Basal Body Thyroid Temperature Test

January 24, 2017
By: Rachelle Burke
Category: Health, Thyroid
Comments: 0

Exhaustion, brain fog, weight gain, thyroid nodules, synthroid, levathroid, thyroid panels, you name it, I had it and tried it. When my thyroid nodules were discovered at my post partum checkup after my first born, I was immediately sent to an endocrinologist, who immediately put me on the merry-go-round of thyroid blood tests (always incomplete) and synthetic thyroid meds like Synthroid, which has not been reliably potent nor stable (always fluctuating in efficacy) and remained miserable for 20 years. It wasn’t until I became aware of the Barnes Basal Body Thyroid Temperature Test that I finally began to understand what my thyroid was doing and was able to look into natural ways to repair my thyroid, rid of the nodules and return my body to its optimum.

Despite the sensitivity of all the tests the doctors can give a patient today, a mildly hypothyroid or hyperthyroid person can still appear normal in a test. Many people have symptoms and are clearly affected, yet they complain that no doctors will help them. Even if their tests come up “normal”, they suffer tremendously with symptoms of either of these conditions daily.

What Are Thyroid Blood Tests Going To Show?

TSH tests and blood tests are useful to help diagnose thyroid problems but should not be used alone. Symptoms are the most important factor. It is rare that a blood chemistry panel shows your true condition because the values measured are only about 30% accurate. It is common for a person with thyroid problems to have a completely normal thyroid panel. This is why the Thyroid Panel is considered by many to be inadequate. It is common for a hypothyroid person to have a low TSH value, which is usually interpreted as hyperthyroidism, not the reverse, despite many symptoms of low thyroid (depression, dry skin, weight problems, chronic infections, female problems, hair loss, low blood sugar, and so on). TSH tests are not as scientifically accurate as they need to be.

What Other Methods Are There To Test Thyroid Function?

The “basal body temperature” test was developed by Broda O. Barnes, M.D. Because thyroid hormone is so vital to cellular metabolism, reduced thyroid function often manifests as deviation in body temperature away from the normal level of 98.6oF / 37oC.

Barnes Recommended The Following Procedure:

When you wake in the morning, before much movement and before rising out of bed, take your thermometer (that you keep beside your bed) and place it under your tongue for 10 minutes (you can do it rectally too, but that’s not my cup of tea!). Under the tongue is a more accurate way to read your temperature, but if you need to do it under the arm, it will be a little lower. Factor in an additional .80F or .50C by doing it under the arm to determine your thyroid activity level correctly. You will want to do this every morning, preferably at the same time every morning, and chart you temperature. You can take your temperature quicker with a digital thermometer, but the accuracy may not be as good as with a clinical thermometer, so be sure to test your digital one against a clinical one to make sure you are getting a correct reading.

Once you are out of bed and on with your day, you want to take your oral temperature again, some time between 11 am and 3 pm, 20 minutes after you lunch. You do this to see how your thyroid is responding throughout the day to your activity and your diet. This tells you a lot about what’s going on during the time when your thyroid function should be at its best.

Why Use The Temperature Test?

The temperature test is a good way to get a more detailed look at your thyroid activity, even if the blood tests put you in the ‘normal’ range. Dr. Barnes says that even being above or below midpoint within the normal range can be an indicator that you might benefit from natural thyroid supplementation, in particular, Naturally Desiccated Thyroid.

Desiccated thyroid is real thyroid. It is usually powdered thyroid from pigs porcine (mixed from several pigs, not one), or bovine, made from cow thyroid. It meets the stringent guidelines and is made according to specific quality standards, contrary to what some doctors say. It has been used successfully by thyroid patients for more than 115 years, and is even reported in older medical journals – it’s not something new-fangled!

According to Barnes, if your average temperature over three days is less than 97.8F or 36.6C, it may mean you have hypothyroidism. If your temperature is consistently above 98.6F or 37.0C, it most likely is indicative of hyperthyroidism. It is a good indicator of thyroid problems, but isn’t definitive, as many other things can factor in to affecting your body temperature. If you are taking readings at different times throughout the day, have had an alcoholic beverage, are sick, under stress, or haven’t slept well, that can matter.

If you are menstruating, or your temperature is consistently below 97.2F or 36.2C, it is very likely that you have an under-active thyroid, whereas a consistent temperature above 98.6F or 37.0C can give a hint that the thyroid is overactive. Optimal oral thyroid temperature should be 98.0F or 36.7C first thing in the morning before arising. Once you are up and about, normally oral temperature should rise to between 98.6F – 99.0F and 37.0C – 37.2C for around 10 hours during the day (if you are starting the measurement between 8 and 11 am).

Remembering that body temperature is affected by the menstrual cycle, you must keep in mind that your temperature will be a little lower on the first day of menstruation and then rises at ovulation and will maintain the higher level until just before your next cycle starts when your temperature drops again. It can be interesting to see if you fit into the normal temperature cycling or if you demonstrate an overactive or underactive thyroid to compare to or measure against blood tests, as well as being an alternative.

The endocrine system is cyclical, and the thyroid can be affected by bacteria, parasites, viruses, and other diseases like autoimmunities which cause the body to attack itself. When your body’s temperature isn’t correct, enzymes are at their correct temperature and they cant be converted into hormones in the correct manner. This leads to illnesses. A low grade infection can actually cause your body temperature to rise ever so slightly, so monitoring symptoms while you are doing your temperature testing is critical.

And Don’t Forget The Resting Pulse Test!

Along with montoring your temperature, you want to use the additional indicator of pulse rate. It also gives insight into your hypoactive or hyperactive thyroid activity.

When I was in bed taking my temperature, I would couple that time with checking my waking/resting pulse rate to see how hard my thyroid was working. Count your pulse for 10 seconds and multiply by 6 to get your per minute resting heart rate reading.

A pulse of less than 85 beats per minute consistently, along with a low waking temperature, it suggests hypoactive/underactive thyroid. Pulse rates that are consistently higher than 85 beats per minute may indicate hyperactive thyroid, but can also mean there is an infection a food intolerance being dealt with or excess adrenaline/cortisol, which also may need to be addressed.

I have personally found that you can have both symptoms of hypo and hyper thyroid at the same time, and many of the symptoms for each one can cross over to the other, which makes figuring out what you’re going through a lot more fun, right?! Once I and my daughter had personally tracked our thyroid temps and pulse, we were able to get a fairly good picture of what was going on, and were able to track more detailed information of other symptoms to fine tune our thyroid support which we did mostly through a pro-thyroid diet and NDT (naturally dessicated thyroid).

Download Thyroid Temperature and Pulse Chart

Download Thyroid Activity Graph

http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/thyroid.shtml

http://www.functionalps.com/blog/2012/03/25/ray-peat-phd-on-thyroid-temperature-pulse-and-tsh/comment-page-1/

https://astrotas.wordpress.com/tag/thyroid/

https://www.biochemnordic.com/ray-peat-diet-program

**Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and I don’t play one here at Passionate For Truth. This is not medical advise. These remedies are shared for your benefit because of my own research and/or personal experience and are for educational purposes only. I hope to encourage you to research some of these possibly ‘newer’ ideas to you for yourself! Remedies shared are not meant to diagnose, treat, nor stated to cure any disease. Your medical decisions are completely up to you. None of these statements have been evaluated by the FDA. See my full disclaimer here. https://passionatefortruth.com/medical-disclaimer/