Chronic migraine headache is a systemic inflammatory condition caused by nutrient deficiencies, metal toxicities, chronic stress, a history of trauma, and characterized by sensory processing challenges and serious compromises in the functioning of the major organs of the body.
It’s therefore understandable, if you look at all that’s going on in the constellation of symptoms that accompany migraine, that the allopathic model of symptom suppression is so very bad at effectively treating migraine
My view is that the greatest leverage we can find in this monumental task is to get minerals balanced, support removal of heavy metals, and focus on emotional/spiritual healing of the stress response. All of these major steps will in turn improve the communication of our major organs with each other, and their individual functioning. Here, I’ll explore the thyroid gland and it’s role in migraine headache.
In order for the thyroid to work well, there needs to be good signaling between the pituitary, adrenal glands and liver. I will explain in this post how imbalances in these organs in turn affects thyroid function. In part 2 of this blog post, I’ll dive into the role that minerals play in thyroid function, and in part 3, we’ll explore the emotional/spiritual aspects of the thyroid gland as it relates to our authentic self-expression (which is also key to healing migraine).
But first, I want to emphasize that I am not a trained endocrinologist. What I’m sharing here comes in part from my own somatic understanding of the thyroid as I’ve experienced it in my own process healing myself of migraine and the observations I’ve made about sensations in my thyroid when I was symptomatic. The rest of what I share here represents my research and inquiries into the thyroid gland – and more importantly, how minerals affect its functioning.
Basic Orientation to the Thyroid
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped organ fluttering at the top of the trachea and base of the larynx. This gland, which also includes the parathyroid glands, secretes thyroid hormones, which in turn affect every single organ in our body. The thyroid gland plays a major role in the body’s metabolism, including how quickly calories are burned, the heart rate, and breathing patterns.
Many of our body’s tissues contains thyroid hormone receptors – from the inside of our nasal sinus to the muscles of our neck (the sternocleidomastoid especially), to the plasma membrane of our cells.
Thyroxin (T4) is produced by the thyroid gland itself, while T3 is produced from T4 by a process called deiodination by an enzyme called T4-5′-deiodinase in tissues throughout the body.
The thyroid’s ability to excrete hormones is regulated by the anterior pituitary and hypothalamus, which release thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyrotropin-releasing hormone. A delicate feedback system exists between the pituitary and the thyroid, liver, and other organs of our bodies to maintain homeostasis in thyroid hormone levels. Therefore, compromise in any of these major organs (primarily the adrenal glands and the liver) will overtly affect this feedback-loop system and the body’s ability to maintain hormonal balance source.
Thyroid Imbalances & Migraine Headache
It has been long known that there is a direct relationship between the thyroid and migraine – with the majority of migraineurs presenting with a hypothyroid condition and others with hyperthyroid conditions. Hypothyroidism is associated with a slower metabolism, and hyperthyroidism with a faster metabolic rate. Those with thyroid conditions and migraine are also more likely to have autoimmune conditions, such as Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis or Grave’s disease.
A hyperactive parathyroid gland can also throw off mineral balance (leading to excess calcium in the blood) and contribute to migraine.
It’s been observed that many people’s migraines have been reduced after thyroid treatment, although external hormonal stimulus does not solve the underlying problem. Researchers don’t yet understand why and how thyroid hormone imbalance leads to migraine.
If I were to venture a guess, it would be that problems with liver detoxification lead to many of the hormonal imbalances in those with migraine, including but not limited to imbalances in thyroid hormone production.
I say this because I have personally observed many times that when I used to get migraines, often I would feel liver and gallbladder pain followed by an ache in my thyroid and a migraine. These symptoms often went together. Although I had my thyroid levels checked and nothing noteworthy came up on the test, I know from my own felt sense that indeed something was going on with my thyroid, especially at certain times of the month when my liver was more overloaded from other hormonal fluctuations in my cycle.
I also developed a mild goiter and enlarged thyroid years ago when I was taking very low doses of iodine in kelp (read further in part 2 of this series for the reasons why iodine was so problematic for me). This experiment with kelp not only caused inflammation in my thyroid but this inflammation caused an increase in my migraine symptoms.
Another factor that I think is overlooked is the possibility of heavy metals building up in the thyroid gland, sometimes leeching down from mercury amalgams in a person’s mouth.
Additionally, lymphatic congestion anywhere in the body will mean that organs in that area of congestion will not be able to effectively eliminate metabolic waste products. Years of this can compromise the balanced excretion of hormones from the gland. Migraineurs are known to have very stiff necks which I believe compromises lymph flow (read further to learn also about the role that thyroid hormone plays in muscle tension and contraction.)
So let’s take a tour of some of the major organs and glands involved in thyroid function. Here are the topics I’ll explore as some causes of thyroid imbalances contributing to migraine. This list isn’t fully representative of all those factors but is a good starting point.
- Congested liver & gallbladder
- Disrupted pituitary feedback loops
- Adrenal insufficiency & blood sugar imbalances
- Thyroid hormones and muscle tension
- Thyroid hormones and sinus congestion
Congested Liver & Gallbladder
If there is a single organ that I believe is most important to highlight in the journey of healing migraine, it would be the liver. The liver is responsible not only for neutralizing and excreting toxins and cleansing the blood, but also storing vitamins and minerals – and processing hormones, including thyroid hormones.
As always, there are infinite and very complex feedback loops in all bodily systems making the origin of health problems difficult to pinpoint. Liver damage can be caused by excess thyroid hormones – and thyroid hormones can be altered as a direct result of liver disease from another cause (source).
Fully 60% of thyroid hormones are converted from the inactive T4 to the usable T3 form in the liver. This conversion takes place via two liver processes, phase 1 sulfation and phase 2 glucuronidation. When the liver is congested with environmental pollutants and metabolic waste, or there are nutrient and mineral deficiencies, these two pathways don’t work optimally – preventing the conversion from T4 to T3 (and leading to a hypothyroid state) (source).
On the opposite side of the spectrum, elevated levels of T3 (hyperthyroidism) lead to elevated bilirubin levels which in turn can be toxic to the liver and damage mitochondria.
The byproducts of the liver’s detoxification efforts are emptied into the gallbladder via the bile to help them move out of the body. When this process is disrupted, gallstones can form and hormones and toxins that normally would have been excreted from the body can re-enter the bloodstream.
From direct observation I also believe that changes in a woman’s hormone levels during the course of her normal cycle could add a greater burden to an already taxed liver – causing a deepening of thyroid-related symptoms at these key times of the month.
For women who are migraine-prone, the most likely time to get a migraine is directly after ovulation (when estrogens drop), three days before the onset of menstruation, and on day three of menstruation. It would be interesting to see a study looking at the fluctuation of thyroid hormones at these times. Sudden fluctuations may further congest an already congested liver and hence affect the conversion and circulation of thyroid hormones throughout the body.
Disrupted Pituitary Feedback Loops
The persistence of hormones that normally would have been neutralized and excreted by the liver but instead get recirculated into the bloodstream will in turn affects the body’s own hormonal feedback loop. Elevated thyroid hormones in the blood can cause a cellular resistance, and the pituitary gland then gets the signal that it should slow down production of these hormones.
This phenomenon is explained well in this article by Dr. Scott Monk on “Irritable Pituitary Gland” as it relates to migraine.
The pituitary gland is located about one to two inches directly behind the bridge of your nose. It is the gland in the body once referred to as the master gland. This name was appropriate because no hormones are secreted in the body unless first told to do so by other hormones from the pituitary gland. For instance, if extra thyroid hormones are needed, the pituitary will send out a hormone called thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). This response by the pituitary is based on a negative feedback loop. In other words, when a hormone begins to get low, the pituitary must become activated or facilitated so as to increase the low hormone. When a hormone becomes high, the pituitary must become inactivated or inhibited so that the hormone does not become too high (it is the liver’s job to eliminate excess hormone). (Source)
The takehome for me here is that in order for the pituitary to function well, and therefore give the correct signals for balanced thyroid hormones, the liver must be able to do its job of neutralizing and eliminating hormones effectively, so that the feedback loop does not become dysregulated.
But Dr. Monk also lists a few other factors that suppress pituitary function: insulin, white sugar, and cortisol.
So once again we see that when under stress (cortisol increase) sweets are craved and ingested (sugar) resulting sooner or later in hypoglycemia (insulin surges) or insulin resistance, all of which further suppress the pituitary and dysregulate the hormonal system. (Source)
I highly reccomend that anyone interested in these relationships read Dr. Monk’s article in full.
It’s valuable to point out here that cortisol is made by the body from progesterone, so stress will deplete progesterone, leading then to estrogen dominance. And as I will discuss later, estrogen inhibits thyroid hormone. But first, let’s look at the part of the cascade above that leads to insulin resistance.
Thyroid, Adrenal, & Blood Sugar Imbalances
In my coaching practice, I often hear clients complain of low blood sugar levels and intense sugar cravings (usually for chocolate). While not all of them know their thyroid status, it is well known that both hypothyroid and hyperthyroid conditions can lead to blood sugar imbalances and insulin resistance.
Evidence for a relationship between T4 and T3 and glucose metabolism appeared over 100 years ago . . . Thyroid hormones exert both insulin agonistic and antagonistic actions in different organs. However, this occurs in a fine balance necessary for normal glucose metabolism. Deficit or excess of thyroid hormones can break this equilibrium leading to alterations of carbohydrate metabolism. Overt hyperthyroidism has been related to glucose intolerance and even ketoacidosis. With regards to hypothyroidism, cases of hypoglycemia have been reported in the literature despite the fact that peripheral insulin resistance may be present.(Source)
The deficits and excesses of thyroid hormones mentioned above occur mostly, as already explained, because of imbalances in liver and pituitary function – but stress also plays a role. When we are stressed, our adrenal glands secrete cortisol, which in turn mobilizes needed glucose to muscles and brain so that we are more readily able to escape the stressor. However, if glucose is not readily available due to low blood sugar or insulin resistance, the body (via the adrenal glands) then has to resort to a backup emergency source of energy:
It releases adrenaline, one of the chief fight-or-flight hormones, in order to make glucose from the muscles, a process called gluconeogenesis. Prolonged destruction of muscle for fuel is a highly inflammatory and nutrient-depleting process, worsening an already serious functional problem and creating restless sleep. (Source)
It is very typical of migraineurs to have some level of sleep disturbances (either trouble falling asleep or the tendency to wake frequently or not be able to fall back asleep).
Migraine headache is both caused by stress and in itself so stressful that a sustained experience of the condition itself is depleting to the adrenal glands.
Both the adrenal glands and kidneys are affected by thyroid hormones in their development, structure, and functioning. Therefore, both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism can cause alterations in kidney and adrenal function, which in turn will affect how well the body responds to stress, and how well it is able to secrete stress hormones and regulate energy and metabolism.
Cortisol decreases TSH, lowering thyroid hormone production, and inhibits the conversion of T4 to active T3 (source). If you then drink coffee on top of this, you will further interfere with your body’s longer-term ability to convert T4 to T3 and also to regulate your blood sugar – although the short-term boost of cortisol will initially feel beneficial, and the vaso-constrictive effects of coffee may stave off a migraine.
These blood sugar imbalances (spikes and lows) will all in turn affect the ability of the muscles in the body to access energy. This will have a profound effect on a person’s energy level, overall speed of metaboism – and level of muscle tension.
Thyroid Hormones & Muscle Tension
It’s really interesting to me that thyroid hormones play a role in muscle tension because I’ve often puzzled over why those with migraine have such severe neck tension. Is the migraine a result of the neck tension caused by poor posture and emotional tension – or could it be that the neck tension is a result of a congested liver which in turns impacts the muscle’s access to energy as glucose and by extension, it’s ability to modulate tone in response to thyroid hormones? Most likely, all of these factors play a role, but based on my research, the latter cause seems more plausible.
I’ve had clients who still have chronically hypertonic muscles, usually in the neck/shoulder area, no matter how much massage therapy they get. Clearly something is going on within the muscle to cause it to remain stiff and hypertonic. While stress and posture clearly play a role, I believe that mineral balance and hormonal influences such as thyroid hormone imbalances are even more significant.
This excerpt from the following scientific article below drives home just how important healthy thyroid function is for muscle tone.
Thyroid hormone-dependent gene expression is known to involve a wide array of genes in skeletal muscle. . . . The delayed contraction and relaxation of the deep tendon reflex is a classic observation in hypothyroid individuals, whereas the opposite changes are observed in patients with thyrotoxicosis [hyperthyroidism]. . . The impact of thyroid hormone availability on the speed of the contraction-relaxation cycle underlies the higher resting energy turnover and lower energetic efficiency of contraction in skeletal muscle in thyrotoxicosis as compared to hypothyroidism. (Source)
In my coaching practice I’ve seen some improvement in muscle and neck tension through mineral balancing, but I’m getting the feeling that supporting the thyroid may be the real key to solving this puzzle (more on mineral balancing for thyroid health in part 2 of this article).
Dr. Monk again has novel insight in this area. He even describes something called Chocolate Neck Syndrome, in which the high magnesium in chocolate in turn lowers calcium, which prompts the parathyroid glands to kick in to regulate the calcium deficiency by taking calcium from the bones. Chocolate also contains zinc which lowers calcium. (As an aside: I tend to think chocolate is craved primarily because it is very high in minerals beneficial to migraineurs. I believe chocolate is a migraine trigger because it is fermented, and because the high copper content is problematic for those who are copper toxic. But I’m intrigued by his hypothesis.)
We’ve explored how thyroid hormone deficiencies lead to imbalances in blood sugar and insulin resistance. This will in turn affect muscular tone, since muscle fibers are dependent on glycolosis for energy production.
As skeletal muscle comprises 30-40% of body mass in humans, it is this tissue that primarily accounts for the well-known effects of thyroid status on the metabolic rate of the organism, both at rest and during activity. In addition to energy expenditure, thyroid hormone signaling can influence glucose uptake by skeletal muscle and, thereby, glucose homeostasis. (Source)
Thyroid Hormones & Sinus Congestion
Up until recently, I mostly viewed sinus congestion as being a result of alterations in the biome of the nasal sinus whereby certain molds and viruses predominate, which would explain why some people’s sinus congestion headaches are reduced when they eliminate cheese (full of mold). And I have noticed that clients with mold toxicity issues have more sinus congestion.
But clearly something else is also afoot, as other clients experience more nasal congestion only during migraine, or during certain times of the month. It leads to the obvious question of what role hormones play in sinus congestion. Often, clients of mine will report that they have sinus congestion on only one side of their nose, often the same side that the migraine manifests on – while other clients experience pain from inflammation of the cranial nerves innervating the inside of the sinus cavity, but without any mucous or sinus congestion.
So I looked into this. How interesting that the nasal mucosa is lined with estrogen receptors, as well as thyroid hormone receptors. Researchers have found a correlation between higher levels of estrogen at ovulation and increased nasal stufiness.
Hypothyroidism and estrogen dominance are usually found in tandem, since estrogen blocks thyroid hormone. These symptoms “can often manifest during perimenopaus when progesterone levels are significantly decreased but estrogen is still present”.
[W]hen estrogen is not properly counterbalanced with progesterone, it can block the action of thyroid hormone, so your thyroid may produce enough hormone, but it is rendered ineffective and the symptoms of hypothyroidism appear. (Source)
These relationships of inter-connection in the body are infinite . . . and infinitely fascinating. I’ll certainly be doing some more digging and research in these areas, and share with you what I’m learning.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series next week as I explore minerals and their effect on thyroid function.
