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Your thyroid is a small but crucial gland located in the neck that plays a vital role in regulating many of your body’s functions. It produces hormones that control your metabolism, energy use, and even growth and development.

When the thyroid doesn’t produce enough hormones, it can lead to conditions like hypothyroidism, which affects the body’s ability to function properly.

This raises an important question: Can you live without a thyroid? The answer is yes, but managing life without it needs lifelong treatment with thyroid medication to replace the hormones your body needs to stay healthy. I’ll answer more questions in this guide, but for direct help living without a thyroid, you can book an appointment at Exceed Health Clinic in Texarkana, Texas.

What is Thyroid Gland Responsible For?

The thyroid is a small organ in your neck that looks like a butterfly. It sits just below where you can feel your Adam’s apple. It’s an important part of your endocrine system and makes important hormones that control how your body grows and uses energy.

The thyroid makes three main hormones: T3, T4, and calcitonin. While it makes more T4, T3 is actually more powerful in controlling your body’s energy use. These hormones move through your blood and help many parts of your body work properly, from giving you energy to helping your brain function.

The thyroid is responsible for these important bodily functions:

• Regulating metabolism and how the body uses energy.
• Supporting growth and development, particularly in children.
• Producing energy from food and oxygen for all cells.
• Influencing heart rate and body temperature.
• Contributing to mood regulation and mental clarity.
• Maintaining healthy skin, bones, and reproductive function.
• Supporting gastrointestinal motility and fertility.

While the thyroid is very important, people without it can live healthy lives with the right treatment and lifestyle. Let me be more specific on that.

Can You Live Without a Thyroid Gland?

Yes, you can live without a thyroid gland. But you’ll need to take lifelong hormone replacement therapy to live a healthy life and prevent related side effects and symptoms. After thyroid removal surgery or thyroidectomy, your primary care provider prescribes synthetic hormones like levothyroxine. Without these medications, you might feel tired, gain weight, and have dry skin.

While your thyroid normally controls your body’s energy and metabolism, the medicine helps you live a normal life. You’ll need regular checkups and must follow your treatment plan to stay healthy.

Can You Survive Without a Thyroid and No Medication?

No, you cannot survive without a thyroid and without medication. The thyroid produces hormones that help regulate metabolism and many other vital functions in the body. Without these hormones, you would develop symptoms of hypothyroidism, such as extreme fatigue, weight gain, and dry skin.

While it is possible to live without a thyroid, daily hormone replacement medication is a must to replace the missing hormones. Without this treatment, your body would struggle to maintain normal energy levels, and other serious health issues could arise over time. Lifelong medication ensures you stay healthy for life.

What About Thyroid Cartilage? Can You Live Without It?

Yes, you can live without thyroid cartilage, but it can affect your voice and breathing. The thyroid cartilage, commonly known as the Adam’s apple, is part of your voice box (larynx) and helps protect your airway and lets you make sounds. If it’s hurt or taken out, your voice might sound different, and you might find it harder to swallow or breathe.

Remember, thyroid cartilage has nothing to do with thyroid gland and it doesn’t affect your body’s vital functions like the thyroid gland does.

Why Some People Don’t Have a Thyroid?

People can be missing their thyroid gland for many reasons, including thyroid removal surgery, congenital hypothyroidism, radioactive iodine treatment, Hashimoto’s disease, and more. Let me quickly give you the overview of these reasons:

Thyroidectomy:

Surgical removal of all or part of the thyroid to treat thyroid cancer, goiter, thyroid nodules, or hyperthyroidism.

Congenital Hypothyroidism:

Some people are born without a thyroid or with an underdeveloped or malformed thyroid, which leads to underactive thyroid conditions.

Radioactive Iodine Treatment:

Used to treat hyperthyroidism, this treatment can destroy thyroid function, leading to hypothyroidism.

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis:

An autoimmune condition where the immune system attacks and damages the thyroid, leading to a decrease in hormone production.

Certain Medications:

Certain medications, such as lithium, interferon-alpha, and amiodarone, can impair thyroid function or interfere with thyroid hormone production.

Toxic Nodules:

A thyroid nodule that produces excess thyroid hormone may lead to hyperthyroidism, requiring thyroid removal as a treatment.

What Are the Symptoms of an Underactive Thyroid?

A low-working thyroid, or hypothyroidism, happens when your thyroid gland doesn’t make enough hormones. The signs are the same whether you have a thyroid or had it removed. Without treatment, these signs can make daily tasks harder. Most symptoms get better with proper treatment and lifestyle adjustments.

• Weight gain
• old intolerance
• Fatigue
• Sleep problems
• Brain fog
• Depression
• Dry skin
• Muscle cramps

What Are the Reasons for Thyroid Removal?

Thyroid removal or thyroidectomy is often recommended by primary care providers to treat various thyroid-related conditions. Depending on the situation, the surgery may involve removing part or all of the thyroid gland.

These are the reasons for thyroid removal:

• Treatment for thyroid cancer.
• Removal of thyroid nodules, cysts, or non-cancerous tumors.
• Managing hyperthyroidism (such as in Graves’ disease).
• Treating goiter (enlarged thyroid) that affects breathing or swallowing.
• Congenital hypothyroidism (being born without a properly functioning thyroid).
• Use of radioactive iodine (RAI) to destroy thyroid tissue in cases of overactivity.

What Are the Benefits of Risks of a Thyroidectomy?

While thyroidectomy offers many benefits, it does come with some risks and potential side effects. The procedure is generally safe when performed by an experienced surgeon, but there are possible complications.

Let me quickly share pros and cons of thyroid removal surgery:

Benefits of a thyroidectomy:

• Removes cancerous or abnormal thyroid tissue
• Controls hormone production in cases of hyperthyroidism or Graves’ disease
• Resolves issues like a goiter or thyroid nodules.
• Can improve symptoms for patients with autoimmune thyroid conditions like Hashimoto’s disease

Risks of a thyroidectomy:

• Bleeding after surgery, which could lead to breathing difficulties
• Damage to the recurrent laryngeal nerve, potentially causing hoarseness or breathing problems
• Injury to parathyroid glands, leading to low calcium levels or hypoparathyroidism
• Higher risk in cases of invasive tumors, large goiters, or second thyroid surgeries
• Lifelong need for thyroid hormone replacement medication after the surgery

What’s Life Like After a Thyroid Surgery?

After thyroid surgery, your body may feel different because the thyroid controls how your body uses energy. Without your thyroid, you might gain weight, feel tired, sad, and have trouble focusing. This happens because your body isn’t making enough thyroid hormones anymore. The most significant long-term effect after thyroidectomy is the need for lifelong thyroid hormone replacement.

Common Challenges After a Thyroidectomy

Getting used to your hormone-related medicine can take time. The solution? Find the right dose with the help of your primary care provider to feel your best. You might notice changes in your weight, mood, or energy while adjusting to the medicine.

Here’s how to take care of yourself after thyroid removal surgery:

• Reduce stress.
• Join support groups.
• Try different relaxation methods.
• Start exercising daily.
• Eat healthy, energy-rich foods.
• Talk to a diet expert if needed.

What Foods Should You Avoid if You Don’t Have a Thyroid?

If you don’t have a thyroid, stay away from foods that can cause problems with your thyroid medicine, for example, soy foods, cassava, raw broccoli and cabbage, fast food, fried food, processed meats.

What’s Life Expectancy Without a Thyroid?

You can live just as long as anyone else without a thyroid if you take your medicine correctly. Taking the right thyroid medicine helps your body work normally. You’ll need regular check-ups and sometimes changes in your medicine. If you follow your doctor’s advice and take your medicine, you can live a normal, healthy life.

Best Practices for Thyroid Health

Your thyroid helps control your body’s energy and many other functions. So, follow these practices for the optimal thyroid health:

Eat Healthy Foods

• Add foods rich in iodine like fish, dairy, and iodized salt
• Include nuts and seeds for selenium
• Choose whole grains and lean meats for zinc
• Pick whole foods over processed ones
• Stay away from sugary foods and unhealthy fats

Do Workouts

• Exercise 3-5 times weekly
• Mix cardio with strength training
• Sleep 7-9 hours each night
• Try yoga or deep breathing to lower stress
• Don’t overdo iodine (too much or too little can cause problems)

Stay Safe and Healthy

• Use natural products when possible
• Drink filtered water
• Get regular thyroid tests
• See a doctor if you feel very tired, gain or lose weight suddenly.