Thyroid Health Services
Dr. Jennifer Luis has both personal and clinical experience with thyroid health. After her diagnosis of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in 2010, Dr. Luis recognized the gaps in conventional thyroid medicine and has worked towards providing a holistic approach to thyroid disorders and their treatments. Naturopathic medicine encompasses diet, lifestyle, supplementation and hormone prescribing when warranted. Dr. Luis focuses on extensive lab testing along with a detailed patient history taking to develop individualized protocols for her patients. This approach results in improvement to all aspects of health, providing symptoms relief and prevention of future ailments.
Dr. Luis is committed to helping you find the best treatment plan for your individual needs.
She will work with you to create a plan that is tailored to your specific thyroid symptoms and health goals. She will also provide you with support and education so that you can understand your thyroid condition and manage your treatment effectively.
Thyroid Consultation
Beginning with a detailed 60-minute first visit, Dr. Jennifer Luis will listen and ask questions about current and past symptoms, concurrent medical conditions and health goals. This helps to identify which hormones might be affected, what labs to order and what the potential underlying causes might be. Questions asked might make a patient think back to various scenarios, accommodations and housings, travel history, illnesses, antibiotic usages and weight fluctuations. It took years to get to the current state of health, a detailed discussion will help to determine an individualized treatment plan.
Natural and prescriptive thyroid treatments are provided once test results have been analyzed alongside the symptom picture. Clear guidelines may also include dietary adjustments, modifications to exercise routines and stress-reducing techniques. As a former teacher, education is an important aspect of Dr. Luis’s approach. Allowing time to explain lab tests, reasons for symptoms and protocols is important so that patients can take an active role in their health.
First Thyroid Health Visit
Your first thyroid health visit with Dr. Jennifer Luis will be an hour-long consultation. During this time, Dr. Luis will discuss your current symptoms and past medical history in detail. She will also review any relevant past labs and review your current medications and supplement dosing. If your visit is in-person, Dr. Luis will perform a thyroid physical to assess the size, texture, and presence of nodules, as well as an exam of other relevant concerns.
uTesting is an important part of Dr. Luis’s approach to thyroid health. She will order a six-marker panel through Lifelabs, which includes TSH, T3, T4, reverse T3, anti-thyroglobulin antibodies, and anti-thyroperoxidase antibodies. These tests will help Dr. Luis to determine if you have Hashimoto’s disease and, if so, how much inflammation or activity is present. She will also be able to calculate the rate of thyroid hormone conversion and the absolute amounts of active and inactive hormones being made. From this information, Dr. Luis will develop a personalized treatment plan that includes nutrients and herbs to support your wellness.
Dr. Luis may also order additional tests, such as Vitamin D status, fasting insulin, Day 21 progesterone, iron, B12 levels, and Celiac antibodies. These tests can be done at the same time as the thyroid levels to gather more information about your overall health.
wIf other areas of your health are also involved, Dr. Luis may order additional testing, such as a SIBO breath test and microbiology stool test to assess your digestive flora. She may also test your cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, and androgen levels to look for hormonal imbalances.
Follow-Up Thyroid Health Visit
After you start taking thyroid medication or supplementation, Dr. Jennifer Luis will schedule regular follow-up visits to monitor your levels. In the first 6 weeks after starting medication, she will likely test your TSH levels. TSH is a hormone that is produced by the pituitary gland and helps to regulate thyroid function. If your TSH levels are too high, it means that your thyroid is not producing enough hormones. If your TSH levels are too low, it means that your thyroid is producing too many hormones.
If your TSH levels are in the normal range after 6 weeks, Dr. Luis may then test your TSH, T3, and T4 levels in 3 months. T3 and T4 are the two main thyroid hormones. Testing these levels can help Dr. Luis to make sure that your body’s thyroid hormone levels are in the correct balance.
Once your thyroid levels are stable, Dr. Luis may recommend that you have your blood tested every 3 months. This will help to ensure that your levels remain stable and that you are getting the correct dose of medication.
It is also important to pay attention to your symptoms. If you start to experience any of the symptoms of hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, such as fatigue, weight gain, or hair loss, be sure to tell Dr. Luis. She may need to adjust your medication dose based on your symptoms.
Some questions that you may want to ask Dr. Luis during your follow-up visit:
- How are my lab results looking?
- Have my symptoms improved?
- Do I need to make any changes to my treatment plan?
- What can I do to manage my condition at home?
- What are the risks and benefits of different treatment options?
First Thyroid Health Visit
Your first thyroid health visit with Dr. Jennifer Luis will be an hour-long consultation. During this time, Dr. Luis will discuss your current symptoms and past medical history in detail. She will also review any relevant past labs and review your current medications and supplement dosing. If your visit is in-person, Dr. Luis will perform a thyroid physical to assess the size, texture, and presence of nodules, as well as an exam of other relevant concerns.
uTesting is an important part of Dr. Luis’s approach to thyroid health. She will order a six-marker panel through Lifelabs, which includes TSH, T3, T4, reverse T3, anti-thyroglobulin antibodies, and anti-thyroperoxidase antibodies. These tests will help Dr. Luis to determine if you have Hashimoto’s disease and, if so, how much inflammation or activity is present. She will also be able to calculate the rate of thyroid hormone conversion and the absolute amounts of active and inactive hormones being made. From this information, Dr. Luis will develop a personalized treatment plan that includes nutrients and herbs to support your wellness.
Dr. Luis may also order additional tests, such as Vitamin D status, fasting insulin, Day 21 progesterone, iron, B12 levels, and Celiac antibodies. These tests can be done at the same time as the thyroid levels to gather more information about your overall health.
wIf other areas of your health are also involved, Dr. Luis may order additional testing, such as a SIBO breath test and microbiology stool test to assess your digestive flora. She may also test your cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, and androgen levels to look for hormonal imbalances.
Follow-Up Thyroid Health Visit
After you start taking thyroid medication or supplementation, Dr. Jennifer Luis will schedule regular follow-up visits to monitor your levels. In the first 6 weeks after starting medication, she will likely test your TSH levels. TSH is a hormone that is produced by the pituitary gland and helps to regulate thyroid function. If your TSH levels are too high, it means that your thyroid is not producing enough hormones. If your TSH levels are too low, it means that your thyroid is producing too many hormones.
If your TSH levels are in the normal range after 6 weeks, Dr. Luis may then test your TSH, T3, and T4 levels in 3 months. T3 and T4 are the two main thyroid hormones. Testing these levels can help Dr. Luis to make sure that your body’s thyroid hormone levels are in the correct balance.
Once your thyroid levels are stable, Dr. Luis may recommend that you have your blood tested every 3 months. This will help to ensure that your levels remain stable and that you are getting the correct dose of medication.
It is also important to pay attention to your symptoms. If you start to experience any of the symptoms of hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, such as fatigue, weight gain, or hair loss, be sure to tell Dr. Luis. She may need to adjust your medication dose based on your symptoms.
Some questions that you may want to ask Dr. Luis during your follow-up visit:
- How are my lab results looking?
- Have my symptoms improved?
- Do I need to make any changes to my treatment plan?
- What can I do to manage my condition at home?
- What are the risks and benefits of different treatment options?
Hear what Dr. Luis’s patients are saying:
Thyroid Symptoms
Conventional medicine can be frustrating when all lab tests return back as normal. This is where detailed thyroid and related hormone labs can find the difficult cases of subclinical hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Naturopathic doctors evaluate lab findings under a microscope and aim for optimal values within a reference range. Some people with a thyroid condition tick all of the boxes with symptoms, but the labs ordered conventionally do not show an official thyroid diagnosis.
Symptoms that can be related to an imbalanced thyroid include:
- Fatigue
- Weight gain
- Low mood or depression
- Brain fog and poor memory
- Cold body temperature or difficulties regulating body temperature
- Hair loss
- Brittle nails
- Sleep disturbances
- Anxiousness
- Irregular periods
- Dry skin
- Constipation or diarrhea
- Headaches
- Heart racing
If you're experiencing any of the symptoms listed above, get in touch with Dr. Luis for your Thyroid Health
Services related to thyroid health available with Dr. Luis include testing, prescribing and holistic treatment plans.
Here is a list of common services available with your consultation:
Thyroid health consultations
A detailed 1 hour to understand your health history, perform a physical exam of the thyroid and order tests. The follow-up consultation includes a treatment plan involving prescriptions, supplements, diet, lifestyle and a look into the underlying cause of thyroid dysfunction.
Laboratory testing
To clearly know if you have a thyroid condition, 6 markers of thyroid health will be ordered along with any additional hormones and nutrients that can lead to thyroid-like symptoms.
Dietary counseling
Both general healthy eating guidelines and thyroid-specific nutrition will be discussed.
Lifestyle coaching
Addressing underlying causes of thyroid imbalance may lead towards adjustments to lifestyle components such as stress, sleep and timing of food consumption.
Herbs and supplements
Improving the ability of the thyroid to make hormones naturally can be accomplished with the addition of herbs, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Dr. Jennifer Luis's Approach to Thyroid Health
Dr. Luis is committed to helping her patients find the best treatment plan for their individual needs. She believes that everyone’s body is different and that there is no one-size-fits-all treatment for thyroid problems. She is dedicated to providing her patients with the best possible care and helping them achieve optimal thyroid health.
She believes that the best way to treat thyroid disorders is to address the underlying causes of the condition. She uses a combination of natural therapies, including diet, lifestyle changes, and herbal remedies, to help her patients manage their thyroid symptoms. Her approach to thyroid health is holistic and individualized, meaning that she takes into account the individual needs of each patient. She is committed to helping her patients find the best treatment plan for their individual needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Diet and nutrition: NDs may recommend a diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. They may also recommend avoiding foods that are high in processed foods, sugar, and unhealthy fats.
- Exercise: NDs may recommend regular exercise to help improve thyroid function.
- Stress management: NDs may recommend stress management techniques, such as yoga, meditation, or massage therapy, to help reduce stress and improve thyroid function.
- Herbal remedies: NDs may recommend herbal remedies, such as ashwagandha, rhodiola, or licorice root, to help improve thyroid function.
- Acupuncture: Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that may be used to help improve thyroid function.
- The time it takes for naturopathic treatments to work varies depending on the individual and the severity of the condition. In general, it may take several weeks or months to see results.
- Most naturopathic treatments are safe and have few side effects. However, it is important to talk to your ND about any potential side effects before starting any treatment.