Stress: A word that seems all too common in today’s society. Not only can chronic stress wreak havoc on your overall health and well-being, but it can affect your thyroid too.

Stress and Hypothyroidism

Your thyroid works in tandem with your adrenal glands. The adrenal glands, which are above your kidneys, can handle small amounts of stress well. When you encounter stress they release cortisol, which enhances various bodily functions.

The impact of stress on the thyroid occurs by slowing your body’s metabolism. This is another way that stress and weight gain are linked. When thyroid function slows during stress, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) hormone levels fall. Also, the conversion of T4 hormone to T3 may not occur, leading to higher levels of reverse T3.

Insulin resistance and issues balancing blood sugar often occur alongside hypothyroidism. Increased levels of glucocorticoids lower the levels of TSH in the blood. A delicate balance between stress hormones and cortisol must exist for proper thyroid function. If this delicate balance changes, your thyroid symptoms may increase.

Lab tests cannot always depict the right picture of how you’re feeling, and medications cannot always keep up with the changes that stress causes. Chronic stress can cause problems in your body for years before lab tests show a problem. All the while, you may experience hypothyroid symptoms, such as fatigue or weight gain. This prolonged stress may crop up as depression or anxiety when both are actually hypothyroid symptoms.