Butterflies, Grapefruits, Calcium Supplements - What do they have in common?

​The thyroid is butterfly-shaped gland that sits just above your collarbone at the base of the throat.  Trust me, it may be little but it’s mighty.  You probably haven’t given this gland much thought – that is, until is acts up! Then is gets your attention because it controls things like how fast your heart beats and how quickly you burn off calories. 

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It releases hormones to help regulate your body’s metabolism (all the things your body does to turn food into energy and keep you going).
If the thyroid gets lazy and starts slacking off on production of its hormone, you may experience:

• Unexplained fatigue when even 8-10 hours just doesn’t feel sufficient
• Brain fog
• Difficulty concentrating
• Memory loss
• Weight gain (no matter what diet you’ve tried)
• Muscle weakness
• Mood disturbances
• Sluggishness
• Constipation

Together with a myriad of other bothersome symptoms.  This is labeled hypothyroidism and may include Hashimoto’s Disease.
If the thyroid goes into overdrive and produces too much, then you may experience:

• Weight loss (no matter how much you eat)
• Sleep problems
• Excessive sweating
• Increased anxiety
• Nervousness and/or irritability
• Difficulty concentrating
• Changes in menstrual cycle (more frequent and longer)
• Loose bowel movements
• Shaking in your hands and fingers
• Sensitivity to heat
• Eye sensitivity. 

This is labeled hyperthyroidism and may include Graves’ Disease.
My own experience with thyroid disease began with severe irritation in my eyes – it felt like I had grains of sand scratching my eyes.  I could eat like a champ but was losing weight.  My hands shook, I couldn’t sleep, and boy, was I irritable. 

After several trips to my primary care doc (who kept telling me it was allergies) I was referred me to an ophthalmologist who immediately identified Graves’ Disease (hence the eye discomfort).  The treatment to mitigate the symptoms and get the thyroid back to normal functioning was no picnic – it literally took 2 years to get to a place where I felt fairly normal functioning.

So – what’s the moral of this story and why am I sharing it with you?  Please don’t put off seeing your health care provider if you are experiencing any of these symptoms.  A simple blood test can give you valuable information about your thyroid levels.
And back to our initial question – no doubt you’ve guessed the connection to a butterfly.  So what about the grapefruit and calcium connection?  If you are already taking thyroid medication grapefruit may have some contraindications – best to check with the pharmacist. 

And I just recently learned that I should not take my calcium supplements within 4 hours of taking my Synthroid medication. Who knew? Now you do.

​P.S. speaking of calcium, be sure your supplement contains Vitamin K – you can learn more about what I call the “calcium conundrum” when you sign up for my blog – I’ll send you a free e-book as a thanks.

An excellent resource for up-to-date thyroid information is the American Thyroid Organization: http://www.thyroid.org