Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to the hormone hub, your go-to source for the conversations every woman in her forties and fifties needs to have. I’m your host, Kylie Pinwill, your nutritionist helping you navigate your way through perimenopause, menopause and beyond. So you can say goodbye to the endless fatigue, unexplained weight gain, hot flushes, PMS, mood changes, and more that come on this hormonal roller coaster. If you missed the memo or think this is only for women of a certain age ladies, it’s time to think again. Now sit back, relax and enjoy the show. Don’t forget to hit subscribe so you don’t miss any of my latest episodes, which are released every week. Share it with your friends, your sweaty sisters.

The more we talk, the more we help each other.

Kylie: Hello everyone. And welcome back to the hormone hub. And today I’m so excited to introduce one of my dear friends, Missy Beavers from [00:01:00] thyroid solutions for busy women. Now, Missy and I have known each other for a few years now. And, you know, we have quite a lot in common. We’ve had quite a lot of fun over the years.

To the point where not that you can see this on the podcast, but today we’ve turned up and we are pretty much wearing the same outfit. 

Missy: We are matching. We are twins. 

Kylie: So welcome Missy, it’s great to have you here. 

Missy: Thank you. It’s so fun to be here and welcome and hello to all of my new friends. So happy to have, so happy to be here.

Kylie: So Missy, tell us a little bit, where are you from? And yeah. Tell us a bit about your business. 

Missy: Yes. So I’m in Northern California in the Sunnyland. I just discovered it is winter. We’re opposite. We’re winter here. And you are summer, right? 

Kylie: Correct. 

Missy: Yeah. We were getting that all mixed up. So yes, I live in Northern California and I work in thyroid health. It’s been the whole passion and drive of my entire, my entire life, my driving force in my, in my life. So do you want to hear that story? [00:02:00] 

Kylie: Oh, yes. I think, you know, for anyone sort of, who’s curious about thyroid and generally I think it comes into women’s awareness, you know, the word thyroid, because it’s certainly not something that we’re taught about much in school, in biology or anything like that.

So, it’s not until we find out that we might have a thyroid issue that we’re even aware of what a thyroid is. So maybe why don’t we start with what the thyroid is and what it does.

Missy: I love that because you’re so right. We all have, you know, we all have our unique journeys and things that we learn about along the way, because they apply to us.

And in my specific journey the thyroid has been part of every moment of my life. So of course it’s like, doesn’t everyone know what a thyroid is? But no, you’re right. We don’t know about things until we have to know. But the thing about the thyroid that boggles me and I share this all the time and Kylie you’ve probably heard me say this because it’s my favorite, favorite piece of data ever.

It’s this, [00:03:00] every single cell in the whole body has a thyroid receptor on it, every single cell. So that little gland in our neck, it sits right here below the Adam’s apple. It should only be as thick as about two to three credit card stacked together. So it is itsy bitsy. It is so, she is slim and sleek, sits there in your neck, but she controls every single cell in your whole body.

And we don’t talk about her. We don’t, we don’t talk about Bruno. Right? Like we don’t talk about it until it causes a problem. So yeah, the thyroid is a very, very important part. And what boggles my mind, I have a master’s degree in nutrition. So I’m highly into what foods will fuel ourselves. Right. And what fascinates me is not every cell has a protein receptor or a fat receptor or a carbohydrate receptor, but every single cell has a thyroid [00:04:00] receptor, so this gland, yes. She’s very important. Yeah. 

Kylie: Yeah. Yeah. So if things are going wrong with your thyroid or things aren’t working the way they should be, like what, what, like, if you didn’t know that you had a thyroid problem or an issue with your thyroid, what are some things that you might start to notice or start to feel.

Missy: Absolutely. So let’s say that sweet little gland in your neck is not producing hormones very well. Well, you’re going to start to have issues with over 300 things. Things can go wrong, but the main ones, hair loss is big, hair loss will start to occur. Brain fog, you’ll gain weight really easily, and then have a hard time losing weight.

You’ll have cold hands and feet. Cause even down here in our fingertips. Those sweet little cells need thyroid hormone. You can have heart palpitations. You can have dry cracked skin, especially on your heels. That’s a surprising little trigger for thyroid hormone. If you have cracked heels, dry [00:05:00] elbows, all those things.

So what’s happening in that scenario is your cells are screaming. We need more thyroid hormone, we are starving. And so when that happens, your brain in the brain, there’s a gland called the pituitary and it’s watching over all the hormones in the body, like it’s the boss of the hormones. Right? So in that scenario, the brain will go, oh, oh my goodness.

Missy has gained 10 pounds and she’s eating the same diet, or she’s actually eating less now because she’s gaining weight. She’s losing her hair. She’s cold all the time. She needs more thyroid hormone. So the brain will send out a message to the thyroid to make more because we’re having all these symptoms, right?

So that message is called thyroid stimulating hormone. Essentially the brain tells the thyroid to make more. It stimulates the hormone. So TSH is a test that I think most people have heard of or had drawn. Or if you see a doctor [00:06:00] complaining of these symptoms, the doctor will pull the TSH, but that’s not a very helpful test.

Kylie: No, no, not at all. And what we might do, we might circle back to blood tests in a, in a minute. But I think, you know, you’ve probably got a whole bunch of ladies sitting there going, oh yeah, the hair falling out. You know, the, the weight gain definitely is when I hear all about, and the tiredness. 

Missy: Yeah, bone tired. 

Kylie: And it kind of leads into, you know, like if every single cell in your body isn’t firing properly, you know, what’s going on with your digestion. So likely a little slow in that department, too, right. 

Missy: Constipation or, or you may have issues between constipation and diarrhea. But, in my specific field, I look at how the gut impacts the thyroid. So they go both ways. The thyroid impacts the gut, but the gut impacts the thyroid. And so yeah. They [00:07:00] all play into each other.

Kylie: Yeah. Yep. All right. So ladies, so who is sitting there nodding going, oh yeah, maybe it’s a thyroid thing, but before we kind of go down that path, Missy, I would love you to tell us your thyroid story because you know, it’s quite a, I was going to say quite unique. But I actually don’t think that’s the right sort of answer because it’s, you know, it’s probably more common than we think, and it’s just not picked up.

So why, if you wouldn’t mind, we’d love to hear your story. 

Missy: Yeah, I appreciate that because I think that my story does appear unique in the sense that I had a very normal childhood. I was a healthy child, normal weight until I turned seven years old and I started having migraines and they were happening daily.

I was throwing up, I was having issues with my digestive tract, you know, just, those were the main things, losing hair and the doctors [00:08:00] couldn’t figure out what’s going on. So I started gaining weight really, really quickly. And in that year, between seven and eight years old, I gained 50 pounds, which is like a whole other child.

I doubled in size as a child. 

Kylie: So for our Aussies and Kiwis, 20 kilos. 

Missy: 20 kilos, yep 20 kilos in under a year. And so the doctors were testing everything. This was back in the nineties, late eighties, early nineties. And they were thinking it was diabetes or a brain tumor. I had MRIs and cat scans and they thought it was genetic and they were testing all the things under the sun.

And it wasn’t until a year. A year into this unexplainable migraines and weight gain that a doctor thought to check my thyroid. And I’ll never forget that experience. I went to the doctor with my mom and we were sitting there in the room and he came in and he had a really nasally voice. And he said to my mom, “Julie, uh, your daughter has hashimoto’s disease.” And she gasped and she [00:09:00] touched her own neck where she has a scar from collarbone to collarbone where she had her own thyroid removed. So my mom had Hashimoto’s and lost her thyroid because of a massive goitre right after I was born. So to say that to my mom is like predicting a really horrible future for her child.

So that, that memory for me is so augmented with fear and confusion and like not really sure. So he hands my mom a prescription for Synthroid and says, “She’ll take one pill a day for the rest of her life. And this is not reversible. It’s not curable. She’ll never get better.” Okay. So I left, I left the doctor’s office with that programming for the rest of my life.

And that part of my story is not unique. Women, every single day, experience this with their practitioners, where if they even test their thyroid and then if they find a problem, that’s the message they get, they get level thyroxin or [00:10:00] Synthroid. I don’t know if that’s true for you. 

Kylie: Yeah. Yeah. 

Missy: They’re the most commonly prescribed in the world, but they get, you know, a T4 medication like those, and then they’re told that there’s no other solution.

This is the only thing you can do. You’ll never get better, diet doesn’t affect the thyroid. No, sir. You can’t fix this. Right. So I know right. So I left there with that message at eight years old and started taking one pill a day for the rest of my life. Like he had prescribed. The headaches got better, but that’s it.

Uh, I kept gaining weight and by the time I was a senior in high school, I weighed over 275 pounds, which in kilos that’d be about 130. I think something like that. 130, 140. 

Kylie: I can’t even imagine. 

Missy: Right. And so, 

Kylie: All right, ladies, you can’t see Missy, but she’s this gorgeous, beautiful, blonde, it’s very Californian.

Missy: I weigh less now than I did when I was twelve. So it was such a struggle. And what was [00:11:00] frustrating is we were doing all the right things. You know, they were sending me to dietitians and they had me on every diet under the sun, but the scale just kept going up along with my thyroid dose. So after I graduated high school, that’s when I was like, you know what?

The meds aren’t helping, the doctors aren’t helping, I’m going to become a dietician. So I went to college to become a dietician. And, um, this part of the story is so funny. I got obsessed with the food pyramid. What do you have in Australia? 

Kylie: We also have the food pyramid. Used by dietitians not used by me or any of my clients.

Missy: Amen. It’s, I’ve since burned it to the ground, but the food pyramid is a very poor, structured, very poor, poor structured. Uh, what would you call, what I want to structure. It’s a poor structured structure. The focus is on, you know, telling you what quantities of foods to eat and it’s highly focused on refined carbohydrates.

So, anyway, I, I really got into counting [00:12:00] calories and eating as little as possible. And for that first little stint of college, I was drinking lemon water and eating carrot sticks, eating less than 600 calories a day. And then running six miles a day. What was that in kilometres? Oh, yeah. It’s like 10 kilometers.

So yeah, I was doing that and then I lost 80 pounds. Lost it really quickly. Well, my thyroid didn’t get better. Funny isn’t it. So my whole life they’ve been telling me, just lose weight, just lose weight, just lose weight. And then I lost weight. And I was still a miserable mess. I was still having hair loss. I was missing periods.

I was bruising everywhere. My gut was a mess. The headaches had come back and the doctors still couldn’t tell me what was going on. Now the thing that was most frustrating in that time of life is when I’d go to the doctor. Now, they would say, you look so good. Whatever you’re doing just keep doing it. And I would say, [00:13:00] but I don’t feel good.

I have this going on. They would say, doesn’t matter, your weight is healthy. Yeah. So that’s, that’s kind of where I got into holistic nutrition. And then I ended up with a master’s degree in it because I, it was unacceptable to me that the meds weren’t helping and that nobody was helping me understand why. Yes. Yeah.

So in my own story, it’s when I began digging and discovered my gut. I have lots of issues going on in my gut. And specifically for me, there’s a lot of yeast, candida, there was a lot of mold, there was some strep bacteria. All of those things will trigger the immune system. Yes. And then the immune system will attack the thyroid.

Right. And so with my scenario, I never even had a thyroid problem. I had a gut problem that triggered my thyroid. So that’s, that’s what I focus on now. And I help women, everywhere do the same, find, find the root cause of the problem. Calm down the gut. And then what do you know? The thyroid starts [00:14:00] working and after 28 years of needing thyroid meds, I no longer need them.

Kylie: Yeah. That’s amazing. 

Missy: Yeah. It’s been awesome. So it’s been three years, about three years now med free. 

Kylie: Yeah. Fantastic. Yeah. And it’s interesting, like, just to sort of give you my thyroid history, which is like a totally different thing. So we’re, and you know, this is just to share with you ladies. So, you know, you understand that, you know, thyroid issues can kind of like come from so many different causes. So mine was, I was six months pregnant with my second son and I was actually having a facial and I was lying there. And then the beauty therapist said to me, she does, “What’s that lump on your neck?” And I was sort of like, oh, what lump on my neck. And she says, Oh. She goes, it’s the size of a golf ball.

And then it wasn’t until she pointed it out and you know, here I am six months pregnant and then I’ve gone home to my husband. I was like, how come you did not notice this, what what’s going on? And then, you know, I said the same thing [00:15:00] to my mom. I was like, how did you not notice this thing growing in my neck?

And, you know, because I’m pregnant, like things were growing everywhere. Right? And whatever was going on, there was the list. So I mentioned it to my obstetrician when I went to have my checkup and I have never seen that man moves so fast. So he was just like, whoa. Okay. Uh, you know, so he, that day he was on the phone booking me in for an ultrasound and a fine needle biopsy, blood tests, you know, you name it he booked the specialist appointment, you know, and things happened really quickly. So as a result of the, you know, the blood tests were all normal , we’ll get to that in a second. And then the, uh, cells that they got from the fine needle biopsy came back as abnormal.

So they couldn’t tell me if it was [00:16:00] cancer or not. So when you’ve got a woman who’s, you know, quite heavily pregnant with a toddler and she may or may not have cancer, you know? And then they sent me home with that. 

Missy: You just told my mom’s story. That’s identical. You may or may not live. And for her, they said, um, and you’ll probably die after you have this baby.

 It’s like you have two little kids and very similar story. She was pregnant with me at the time. 

Kylie: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, it’s absolutely frightening, you know, and it was, you know, and they wouldn’t do surgery, so they wanted to do surgery straight away, but they decided to wait until the baby was born. And then, yeah, so I was literally booked in a couple of weeks after the baby was due.

So I went in, had my thyroid, and luckily for me, this tumor that was growing was like encapsulated in one half of the thyroid. So when they went in, they realized, you know, and they know pretty much from surgery. One of my [00:17:00] friends, who’s a surgical nurse said, you know, when they do a cancer removal, she said, usually it’s got these big ugly black, some legs coming out of it, but she said, you know, when it comes out clean, she said it’s generally okay. And of course all the pathology came back. It was all clear and it was fine, but it was just, then it was like, oh, well you don’t have cancer. Off you go. Have, have a nice life, have a nice life. And that was it.

And no one really explained to me what the ramifications of having half a thyroid meant. And, you know, and then I crashed in a heap, like life went along. I had a toddler and a newborn. You know, you’re tired. You’re exhausted, your hair is falling out anyway, so how do you know that you’ve got a thyroid issue, right? Yeah.

Luckily my GP at the time was also a family friend. And even though I had been to see him and my blood results had come back normal, my mum [00:18:00] said, pulled him aside and she said, look, she said, something is going on with her. It’s she should be better than she is. You know, she is miserable. She’s crashed. She’s burned. And you know, and again, they come back with, maybe she’s postnatal depression. She’s probably depressed, depressed, and mom’s like, oh yeah, but she’s not though. I know her. She is my daughter, I know who she is, she’s not depressed. Yeah, but look at her, she’s a mess and it was just that no one ever like pinned it back to my thyroid.

And it was only because my mum kept at this guy and I was, I was that, that out of it that, you know, I couldn’t even stand up for myself and go, well, hang on a second. Something’s not right. I was totally in survival mode. 

Missy: I, that resonates with me so deeply because in my own story, but very much the same. So my mom gives birth to me.

They take, uh, they left only a pinky size of her thyroid. So that would be like, what, [00:19:00] 90%. And then put her on meds and send her away, you know, have a nice life. Well the meds didn’t work and then she didn’t work. And so she wasn’t able to get out of bed for eight years. And my aunt actually raised me during that time.

And I mean, I don’t have any memories of my mom before I’m eight because she was so ill and it wasn’t until she finally found some alternative health practitioners that said, well, no, you need thyroid replacement. Like they can’t take your gland out and not give you something that’s going to work and helped her find some meds that worked.

And then of course, balancing hormones as you know, is key. But yeah, very much the same story. And I think the thing that shocks me, Kylie, thank you for sharing that, by the way. I didn’t know that full portion of your story. The thing that shocks me in, in my work now is discovering how unfortunately common, your and my mom’s story is, I work with clients every day who have the same thing.

It’s like, oh, well, It’s like a gallbladder, appendix. Yeah. Know who [00:20:00] needs those? They’re just yeah. Just take it. 

Kylie: Just organs that you’re born with, you know, it’s really no big deal except for the, every cell in your body produces. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. 

This hormone hub episode is sponsored by our free hormone help call. On the call we’ll give you some clarity around what’s causing your symptoms and the three simple steps you can start using straight away. If you’re ready to take the next step and find out how we can help you, we can talk about that too.

So, if you are constantly feeling tired, struggling with weight gain, PMS, mood swings, bloating, not sleeping at night, cravings, anxiety, all the things, we are ready to help. If you’re ready to ditch those sugar cravings, regain your energy and shift that stubborn weight, then let us help you balance your hormones, reset metabolism and get your confidence back so you can live the life you’re [00:21:00] meant to. The link with the details to our hormone help call is in our show notes or over at kyliepinwill.com.

Kylie: All right. So now that we’ve kind of covered a couple of different scenarios of how thyroid things can come about and trust me, there’s probably a hundred more different versions of, you know, what Missy and I have experienced. So if you know, we’ve got a lady sitting there and she’s listening to this and she’s like, oh yeah, that’s sort of sounding, that’s ringing a few bells. If she goes off to her GP, she has the blood tests done and they come back and the GP says to her honey, everything, well, I’m not going to call her honey, but everything’s normal.

Alright, so where does she go from there? 

Missy: Yes. Chances of him calling her the wrong name are, are higher. Oh man. I’ve had so many doctors that it’s just like, you’re just a number [00:22:00] that you’re just there in and out. And it’s like, they’ll call you any name. But anyway, yes, very common to have a TSH drawn and then be told that it’s normal.

And the reasons for that. And you’ll have to tell me if this is true for you or not, but in the US,, the TSH range is from 0.5 to five, as you’re as huge like that? 

Kylie: It’s huge. The range is ridiculous. 

Missy: The range is huge and the way that they made that range, we have to understand this. It gets me so worked up.

They had people who were experiencing thyroid issues. As we said, they’re gaining weight, they’re depressed. They’re having anxiety, their hair’s falling out, they have digestive upset. So those people came in for lab work and they said, all right, let’s check the TSH of these people. And what they found is the people that are sick, the people who already have thyroid issues have numbers in this range.

And so that’s how they set the thyroid range. They set up based on people who already have symptoms. 

Kylie: Generally when you’re healthy and well, you don’t go to your GP. 

Missy: You [00:23:00] don’t get labs. Yeah. We don’t see the healthy people for numbers. Therefore let’s set the numbers on the sick people. So what we know now from better research is people that are symptom free and have healthy functioning thyroid glands.

They’re usually below one on TSH. So really. Maybe to 1.5 0.5 to 1.5, that’s a healthy range, but this range that they’re allowing goes up to five. So what I see with my clients frequently is women will have numbers as high as 4.99, and they’ll go and see the doctor most commonly it’s above three though.

I see women they’re anywhere from three to 4.99. They’ll go to the doctor and the doctor will say, it’s within range. It’s normal. Everything’s fine. And then they send you off. 

Kylie: Oh yeah. With the caveat. Oh, let’s just wait and see. 

Missy: Uh huh. Let’s wait and see. Or our favorite, this is just getting older. You’re just getting older.

It’s normal to have these symptoms. Why don’t you eat less and exercise more? [00:24:00] Yes, yes. Just lose some weight. 

Kylie: Oh, you, you should take a holiday. Yeah. It’s one of my clients got that the other day and she was like, well, we’ve had our borders closed. I’ve been locked in my house. I can’t actually take a holiday right now.

Missy: Yeah, exactly. Can’t do that. And there’s something wrong. So yes, that happens, I think, daily.. And I mean, if there’s probably a stat, it would probably be like every 10 minutes a woman has told her TSH is fine. Right. And it’s not. And so I’m a big fan of requesting deeper testing and what we’re looking for there, you know, to go back to the thyroid.

So the brain sends that TSH to the thyroid. So that test is only asking the question, is your brain telling your thyroid to function. It hasn’t actually told us anything about how your thyroid is functioning. It’s just answering if your brain is telling you that. So the brain tells the thyroid to make thyroid hormone in a healthy functioning thyroid, in those who have a [00:25:00] full thyroid Kylie, you’ve got half of this function.

That message then will stimulate the thyroid to make T4. And I’m holding up four fingers if you’re, if you’re listening. So it looks like four iodines stuck to a protein. So now I have my fist in the front. It’s the Turkey, I’m making a Turkey. So we’ve got these four, iodines stuck to a protein. That’s T4 now, why do I care?

Why do you care? Why should you care? Well, because that T4 that you just made a ton of in your thyroid gland, it can’t be used by the cells. So. As we were talking, the cells have a receptor for T3, so that T4 has to go in to your gut and liver and it gets converted into T3. That’s what your cells can use.

Now, most women are broken at that T4 to T3 conversion, which is why you can have a normal TSH. You may even have a quote unquote, normal T4, but your T3 levels will be [00:26:00] non-existent because you’re not converting the hormones. And even for, for women like you, Kylie, it’s very, very, very common to have your thyroid removed and then be put on a T4 medication like thyroxin or Synthroid, which still is not converting.

So you’re taking T4 meds and you don’t feel any better because you’re not converting it in your gut and liver to the usable form. 

Kylie: Absolutely. It’s the active form of T3 ladies. That’s the one we want to be looking at. 

Missy: Yeah. That one gets the fanfare and the cheers and the jazz hands. 

Kylie: Absolutely.

Because that means because it’s active in all of your cells, it means it’s doing something. Yes. Your, your TSH, your T4, you know, they’re not making you feel better, but your T3. That’s the one that’s active in all of your cells. So that’s the one we want to be looking at. 

Missy: Right. And that test, sometimes it’s like pulling teeth to ask your doctor for it.

It’s most doctors are very resistant and they’ll say, well, your TSH is fine. There’s no reason we need to do that. And. It’s [00:27:00] you really have to be an advocate for your own health and be proactive and asking for the right testing. 

Kylie: Absolutely. Absolutely. And then let’s touch a bit on thyroid antibodies. So when we, when we’re talking, uh, thyroid or autoimmune conditions, we’re talking about Hashimotos, which Missy was diagnosed.

And then we also have graves’ disease, which is, sort of like the flip side and often I get women sort of saying, oh, if I get thyroid disease, I’d want the one that makes me skinny. But unfortunately it’s not that much fun either. It doesn’t work that way and it can flip both ways. I mean, you can gain weight on graves too.

So, and flip I’ve had clients flip between the two. 

Missy: Yep. You can have both as well. And even in my career, there’s times when I had hyperthyroid and it is not pleasant, it’s tweaking. It’s like being on meth. 

Kylie: Yes. Yeah. So, because everything’s in overdrive. So with Hashimotos everything slows down and then with graves, everything speeds [00:28:00] up.

So that includes your heart, heart rate, anxiety. 

Missy: Your brain, your thoughts, everything. It’s, it’s complete chaos. It’s not somewhere that I, yeah, I wish people to be, but yes, the antibodies, they’re again, they’re not a test that’s commonly drawn and one that you have to really advocate for, but the antibodies are evidence that your immune system is attacking your thyroid and, or it can impact your TSH and your brain.

So it’s just evidence that your immune system is creating the issue. But the thing that I like to share, that’s really important. You know, we talk about the immune system. Like everyone knows we have an immune system. We all know where it is, but like, or what it is, but where, where is it? Where’s, where’s my immune system.

I mean, we know where our heart is and our brain, where, where is it? It’s just everywhere, right? Isn’t it everywhere? 

Kylie: It’s hiding in there with inflammation, right? 

Missy: It’s somewhere. So the thing that boggles my [00:29:00] mind with the immune system is that 80% of it is sitting in the gut. So what we know now, I went to a gut conference.

This was probably like five years ago. And, the dude stood up and he was like, all right, we have our new research. And we’ve just discovered that all auto-immune conditions. So a hundred percent, all of them start in the gut and he says, how do we know that? Well, because 80% of the, the, immune it’s called a lymph tissue that produces immune cells it’s in the gut.

So he says, so if you’re not producing immune cells correctly, then there’s something in the gut that triggered that. And that is the truth for all immune conditions. So that’s actually where my, my healing journey really skyrocketed because I had, at that point, I hadn’t even looked at my gut. I was doing all of the other things, you know, taking the iodine and doing the detoxes and all the things.

Kylie: Yeah. Yeah. Then quite often, you know, medications that we’re put on, you know, that can wipe out those [00:30:00] immune cells in the gut too. 

Missy: Amen and it can ruin the flora and it can create issues with overgrowths of bad things that create these antibodies to flare. So, so yes, I’m all about the gut and calming the gut town so that the thyroid can function.

Kylie: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And you know, and I also think, I mean, we could talk for hours on this, but this is where, you know, looking after your liver as well. Oh yeah. You know, just getting that, I guess sort of, if we step back, you know, I look at women’s hormones, we’re looking at blood sugar, we’re looking at thyroid, we’re looking at, you know, as well as our, our sex hormones.

And you know, we need that liver to convert that thyroid from that inactive form to your active form, we need it to regulate your blood sugar, you know, clear your hormones. So, yeah, so that gut and liver. I think we’re very quick to jump on a diet to lose weight, but really if we dig a little bit deeper and create a healthy functioning gut and a healthy [00:31:00] functioning liver, you know, we’re halfway there.

Missy: I agree. And I think the mistake that I made, and a lot of practitioners make is we separate the gut and the liver. And we pretend that we can just, we can just work on the liver or we can just work on the gut and we cannot, and especially with hormones. You know, let’s talk about estrogen specifically, because that is such a key player in thyroid function.

But with estrogen specifically, you know, if you have imbalances in your gut, and this is something that I was struggling with, you know, with yeast or with mold or bacteria, parasites, you know, we could go on for days with the list, but, and this is why testing is important. So you can uncover what it actually is.

But, um, those little infections will cause you to recycle your estrogen. So in a, in a healthy situation, your estrogen is removed to your liver. The liver pushes it out into bile. The bile goes into your gut helps you digest, and then you poop it out. Right? Great. We’re healthy. Our hormones are [00:32:00] balanced or thyroid works.

Everything’s amazing. But in my case, and in a lot of women like me and women with thyroid issues too, you know, the liver might recycle it to the bile, but once that gets in the gut, those nasty little infections will just pull it back out. Let’s use it again. Yeah, let’s raise those levels. 

Kylie: Yeah, because that’s the thing, like if our body has made the estrogen, then our body has made, you know, cholesterol, is another one, you know, our bodies made it.

So, you know, it doesn’t see it as a threat. So it decides that, you know, I’ll get rid of the things that I really need to get rid of like all your toxins, but, you know, we’ll just recycle the other stuff because it’s not going to kill us. 

Missy: Well, and with I’m happy, you said cholesterol too. Cause that’s, that’s another really sneaky, sneaky sign your thyroid’s not working. And one that doctors don’t know, because they assume the cholesterol is a problem, but if you don’t have enough T3, T3 is responsible for clearing cholesterol out of [00:33:00] the blood after it’s been used. So it won’t get cleared, it won’t get to the liver. And then the liver sends a message to make more.

And that is a T3 issue. So you’ll go to the doctor and what they will say is, oh, no, now we’ve got this high cholesterol. Here’s a statin, and statins, one of the greatest things statins do is they lower thyroid function. So here we are in the same silly cycle. Right? We just, yeah. 

Kylie: We can talk about this all day.

Missy: Right. 

Kylie: All right. So Missy, just one sort of, I think we’ve sort of, you know, like, I really hope that our ladies listening kind of understand now, you know how your thyroid works, why it’s important, what the signs are that we need to look at. What we need to sort of be, be looking for our doctors. And I know here in Australia and New Zealand, and I don’t know if it’s the same in the states, Missy, if your doctor won’t do those [00:34:00] extra thyroid tests, we can order them privately.

So natural health practitioners can order the testing for you. Um, and we can get, just get those tests done. And I have done this with so many women, like when I’ve suspected that there’s thyroid issues going on, I’ve suspected possible auto immune. We’ve just gone and got the tests done, and then they can take those test results to their GP.

Missy: Absolutely. And, you know, in the states, it’s, it’s the same, you can order testing outside of a doctor’s office. The only hang up though is exactly what you just said. Like I have these test results and I can see there’s a problem, but what do I do now? And in the states, those tests are often poo-pooed, you know, if you take that to your doctor, then they’re like, who ordered these?

And who’s your doctor. But it’s okay. Because oftentimes at least in my experience with clients they’ll reorder them. Great. 

Kylie: Well, the beautiful, beautiful thing about the testing done here in Australia is people actually go to the same labs. So it’s on the same letterhead.[00:35:00] 

So the doctor can’t argue with what’s sitting in front of them because it’s come from the same lab that they would use. 

Missy: Well, that’s straight up brilliant. I love that. I’ve had this experience myself where I’ve taken labs, you know, just from an at-home kit thing. And I’ve actually had a doctor say to me, where did you get these, these aren’t viable?

And it’s like, well, I didn’t run them in my garage. Like, where do you think I got them. 

Kylie: Uh, absolutely. So, you know, if you, what I’m trying to say here is if you want the test done, we can absolutely organize those tests for you. That’s no problem. 

Missy: And I highly encourage that if you suspect that’s going on, information is always the best thing to make decisions because otherwise you’re just guessing.

Kylie: A hundred percent and that’s it, you know, like you hear stories of women going, you know, up to 10 years before they get a diagnosis of what’s going on with their thyroid. So lady, life is too short to put up with feeling [00:36:00] less than amazing. So get yourself tested, get some help. You know, or actually on that, Missy, what’s the best way for people to find you.

Missy: Yeah. So I have at the Facebook group, it’s called thyroid solutions for busy women. You can find me there. 

Kylie: I’ll put all the links in the show notes. 

Missy: Yes. Please find me there. Join us over there. That would be great. And then on Instagram, under Missy Beavers Coaching. Fabulous. Oh and my website, let me say that really quick, it’s www.missybeaverscoaching.com. 

Kylie: Yep. So Missy beavers coaching.com and I’ll put all the links to that in the show notes. And I know Missy runs some great masterclasses, bootcamps. So, you know, there’s lots of really great information going on in her Facebook group. So make sure. 

Missy: It’s fun and games, come join us.

Kylie: Yeah, well, Missy, it’s been fabulous having you today. Thank you so much for joining us. You’ve shared some really [00:37:00] valuable information with us and I love the way you explained how the thyroid works. So I think that’s going to be really helpful for a lot of women who are listening. 

Missy: Yes, I hope so. And if you still have questions pop over to the group, post your questions.

I am a self-proclaimed gut and thyroid nerd. So. I will answer them. I love this. And Kylie, thank you for the work you’re doing too, because I mean, we’re sisters in this, like you said, it’s, it’s all just a gut and liver show trying to get our hormones balanced. 

Kylie: Yeah. Everything is connected. Everything is linked.

So if your hormones are out and lady’s going through perimenopause, like even if you don’t have a diagnosable thyroid issue, your thyroid is 100% affected by perimenopause. 

Missy: Oh, absolutely. And for me, you know, I talk about the OAT axis frequently and that’s the ovaries, the adrenals and the thyroid. So they’re like a triangle.

If you hold up your hands, you’ve got ovaries, adrenals, thyroid. When one of them isn’t [00:38:00] functioning, the other two are going to be a mess. So with perimenopause, once your, your ovaries, you know, stop playing the game. You better just plan on your thyroid and adrenals, you know, pooping out too, exactly.

Kylie: So we haven’t even touched on stress today, but yeah, that’s a whole other episode. 

Missy: Oh, we didn’t even start stress. That’s a, yeah, that’s a series of episodes, but exactly. So that’s why with perimenopause, the thyroid, I mean, almost guaranteed. The thyroid is going to show up as, as, as something, but it’s not, we don’t need to go after the thyroid is the point, like adding thyroid medication is not the solution, balance, balancing those things.

Kylie: And the awareness I think, to support our thyroid with the right kind of foods is really important. So a hundred percent. All right. Well, Missy, thank you so much. It was great to have you and yeah. All Missy’s contact details I shall pop in the show notes for all. Alright, thanks for listening ladies.

Missy: Thanks so much. Bye bye.

 [00:39:00] 

Thank you for taking the time to listen today. You can head on over to the show notes at kyliepinwill.com/podcast where you’ll find all the links. And I have a little bonus surprise waiting for you. Before we go, it would mean the world to me if you head on over to your favorite podcast channel, subscribe and leave a review. 

Make sure to screenshot it, DM it to me so I can thank you personally. Then stay tuned for next week’s episode can’t wait to see you then.