Stress can be hugely detrimental to your health.

Stress is your body’s fight or flight response. It is when your body senses some sort of danger and it puts all of its focus and energy into the areas and systems of the body that you need to fight that danger, or flee from it. Part of that response is the release of hormones from your adrenal glands, which I’ll talk about more in a minute.

When this fight or flight response is consistently on for an extended period of time, it can cause inflammation, it can hamper digestion, it can worsen your quality of sleep, and so much more. Chronic stress is a really bad thing.

But, this is a thyroid-health blog, so what does stress have to do with the thyroid?

A lot, actually! In fact, it’s one of the main causes of an underactive thyroid in women.

Let’s look at why:

Hormone disruption

The adrenals and thyroid are connected in a lot of ways. They are both part of the HPA axis, that is your hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal axis.

When you have this disruption of that axis, the adrenals are going to get fatigued and not be able to do what they're supposed to do. This can then lead to a decreased production of TSH - the thyroid stimulating hormone - which comes from the brain. Without TSH, your thyroid will have a difficult time with its T3 and T4 hormone production. 

Cortisol is one of the hormones released during your fight or flight response. When there’s too much cortisol in the body for too long, it can cause a decrease in conversion of the inactive T4 to active T3. If it continues on, you could get what’s called Reverse T3, which is when T3 reverts back to T4, which is exactly opposite what your body wants. This is why I always look for Reverse T3 on your thyroid panel. 

Inflammation

As I mentioned, chronic stress leads to inflammation throughout the body. This can lead to a decrease in sensitivity of your thyroid receptors, so your body won’t be able to use the thyroid hormone the way it should.

Inflammation can also cause your body to not absorb all of the nutrients it needs. If your body stops absorbing things like iodine, potassium, selenium, and other nutrients that are essential for the thyroid, then the thyroid will struggle. 

Stopping progress

I have worked with many clients who are taking the right medication, eating clean, sleeping well, exercising regularly… they seem to be doing everything right to keep their thyroid happy, yet they’re not seeing any change in their symptoms. Oftentimes, this is because they’re chronically stressed, and that stress is getting in the way of their progress, because of the reasons I mentioned above.

Similar symptoms

One of the most interesting parts of the relationship between stress - especially chronic stress - and hypothyroidism, is that the symptoms can be very similar. Issues with weight, hair loss, sleep… all of these show up in both hypothryoid patients and chronic stress patients!

And because it’s so common for women to be struggling with both issues, it can make these symptoms seem that much worse. 

Treating chronic stress

Here’s one positive point about all of this: there are a lot of ways to decrease stress!

You could try meditation, low-intensity movement such as walking or yoga, journaling, breath work, baths… whatever de-stressing “activity” works best for you and that you enjoy. Watch this video for my top stress-reducing activities. 

Stress is also linked to your mindset. If you’re constantly thinking about how stressed you are, then it may make you more stressed. So finding one of those de-stressing activities that you enjoy and getting into a routine of practicing it regularly, this can make your mindset much more positive. 

Eating properly, especially when you’re stressed or tired is crucial, so you’re not adding to that inflammation.

And lastly, sleep. Make sure you are resting, having downtime, and getting a quality sleep as often as you can. 

If this feels like a lot, try focusing on just one thing at a time. Get into a routine, and then add something else. Chronic stress can’t just immediately be turned off, but if you can start incorporating some stress management practices into your daily routine, your body will seriously thank you.