Tired, cold, gaining weight, losing hair — or wired, anxious and losing weight — with a thyroid result that is “normal”, “borderline” or newly abnormal. Our thyroid naturopath team looks at the autoimmune process behind most underactive thyroid in Australia, alongside your GP or endocrinologist.
Because a standard test usually measures TSH alone, and TSH can sit inside the range for years while an autoimmune process is already under way. In fact, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, the most common cause of an underactive thyroid in Australia, often shows up first as antibodies and symptoms rather than as an abnormal TSH.
Meanwhile, most people who come to us have been told their thyroid is fine, or that it is “a bit sluggish” and to come back in a year. Some have started thyroxine and heard that it is the end of the conversation.
In short, it is not “all in your head”, and a normal TSH is not the whole story. Our article on how to investigate a thyroid problem explains what a full panel includes.
Hashimoto’s and Graves’ disease happen when the immune system targets the thyroid, on a genetic background, pushed by triggers: nutrient status, gut health, stress, infections and, in some people, gluten or coeliac disease. A thyroid naturopath looks at those inputs, and at the full thyroid picture — TSH, free T4, free T3 and antibodies — rather than one number.
Your doctor diagnoses, prescribes and monitors; we work on the immune and nutritional environment the thyroid sits in. We never ask anyone to stop or change thyroxine or antithyroid medication — dose decisions are your doctor’s, and we time anything we recommend so it does not interfere with absorption. Depending on what we find, a plan can include:
We usually review at eight to twelve weeks, timed with your next thyroid bloods, because thyroid change is measured in months.
We are open 6 days per week, by appointment only. Book an appointment online via our online booking link.
Always at diagnosis, and at any change in medication. In particular, Graves’ disease and any overactive thyroid need medical management — a racing heart, weight loss, tremor, eye changes or heat intolerance are not for a diet. Likewise, a lump or swelling in the neck, difficulty swallowing, pregnancy or trying to conceive with a thyroid condition, and severe fatigue with a very high TSH all need your GP first. Fatigue, feeling cold, weight change and hair loss also overlap with iron deficiency and perimenopause, which is why we look at those alongside the thyroid. We do not diagnose thyroid conditions and we do not treat them; medication and dosing decisions sit with your doctor.
Seeing a thyroid naturopath is not a reason to stop thyroxine or to try an iodine or thyroid supplement on your own, because both can do real harm. healthdirect’s Hashimoto’s disease guide and its Graves’ disease guide set out the medical side plainly.
No — Hashimoto’s is diagnosed and medically managed by your GP or endocrinologist, and thyroxine decisions stay with them. What a thyroid naturopath can do is work on the autoimmune drivers around it: nutrient status, gut health, coeliac and gluten questions, stress and sleep, tracked against your antibodies over time.
First, ask for a full panel: TSH, free T4, free T3 and thyroid antibodies. TSH alone misses early autoimmune disease and conversion problems. Ask your GP first; if the full panel is not available through them, we can arrange it and share the results with them.
Not automatically. First, get tested for coeliac disease through your GP while still eating gluten, because the overlap is real and the test only works if you are. After that, a structured gluten-free trial makes sense for some people and not others; we judge it on your testing and history.
No, and we would never ask you to. Instead, we work alongside your medication, time anything we recommend so it does not affect thyroxine absorption, and check for interactions. Ultimately, any dose change is a decision for you and your doctor.
Alongside medical treatment, yes. Graves’ needs antithyroid medication, monitoring and sometimes more, and that comes first. In practice, a thyroid naturopath can then address selenium and other nutrient status, stress load, gut health and sleep, which influence how the immune process behaves — never in place of treatment, and never with a thyroid supplement you have picked up yourself.
If you have been told your thyroid is fine and you know it is not, it is worth having the full picture looked at — and a thyroid naturopath who works with your GP rather than around them is a good place to start. Our naturopaths and nutritionists consult from Geelong CBD and Drysdale, in person or by telehealth, six days a week. Bring your results and we will start by listening.
We are open 6 days per week, by appointment only. Book an appointment online via our online booking link.
