I am very excited to present this case history because in just one example, we can discuss numerous clinical findings. This testimonial is an example of so many hundreds of women (and occasionally men) I see who fall in between the cracks of what modern medicine can diagnose and therefore treat. Doctors are trained to diagnose and treat disease, however, they are not able to detect early stages of the disease process and thus many patients go untreated as their test results fall within normal parameters.
This is extremely true in the case of the thyroid gland. I see so many patients with subclinical hypothyroidism who present with symptoms of low-functioning thyroid, but their tests all come back normal, and they are extremely frustrated as they are left to cope with their health problems on their own. Sometimes I even see patients who are on thyroid medicine, and yet they too still have symptoms of hypothyroidism.
In both cases, we need to treat the underlying imbalances that are affecting thyroid function, and support the thyroid gland in numerous ways, through the use of herbs, dietary and lifestyle changes, so we can bring the thyroid functions back to normal.
For years, I have seen that whenever I have detected weakness in the thyroid gland, I invariably found weakness in the gall bladder. In fact, I have seen this relationship so often that I decided to do a google scholar search to see if researchers had also found this link. And there it was! It turns out, there are numerous studies showing that when the thyroid is underactive, the sphincter that releases bile out of the gall bladder into the duodenum (the Sphincter of Oddi) becomes lazy. The way the researchers describe it is that the thyroid hormones relax the Sphincter of Oddi, allowing the bile to squirt out. But low thyroid function results in increased tension on the Sphincter, not allowing it to release the bile.
Understanding this relationship has enabled me to help hundreds of our hypothyroid patients fix their digestion, their acid reflux (the bile neutralizes the stomach acids, which also squirt into the duodenum), gas, bloating, stomach pain, high cholesterol, constipation (bile flow gives you the urge to move your bowels), weight gain — since these functions are all dependent on proper bile flow.
This patient presented with symptoms of severe constipation, fatigue, stomach pain, extreme burping, making it difficult to get through the day and go to work. Yet her thyroid tests came back within normal limits and all studies done on her gall bladder and digestive tract were also normal.
It only took a few months to bring her thyroid function back to normal, and increase her bile flow, resulting in sustained energy all day long. Her intense belching went away and her bowels are moving every day now.
Dr. Marianne Teitelbaum
Cinnaminson, New Jersey
Contact Dr. Teitelbaum at her clinic in Cinnaminson, New Jersey – 1-856-786-3330
