--and figured I'd get the expert opinions here.

A number of you know my wife is the ultramarathoner who runs 50-60 miles each week. (Back in her major competitive days 3-7 years ago, when she ranked in the top 20 in North America, she used to run even more, up to 80 miles/week.) she is now 45, and over the last two years or so, even on this running schedule, she's gained about 15 pounds. She also feels more tired and logy than when she was training even more.

Now albeit she is older, and she has a demanding job (although the latter has always been true). But we've been noticing in her checkups that her TSH levels have been climbing upward--they recently been in the 2.5 area. I know that optimally they should be in the 1's, and that the American Academy of Endocrinology has urged a changing of the TSH normal range guidelines down from 0.5-5.5 so that the upper limit is around 3, with people near there watched for signs of subclinical reduced thyroid function. Unfortunately, many physicians, including endos, don't seem aware of this recommendation. My wife's physicians are among them, and therefore have never ordered any measures of T3 and T4. (I'm working on them, and many of you know what a pain I can be, faxing/e-mailing clinical papers. My wife finds this embarrassing.)

The other thing that's gotten me suspicious is that my wife's menstrual cycles have gotten shorter than they used to be--down from about 33-35 days to 27-29 days--and she absolutely has the periods from hell, much greater in flow and duration than several years ago. It's been enough that she fights a chronic low-grade iron deficiency anemia--and THAT would never have been noticed if I hadn't insisted on iron/Ferritin/TIBC testing. (She is on slow Fe 65mg/day, which keeps her in lower normal ranges.)

I should also mention that she has been an asthmatic for a dozen years, and takes Asmanex 220mcg/twice a day, Singulair 10mg/day and Albuterol 2 metered puffs before her training runs. Her asthma is not perfectly controlled--she still has intermittent problems, and has been on varied other meds in the past, including Advair diskus, with pretty much the same moderate control.

What I'm looking for advice on--until I can get her a full thyroid work-up, are there any foods/supplements that she could take that would help to naturally upregulate her thyroid function, without interfering much with other meds? I've always wondered whether the long-term usage of asthma meds may be having endocrinologic effects . . .I do suspect she's perimenopausal, but the weight gain, given all that running, is worrisome. (It's hard to imagine she has insulin resistance problems given her activity level . . .)

Any advice would be appreciated.