Thyroid and energy
Thyroid evaluation and treatment in Lafayette, Indiana — past TSH, into the numbers that actually explain the symptoms.
The standard thyroid screen is a single number: TSH. It is a pituitary hormone, not a thyroid hormone, and it is a useful screen. It is not a complete evaluation.
A patient can have a TSH squarely inside the reference range and still have low free T3, elevated reverse T3, or thyroid antibodies indicating Hashimoto's well before the TSH ever moves. That patient is tired, cold, gaining weight and losing hair, and has been told their thyroid is fine.
We run the full panel. It is not exotic and it is not expensive — it is just not routinely ordered.
Dr. Turner has written about each of these — his own pages, restored from the practice's earlier site.
There are many factors that exhaust your energy supply. I’ve had good luck with...
Learn moreAs we age our sleep naturally deteriorates. But this doesn’t mean there’s nothing you...
Learn moreHave you wondered if your metabolism is slow…… Now you can find out how...
Learn moreIn mainstream medicine we use a TSH blood test to decide whether or not...
Learn moreHashimoto’s is associated with low vitamin D levels.
Learn moreWhy it is done this way
A patient can have a TSH squarely inside the range and still have a thyroid problem worth treating.
TSH is a pituitary hormone. It is a useful screen and a poor complete picture. Free T3, free T4, reverse T3 and thyroid antibodies are what show low active hormone, poor conversion, or Hashimoto's years before the screen moves.
None of it is exotic or expensive. It is simply not routinely ordered.
The screen — a starting point, not a conclusion.
The actual circulating hormone, and the active form your cells use.
Elevated under stress and illness, and it blocks the active hormone.
TPO and thyroglobulin antibodies identify Hashimoto's years before the TSH shifts.
The raw material and the cofactor. Dr. Turner has written extensively on both.
Learn moreBecause "thyroid fatigue" is very often iron or B12 deficiency wearing a thyroid costume.
How it works
Functional medicine is not a different set of drugs. It is a different order of operations: measure first, then treat what the measurements actually show.
Step 1
We take a full history — symptoms, timeline, diet, sleep, stress, medications, family history. Most patients have never been asked these questions in one sitting. This is where the pattern usually shows up.
Step 2
A normal thyroid panel is often just TSH. A normal hormone panel is often nothing at all. We test the full picture — thyroid antibodies, free hormones, nutrient status, inflammatory and metabolic markers — so the treatment plan has something real underneath it.
Step 3
You get your results explained, not filed. What is out of range, what it means, what we are going to do about it, and what should change and by when.
Step 4
We re-measure. If the numbers moved and you feel better, we hold. If they did not, we change the plan. Treating on symptoms alone is how people end up on therapy they do not need.
If none of that sounds like you, call anyway — we will tell you honestly whether this is the right service.
The office is open Monday to Thursday. Send this and someone will call you back — a sentence about what is going on is enough.
If you have only ever had a TSH, you have not had a thyroid workup.
