Is your thyroid functioning

How your thyroid is functioning?

Answer yes or no if you have the symptoms from the questions below

1.    Do you tend to suffer from cold hands and feet

2.    Have you losing or lost hair from the outer third of the eyebrows

3.     Are you experiencing thinning and brittle hair

4.    Do you have a BMI above 25(To work out your BMI:

divide your weight in kilograms (kg) by your height in metres (m)

then divide the answer by your height again to get your BMI)

5.    Unexplainable weightgain

6.    Do you have a low libido

7.    Is there a sign of infertility (unable to conceive after 6months of unprotected sex)

8.    Do you tend to have dry skin similar to eczema

9.    Do you suffer from excessive tiredness

If you have said yes to 3 or more, try doing the Broda Barnes Test.

Broda Barnes Test:

The basal temperature test should be done as soon as you wake up and before you get out of bed.  Women menstruating vary in their body temperature varies days 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the cycle and therefore readings shouldn’t be taken that day.

Place a themometor (mercury or digital) under the armpit for 10mins

Note the reading, and do this for a calendar month so the results can be averaged out, since they may vary slightly day by day.

Your temperature under the arm, the normal temperature is:

36.6ºC - 36.8ºC (97.8ºF - 98.2ºF)

If your temperature is below 36.6ºC (97.8ºF) then hypothyroidism should be considered if you have symptoms.

If your temperature is above 37.0ºC (98.4ºF), hyperthyroidism is possible if symptoms are present and if there is no other illness present to cause a fever.

What to do if your temperature is not within the normal range

Explore this with a practitioner (www.BANT.org) or your GP. They may suggest a blood test, below are the optimum ranges therefore it is important that you get the readings back to see where your results lie.

Optimum blood levels

TSH	1.3 – 2.0
Free T-3	3.59 – 6.56
T-3	1.54 – 3.53
Free T-4	9.1 – 19.7
T-4 Thyroxine	77.2 – 154.4