Thyroid Disorders
Functional medicine support tailored to uncover the root cause of complex symptoms.
Consult with our care team to understand next steps and build a personalized plan.
Serving Denver Metro, Fort Collins, and Colorado Springs.
About This Condition
Thyroid disorders encompass a group of conditions that alter the synthesis, secretion, or action of thyroid hormones, most commonly resulting in hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. They may arise from primary thyroid gland dysfunction, autoimmune processes such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis or Graves’ disease, structural abnormalities such as goiter and nodules, or secondary causes involving the pituitary or hypothalamus.
Clinical presentations are diverse and may be subtle. Hypothyroidism typically manifests with fatigue, cold intolerance, weight gain, constipation, dry skin, hair loss, menstrual irregularities, and bradycardia, whereas hyperthyroidism often presents with weight loss despite preserved or increased appetite, heat intolerance, palpitations, tremor, anxiety, diarrhea, and tachycardia. Structural thyroid disease may present as a neck mass, compressive symptoms, or incidental imaging findings.
Diagnosis relies on thyroid function testing (serum TSH and free thyroxine), thyroid-specific autoantibodies, and targeted imaging (for example thyroid ultrasound or radionuclide uptake studies) when indicated. Many thyroid disorders follow a chronic course requiring long-term monitoring and, in some cases, life-long thyroid hormone replacement, antithyroid therapy, or definitive interventions such as radioiodine ablation or surgery.
Common Symptoms
- •Fatigue, low energy, and decreased exercise tolerance
- •Unintentional weight gain or difficulty losing weight in hypothyroidism
- •Unintentional weight loss despite preserved or increased appetite in hyperthyroidism
- •Cold intolerance and feeling chilled in hypothyroidism
- •Heat intolerance, excessive sweating, and feeling overheated in hyperthyroidism
- •Constipation in hypothyroidism or increased stool frequency and diarrhea in hyperthyroidism
- •Palpitations, tachycardia, or awareness of a rapid or irregular heartbeat
- •Mood and cognitive changes, including depression, slowed thinking, anxiety, irritability, or restlessness
- •Menstrual irregularities, reduced fertility, or sexual dysfunction
- •Hair thinning, dry skin, or brittle nails
Conventional Treatment Options
Hormone optimization
Nutritional support
Lifestyle modifications
Stress management
Our Functional Medicine Approach
TSH alone misses most of the picture
Patients often arrive with classic thyroid symptoms — fatigue, weight changes, hair loss, brain fog, cold intolerance, mood shifts — and a TSH that's been called "normal." TSH is a useful screen but a poor full workup. Active hormone (free T3), conversion patterns (reverse T3, T3 / rT3 ratio), antibodies (TPO, TgAb) for autoimmune thyroid disease, and nutrient cofactors (iodine, selenium, ferritin, vitamin D) routinely tell a different story.
How Spire works the root cause
Our Hormonal Wellness Program runs the full thyroid panel — TSH, free T4, free T3, reverse T3, TPO and Tg antibodies — plus the supporting metabolic and nutrient labs that affect conversion. We treat the actual physiology: optimize free T3, address Hashimoto's drivers (gut, gluten, stress, environmental), and dose medication (T4 / T3 / NDT) based on symptoms and labs together, not TSH in isolation.
Who this is for
Adults with thyroid symptoms but "normal" TSH, patients on levothyroxine who still feel unwell, anyone with diagnosed Hashimoto's who wants to address the autoimmunity (not just replace the hormone), and patients in perimenopause whose thyroid shifted alongside other hormones.