Is there a connection between thyroid health and infertility/miscarriage? According to a UK study published June 2020 in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 1 in 5 women, out of the 19,000 women surveyed, who struggled with miscarriage or conceiving, also had mild thyroid problems.
But what is the actual connection? Why is this so? And what can you do about it? The connection has to do with estrogen dominance and your gut bacteria known as microflora.
Many common symptoms such as menstrual cramps, heavy bleeding, and irregular periods, are the result of having too much estrogen and too little progesterone. This is commonly referred to as estrogen dominance. Women need progesterone to maintain a healthy pregnancy, so if your progesterone is always low compared to estrogen, you may be conceiving, but then having chemical pregnancies and/or miscarriages.
If you have healthy microflora in your gut, you will not have estrogen dominance. This is because the flora, aka “good bacteria”, help your estrogen remain deactivated and released into the bile, to be eliminated through your digestive tract.
If, on the other hand, you have unhealthy bacteria, fungi such as Candida, parasites, or viruses in your digestive tract, the estrogen gets reactivated and builds up in your body.
When your estrogen is high and progesterone is low, your liver then produces more of a protein called thyroid binding globulin (TBG). The TBG gets released into the blood and binds thyroid hormones before they can get into your cells. This inability to get to your cells will cause common hypothyroid symptoms, even though your lab values may be considered normal. Symptoms include hair loss, constipation, fatigue, and weight gain, among others.
So what if you have hypothyroid and/or estrogen dominance symptoms? What can you do? One thing to do is to start taking probiotics, if you are not already. These supplements contain microflora to help alleviate this problem. If you are already taking probiotics and still struggling, you may need to figure out what exactly is going on in your gut. A comprehensive stool analysis may be just what you need.
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation here to see if this may be the key to unlock your fertility!
