Hashimoto in Men: How to heal with the best treatment

Hypothyroidism is a more common disease that affects women, but there are also men who can present thyroid disease.

And there are things I wished I knew before when I was early tagged with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

Unfortunately, the conventional medical treatment for healing Hashimoto is to take thyroid hormone pills, which is not the only answer for this autoimmune disease that must be seen with a holistic view in order to find true, real healing.

Following up, I will share the information that mostly by hard experiences I have learned of what works and what doesn’t work as a treatment of Hashimoto in men.

Written by

Carlos Barraza
May 28, 2022
Body, Hashimoto, Personal Development

This post is also available in: English Español Deutsch Italiano Português Français Русский 日本語 Română

What is Hashimoto’s disease?

Overall, Hashimoto’s an autoimmune disease, and not necessarily a thyroid disease as some doctors will make you think.

The problem is not based in the thyroid gland. There are root causes that eventually damaged the thyroid gland and as result caused the hormonal imbalance.

The goal for true healing is to find those root causes and cut them out.

The immune system is the one out of control and it is one’s work to find out why, and take the steps to recover full body balance in order to restore a healthier status.

Autoimmune disorders are said to have no cure, but honestly, after taking the right steps to heal Hashimoto, I can say that one can actually live without Hashimoto symptoms and have a normal and fulfilled life.

Of course, there will be ups and downs, but one who has to make conscious decisions so that Hashimoto is no longer considered a stone in the road.

Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto Symptoms in Men

There are different types of Hashimoto symptoms that might appear in men.

One starts having hypothyroidism symptoms before being diagnosed as Hashimoto thyroiditis by a healthcare provider.

Usually, the symptoms are the same for both Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto.

Here is a list of some of the Hashimoto Symptoms.

Cold intolerance
Joint pain
Thyroid nodules
Fatigue
Sleepless nights
Weight gain
Hair loss
Blood pressure changes
Anxiety
Slower metabolism
Decreased libido
Raynaud's Phenomenon

And it will vary from man to man the Hashimoto symptoms.

What causes Hashimoto’s disease?

So, as I started to investigate more about Hashimoto, I learned that the root causes are actually the triggers of the health imbalance.

There is not only one answer to find out what causes Hashimoto.

As we are all unique in body, there might be different reasons why the body reacted with an autoimmune disease.

But mainly, I say that the use of antibiotics is one of the main reasons that the gut is becoming leaking.

Leaky gut is when the gut lining gets damaged, and since the lining is not fully protecting the gut, there will be food molecules and toxins that will get inside the blood vessels.

This gives the note to start mentioning the effect of gluten in the body.

Gluten has a protein called gliadin, which when it goes into the bloodstream, the immune system will target it and attack it. SInce it is considered as a foreigner agent, it is normal to defend the body against it.

But, since the thyroid gland has a similar structure as gliadin, then the immune response is to attack as well the thyroid gland. At least that’s what science says.

So gluten is one cause of Hashimoto? Well, partially.

An unhealthy lifestyle, stress factors, processed foods, high amounts of sugar, nutritional deficiencies, emotional factors and a lack of spiritual practice will be causes of disease in humans.

The thing with Hashimoto is that it is commonly said that it is also a communication disease, and those who struggle with communicating their emotions eventually show thyroid disease.

So this is why I am also using this website to express myself and help other Hashimoto Warriors to find their own personal healing path, because I know how frustrating it can be to not know exactly what is going wrong even if you have a considered healthy lifestyle.

Believe me, we sometimes do things that can be considered healthy, until we find out the paradigm which must be changed.

Thyroid testing and getting Hashimoto diagnosis

So usually, when a man finds out about Hashimoto, it is usually when he visits several doctors.

As some of those symptoms appear and a man goes up to visit his healthcare provider, there might be different lab tests that are going to be tested out.

If the doctor finally thinks about testing the thyroid lab tests, he will ask for thyroid hormone levels T3, T4 and TSH to check out the thyroid function.

Those markers will show up how high or how low are these hormones, and the TSH will show how much the pituitary gland is asking the thyroid gland for T4 production that eventually will be converted into the active T3 form.

Hashimoto with normal TSH level is pretty common, and if your thyroid labs show that, it gets even harder if the doctor doesn’t ask to test for TGAB (thyroglobulin antibodies) and TPO (thyroid peroxidase antibodies).

It is important to run these labs to find out how the thyroid antibodies levels are. If these markers are high, it can be confirmed as a diagnosis of an autoimmune thyroid disease.

What Does Hypothyroidism/Hashimoto Look Like in Men?

The issue with an abnormal thyroid function is that rarely a man can relate his symptoms to the thyroid.

The energy is not as it used to be years before, which by a “normal thinking”, the excuse will be the aging process.

There are men who usually also have mental health issues, dealing with anxiety and depression, or altered states of consciousness as the so called psychosis, but this I related to psychosomatic experiences a man has to go through in order to heal that are mainly triggered also by the use of substances that alter the body biochemistry.

As well and unfortunately, Hashimoto is a silent autoimmune disorder that one can’t barely notice its impact on the body.

People from outside can see you as normal and healthy, when inside there are some symptoms triggering in the body, making you not “feeling well”.

And here I experienced the “doctor’s dance” when even showing the normal TSH, I was feeling well.

There was something not right.

My TSH were normal, so there was no need to make levothyroxine adjustments. This makes me question, what am I doing wrong, why am I not feeling well? And these questions appear at some point to all the Hashimoto Warriors until they find out the true path to healing.

Certainly, at some point levothyroxine made me feel awful. So, if I was not feeling good even if I was taking the dose that the doctor said, something must not be ok or something is missing.

The following picture is me at my 30th birthday, and I can’t say I was feeling at my best in health terms.

2019 was a year of decline, because, despite having a “healthy lifestyle” it was not the one that I had to be following.

At that time I was just taking levothyroxine, but still feeling that something was not right.

I was not sleeping full 8 hours, eating gluten, over excercising, and drinking alcohol, maybe not big amounts, but still having a couple beers (more gluten).

Relation between Hashimoto, Depression, Anxiety and Suicide

Men have also the issue of dealing with psychological symptoms in Hashimoto and mental health problems, and even more extreme situations like suicide.

In the US in 2020, men died by suicide 3.88x more than women.

And if we keep comparing these numbers along the last years, it has increased instead of decreased.

So the real question to be done is, are we really building a sustainable and healthy future?

What are we building as a society that is really working so that the vast majority of people in the world can really overcome their personal challenges?

There is no external factor that will pull out a person from their depression and anxiety.

As I have stated in how to help a friend with anxiety and depression, one doesn’t want to see a friend feeling bad. But it is actually them who have to do the work to lift themselves from their situation.

As a friend, yes we can be a support, but the work is on them.

So as well in men who are dealing with Hashimoto and an abnormal thyroid function.

Bringing back the balance of the brain neurotransmitters is also important to work before in restoring the body’s balance.

And it might sound cliché, but yes, we are what we eat. And if in autoimmune disorders we are still fueling the body with boods that can also inflamate the brain such as sugars, processed foods and gluten, then the consequence will also be to trigger depression states and anxiety.

As also part of a story about me when I had anxiety episodes mainly after having sugary drinks.

Or when my spiritual awakening / kundalini awakening was triggered by a strong spiritual practice, emotional breakdown, the madness around the world in 2020 and some Ashwagandha, Rhodiola and Benzodiazepine. Certainly, I was in an altered state of consciousness, as Stanislav Grof calls these experiences.

I found one of the errors in the German Health System. If someone is not threatening his own life or someone else’s life, then there is no need to take him to a hospital or mental health hospital, even if the person is in an altered state of consciousness.

So the paramedic said that to me, and due to love, I decided to act as threatening my life so that I was taken to the hospital, but this idea was not on me in the first place. The mind gets tricky in the also called psychosis moments.

The full spiritual awakening story I will write it in my book, but my point is, what is really beind the number of attempts of suicides and the ones that are really consumed?

For sure, and by experience, I can say that Hashimoto and Mental Health issues are not really well handled.

What has to be done?

At least, add the steps of a real Hashimoto treatment mentioned in this post.

Hashimoto in Men probably main worry: Sexual Dysfunction

As men start to age, sexual dysfunction becomes one of the main concern.

How it is possible that a man can suffer with decreased libido or even erectile dysfunction at earlier ages than usual.

It is stated in Very Well Health site:

As such, men with thyroid disease may also experience these sexual health-related symptoms: Erectile dysfunction, Delayed ejaculation (more common in hypothyroidism) Premature ejaculation (more common in hyperthyroidism) Problems with sperm that can lead to infertility such as lower sperm counts, poorer sperm quality, lower semen volume, and less sperm motility.
A 2018 review published in Sexual Medicine Review reported that 59% to 63% of men with hypothyroidism experienced decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, and delayed ejaculation.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the description of the treatment, this site doesn’t have the full picture again.

It seems that medical sites have a very good way to set up statistics, but not how to solve a thyroid function that might be affecting the symptoms such as decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, delayed ejaculation or premature ejaculation.

It would be better to investigate further with a functional medicine doctor what are the deficiencies that the body might have, and by addressing the root causes, the symptoms will be disappearing.

This requires a change of mindset, and step aside of focusing on the symptoms of sexual dysfunction, and start asking the why or what root cause.

I haven’t had any issues mentioned but here are my assumptions.

Not only the thyroid hormones, but could it be a blood circulation issue that is affecting the blood vessels and hence the cause of erectile dysfunction? Or an iron deficiency, a zinc deficiency?

Could it be that the excess of stress needs that the body produce cortisol, and as a consequence the pre-hormone pregnenolone is mainly focused on this, and not producing some other hormones such as having low testosterone levels?

And there is no amount of Viagra that will actually really heal erectile dysfunction. It sure helps out with the symptom, but it doesn’t address the root cause.

Functional medicine is becoming a personalized model of treating the person and not what the symptoms say what it should be done.

It is a matter of time, as people start to bring more consiousness on their life, they will notice what can really treat Hashimoto and Men’s sexual health.

Real Best Hashimoto Treatment and Management

And there is a lot of work to do to spread the word of what is the real treatment for Hashimoto in Men.

Unfortunately, men, like me, have to go through the hard process until we find out what is the real answer to our doubts about why we are not feeling at our best.

But sometimes I do think that this is a necessary process in order to rise stronger from such adversities.

Thyroid hormone levels won’t show the full picture, and the current Hashimoto treatment that is told by conventional doctors is to take the levothyroxine and that is it.

Functional medicine is the current best solution available for Hashimoto in men and women.

Functional medicine as I can explain it, aims to find the root causes, and work from down up, and not just to cover the symptoms.

What does Hashimoto functional medicine treatment involve?

During my last year in Germany in 2020, I found a Homepath who at some point helped me to start this process, or introduction to a real healing.

But it was until I was back home in Mexico that I found an online functional medicine doctor who has guided me to dedicate time to heal.

Overall and as a summary, I have to focus on the gut, the right medications, lowering stress, assess nutritional deficiencies, eliminate foods that trigger autoimmune reaction on me, sun exposure, good sleep, spiritual practice, and don’t exceed on exercise and lifestyle.

Sounds simple steps to do, but it requires discipline and the will to let out all the things that generated an autoimmune disorder in me in the first place.

Heal leaky gut

As mentioned, a leaky gut can have an effect that toxins get into the bloodstream and eventually cause inflammations.

It is important to focus on healing the gut to reduce the amount of foods that generate the increase of thyroglobulin antibodies.

Some steps that I have taken to heal the gut have been to drink Kefir, a powerful probiotic.

As well, my functional medicine doctor has supplemented me with L-Glutamine and Aloe vera powder to strengthen the gut and recover its lining.

It is worth saying that eliminating processed foods and sugars will give the gut a rest to recover.

Find the right Thyroid Medication for your Hashimoto's Thyroiditis

Here it is really important to discuss it with a functional medicine doctor, to find which dosage will restore your thyroid hormone levels, but also which brand of levothyroxine is the best for you.

In my case, the Merck brand was part of the wrong decisions I made with past endocrinologists. There was a period of time where it was not having a big side effect on me, but because I took as normal sleeping 4 hours then waking up for an hour and going back to sleep for 4 hours.

Eventually, this levothyroxine brand generated in me horrible tachycardia and chest pressure that I am still healing from.

Even with a low dose of 25 mg. So for me, this brand has become a no way.

But as it can happen, for me it won’t work and for others it might be ok. It is better to discuss it with a functional medicine doctor and find out which fits best for you.

Until I went to a pharmacist, asked for another brand, and Karet has been the one I have been taking and it has been fine.

In some other parts of the world they are already trying out natural desiccated thyroid as hormone replacement therapy, but this is important to be discussed with a functional medicine doctor and see if it is available in your country.

My recommendation here is to do gradual changes until you find the one best fits for you.

Lower your Cortisol levels, Lower your Stress

We have heard about stress, but stress itself is not negative.

We are meant to have the cortisol hormone and cope with different things that might put us up in a situation of stress.

What can affect a person is to be in a constant stress situation.

It is like accelerating a car, and speeding up the gas until the revolutions can’t anymore and it explodes.

So it is the body, if we are not able to create a rhythm of life that can have high peaks of stress, but also to prolong the low stress level situations, then also the body will become affected.

Yes, there are stress support supplements, but it is not only what we have to rely on.

It is important to find activities that can help us to cope with stress. It can be yoga, mindfulness, reading, time with nature, time with family, low intensity exercise, you name it, but it should bring peaceful moments for you.

Address nutritional deficiencies with food and supplements

There are multiple lab tests that can show the results of which nutritional deficiencies the body has.

In some countries there are more complete tests that show different factors by just having some hair samples and saliva.

The labs that my functional medicine doctor has focused on selenium, zinc, vitamin D, vitamin B, magnesium and some others.

This I mention because it is important to have tos markers well balanced to restore health and forget a thyroid disease.

For this, besides just taking supplements that target the deficiency, I do juice therapy.

There are different Hashimoto juice therapies that will help and here I do recommend doing the food sensitivity test to know what you can actually eat.

Is there a special diet for people with Hashimoto’s disease?

Yes.

It is important to run a food sensitivities test, or it can be called a food inflammation test or foods with autoimmune reaction.

This is a key map to be built in order to heal and restore the thyroid function.

As I have stated in my blog post of my Hashimoto Diet, the homeopath in Germany gave me this test which I have set as the main base for my diet plan.

Every person is different, and the foods that trigger me might not be the same for you, that is why I don’t recommend taking what most blogs and websites say about the foods to avoid with Hashimoto and what foods to eat.

You can go on an elimination diet if you can’t find where to test for food sensitivities. The thing is that when it comes to autoimmune disorders, to see a reaction for a certain food you must wait nearly 3 weeks.

As well, there will be a lot of information that might say that Gluten, Diary and Eggs should be removed, but for example in my lab tests, I did not show any reaction to diary. And actually when I eat or drink any diary, I feel ok. Of course, I aim to choose the best diary possible.

At least 15 min of sun exposure

Vitamin D is very important to have a balanced immune system.

It is also crucial to have optimal vitamin D levels to reduce the thyroid antibodies.

Of course, the ideal would be to spend some time often at the beach, but if this is not the case, then the daily routine of 15 minutes of sun exposure will give to the body a minimum amount of vitamin D.

Ideal would be that several parts of the body receive the sunlight.

As well there are vitamin D supplements, but it is better to have some sun exposure.

Restore your body with a good sleep

As I changed the levothyroxine brand that I was taking and found a better dose of 37.5 mg with another brand, this had a huge impact on my sleep.

Now I am mostly sleeping between 7-8 hours per night, which eventually has become beneficial to restore my body balance.

There are some foods that might mess up a good sleep, so it is also important to keep up with your personalized hashimoto Diet to avoid that something messing with your night.

Hashimoto Men Spiritual Practice

We are spiritual beings, and it should not be left aside.

Regardless of the religion, spirituality should be a concern to also be taken care of.

It can be in the form of christian prayers, yoga, buddhist or muslim practices, each and every religion has its own form of meditation.

Having a divine connection within oneself and listening to oneself will be also a key factor to heal.

Exercise recommendations for Hashimoto Thyroiditis Men

As I have been for years a sports enthusiast, unfortunately I can’t keep up with the same intensity.

I even tried to do some HIIT workouts to lose some weight, but I noticed a different effect, my belly was getting bigger.

And also, it is not that recommended to over exercise, because the body gets into stressful moments, and what we want is to reduce stress.

So I decreased from 4 days to 3 days of working out, and I changed the exercises to dumbbell workouts.

For me, weights exercises are not leaving me over exhausted, and I am noticing a better body shape.

Lifestyle Changes For Men With Hashimoto’s

Overall, if a man wants to leave behind a thyroid disease, then he must go under a full lifestyle change.

Drastic changes will bring up drastic results, but it is recommended to go over a self paced treatment, and see what is working and what is not.

To heal Hashimoto is to think of it as a marathon, with a proper healing routine, the thyroid functions will go back to optimal levels, and so will the body.

Removing or apparting from a toxic environment will be crucial to reach back your potential.