Your Thyroid After COVID

February 03, 2025•5 min read

THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM, THE THYROID GLAND & LIFE POST-COVID

As we understand it so far, there are 4 mechanisms that the SARS-CoV-2, (the virus responsible for COVID-19), can impair your Thyroid Gland Function.

***There are reports of thyroiditis and other thyroid-related issues following vaccination, so it is not just the COVID viral infection that has the possibility of causing challenges.

The 4 Mechanisms for the "Thyroid HiJack" by COVID are;

Direct Viral Invasion: Where the virus directly attacks your thyroid cells, causing inflammation and damage. This can result in conditions like "thyroiditis" which in turn leads to short -term and in some cases, long term, thyroid dysfunction.

Anytime you see "itis" you know that it means the structure is inflamed, and as most of you already know, when ANY structure is "inflamed", it means that, not only is the structure "cranky" it also cannot work right.

In this case "not working right" means that the normal hormone production is disrupted, resulting in either hypo-thyroidism (reduced hormone levels) or hyper-thyroidism (elevated hormone levels), which we discussed last time.

Immune System Dysregulation: COVID-19 can trigger a "cytokine storm" which is an overactive immune response to the virus or the resulting bodily stress. This overactive immune response disrupts the thyroid function, leading to "non-thyroidal illness syndrome" (NTIS) and other thyroid abnormalities.

Autoimmune Activation: There increasing evidence suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 infection may bring on or aggravate a pre-existing (even silent) autoimmune thyroid diseases, such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis or Graves' disease.

An AUTO IMMUNE disease is one that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks your own tissue, thinking that it is "foreign" instead of "host".**

***Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Thyroid (HPT) Axis Disruption: The virus may affect the central regulatory system of thyroid function, known as the HPT axis. Disruption anywhere along this axis can lead to imbalances in thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and subsequent thyroid hormone production.***This is the area where I personally think we are going to start seeing more challenges developing over the next 5-10 years. The HPT axis directs the ENTIRE endocrine system. So, when you hi-jack the axis, then EVERY FUNCTION downstream can be corrupted. The results of that corruption may be immediate, but more likely they are going to DEVELOP, behind the scenes, until a crisis erupts. I think this will result in a whole slew of "new" auto-immune diseases and disorders due to this HPT Axis Disruption. :(

The ENDOCRINE SYSTEM is very complicated, in that it functions "downline" from the HPT Axis AND each endocrine organ/gland responds to disruptions of the other 6.

The analogy I like is that it works like a Spider web: each of the 7 limbs do their own job, but if something happens to any one of the limbs, the rest of the 'structure' needs to compensate.

I know this confusing so here is your Crash Course on the Endocrine System :) There are 8 organs, but we each only have 7 (both ovaries and testes are endocrine, since you only have one, duh - no longer 8 organs:)

The Endocrine Organs are:

Your Gonads: Testes or Ovaries:
Parathyroid Glands: produces parathyroid hormone (PTH), which regulates the levels of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium in the blood and bones. If your Parathyroid Glands do not secrete hormones properly, your bones will be weak and fragile.
Pineal Gland: The Pineal gland's primary job is to regulate sleep and wake cycles by producing melatonin.
Pancreas: The Pancreas maintains healthy blood sugar levels and aids in digestion.
Adrenal Glands: The Adrenals produce hormones that help regulate the body's response to stress, including controlling blood pressure, metabolism, and the body's use of energy by releasing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline (epinephrine) depending on the situation; essentially, preparing the body for "fight or flight" scenarios.
The Anterior Pituitary: produce hormones that regulate growth, metabolism, and reproduction, including TSH from the Thyroid and ACTH, the precursor to cortisol, from the Adrenal Glands. The Anterior Pituitary generally receives directions from the Hypothalamus and then sends out signals to "the rest of the gang".
Hypothalamus or "Master Gland": The Hypothalamus is the part of the brain that regulates the body's internal state, or homeostasis. It does this by controlling the autonomic nervous system (the one you do not have to think about - it runs like your Operating System in the background) and releasing hormones from the Endocrine system. Examples of functions under Hypothalamic Control are:

Appetite and weight: The hypothalamus controls hunger and weight.
Sleep-wake cycles: The hypothalamus controls when you are awake and when you are asleep.
Sex drive: The hypothalamus controls sex drive.
Emotions: The hypothalamus controls mood and other emotions.
Childbirth: The hypothalamus controls the contractions of the uterus during childbirth.
Breast milk production: The hypothalamus controls the production of breast milk.

Okay, Endocrine System Road Trip Over :)

Back to discussing your Thyroid Function Post CoVID

I realize that this is somewhat complicated and maybe a bit overwhelming. That is why there are ENDOCRINOLOGISTs :P, people who STUDY & have STUDIED this for a lifetime to understand the Complexity. Yes, an Endocrinologist is who you would see - especially for a Thyroid Challenge.

But what I really want you to remember is that,

regardless of whether you got COVID,

you got the CoVID vaccine

both,

if you feel like your body

is not working the way you expect it to

"Or You are Asking For A Friend"

you just know something is "not right", even if you cannot put your finger on it,