not have to put up with those symptoms anymore once you understand your Thyroid Type!  This is also true if you have Hashimoto’s but the support needs to be twofold to make sure that you aren’t just addressing the thyroid issue but also balancing the immune system.  In order to identify your Thyroid Type you will need to have a full panel of thyroid tests. Having just the TSH is not enough. You also need all the other markers. A full thyroid panel includes TSH, Total T4, Free T4, Total T3, Free T3, Reverse T3, T3 Uptake and TPO and TG Antibodies.  Let’s look at these different Thyroid Types.   Type 1: High TSH This is what many doctors will diagnose and prescribe medication for (such as Synthroid). The lab range on this is pretty wide, so I like to look at the optimal range which is 1.8 - 3 if you are not on medication and .5-2.5 if you are on medication. The typical lab range is .5-4.5.  This High TSH is just one type and most people who have issues that do not seem to be resolved by their initial approach would typically fall into the other types.   Type 2: Low T3  This is very common and is easily missed if you are not looking at the full thyroid panel. T3 is converted from T4 and is needed for cellular health but just boosting T4 doesn’t always solve the issue. In this case, it’s important to find out why T3 is not converting.    Type 3: Unavailable Hormones Type  You are this Type if you have a normal TSH and a normal total T4 and T3. In other words, most doctors would not diagnose you as having a thyroid issue. But, you have symptoms that scream thyroid issue. We determine this Thyroid Type by looking more closely at Free T4 and Free T3 to see that while they may be in the wider range, they are not in optimal range. I call this Unavailable because the hormones are there but they are not available to your cells. There is a specific underlying reason for this and unless that is supported, those hormones will continue to be unavailable and cause symptoms.    Type 4: Understimulated Hormone Type This is you if you have a low TSH and a low T4. It can be hard to catch because the TSH is fine so doctors never look deeper but with a low T4,  there is not enough stimulation happening.  All of these types can come with or without Hashimoto’s. The last Type is for those who have Hashimoto’s   Type 5: Normal Type (with Hashimoto’s) This one is when your thyroid is not low - it’s actually in range. But, you do have Hashimoto’s. I’m including it because it can be super deceiving and so often, people are told that nothing can be done and the