Many women with hypothyroidism have difficulty getting pregnant. And many times the reason for this is due to an underlying hormone imbalance which goes undetected by the woman’s medical doctor. I’m not referring to the problem these women have with thyroid hormone, which is usually addressed by having the person taking synthetic or natural thyroid hormone. But frequently an imbalance in the hormones estrogen and progesterone can be a problem. And when this is the case, a natural treatment protocol can typically help correct such an imbalance.
Obviously there are other reasons besides a hormone imbalance which can cause difficulty in getting pregnant. So not all fertility issues can be resolved by following a natural treatment protocol. However, some couples will spend thousands of dollars on fertility treatments, when a hormone imbalance is the culprit.
How Can A Hormone Imbalance Cause Infertility Problems?
Sufficient progesterone levels are necessary for getting pregnant, as well as maintaining a healthy pregnancy. A deficiency in progesterone can result in fertility problems, and/or miscarriages. Many medical doctors who test for a progesterone deficiency only obtain a one-sample test, which doesn’t tell the complete story in cycling women. In order to get a complete picture of what’s happening with the hormones, a multiple-sample hormone panel is necessary.
So how can one determine if a hormone imbalance is the cause of the fertility problems? I use the company Diagnos-Techs when I need to evaluate the hormones estrogen and progesterone. They use saliva-based testing, which measures the free levels of the hormones, and is more accurate than just a one-sample test. After all, just because a woman has normal progesterone levels in a single sample doesn’t mean this is the case throughout the second half of her cycle.
Men Should Be Evaluated As Well
When a woman has a problem getting pregnant, it’s common to want to put the woman through numerous tests. However, in some cases it is the man who has the fertility problem. This can even be the case if the man hasn’t had fertility problems in the past. For example, I’ve come across cases where a woman was unable to get pregnant, and the spouse had a child through a previous marriage. So it was naturally assumed that the fertility problem was with the woman. However, it had been several years since the male was successfully able to impregnate his former spouse. Since then he developed a hormone imbalance, which was found out only after everything came back negative on the woman.
So while it’s fine to at first start out by evaluating the woman, it’s also important to test the man. Diagnos-Techs also offers a male hormone panel, which will help determine if he has a hormone imbalance which can be causing the infertility problems. Obviously there could be other issues causing the infertility problems in men other than a hormone imbalance. But once again, evaluating the hormone levels is a good place to start.
How To Correct Fertility Problems Using Natural Treatment Methods
When using natural treatment methods to correct a fertility problem, one needs to try to determine what’s causing the hormone imbalance in the first place. There are many different factors which can lead to a hormone imbalance, including poor eating habits, nutritional deficiencies, and chronic stress. As an example, if a person has weak adrenal glands due to an inability to manage chronic stress, and if this is causing a progesterone deficiency, then one needs to address this in order to correct the problem.
Similarly, if certain nutritional deficiencies are responsible for the progesterone deficiency, then this needs to be addressed. The person will need to begin eating well, and perhaps will need to take certain nutritional supplements.
The good news is that many cases of hypothyroidism can be cured by following such a natural treatment protocol. The reason for this is because frequently, many of the same factors which are causing the fertility problem are also causing the hypothyroid condition. For example, I mentioned before that weak adrenal glands can lead to a progesterone deficiency, and this can also cause the development of a hypothyroid condition, and even an autoimmune hypothyroid condition such as Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. So in this example, by correcting the adrenal problem, this not only could fix the fertility issue but can also restore the person’s thyroid health back to normal.
Is Taking Bioidentical Hormones An Option?
I’ve spoken about this in detail in previous articles, so I won’t talk about this much here. All I will say is that in most cases, bioidentical hormones aren’t necessary to correct a hormone imbalance, especially in cycling women. For severe hormone deficiencies they might be necessary to take on a temporary basis, but most people can have a hormone imbalance corrected by following a specific natural treatment protocol. So for a woman who has a difficult time getting pregnant and has a progesterone deficiency, taking natural progesterone can help, but it won’t actually fix the cause of the problem.
In summary, many women with hypothyroidism who also have a fertility problem can get both conditions corrected by following a natural treatment protocol. This of course isn’t always the case, as each person needs to be evaluated on an individual basis to determine whether this is possible. On the other hand, following a natural treatment protocol can save many couples thousands of dollars spent on fertility treatments, and potentially can restore their thyroid health back to normal as well.