Our body systems don’t work in isolation - they’re all very intricately connected. So when one system is out of balance, there will almost always be impacts beyond that area of the body.

An area that’s often overlooked, but is hugely important in PCOS is the thyroid. In fact, there are a lot of symptoms that overlap between thyroid conditions and PCOS, which tends to lead doctors to over-diagnose PCOS.

Approximately 25% of women with PCOS also have a thyroid condition. It may present itself through a range of symptoms - anovulatory cycles, hair loss, slowed metabolism / weight gain, fatigue, low mood / depression, fatigue, muscle weakness, low temperature, high cholesterol, the list goes on. As you can see, the symptoms could very well sneak their way under a PCOS diagnosis.

Having your thyroid working optimally is not only key to feeling well, but is essential for our long term health as well as playing a huge role in fertility and having a healthy pregnancy.

Think of this episode as a starting guide to learning about your thyroid!

I discuss what the thyroid gland actually is and what it does, common symptoms that could tell us that your thyroid isn’t working optimally, where the overlap with PCOS is, diagnosis, how the thyroid affects PCOS, how it affects fertility, different thyroid markers (and their functional ranges compared to the standard lab range) and of course - what you can do to make sure your thyroid is operating optimally.

This episode is for you if:

• You’re trying to conceive
• You have a family history of thyroid issues
• You haven’t been formally diagnosed with any thyroid issues but you fit the bill symptomatically
• You’re always cold
• You struggle to lose weight
• Your cycles are irregular - either in length of bleeding or in how long a total cycle is for you
• You have a slow metabolism
• You have high cholesterol
• You deal with low mood, depression, fatigue and/or muscle weakness.
• Your TSH has come back normal - but you still have symptoms of thyroid issues
• You deal with unwanted hair growth or hair loss

Some things we cover in this episode:

• Hypothyroidism
• Hashimoto's Thyroiditis
• Symptoms of suboptimal thyroid function
• How symptoms of suboptimal thyroid function can mimic PCOS symptoms
• Having both suboptimal thyroid function as well as PCOS
• How thyroid conditions are diagnoses
• Why you can have symptoms but not have a diagnosis
• How the thyroid affects many parts of PCOS 
• How the thyroid affects fertility
• What to do about it

Resources and References:

• Thyroid disorders in polycystic ovarian syndrome subjects: A tertiary hospital based cross-sectional study from Eastern India

Links to our programs:

• The PCOS Protocol
• Eggducated

Relevant Episodes:

• Season 4 Episode 7: Why am I always tired? 6 things that could be causing this