How to naturally address issues with shallow breathing or “air hunger”, a common but overlooked problem in those suffering from thyroid problems or adrenal dysfunction.
Every single tissue in the entire body has thyroid receptors. This means that the thyroid, if not functioning properly, can cause a wide variety of symptoms beyond what we would normally consider.
It is most common to question the health of the thyroid in cases of fatigue, constipation, weight gain, chilliness, and dryness.
However, it is also very common in cases of depression, fibromyalgia-like muscle aches, gastrointestinal dysfunction, and even foggy brain.
The thyroid is one endocrine organ in a delicately and intricately related chain of hormone-producing glands.
Although it may be one of the easier glands to measure, others in the chain, i.e. the hypothalamus, the adrenal glands, and the gastrointestinal system have a major effect on the thyroid’s function.
In one two-week period alone, I treated three unusual cases of thyroid dysfunction.
- One was an 8-year-old girl with Hashimoto’s auto-immune disease.
- Another is a 22-year-old male who looks like a bodybuilder.
- The third was a 14-year-old very slender female.
None of them fit the picture of a typical thyroid patient…but if you don’t test you never know!
Common Misdiagnosis in Conventional Tests
When testing the thyroid you must test several markers to understand if the thyroid is working properly:
- TSH
- T4 total
- Free T3
- Free T4
- T3 uptake
- Free thyroxine index
- Thyroid antibodies
Laboratory ranges are very wide on the thyroid and, sadly, do not reflect optimal functioning in the real world.
It is very common for conventional doctors to just order a TSH and say your thyroid is fine when it really isn’t.
The reason is most doctors treat all thyroid conditions the same – give enough Levo-thyroxin until the TSH blood level is within normal limits.
This conventional approach only works for one kind of thyroid dysfunction!
There are six different types of low thyroid function with at least 22 other bodily dysfunctions resulting in a suboptimal thyroid.
How Other Organs Affect the Thyroid
I will give you a few examples of how other organ systems affect the thyroid.
If you have positive antibodies TPO or TGB, you really have an auto-immune disease where your own immune system is destroying thyroid tissue.
Shockingly, it is estimated that at least 75% of hypothyroid cases are auto-immune in nature.
This problem can really be helped by clinicians who understand the relationship between thyroid, gut, immune system and brain.
Attention should be directed to these areas:
- Resolve food allergies
- Measure and optimize Vitamin D levels.
- Heal leaky gut
- Balance the two arms of the immune system Th1 and Th2 is very important.
Pitfalls with “Immune Tonics”
Common health food store “immune tonics” such as echinacea and maitake are Th1 stimulators while caffeine is a TH2 stimulator.
If one is Th1 dominant they will frequently complain that echinacea or other Th1 stimulants make them feel bad.
It is important to realize that your individual body may not fit the common marketing scheme currently advocated in medicine or natural health care.
Buyer beware!
Iodine Can Sometimes Make Things Worse
There are other tests such as cytokine testing or TH1 and 2 challenges to get this system balanced.
It is paramount to understand that those diagnosed with Hashimoto’s or showing positive antibodies will be made WORSE with iodine supplementation.
Free T3 is the real workhorse of thyroid hormones. It is what your cells use, yet only 6% of T3 is made in the thyroid.
The vast majority is converted from T4 in the liver and from the bacteria in the GI tract. Can you start to see how important the GI tract is and the importance of fermented foods, prebiotics, and probiotics?
Thyroid and Adrenal Dysfunction Usually Go Hand in Hand
It is rare to see thyroid dysfunction without seeing adrenal dysfunction. The adrenals are the glands that deal with stress.
In our culture, most people are just worn out…usually all the time!
This leads to the under-conversion of T4 to T3.
It frequently leads to blood sugar issues which dampen communication between the hypothalamus, pituitary, and thyroid glands.
Shallow Breathing aka “Air Hunger”
Again, these problems are made worse by people skipping meals, eating low-protein or vegetarian diets, and using stimulants such as caffeine to increase the adrenal output of hormones.
I always use nutrients and whole food diets emphasizing higher protein and healthy fats for this condition.
One of the most important treatments is breathing exercises to remedy air hunger.
It is common to find people that suffer from shallow breathing when endocrine conditions present.
Shallow breathing is characterized by breathing from the chest up without using the diaphragm.
Put another way, shallow breathing involves breathing without expanding out to allow the diaphragm to create a vacuum in the lungs.
It is impossible in a short article to completely explain the thyroid gland. My goal is rather to show you the many facets of thyroid dysfunction and testing.
As in all my writings, my goal is to help you connect the dots between one particular system and its relationship to the whole body.
I hope to convey the message that if you are chronically ill and your doctor has only tested your TSH please ask for more.
Do not take over-the-counter formulas for your thyroid unless someone is specifically monitoring your case as what makes one type of thyroid condition better can aggravate another type.
Again Iodine is a very individual nutrient for certain thyroid types and not for others!
More Information
Thyroid Disease as a Psychiatric Pretender
6 Little Known Signs of Adrenal Fatigue
This is Your Body (and Brain) on Gluten
I was very interested in this article. I have so many of the symptoms that were described. I have the shallow breathing, severe fatigue, coldness, constant aches and pains all over (have not been diagnosed, but really feel like it is Fibromyalgia) I was tested by Dr for several years and he just kept saying there is nothing wrong with you! I recently changed my family Dr and she is a young NP and is testing and monitoring my entire situation. She has put me on Thyroid medication and High does of vitamin D. She asked if anyone had checked my D levels and no they have not. Every visit I am diagnosed as anemic. I have to stay on low dosage of Iron. I just wish someone could help me with all the pain and suffering that has gone on for years.
I have been taking steroids for adrenal gland fatigue for two years and have put on about 30 lbs and now I found out that my testosterone has been low for about 2 years but my part D won’t pay for the medicine I need and it’s about $200 a month. My only visit with an endo doctor she mentioned some test from January-2011 that my rheumatologist did that showed low testosterone and she did another test and it’s still low. Fatigue is my major complaint and I went thru 3 years of anemia and am taking B12 shots every month.
I went to an endocrinologist and she did a tsh and t4, but not all the other tests mentioned.
I meant to ask her about a natural adrenal cortex medicine like Dr. Cowan mentioned in his book, The Fourfold Path to Healing, but had brain fog that day. I stay confused all the time.
I haven’t found a doctor in our area yet that is open to prescribing holistic meds and run into a lot of hostility when I bring it up. My mother has thyroid problems and they only tested her tsh also. I would just like to feel better and see my mom feel better, also. It’s hard in south Georgia to find an open minded doctor that listens to their patients.
Hi. I can very well relate to much of what you are saying. I have been on a long (and sometimes slow seeming) road to better health and the brain fog and ADD issues which I want to clear up are a constant source of trouble in sabotaging my efforts to find out what I need to be doing or in sabotaging my efforts to do the right things regularly in my daily life. I actually came onto the blog today to search the archives to see if Sarah had ever written about any pros or cons to taking B12 shots or any alternatives to taking them.
I am making progress! I must manage to continue and make more! My latest ventures include going off of my meds that I took for my thyroid and for my legs twitching and kicking all night long which kept me from ever getting any quality sleep. These two meds did a lot of good for me and it remains to be seen if I can do without them and do natural things that will correct those issues. My latest ventures also include convincing my family to do GAPS with me and beginning the GAPS introduction diet. I am not sure that the GAPS thing could ever happen completely for me if I had not gotten everyone else on board. I have had some serious issues with brain fog in preparing for it and again in the first 3 days that I was doing it. But since it has the strong possiblity of helping to clear my brain fog and improve or eliminate other ADD symptoms and the like, and since it has the strong possibility of getting my adrenals and thyroid to function properly on their own as well as getting the minerals in my body to get into a proper balance…. Well I am going to do my best! I may be on this thing for 2 years or even more!
I skipped the dr after they told me via blood test that my thyroid was fine. I have started seeing a nutritionist who does muscle testing. The nutritionist told me i have a hyper thyroid, adrenal fatigue, gut dysbiosis, which i went to get help healing my gut because my mom has chrone’s and cholitis, which i do not want that!! She put me on some homeopathics to detox and drain my adrenals and “autonomic nervous system” and probiotics. Am i ever grateful tho. (I also am weaning of grains and sugar to). I have only been on these meds for about 6 weeks and i feel so much more energy, not like i can run a marathon yet, but my house is cleaner :). I sleep better at night so i am not exhausted during the day anymore and i do great on 8 hours of sleep, which i used to get about 11 hours and still felt sleepy during the day. My swelling has gone down and i am fitting much better in my clothes.
Thanks for the kind words and i have just added an addendum at thehealthyhomeeconomist site.
I can’t seem to locate your addendum…..help?
3 posts above yours
Greetings all and thanks for the kind words
A few points.When treating Hashimotos disease be sure to look at all other systems.Since the immune system is attacking the thyroid replacing low hormones does not address the causitive system and over years the does just keeps being raised. Almost all Hashi pts will be gluten sensitive and should completely avoid. Focus strongly on the GI system particularly leaky gut. Optimize Vit d levels.One of the barrier systems of the body has been compromised to start this immune process and imbalance TH1/Th2. For those taking iodine please read the Sri lankan experience of increased auto-immunity during iodine prophylaxis,The eastern black sea region of turkey experience using iodine and creation of auto-immunity and the effect of iodine intake on thyroid diseases in China. Each will detail over years of small corrections of iodine deficiency how auto-immunity was increased.
When I first heard Bronstein I treated all people with high iodine and got great results except the Hashi patients. Most important we are all individuals and have very unique needs.My best results with Hashi patients have been to almost ignore the thyroid and just focus on the healing the rest of the body, immune system , gi sytem and th regulators.
AS a general rule the thyroid responds very well to natural treatments that look at the whole body and much better than just replacing low hormones
I’d like to know if it is ever possible to reverse Hashimoto’s, either partially or completely. I know this is a theoretical question and it is hard to generalize; every case is different. But in theory, can it be reversed, when the gut is healed and the whole body is addressed sufficiently? That would give me more hope and motivation. I am moving toward a Paleo/GAPS diet which I will tweak for my own case. I am sure I have leaky gut and intestinal candida overgrowth. Unfortunately, I don’t have a cooperative doctor.
Yes. I have many patients that are doing well. They know what they must avoid. Gluten is an absolute avoidance regardless of whether its sprouted, fermented or whatever. The rest is individual. Leaky gut and the immune system is key. The goal is to minimize auto-immunity so the immune system does not attack the thyroid. It takes 6 months to a year. Paleo gaps will really help. Look at cyrexlabs.com for more info
Thank you so much for the information, Dr. Frank. I’ll check out Cyrexlabs. Any additional links that you feel are helpful would be appreciated. Do you feel that a Paleo/GAPS type diet would be optimum for everyone with Hashimoto’s, or should diet be adjusted for each individual? Is a Paleo/GAPS diet restrictive enough that it eliminates all the likely sensitivities, so that I don’t have to discover my individual triggers? My problem is that I don’t have a health professional to work with at this point.
Although I recommend StopTheThyroidMadness.com as a good source of information on most thyroid issues, they don’t discuss how to reverse autoimmune thyroid conditions much, if at all. That site fills in the gaps that exist when dealing with most doctors.
But it doesn’t go to the next step, which is to heal the underlying conditions that cause the autoimmune reaction. I’m grateful that you have shared that idea with us.
Gaps/paleo is wonderful as the focus should be to heal the gut lining where most of the immune dysfunction occurs. Thyroid is just the victim. Everyone i have tested gluten is positive. Casein 50/50. I have people stop it for 4-8 weeks then eat it for several days and notice what they feel, if reactions avoid for 6 months. Never used commercial dairy, only pastured raw. Test or supplement vit d to get levels to 50 in blood. Don’t worry about antibodies once positive they will change like the wind no matter what you do and have zero significance. best book is “Why do I have thyroid symptoms even though my lab work is normal” Datis Kharrizian.
Ok, this has given me the encouragement to continue to pursue the paleo/gaps. I am more or less doing full gaps right now. I am ordering the gut and psychology book today, so I am only going off of ideas and blogs I am finding on the Internet. Can’t seem to find the book up here. I have not been eating gluten grains for a few weeks and I have gone off pastured dairy. Good days and bad. I am going to work towards doing the intro after our Canadian thanksgiving. Too much going on in the next two weeks.
I am very thankful that I have access to the pastured foods. I have actually been getting them for the last 20 years. The thing is my source seems to be running low lately. I am wondering if more and more people are getting drawn to the paleo.
But I got sidetracked with all raw. And I did not really know about bone broths. I have just started the raw liver with tomato juice 2 days ago. So very, very thankful for this article and finding blogs like this.
Dr. Frank, this additional information is great! Thank you so much. I’m inspired now to keep making changes towards GAPS. I’m lucky to have several small farms nearby with pastured animals, no pesticides, etc. The eggs I buy are from chickens on rotated pasture and are fed a locally-milled, all-organic feed with a minimum of soy.
But I wonder: I know of someone who was very sick and discovered she reacted to meat or eggs from animals who ate grain or soy. I think that was true even if the feed was organic, but i will check with her on that. She can’t eat chicken at all, since virtually all farms feed some grain or soy to chickens. She would have to raise her own and feed them a more species-appropriate diet. She eats a lot of pastured beef instead. I think some people can only eat meat or eggs if the animals ate no grain or soy at all.
I am currently recovering from adrenal fatigue and I have issues with breathing. I find myself NOT breathing all the time! I am constantly catching myself breathing very shallow or not breathing at all. It’s the weirdest thing. I have to be very intentional about breathing. Great article.
I was diagnosed with Adrenal insufficiency 2 yrs ago by symptoms and the blood pressure test both my blood sugar and pressure drops when I sit and stood up, you can only do so much with out insurance. I have completely changed the way and what I eat, got off ADR and many other supplements my NMD gave me, yet I am still taking progestrone and thyroid natural supplements to scared to stop…I wish I could actually speak to Sarah
Iodine supplementation does not always make Hashi’s worse! Many people are fixing Hashi’s with iodine and co factors supplementation. Just go see the discussions on the iodine4health yahoo group. Better yet, read Dr. Brownstein’s book, “Iodine, why you need and and why you can’t live without it.”
One thing I’ve noticed from reading a few books on thyroid, reading the StopTheThyroidMadness.com site and joining a few Yahoo groups on natural thyroid meds, is that one treatment does not fit all. Some people have had Hashi’s made worse with iodine, and others have benefitted. I think it’s important to research the subject, especially paying attention to patient groups, so you know that you may have to experiment a little to find the right approach for yourself. It helps to have a doctor who knows the subject and is cooperative. I have not had one so I’m trying to find my way.
Sarah – Sometimes I feel that you read my mind before write/post on your blog! Thank you so much for keeping this blog healthy and vibrant. It has changed my life in so many good ways! 🙂