As you get older, the human body cannot always replace thyroid hormone. This is when you need a thyroid hormone supplement, either synthetic or natural. If you are a man, occasionally you will need men’s hormone replacement therapy. Thyroid hormone replacement therapy helps supplement the hormone that your body once produced naturally. There are two primary thyroid hormones in both men and women, because T3 and T4 interact a certain way.
If you do not have enough of either hormone, your body’s metabolism slows down. This, in turn, helps your body decide your heart rate or how fast your heartbeats. There is also the matter of how much heat your body can produce through metabolism. Thyroid hormone even affects your thinking. You are being tired even after sleeping is not fun.
Not having enough thyroid hormone can make you feel exhausted. Thyroid hormone simply regulates how you use your energy, to power your metabolism. There is such a thing as natural hormone replacement for men. T3 and T4, however, are not equal strength hormones. T3 is stronger than T4.
T4 is about giving up an iodine atom to interact with those cells. T4 has to lose an iodine atom in order to become T3. The T3 then sends a metabolic message to the other cells in your body to perform basic bodily functions. The half-life of T4 is longer compared to T3 or 7 days versus 24 hours. Some experts now feel that a hormone supplement with T3 and T4 are beneficial to people who need thyroid hormone replacement therapy.
Women also need natural hormone replacement. Hyperthyroidism is the opposite of hypothyroidism. In men, hyperthyroidism does happen, requiring the use of medications to keep the condition under control. Men and women do share much of the same symptoms for an overactive thyroid. These manifestations are nodules, goiter in the thyroid gland, thyroiditis, and too much iodine intake from medicines or diet. Nodules are abnormal clusters of thyroid cells within the gland. Thyroiditis can cause an inflamed thyroid gland, which is swollen to the touch.
Thyroid nodules are an abnormal cluster or clusters inside the thyroid gland that develops over time. Plummer’s disease is also called toxic thyroid goiter that is common in women and those over the age of 60. Too much iodine in your diet is overdoing, too much of a good thing. Thyroiditis is an inflammation of the thyroid gland. The symptoms of hypothyroidism in both men and women are fatigue, weight gain, constipation, dry skin, depression, and being unable to tolerate exercise. People with hypothyroidism can feel exhausted, having immense trouble processing information, among other things, like being constipated because of your body having trouble metabolizing food.
You feel tired, sluggish, and have lots of what is known as brain fog. Hyperthyroidism causes feelings of anxiety, insomnia, palpitations, fatigue, weight loss, and irritability. Hyperthyroidism is caused by too much thyroid hormone in the bloodstream. On the other hand, hypothyroidism is about too little thyroid hormone in the blood stream.
Either way, the thyroid is an important gland that regulates your metabolism. Without thyroid hormone at specific levels, your body cannot function. This is why you are tired, or anxious. Anxiety can even crop up with hypothyroidism as can an itchy scalp that is hard to treat. Anxiety is something that can creep up on an unsuspecting thyroid patient as part of the illness itself.
