The body can function independently as long as everything within is balanced. But, due to poor lifestyle and food intake, many people find it hard to maintain a sound and balanced physical health. One imbalance brought by either the dysfunction of an organ or a foreign invader can cause a butterfly effect and affect every body function.
For instance, the thyroid gland produces hormones that travel through the blood to all body parts. These hormones also control how your body uses energy, even how your heart beats, because they affect nearly every organ. However, when the thyroid gland becomes dysfunctional, it causes alteration in the hormone production that can lead to severe complications if left untreated.
One of the complications is hypothyroidism.
What is Hypothyroidism
It is a condition wherein the thyroid gland is not producing and releasing enough hormones to meet the body’s needs to function correctly. In return, organs throughout the body will slow down, negatively impacting your quality of life.
Hypothyroidism can affect people of all ages and genders. However, it is prevalent among women over 60. Most cases of hypothyroidism are caused by an autoimmune disease, which makes the immune system mistakenly attack its thyroid gland and damage it. It could also be damaged due to the treatment and medications for thyroid cancer or treatment for hyperthyroidism.
In general, hypothyroidism is a relatively common and very treatable condition. However, this condition is life-long. Thus, you need a life-long medication treatment. Your doctor might prescribe you man-made hormones, such as Synthroid, to help you.
You won’t have to worry about the cost either because you can purchase these medications at a discounted price using coupons such as BuzzRx Savings on Synthroid.
Common Signs and Symptoms
Identifying the symptoms of hypothyroidism in adolescents can be challenging because it usually manifests in the behaviors. However, behavioral changes are also common in the adolescent stage, which makes hypothyroidism challenging to identify.
Moreover, symptoms usually develop slowly, and you may not realize you have them. Adolescents with hypothyroidism may have difficulty concentrating, constipation, mental slowness, and feeling cold, tired, and depressed. Other noticeable symptoms include poor growth, delayed puberty, and irregular menstrual periods.
The problem is that adolescents may not tell their parents about these things, believing these symptoms to be a regular part of growing up. Furthermore, most symptoms are common to many other problems and conditions, such as fatigue and weight gain.
Treatment
Prompt therapy can reduce the negative impact of symptoms. Because hypothyroidism means your body lacks thyroid hormone, the goal of the treatment is to replace these hormones so the body can function correctly.
If you follow the recommended dose, your hypothyroidism can be completely controlled.
Medications for Hypothyroidism
To resolve any thyroid-related symptoms, the following are the medications that might be prescribed to you by your physician:
- Levothyroxine. For Thyroxine (T4) replacement, levothyroxine (L-T4) is the standard drug treatment for hypothyroidism. This drug is a synthetic version of one of the hormones the thyroid gland produces, the thyroxine hormone. Usually, this medication is enough because thyroxine is the majority of the body’s thyroid hormone. Moreover, the body can convert thyroxine into T3 if it needs more of that hormone.
- Liothyronine. For Triiodothyronine (T3) replacement, medication such as liothyronine is prescribed. Though it is rare, some people might have trouble converting T4 into T3; thus, you might also need to take this medication in addition to levothyroxine.
Your doctor will give you a blood test six to 10 weeks after taking the medicine to check your thyroid hormone level and to adjust the dose you must intake. You’ll need a blood test every time your dose is adjusted until you have reached a dose that works for you. Once your dose is established, your doctor will monitor you through blood tests for six months and then once a year.
Since medications for hypothyroidism are taken lifelong, although adolescents, daily intake of these medications may be challenging. Thus, establishing a routine or a system to keep them on track is a good idea.
Alternative Treatment
Lifestyle changes might be futile to treat hypothyroidism because thyroid hormone replacement is the only treatment for the body to function correctly again. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t do anything to relieve some of the symptoms while waiting for the thyroid drugs to take effect.
Taking steps such as getting enough sleep, reducing stress, eating healthy, and getting enough exercise are always important and can help you manage the symptoms while you and your physician figure out the appropriate thyroid hormone dosage.
Avoiding certain foods when you take your thyroid medication, such as coffee, walnuts, and more, is also essential, as these foods can interfere with the body’s ability to absorb the thyroid’s medications.
Final Thoughts
Listen and be vigilant of your body. Every small change that is out of the ordinary in your body might be a cry for help for your body that something is happening inside.Having untreated hypothyroidism can lead to various health problems, from mildly annoying symptoms to life-threatening diseases.
Thankfully, once you are on medication with the correct dosage, hypothyroidism is a highly manageable disease. That is why it is crucial to take your medication daily.
