When I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, I said to my doctor, “Well, at least it’s a good autoimmune to have.” (In my mind I was comparing it to MS and Lupus and the like.) HA. HA HA HA. (NOT.)
I have since come to realize that ALL autoimmunes are nasty and terrible. And Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (and its compatriot, Graves’ Disease) is just as bad as any other.
Thyroid hormone exists in every cell of the body. Every. Single. One. Which means that Hashi’s can attack any system of the body. From skin to cardiovascular to the central nervous system… and everything in between.
So imho, the very best — most important — thing you can do, if you have Hashi’s, is to get to what doctors call a “euthyroid” position, where your thyroid is mostly happy with you. This will help calm the inflammation, reduce the size of nodules on your thyroid, leading to fewer symptoms, etc.
The problem is, most medical doctors in the US (including the vast majority of endocrinologists, the doctors who treat thyroid conditions) don’t understand what “euthyroid” means for us Hashi’s patients. They think if our TSH is “in range,” we should be FINE. And unfortunately for most of us, nothing can be further from the truth.
I don’t want to get into tons and tons of details in this post — don’t want to overwhelm people right away — but I will list a few resources which have been useful for me.
The first, best thing to do is to go 100% completely Gluten-Free. Most Hashi’s patients, and most autoimmune patients in general, have found that their symptoms are helped quite a bit by this one step. For a ton of different reasons! For Hashi’s patients, the biggest reason is that, chemically-speaking, the thyroid hormone looks like the gluten molecule. So when you eat gluten, your body attacks the thyroid. 😜 And no, “mostly GF” doesn’t cut it, sorry. 😭 I feel your pain. I’m right there with you!!!
Here are some other places you might want to visit:
Dr. Izabella Wentz, PharmD — Hashi’s patient, literally wrote the book on Hashimoto’s. (One of them, at least.) Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the Root Cause. (She wrote other books too, but this was her first, and is a good place to start.) https://thyroidpharmacist.com/
AutoImmune Protocol/Autoimmune Paleo diet: popularized by Mickey Trescott, often abbreviated AIP. Diet can be a HUGE factor in helping overcome autoimmune issues. See https://autoimmunewellness.com/
Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, PhD. She has lots of great videos on Instagram these days, and has written a book too: The Paleo Approach.
Katie Wells, “The Wellness Mama,” https://wellnessmama.com/author/wellnessmama/
Heather Dessinger, “MommyPotamus,” https://mommypotamus.com/
Hashimoto’s 411, Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/263254324207
Here’s to better health!!
Make Level Paths 