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One of a common issues that is presentend in Hashimoto Thyroiditis, Hypothyroidism or thyroid disorders is the vitamind D deficiency.
But, when someone is checked out for their thyroid hormone levels, the comon tests are to check out the T3, T4 and TSH, and if lucky enough that at first the doctor aslo asks for the antibodies test of TPO and TGAB, then you will immediately know that it is an autoimmune thyroid disease what you are dealing now.
But until now, it is still rare that some conventional doctors will also ask to check out the Vitamin D status.
As well as part of my Hashimoto treatment, eventually I was tested for the levels of Vitamin D, and it it showed that I had a Vitamin D insufficiency.
As I was living in Germany, a natural course probable for people who come where there are plenty of sun like Mexico, it gets common to have a low Vitamin D status.
Germany is not well known for having sun all year round, so in such countries, and so in nordic or northern european countries, there is not much sun exposure as in south USA, Latin America, Afica or Asian countries.
But if a person is unaware of checking out his or her Vitamin D levels, plus he or she is starting to deal with Hashimoto, at first, it won’t be a lab test to be done.
So how to know this?
Well, it will highly depend on the knowledge of the doctor, or that you have heard of the effect of Vitamin D for thyroid autoimmunity.
When one start with the healing journey of Hashimoto, it is important to become your own advocate, and be able to discuss several aspects of your treatment with the doctor.
Functional medicine doctors, or doctors who have a more holistic focus of human health, might be the type of doctor who will also ask you to test out your Vitamin D.
In my case, it was for the first time a homeopath in Germany who asked me to do the test, and yes, it eventually showed low Vitamin D levels.
At that time, I first learned the important role of Vitamin D in not only Hashimoto thyroiditis patients, but also in autoimmune diseases.
If you haven’t tested out yet, then it would be ok to check it out when you do again your Thyroid panel test, alon with the thyroid antibodies TPO and TGAB.
“Vitamin D deficiency is frequent in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and treatment of patients with this condition with Vitamin D may slow down the course of development of hypothyroidism and also decrease cardiovascular risks in these patients. Vitamin D measurement and replacement may be critical in these patients.” (NLM)
There is a strong correlation between Vitamin D deficiency and thyroid disfunction.
“Vitamin D plays a significant role in modulation of the immune system, enhancing the innate immune response while exerting an inhibitory action on the adaptive immune system.” (Endocrine abstracts)
This deficiency might be one part of the reason of the autoimmune thyroiditis, and can be considered part of the root causes, but not the onlye solution.
It is important to see the human as a whole of body, mind, spirit, where every aspect takes an important role of having good health.
Sun exposure for 10 to 15 minutes daily is one of the best way to put out to work your own Vitamin D receptors.
Make sure that the skin of your body is able to receive directly the sun rays.
It is commonly said about the risk of having too much sun exposure, but this will depend on the personal opinion.
Even if you are living in areas where there is plenty of sun, then supplementation with Vitamin D turns out to be an option.
For my treatment, my functional medicine doctor recommended me a Vitamin D3 in form of liquid.
You can find several types of Vitamin D supplements, in pill or liquid, so I will suggest to discuss with your doctor which brand and form would work best for you.
As time has passed, and I have done both, the sun exposure and taken the drops of Vitamin D, my low levels of Vitamin D were recovered up, plus I can say that the association between Vitamin D deficiency and my Hashimoto symptoms have also decreased.
Of course, there are way more aspects than just taking care of being deficient in Vitamin D, but is part of the equation and overall part of this Hashimoto healing journey.
