Transcription
Hey guys, Dr. Childs here. Today, we're gonna be talking about five things that you should know if you have had your thyroid removed. If you've had a thyroidectomy, that's what the surgery is called, or if you've had your thyroid radioactively ablated. So, these are people who have no thyroid.
I'm Dr. Childs. I'm an internist, and I specialize in helping people treat thyroid problems. I help people balance their hormones, and I also help people with weight loss in general. And I take an integrative, functional approach to that. So, let's get on to today's topic, and that is five things that you should know if you have had a thyroidectomy.
So, remember, as I said before, a thyroidectomy is anybody who has had their thyroid completely removed. Now, generally, we think of this in terms of a surgical operation in which the thyroid has been removed. And I have found so much misinformation or just a lack of understanding among thyroid patients regarding this condition. And if you have this information, it'll really help you to understand what type of treatment you should be getting, why you're probably not feeling very well, and so on. So, these are really important things. And by the way, before we get started here, make sure you go down and, if you haven't already, hit the subscribe button if you're interested in those types of topics because I think you'll have a lot, I think you'll like the information we talk about here.
All right, so number one. The number one, I would say this is probably the most important thing that you should be aware of if you've had your thyroid removed, be a thyroidectomy, is the fact that you are now functionally hypothyroid. Okay? I want, I want to make that very clear. I want to make sure this sinks in a little bit, okay? So, I don't care why you've had your thyroid removed. I don't care if it's been from cancer, I don't, read cancer, I don't care if it's been because you have previously been hyperthyroid, if you, it's because you've had doesn't matter, huge thyroid nodules, whatever. The moment you have had your thyroid removed, you are now hypothyroid. Okay? Hypo meaning low, thyroid meaning of course, thyroid function. So, you have a low, sluggish thyroid.
Now, I know that's kind of confusing for a lot of people because many people get their thyroid removed because they were hyperthyroid. But that doesn't matter. Once you have removed your thyroid, you have essentially cured the hyperthyroidism, that part of it. But you are now replacing it with hypothyroidism. Okay? So, I get this question all the time. People will say, "Hey, thanks for writing this information about whatever, but can you make sure it's specific to people who don't have a thyroid?" And I want you to know that if I'm talking about hypothyroidism in any way, it is relevant to you if you do not have a thyroid. Every piece of content that I've put out, every video, every blog post, every resource, if you don't have a thyroid, is relevant to you because you have hypothyroidism. Okay? Very, very, very big deal. I want to make sure that you understand that, okay? If there are any questions about this, be sure to leave a comment below because, again, I'll help clarify it. It's pretty simple once you really sort of wrap your head around it, but I want to make sure you understand that, okay? That's number one.
Number two is a very important fact as well, and that is there are medical studies showing that T4 thyroid medication is not sufficient if you have had your thyroid removed from a thyroidectomy. So, let's break this down a little bit. So, there are medications that you are put on after you get your thyroid removed, such as Levoxyl and Synthroid. So, this is levothyroxine and Synthroid, okay? Okay. And these medications contain only the T4 thyroid hormone, all right? Now, most people, you may or may not be aware of that, and frankly, it doesn't matter, but let me just hear me out on this. You need all explained. So, what researchers have done is they have taken people who have had their thyroid removed and they have compared those people on their thyroid function to those people who have a functioning thyroid gland in their body. And they found a very interesting thing. And that is that even though you're taking thyroid medication when your thyroid has been removed to try and replace that lost thyroid hormone, it's never enough by itself if you're only using T4 to bring you back to the normal healthy levels that people have when they have a functioning gland. It's a huge deal, okay? And this, this, this study that I'm quoting came out of the Journal of Endocrinology. So, one of the biggest journals that's relative to endocrinology, this is where it came out of, okay? So, it's not just a small podunk journal. This is a very important study which showed that T4 thyroid medication, meaning the levothyroxine and Synthroid, is not enough to optimize your thyroid levels if you have had your thyroid removed. Yes, it can be enough if you have your thyroid gland in you, but once you've had a thyroidectomy, it's been removed, but it's non-functioning or it's absent, okay? So, Levoxyl and Synthroid are not going to be enough.
So, this helps explain why there are so many people out there, especially you, probably listening to this, why you've had a lot of symptoms related to, you know, your thyroid: fatigue, low energy, hair loss, weight gain, which we'll talk about in just a second, and so on. It's because you're probably not taking the right medication, okay? There are two thyroid hormones that you should be aware of: T4 and T3. Levoxyl and Synthroid only contain T4, and most people need T3 if they've had their thyroid removed. And I have other videos on that. I recommend that you watch those. That's number two.
Number three is weight gain. Okay? We have more medical studies which show that once patients get their thyroid removed, they gain on average about 20 pounds. Okay? That's crazy, but 20 pounds people will gain once they've had their thyroid removed. And what's interesting is that doctors will say, "Hey, I'm giving you T4, so your thyroid is normal again," and yet you're experiencing weight gain, okay, as a result of that. But they're trying to tell you your thyroid is normal when weight gain is a symptom of hypothyroidism or a sluggish, low thyroid, which is why we're coming back up here to number one again, okay? Now, that's not the most important thing. So, yes, we know that many patients, about 80% or so, will experience weight gain after the thyroid has been removed. But what you also need to know is that weight loss is always going to be more difficult if you've had your thyroid removed. So, for that 20% or so, if you're lucky and you're that one in five, it'll be relatively easy. Yeah, it won't be easy, but it won't be as hard. But if you're that unlucky 80%, which is most of you, not only are you going to gain weight, but it's also going to be difficult to lose it. And this comes back up to the T3 that I mentioned before. You need to be, you need to optimize your thyroid on multiple levels, use the right medication if you want to plan on losing weight. And I'll do a video specifically on weight loss for those people of either thyroid hormone. That's number three.
Number four, another really important one, and something that I see a lot of patients confused on, are supplements. Should you be taking thyroid supplements or just supplements in general if you've had your thyroid removed? And I'm going to tell you, yes, you should be taking thyroid supplements. And I know what you're going to say, "Well, how, why should I take thyroid supplements if I don't have a thyroid?" And it comes back up to number two and kind of to number one. And that is this: even though you're taking thyroid medication, there's a chance you're not even taking the right type of thyroid medication. Remember, you're taking Levoxyl or Synthroid, which isn't even sufficient because of the number. Remember, number two, we talked about that. Um, that's number one. Number two is that medication isn't even activated by itself. Your body must take that T4, which is in it, and convert it and activate it, and also use it, utilize it in the cells. And so, supplements that you can take, especially the ones, some of the ones that I have, and other supplements, zinc, selenium, gugul, etc. I have a video on thyroid supplements that I recommend you watch. Those supplements help enhance the effectiveness of your thyroid medication, specifically T4 to T3 conversion. So, you definitely want to use medications which help the effectiveness of Levoxyl and Synthroid because it helps them get into your body. The other one that you need to be aware of is iodine. Yes, iodine still has value whether you have a thyroid or not, okay? Other cells in your body, such as breast tissue and skin tissues, they still need iodine. I've seen some people say, "Well, my doctor said I don't need iodine because I have my thyroid removed." I don't even understand that. Just because there are other cells in your body that need iodine, so why would you say you don't need it? And humans can't produce it, so they have to get it somewhere else. They need iodine. So, those are very important. If you, if you haven't already, you can check out some of the supplements that I have directed specifically for the thyroid. I have a supplement which helps T4 to T3 conversion, booster, or T4 to T3 conversion, which you can use in addition to Levoxyl or Synthroid, which can help you. I'll put a link to that below. Be sure to check those out.
And then number five is, and again, this is just going over something that you probably should know but may not, and that is if you've had your thyroid removed, you will be on thyroid medication for the rest of your life. Okay? So, this, the reason is simple. Your thyroid produces these hormones, T4 and T3, which are essential for life. You cannot survive without those thyroid, those thyroid hormones. So, if you've had your thyroid removed, it means you can't get it from any other source, which means you have to take medication, Levoxyl or Synthroid. And this comes back to the weight gain and the T4. It's so important that you use the right type and the right dose of thyroid medications if you want to feel better. So, that generally includes using T4 and T3. But I want you to understand that, yes, you're going to be on medication for life if you've had your thyroid removed. Now, the only place that that isn't true is if you've had RAI or radioactive iodine ablation which didn't destroy the whole gland. You know, sometimes you can only destroy a percentage of it. And then the other situation which is sometimes true are those people who have had what's called a hemi-thyroidectomy, meaning usually just half of their thyroid gland. So, if you've had half of your thyroid gland removed, you may not need to be on medication, although I do think people in that camp tend to do better on it.
So, um, that's the, this kind of goes over the five things that I think you should know if you've had your thyroid removed. And remember, this also applies to people who have had radioactive iodine ablation. So, anybody, and, and technically, even those who have had end-stage Hashimoto's. So, I want to hear from you guys. If you have had any trouble with these five things, leave your comment below. Tell me specifically. And if you have any questions regarding number one, the, the fact that you are hypothyroid, leave your comment below, and I'll do my best to explain that. If you haven't already, be sure to download my free thyroid resources and the guides that I have below. I have tons of resources designed specifically for thyroid patients. Yes, even those who have hypothyroidism from thyroidectomy. It's still really important for you. In fact, I'd argue it's even more important. So, get down there, download those free resources. And otherwise, I'll see you guys in the next one.