"Is Alcohol Bad For Thyroid Health?"
ISSUE 114, 3rd November 2022

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Intro -

Welcome to all members of our thyroid family, new and old. That's over 8,000 of you receiving this issue! It's lovely to have you here and a part of our thyroid family. 🤗

I hope you'll find this issue inspiring, reassuring and useful in your own thyroid journey. My aim is to share the information you need to live well with hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's!

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Thursday Thoughts

Do you drink as a thyroid patient?

Perhaps you’re having a drink this weekend as part of socialising. 🍷

It seems that a lot of people with thyroid conditions feel an increase in thyroid symptoms after drinking alcohol. Alcohol sensitivity can be the reason, as could a sluggish liver, alcohol lowering thyroid hormone levels, raising oestrogen (which can affect thyroid function), affecting the adrenal glands and more.

As a result of all this, when you consume alcohol and also have hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s, you may feel extra hypothyroid the next day and even take several days to recover from it, feeling extra tired and achy. For me, alcohol always caused thyroid flare ups. Even just the one drink!

As always, we’re all so different and there are some thyroid patients who don’t report alcohol causing them extra issues at all. Or others find it makes them feel unwell but to them it feels worth it. So listen to your body and see what it’s telling you in your case. 🙂

I eventually decided to give up alcohol in 2019. It didn’t seem to be worth the flare up days or extra thyroid symptoms for me!

​Removing alcohol was a major piece of my thyroid jigsaw puzzles - going alcohol-free reduced my thyroid flare days, fatigue, migraines AND helped me get my Hashi’s in to remission.​

What’s your experience with alcohol?

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Thursday Health Check-in

I am going to retest my vitamin levels again soon, to check where I am with certain supplements.

I've had two thyroid flare days in the last two weeks. Mostly caused by poor sleep and having a cold. My baby caught a nasty cold which developed in to Croup, and landed him in hospital with breathing difficulties. He's fine now thankfully, but it has taken a toll on my health lately.

My ankle is doing much better! So I'm hoping to be back in to regular walking and yoga soon too!

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Outro -

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​This newsletter issue is titled "Is Alcohol Bad For Thyroid Health?", however, it also includes other useful thyroid information, news, articles, discounts, tips, advice, and links to popular thyroid social media posts from the last fortnight. Enjoy reading!

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Rachel Hill
The Invisible Hypothyroidism

Follow Rachel on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest​

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Sponsor a future issue of this newsletter and share your services, product or company with over 8,000 readers. 😊

Interested? Find out more here.​

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• ​I received my Social Health Award!!​

• !st November was National Author's Day! Amazon have both my books on sale. You can view them here and here.​
• My LetsGetChecked discount code has changed from 20% off to 25% off. The code to use is now: INVISIBLE25.

"Current Diagnosis and Treatment of Hypothyroidism are Both Fundamentally Flawed"

Paul Robinson, thyroid patient advocate, has written an article breaking down a recently released paper. It says:

"The paper points out several major FLAWS in current diagnosis and treatment...

1. A subnormal assessment of free T4 (FT4) serves to establish a diagnosis of hypothyroidism. Also, TSH is exquisitely sensitive to minor changes in FT4, leading to the adoption of TSH as “the single best screening test for primary thyroid dysfunction for the vast majority of outpatient clinical situations.”

2. T4 is converted to T3 as needed, leading to treatment being changed to levothyroxine (T4) only.

3. TSH within its reference range represents euthyroidism (normal), leading to the treatment dosage of T4 being adjusted to return TSH within its normal range."

​Read it in full here.

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The Thyroid Poetry Cafe

Join Anthony R Salandy and friends, on Sunday 6th November at 6pm for this special online thyroid café which focuses on poetry inspired by thyroid conditions.​ Read Anthony’s blog post on The Thyroid Trust's website for more information of what to expect.

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Breastfeeding With Hypothyroidism

Does hypothyroidism prevent us from being able to breastfeed?

​Read this article here.​

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4 Tips for Avoiding Self-Advocacy Overwhelm

When I was first diagnosed with autoimmune hypothyroidism in the summer of 2015, my head was spinning. I didn’t know what this diagnosis meant, what my thyroid medication was for exactly, and what to do about my thyroid medication seemingly not helping.

I would search forums, online support groups and websites for information, leading me down rabbit holes which quickly became overwhelming.

Countless 'thyroid books' were recommended and I began diving in to them, but soon found that I was feeling confused about the conflicting information and my stress levels and anxiety increased as a result.

​Read this article here.​

This recent post from The Invisible Hypothyroidism's Instagram page was very popular:

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The caption says:

"My TSH may have ‘only’ been a 9 on a ‘normal’ scale of 1 to 4, but that ‘borderline result’ still existed alongside a dramatically reduced quality of life."

​Click here to see the full Instagram post.

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✨ Other Popular Instagram Posts These Past Two Weeks ✨

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🦋 Your body whispers before it screams​

💊 I'm taking so many tablets I'm starting to rattle​

🍺 Alcohol and thyroid health​

❗Removing Toxic People​

❗If only the bags under my eyes were full of money​

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🎬 Latest Instagram Reels 🎬

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💙 My Thyroid Story​

✊ What is a thyroid flare?​

💊 Don't take your thyroid meds before a test​

👩‍🍼 Hypo and Breastfeeding​

💊 I don't want to take thyroid meds​

🥱 No motivation to exercise​

🥱 It's hard to rest as a thyroid mama​

🥱 I need to go bed earlier​

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Are Thyroid Patients More Prone to Getting Sick?

Does having an underactive thyroid or hypothyroidism reduce your immune function? In other words – do we get sick more easily than others?

Let’s look at why this may be so and what we can do to try and prevent getting sick so often.

​Read my article on this here.​

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This is where I share my favourite thyroid health supporting tools and resources each fortnight. 😊

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Book: Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating​

I personally hate being bombarded with weight loss solutions as a thyroid patient. Especially since this sent me in to an eating disorder 5 years ago. This book was a very insightful read in to diet culture and how to go back to eating intuitively.

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Podcast Episode: Eat These Foods To Improve Your Mental Health by Dr Rangan Chatterjee​

We know that poor diet can affect our physical health, but it can negatively affect our mental health too.

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Recipe: Easy Ramen Recipe by Antoni Porowski​

This recipe is naturally gluten and dairy free (as well as others) and is so wholesome, with a lovely, nourishing broth and meat and vegetables to boot. It's perfect for the cooler months too. It's in the cookbook I've linked above.

Read more on my approach to diet / dietary changes with thyroid disease here.

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Test: Advanced Thyroid Function Blood Test​

I'm going to retest my thyroid and vitamin levels again soon, using this Medichecks test, as I've been on a higher dose of iron supplement for a while and I want to check where that is, as well as how my Vitamin D is doing. It's so important to keep reviewing whether you need any vitamin supplements you are taking.

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Self-Care Nugget: Unfollow social media accounts that are not helpful

You know the ones... they make you feel triggered, negative or are just all round unhelpful to you right now. Around this time of year, I find myself unfollowing the accounts that bang on about weight loss. Read why here.

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Others:

• My skin is looking the best it has in years, following years of severe, cystic acne. I still think my acne issues have been a combo of internal, hormonal health as well as how I@m looking after my skin on the outside. Right now, I'm still loving this serum as part of my skincare routine.

Reasons to upgrade to the ⭐ Premium ⭐ Thyroid Family Newsletter:

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• You'll receive exclusive thyroid health content.
• You'll actually understand your thyroid condition and what things you can do to reduce symptoms.
• You'll feel supported in managing your thyroid condition.
• You'll receive easy to implement tips and suggestions.

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If you already find this FREE newsletter helpful, the premium newsletter gives you even more.

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Sound good? Come join us!

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That's all for this issue of The Free Thyroid Family Newsletter, but as always, you can find more information and support...

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⭐ In The Premium Newsletter​

⭐ In my website articles​

⭐ In my book: Be Your Own Thyroid Advocate​

⭐ In my book: You, Me and Hypothyroidism​

⭐ In the 'Thyroid Family' Facebook Support Group​

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You can also follow on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest​

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If there’s anything you'd like to see in a future issue, let me know. Keep an eye out for the next issue in two weeks' time!

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Be your own thyroid advocate. 🦋

Rachel Hill
The Invisible Hypothyroidism

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Please Note: None of the statements in this publication should be taken as an official endorsement of any particular product, including any sponsored content. I strongly suggest consulting your doctor before making any changes to your lifestyle or health regimen. The information included in this publication is not meant to substitute the clinical guidance provided by a healthcare professional. Rachel Hill / The Invisible Hypothyroidism is not medically qualified and does not offer medical advice. Read the full disclaimer here. By reading this newsletter, you agree to understanding this information.

This newsletter may also contain affiliate links where I earn a small commission if you purchase through it. This does not change the way I work or the products I link to, and it doesn’t change your user experience. To find out more information, please read my disclosure statement. For example, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Copyright © 2022 The Invisible Hypothyroidism. All rights reserved.

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