Every day thyroid conditions impact millions of people around the world, being responsible for the regulating the body’s metabolism, heart rate, and body temperature, it is important to understand how thyroid conditions can affect sleep.
How do thyroid conditions affect sleep?
Your quality of sleep can be greatly affected by the symptoms of thyroid conditions, for example, those with an overactive thyroid can have difficulty falling asleep, and frequently wake during the night or early morning. Similarly, hyperthyroidism is often linked with increased anxiety and irritability, which will further disturb sleep.
On the other hand, symptoms of an underactive thyroid can cause the opposite, leading to fatigue and depression, resulting in excessive sleepiness, and prolonged periods of sleep. Hypothyroidism can lead to obstructive sleep apnea, a condition where breathing is briefly interrupted during your sleep.
Types of Thyroid Conditions
Thyroid diseases can manifest in a few forms, with the two most common being an underactive (hypothyroidism), and overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism). However, it is possible for individuals to suffer from an autoimmune thyroid disease, known as Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.
What is hyperthyroidism?
Overactive thyroids produce too much of the thyroid hormone that is required by the body, in doing so it will lead to numerous health problems such as weight loss, increased appetite, anxiety, fatigue, and heat sensitivity.
What is Hypothyroidism?
More commonly known as an underactive thyroid, hypothyroidism occurs when the thyroid gland fails to produce the necessary amount of hormones for it to function as intended, causing symptoms such as depression, cold sensitivity, and weight gain.
What is Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis?
Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is an autoimmune condition that causes the immune system to mistakenly attack the thyroid gland, leading to it becoming damaged and swollen. Typically, this results in symptoms similar to an underactive thyroid, however research is still being conducted into why it causes the immune system to be attacked. This condition can be treated with Levothyroxine.
Improving your Sleep Quality
Good quality sleep is essential for maintaining your health when suffering with a thyroid condition, there are some methods that can be used for both an underactive and overactive thyroid, including reducing caffeine and alcohol intake, along with finding the right temperature prior to sleep.
Overactive Thyroid:
- Medication and Treatment Therapies
- Regular Sleep Routine
- Avoid Caffeine
- Avoid Alcohol
- Create a relaxing sleep environment
Underactive Thyroid:
- Thyroid Hormone Replacement Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Avoid large meals close to sleep
- Reduce Stress
If you are worried about experiencing any symptoms of either an underactive or overactive thyroid, we provide a range of thyroid blood tests, including thyroid function, and a full thyroid profile test.
Our Thyroid Blood Tests:
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Thyroid function test
This test measures thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). The pituitary gland produces TSH to tell the thyroid to work harder. If the TSH levels are too low, it means the pituitary gland may not be functioning properly.
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Thyroid hormone blood test (full profile)
Thyroid blood test screens for TSH, FT3, FT4 to detect proper thyroid function, identify hypo/hyperthyroidism, evaluate enlarged thyroid gland.
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Thyroid hormone- Free thyroxine (FT4)
FT4 detects proper thyroid function, helps identify hypo/hyperthyroidism, evaluate enlarged thyroid gland, diagnose female infertility.
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