Many women experience chronic fatigue, cold hands and feet, inability to lose weight and many other symptoms that may indicate low thyroid. In some cases, lab tests come back with values within the acceptable range and these women are left do deal with or accept these uncomfortable symptoms.
If you have been experiencing some of the following, your thyroid may not be functioning optimally:
- Fatigue, lack of energy
- Dry, rough or scaly skin
- Coarse, brittle or thinning hair
- Feeling cold and chilly at normal room temperature
- Decreased perspiration even in hot weather and during heavy exercise
- Chronic constipation
- Difficulty losing weight despite dietary changes and exercise
- Depression
- Muscle weakness
Regulation of our body temperature is one of the many functions of the thyroid gland. Basal Body Temperature measurements can help evaluate thyroid function even when standard tests do not indicate hypothyroidism or low functioning thyroid.
Better Living in Toronto carries mercury-free hypothyroid oral body temperature thermometers that are non-toxic in the case they break. The thermometer uses galliston as a replacement for mercury for safety reasons and large print for ease of reading.
Follow the instructions below to measure your basal body temperature correctly:
- Shake down the thermometer to 96 degrees or less and leave it on your night table so that it is easy to reach without having to get out of bed.
- First thing upon waking, take your temperature by holding the thermometer under the tongue with the mouth closed for 3-4 minutes. While taking the temperature, keep movement to a minimum, with no talking.
- This process needs to be repeated for 4 consecutive days and the average temperature is used to determine thyroid function.
Premenopausal women should start this process on the second day of their menstrual cycle while men and postmenopausal women can perform this test at any time. Avoid taking this test if you have an infection or any other condition that may result in elevated body temperature. The normal temperature is between 97.2-98.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 36.2 – 37.0 degrees Celsius. Readings below 97.2F or 36.2C may indicate hypothyroidism.
Our knowledgeable staff at Better Living in Toronto are available to answer your questions at info@betterliving.co or 416-249-1895.
