Boosting energy with thyroid issues

Let’s talk energy — one of the most common issues with thyroid patients and, well pretty much everyone else who isn’t a thyroid patient, too.

Let’s be honest, “thyroid tired” is much different level than regular tired, though. This fatigue is much deeper. It’s the type of tired that you can’t sleep off no matter how much sleep you get, that requires you to have a nap after even the simplest tasks and demotivates you from doing anything, especially if it involves leaving the house.

This can make it difficult to keep off the weight because when you are constantly fatigued, everything can feel overwhelming which can contribute to stress-related weight gain. Lack of energy can also make you less likely to be motivated to exercise which can further compound the problem. On the other hand, working out excessively can lead to burnout if your thyroid isn’t functioning properly.

Indeed, “eat less and exercise” more couldn’t be more frustrating to hear as a thyroid patient or a patient practitioner because it’s a drastic oversimplification of the actual problem for most people.

Below are some common ways I was able to save and regain some of my energy as a thyroid patient:

Prioritize Sleep

Sleep is obviously really important for all of us but especially for thyroid patients so they can feel refreshed in the morning.

I noticed that by taping my mouth shut every night I was able to get a much deeper sleep as more oxygen was getting to my brain because I wasn’t breathing through my mouth. I found I needed less hours of rest while also getting a much deeper sleep so I would actually wake up refreshed.

Having a night time routine as well as setting strict boundaries with phone, TV and computer usage before bed is also extremely helpful. These devices, can be addicting and the blue light emitted from them can really affect how you sleep as well as your circadian rhythm. Social media in particular is designed to show triggering content that can get you riled up and flood your body with stress hormones which is the last thing you want before bed. Finding ways to slow down and allow your body to relax is critical to having enough energy for the following day and having a routine is the best way to stay accountable.

For me, that looks like only using candlelight, pink salt lamps and red light bulbs in my common areas that I use after sunset, as well as blue blocking glasses, a evening skin care routine, some breathwork or breathing exercises, a magnesium bath or foot soak, writing in a journal if I have a lot of thoughts and ideas in my mind, and usually finish off with some reading which puts me right to sleep. Since I incorporated a routine like this I’ve noticed a significant difference in my sleeping habits that have helped reduce fatigue during the day.

Finding a routine that works for you is critical, don’t put any pressure on yourself or force yourself to do something that you don’t resonate with. I encourage you to experiment with things that bring you peace and help you wind down before bed and to not overlook the power of blue light blockers and mouth tape.

Hydration with Electrolytes

Hydration might be obvious for helping with energy but the less obvious one is electrolytes. Electrolytes are minerals that have a natural positive or negative electrical charge when dissolved in water. They help your body absorb the water you’re drinking so you don’t just urinate it out (often taking other minerals along with it from your body). That is correct, my friend, you could be drinking 10 glasses of water a day and not actually hydrating. Minerals are also considered the “spark” plugs of life, meaning they give you energy and help with electrical signaling within the body so a deficiency in minerals can cause enormous amounts of fatigue and drinking plain water is not helping.

That being said there are a lot of shady electrolytes out there so it’s important to only get the ones that aren’t loaded with sugar or use refined ingredients. Remember, just because everyone is using it, or its a popular brand or you found it at costco on sale doesn’t mean it’s good to eat.

Here are some brands I like and trust: Redmonds ReLyte, GOODONYA Hydrate, Superieur Electrolytes, Cure Hydration, Bumbleroot Powder

Here are popular brands I avoid for various reasons (artificial flavors, colors or ingredients, refined sodium, refined sugar, not very strong): Liquid IV, Vitamin Water, LMNT, Ultima, NUUN

Mineral Status

As mentioned above, minerals are key to energy levels and unfortunately due to modern farming methods we simply are not getting enough, no matter how healthy you eat. This combined with chronic stress levels has been devastating to our health and taken its toll on everyone’s energy levels, not just for thyroid patients. Reliance on caffeine, while it does have benefits, can make the problem worse.

Minerals are very complex, and they can get confusing really fast. They affect every single function your body and a lack of certain minerals can affect your digestion, to creating stomach acid, control heart rate, every single enzyme function involves a mineral, blood sugar levels, stress response and so much more. Every single thing your body ever does involves a mineral so if you’re deficient, you’re not going to operate at your best.

Unlike most vitamins, minerals are stored in the body and each one you take has an affect on the other (as well as heavy metals) and this is why we always do an HTMA test to determine your individual mineral status when working together to see how we can bring balance back into your body and see where your bio individual root cause of fatigue is coming from.

I do not recommend blindly supplementing with minerals with the exception of magnesium because doing so can make fatigue worse (iron and calcium being a prime example of this by leading to kidney stones or oxidative stress). It’s always wise to work with a mineral-literate practitioner who can help determine what is missing and how to balance minerals before you take them.

Restorative Exercise

I don’t know about you, but when I first started out going to the gym, I would go 6 times per week and I believed that if I didn’t work out 5-6 days then I would never lose the weight. I see it all the time where women push themselves trying to keep up with a man’s workout schedule or programs designed for men and end up burning themselves out and become resistant to weight loss. When weight loss efforts stop working or don’t work at all, they get discouraged and quit altogether.

I am here to tell you that ladies, we are not men. While I believe women can be strong and fit, we also need to work in harmony with our hormones and when we have hormonal dysfunction (thyroid illness which often is accompanied with adrenal fatigue), doing more restorative, low impact exercises is the best for our health while we are recovering and rebuilding our thyroid and adrenals.

This might mean only doing harder workouts twice a week and walking more often, tracking periods and tailoring your workout routines around ovulation, focusing on rest and recovery and building a strong foundation before we hit up a high-intensity training program to lose weight fast. You can still gain strong muscle while doing flexibility training, core training and doing light exercises like yoga. Daily walks and occasional sprinting can be beneficial as well but doing crossfit 6 days a week and overexerting yourself is going to burn you out really fast. Pushing through it is not the way to lose weight and it might leave you even worse off, especially if you are not recovering properly.

Eat Enough Calories

A lot of times, the reason many are tired is because they aren’t eating enough calories — especially from protein — that they end up riding a blood sugar roller coaster all day. Eating a good, protein rich breakfast can help stabilize blood sugar and help prevent hypoglycemia that can lead to fatigue. It can also support the adrenals and help with sugar and carbohydrate cravings that lead to weight gain and inflammation.

While skipping meals is tempting, especially if you experience IBS related symptoms, eating enough is a critical part of maintaining energy throughout the day and makes you less reliant on caffeine.

Because of hormones, fasting can cause a great deal of stress to women, especially those with thyroid disorders. While fasting has some benefits, unless you’re well into your journey and have done a great deal of healing, I wouldn’t recommend fasting, especially if you’re still in burnout mode.

Breath & Posture

This might seem like a small, insignificant piece of the puzzle but I feel like I would be doing a disservice by not mentioning it.

Our posture is what allows us to breathe correctly and when we can’t breathe, oxygen doesn’t get to our brain and we can experience brain fog, carbon dioxide can’t clear optimally and builds up in our body, we can become stressed and overwhelmed easier, anxiety increases and our energy levels suffer drastically. I’ve suffered from all of these things and even recently hired a breath coach to teach me exactly how to breathe which I will share more about when I finish his program. If you yawn a lot (especially when exercising) and feel like you can’t get a deep breath unless you yawn or experience air hunger, you might benefit from a breath coach, too.

Reduce Stress

Stress kills — literally. But before it does, it robs you of your energy, vitality and health. Let this be a reminder that you probably need to relax, take a vacation (or staycation), spend time in nature, stop putting so much pressure on yourself, have better boundaries or cut toxic people from your life. The more stress you are under, the faster you will burn through the minerals that give you energy so preserve your mineral stores and take a break, have some fun and practice self care. You will not recover from burnout or chronic fatigue if you are under a lot of stress. Period.

Take Your Meds

I get it, the idea is to not be on meds, no one likes taking them and no one remembers to take it half the time (or maybe that’s just me) but the reality is sometimes meds can truly make all the difference, especially if your doctor cares enough about finding the right dose and the right medication for you. Unfortunately with autoimmune disease, the thyroid can be so damaged that you might need supplemental thyroid hormones and there is nothing wrong with that. If you aren’t on board yet with the prescriptions, supplementing with thyroid glandulars can help as well but do proceed with caution here as some still have hormones in them and taking too much can be dangerous. Make sure you inform your doctor about what you are taking.

Regaining and preserving your energy is a whole lifestyle and it’s not always a quick fix. These are all ways that have helped me with improving my energy levels over time and I am confident that you can benefit from incorporating a few of these strategies into your lifestyle to maximize your energy. If you have any other strategies that have worked for you over the years, I would love to hear from you in the comments!

Stay Wild,

Jessica