The hot flashes, low libido, PMS, carrying those extra pounds … they are frustrating and leave us wanting to feel confident and sexy in our own bodies.

But our hormonal balance rarely is just due to the sex hormones being out of balance. The out of kilter hormones are a red flag that our body is showing us, saying ‘take a look at me!’ One of those deeper root layers to hormonal irritability, is the thyroid.

And as we have been discussing, thyroid problems are rarely JUST thyroid problems…. due to the interplay of our entire body like an orchestra. 

Bi-Directional Relationship

Our thyroid and sex hormones have a bi-directional relationship. When we zoom out, we see the thyroid does not function in isolation but is part of a complex network of endocrine glands. Sex hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, can influence thyroid function, and thyroid function can influence estrogen and progesterone. This is particularly relevant for women during perimenopause, menopause, and frankly anytime in our hormonal lives where fluctuating hormone levels can significantly impact thyroid function. 

Menopause and thyroid dysfunction share many overlapping symptoms, making it essential to consider thyroid health in menopausal women. Additionally, thyroid function affects PMS and the menstruating phase of sex hormones, highlighting the importance of balancing thyroid and sexual health together.

Let’s dig into how specifically thyroid health impacts our sexual health…

Estrogen

Impact on Thyroid:

• Estrogen Dominance: Too much estrogen increases thyroid-binding globulin (TBG), reducing free thyroid hormones and causing hypothyroid symptoms. How it does this …high levels of estrogen can increase levels of thyroid-binding globulin (TBG), a protein that binds thyroid hormones and makes them unavailable to cells. This can bind up the free, active thyroid hormones and create more clinical hypothyroid symptoms.

• Hormone Conversion: High estrogen levels can hinder the conversion of T4 to T3, leading to low T3 despite normal T4.

Thyroid's Impact on Estrogen:

• Metabolism of Estrogen: An under active thyroid, aka sluggish thyroid, can slow down the liver's ability to metabolize estrogen, leading to higher circulating estrogen levels and symptoms of estrogen dominance.

• Cycle Regulation: Thyroid hormones influence menstrual cycles, potentially causing irregular periods or anovulatory (skipped ovulation) cycles.

Progesterone

Impact on Thyroid:

• Hormone Sensitivity: Progesterone boosts cell sensitivity to thyroid hormones, so low progesterone can worsen hypothyroid symptoms as your cells get starved for Progesterone. What this means…adequate levels of progesterone can enhance thyroid function, while low progesterone levels can exacerbate hypothyroid symptoms.

Thyroid's Impact on Progesterone:

• Balance: Hypothyroidism disrupts estrogen-progesterone balance, leading to low progesterone. This imbalance can cause symptoms such as PMS, insomnia, irritability, irregular periods, and fertility issues.

Testosterone

Impact on Thyroid:

• Support: Testosterone enhances thyroid hormone production and action by promoting the production of thyroid hormones and enhancing their action at the cellular level. Low testosterone can negatively also affect thyroid function.

Thyroid's Impact on Testosterone:

• Binding Globulin: Hypothyroidism increases SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin), binding testosterone and reducing free testosterone. This can lead to symptoms of low testosterone, such as low libido and fatigue.

Menopause and Thyroid Symptoms: The Overlap

Menopause and thyroid dysfunction share many overlapping symptoms, making it challenging to distinguish between the two. 

A recent position paper from the European Menopause and Andropause Society (EMAS) highlights that many of the symptoms of menopause and thyroid dysfunction can be the same, such as menstrual irregularities, mood changes, increased sweating, sleep disturbances, and hair loss.  

One other key overlap is the change in lipid metabolism, which can lead to fatty liver. The position paper states that menopausal hormone replacement therapy and thyroid hormone replacement may both improve lipid metabolism when given based on individual assessments. 

Due to these overlapping symptoms, I find it important for women experiencing menopause to have their thyroid function evaluated to ensure that thyroid issues are not contributing to their symptoms.

Thyroid Health, PMS, and Menstruation

PMS symptoms such as mood swings, irritability, and bloating can be influenced by thyroid function. Yet an under active thyroid can also exacerbate PMS by disrupting the balance of estrogen and progesterone. 

Thyroid health plays a key role in regulating menstrual cycles. Hypothyroidism can cause irregular periods, heavy bleeding, or missed periods, while hyperthyroidism can lead to lighter, shorter cycles…

• Follicular Phase: Rising estrogen increases TBG (thyroid binding globulin), temporarily lowering free thyroid hormones. Women with thyroid issues may notice changes in their symptoms during this phase.

• Luteal Phase: Progesterone levels rise after ovulation, enhancing thyroid hormone sensitivity and potentially improving hypothyroid symptoms. However, if progesterone levels are low, thyroid symptoms may worsen.

Balancing thyroid health with sexual health

When it comes to improving our sexual health and hormonal irritability, it is important to understand the  interplay between your thyroid and sex hormones helps achieve better overall health. Balance is key to thriving in both thyroid and sexual health.

Check back next week for another blog article on how actionable steps to improve thyroid health, improve thyroid conversion, with an approach that looks at key nutrient support, digestive health, stress management, and lifestyle habits that heal.

Remember, rarely is a thyroid problem JUST a thyroid problem. Because our endocrine system is tightly woven together with the rest of our body, we need to learn how to support and heal all the leaky buckets in the body that are affecting our thyroid and sexual health.

This is why we take a whole-person approach! 

If you are looking to improve your thyroid  or sexual health with addressing underlying root cause layers through diet, lifestyle changes, habits, and targeted supplements, fill out our short online application to learn more about how we can help you.