Mood Disorders

• Feelings of hopelessness
• Persistent sadness or anxiousness
• Loss of interest in hobbies or activites
• Fatigue or decreased energy
• Irritability
• Lack of appetite
• Difficulty sleeping
• Thoughts of death or suicide
• Unexplained aches or pains without a clear physical cause
• Weight challenges

Many people can struggle with these symptoms for various reasons including inflammation, cellular hypothyroidism or gut dysbiosis. Often times, unexplained patient symptoms later become diagnosed under the umbrella of “Depression.” However, depression is most likely not the cause of unexplained symptoms for most patients. Depression is not the cause, it is the effect of imbalance or dysfunction.

Depression is often the result of inappropriate neurotransmitter production or the excessive clearance of neurotransmitters. Current medications used to block neurotransmitter metabolism, do not fix the root cause or underlying problem of depression. When you have chronic inflammation your body increases the speed at which it depletes or metabolizes seratonin, the feel good neurotransmitter.  The body uses an amino acid called tryptophan to make serotonin. Under stressed and inflammatory conditions, even more tryptophan is diverted away from serotonin production. Conversely, taking SSRI medications for long periods of time can cause a pooling of serotonin, and inhibit the clearance of excess hormones which often leaves patients irritable and anxious.

Every cell in the body has receptors for thyroid hormone. The brain, especially, has a high density of thyroid receptors and is extremely susceptible to mild changes in thyroid hormone. Simply stated, sufficient levels of thyroid hormone are vital to good brain health. Thyroid hormones help facilitate the function of the brain’s neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers that communicate information throughout the brain and body.