Your brain is one of the most metabolically active organs in your body. At rest, it uses approximately 20-23 % of the body’s total energy requirements, despite accounting for only 2 % of the body’s mass. So it’s no wonder that when your metabolism slows down, your brain may be one of the first parts of your body to suffer the effects.
In the brain, slow metabolism due to low thyroid function can cause alterations in blood flow, along with reduced glucose uptake and energy production. It can make it harder for brain cells to maintain synaptic function and resting potential, so it impairs message-sending and memory storage–the brain’s work. It also inhibits the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. The result can be “brain fog,” depression, even anxiety.
I believe that one major cause of slow brain metabolism is chronic low body temperature due to suppressed thyroid hormone expression. This can happen even with normal blood levels of the usual measure of thyroid gland function, Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH). (This condition is called Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome, WTS.) Your problem is not that your thyroid isn’t producing enough T4. It may well be. But the T4 isn’t being converted to T3, the active form of thyroid hormone. Or your cells are resistant to allowing T4 into cells, where the conversion takes place. Most doctors are not aware of these sorts of thyroid problems and will not treat for low thyroid function if TSH is normal. Your brain seems to be particularly dependent on T4 to T3 conversion in cells, not circulating T3.
How can you find out if your brain function is being impaired by low metabolism? Take your body temperature. If it is consistently low (below 97.8 F. (36.56 C.) chances are good you have slow metabolism. (See “How are body temperatures measured” for complete instructions.)
Slow metabolism can often be corrected with proper thyroid support, which often includes a trial of T3, which may be exactly what your brain needs to get back to normal. If it is, you will find that your “all in your head” symptoms will soon lift. You’ll think more clearly, be in a better mood and have less unwarranted anxiety.
You can discuss T3 therapy with your doctor and we will be happy to discuss your case with your doctor. Your doctor can call 800.420.5801. The object of T3 therapy is to normalize your oral body temperatures to average 98.6 (37 C.) during treatment.
REFERENCES
Correia N, Mullally S, Cooke G et al. Evidence for a specific defect in hippocampal memory in overt and subclinical hypothyroidism. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 94:3789-3797
Duntas LH, Maillis A. Hypothyroidism and depression: salient aspects of pathogenesis and management. Minerva Endocrinol. 2013 Dec;38(4):365-77.
Hage, MP, Azar, ST. The Link between Thyroid Function and Depression. J Thyroid Res. 2012;2012:590648. doi: 10.1155/2012/590648. Epub 2011 Dec 14.
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