If you are like me that you have been searching for answers and solutions, and you have to ask Google for a Hashimoto Treatment, then I hope that this article helps you as a guide to know what to do.
And if also you are like me, is because doctors are leaving you without the answers that you are looking for and they might have said that you only have to take levothyroxine for the rest of your life and that is it, there is nothing else to do.
I know how hard it could be to be searching for answers that could help you to gain once back again your balance, but conventional doctors are not actually helping, letting you with a simple answer like “Sorry, you are under stress” or “If you go with another doctor it will be the same”.
Because I have lived by myself and experienced the feeling of being ashamed everytime I had to go with the doctor because I was not feeling ok, despite I was already taking the Levothyroxine pill and my TSH tests were “normal”.
I might not save the whole world, but if sharing my experience could help to guide people like you to at least find some idea of a good and real Hashimoto Thyroiditis treatment, then it will worth thousand worlds.
So keep reading to learn more about this autoimmune condition that there is hope to restore balance in your life.
I am not a doctor and take this as an advice, I am also working on it with a functional medicine doctor.
And I want to start by describing what is Hashimoto Thyroiditis and what is not.
As described by Dr. Mark Hyman, functional medicine doctor, Hashimoto Thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks the thyroid gland and diminishes its ability to create precious hormones—ones that impact every cell of the body.
It is worth mentioning that the problem of Hashimoto, does not relies only on the thyroid, but in the gut and in the immune system as well.
And here is where the problem might start for some people who are just diagnosed with Hypothyroidism or Hyperthyroidism.
To describe Hypothyroidism vs Hashimoto is really simple, mainly the first one presents only low thyroid activity, while in Hashimoto is the immune system that is out of control.
But the thing is that in most of the cases Hypothyroidism is actually an undiscovered Hashimoto, but since doctors don’t test for Antibodies such as Thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO) and Thyroglobulin autoantibodies (TGAB), they don’t actually notice the problem that is behind.
So for sure, any conventional doctor, or even also endocrinologists might ask you to test only T3, T4 and TSH and that is it.
Your TSH might show numbers above the high range and the doctor will tell you, you are Hypothyroid, you will have to take 100 mg of levothyroxine and that will help you with your symptoms, come back in 3 months to test again to see if the dose is right or we will have to adjust.
Well, let me tell you, that is Bullshit!
As I was diagnosed with a Thyroid Nodule, I had to run different tests that my first endocrinologist just set me up with a high dose of Levothyroxine to “reduce the size of the nodule”.
I start taking above 125 mg, but the effect was awful!
I had horrible tachycardias that never in my life I had before.
So first tip, if you are going to take Levothyroxine, START FROM LOW DOSE AND INCREASE GRADUALLY!
So I was having those tachycardias, I was feeling anxious, I was not sleeping well, my hair was falling, I feel that I was shaking.
That was a bad period for me.
I went back to the doctor, he tested me out for the antibodies and then he said, you have Hashimoto and keep taking 100mg.
That didn’t resolved much, so then I decided to go for another doctor who explained me a bit better was Hashimoto.
The first time he was friendly, but since I was going often with him because I was not feeling ok, he was not that really friendly and I feel ashamed again with myself for not feeling good despite that I was following the instrucions.
Some other Hashimoto Symptoms that you could have are the following as described by Rachael Webster, PharmD & Hashimoto’s Coach.
And there might be more Hashimoto Symptoms that can appeared but this is just a list.
And when after asking to the doctor, there might be no answer for this question.
How the hell did I get Hashimoto Thyroidits?!
And your doctor might not have an explanation.
And if you search on the internet you will find out the following answers.
And as you can keep searching on the “expert and main websites” there is no proper answer to this question.
So how are you going to work on the root cause of your problem if there is no answer.
And they are not even mentioning a Gut issue.
The good news is that there are already people finding answer to know what causes Hashimoto Thyroiditis.
And Hashimoto Thyroiditis it is not a disfunctional Thyroid by itself, Hashimoto Thyroiditis is caused because your Gut is not fully protecting your body to stop toxins from filtering your bloodstream.
At least that is what I know.
I do have my theory that the use of Antibiotics, and probably other prescription drugs are obviously affecting the Gut lining and turning it into a leaky Gut, but probably Doctors won’t tell that story.
Gluten should be removed from a Hashimoto Diet, since it has gliadin, a protein that can filter through the gut to the bloodstream and is similar to the Thyroid tissue.
Therefore when the immune system is working against this, they will target as well the Thyroid tissue since it is similar to it, bringing as consequence thyroid and hormonal imbalance.
As previously mentioned, just testing out T3, T4, and TSH it is not enought to discover if you have Hashimoto.
You should also have tested your thyroid peroxidase antibody and thyroglobulin autoantibodies, just to confirm that it is Hashimoto.
But this is not enough, because it won’t show you the complete picture of what is going in other levels of your body.
In my path of visiting several doctors, until the last ones I was tested for some other important factors that also affect someone who has Hashimoto.
I share the ones that were relevant for me, but you can also ask your doctor if you might be down on some of these.
The crucial and important vitamin D.
While living in Germany, and I tested for vitamin D, I was actually pretty low.
Once back here in Mexico, my functional medicine doctor didn’t test back again until several months after I started the treatment with him.
Vitamin D plays a crucial role in people with Autoimmune diseases.
Historically, vitamin D has been associated with the regulation of bone metabolism. However, increasing evidence demonstrates a strong association between vitamin D signaling and many biological processes that regulate immune responses. (Yang et al, 2013)
Vitamin B has another test that I have done and that I was also on low levels.
Also, it is worth mentioning that Homocysteine could be in higher levels, so you might also prefer to test that and for sure you will have to increase your Vitamin B.
In patients with autoimmune hypothyroidism, vit-D and vit-B12 deficiency should be investigated at the time of diagnosis and periodically on follow-ups. (Aktaş H.Ş., 2020)
Zinc, Copper and Selenium are mentioned to be important for a good thyroid function.
In a study, it is mentioned that the blood concentration of essential trace elements, especially the ratio of Copper, and Selenium may influence directly thyroid function in patients with Hashimoto Thyroiditis and overt hypothyroidism. (Milutinovic et al 2016)
Pregnenolone is a hormone naturally produced in the body by the adrenal gland. Pregnenolone is also made from cholesterol, and is the starting material in the production of testosterone, progesterone, cortisol, estrogen and other hormones. Because the body uses it biochemically as starting material, pregnenolone is sometimes referred to as a “precursor” or “pro-hormone”. (USADA)
I actually didn’t knew what this hormone was and that it even existed.
My functional medicine doctor asked me to test for Pregnenolone and of course by my surprise as was at a very low level, so he suplemented me for Pregnenolone.
And probably here is another of the most important tests to do if you have Hashimoto Thyroiditis.
The thing is that in general this test might be quite expensive.
So if going to a lab to test for Food Sensitivities and see which foods create anitbodies reaction is not an option by the moment, then you can start by creating an elimination diet.
I did this test in Germany, but my doctor here in Mexico was also going to ask for the Food Sensitivities test.
Overall, it is recommended to leave out Gluten, Dairy and Egg, but every person is different and unique, and what might have a reaction on me, might not be the same for you, so listen to your body.
In my case, Casein, a protein found in Dairy, was not on my reactions list, plus having a glass of low fat milk for me is not a problem.
Here I share with you the list of foods that I reacted for antibodies.
Group 1 is food that I can eat daily. Group 2 is food that I could intercalate. Group 3 is food with moderate antibody reaction. Group 4 is food with high antibody reaction.
I did struggled to find a good Hashimoto treatment for myself.
As I already mentioned it, taking levothyroxine by itself is not the only answer, even if you have normal TSH.
If you keep serching on the main medical websites, they only say that, but they don’t go through the root causes.
And I felt so lonely, without any hope after going so many times with the doctor and seeing that my TSH was in normal ranges.
Finding eventually a functional medicine doctor back in Mexico had helped to improve my health.
I can’t say that I am at my best yet, but certainly I have improved and working on it.
So what I do recommend you as Hashimoto Treatment is to find your food sensitvities and do your own personalized Hashimoto Diet.
We are different, so you might have different reactions to different foods.
Also it is recommended to take some Hashimoto Supplements.
My doctor recommended me Throne Thyrocsin, which has Vitamin C, E, B12, Iodine, Zinc, Selenium, Copper, L-Thyrosine and Aschwaganda.
Just be careful where you buy Aschwaganda, it might be mixed with Rhodiola and Benzodiazepine, a sleeping drug, I already had some uncommon experiences that I will share in my book.
I am also taking Thorne Methyl-Guard, which supports methylation for healthy heart, blood vessels, brain, and bones.
Among some other important suplements is to take Glutamine, which helps to regenerate the Gut.
Don’t forget to take sun baths or expose yourself to the sun, and also take vitamin D, I do also take Vitamin D/K2 liquid from Thorne.
These are the ones that I take, but you can also try to look for the suplements that best fits you.
About which Levothyroxine dose and which brand is better, discuss that with your doctor.
In my case, Levothyroxine has made me to much bad than good.
I have tried Eutorix and Synthyroid and they haven’t really helped me at all, as mentioned, they have brought to me heart palpitations, bad sleep and tremors.
I do tested out to don’t take the levothyroxine pill, and for some months I was actually feeling better and sleeping way better, but I started to have some leg circulation problems, and the doctor gave me back a low dose of levothyroxine, but I still have to find out what works best for me.
I hope that this as a starting article helps you, and I aim to have some more few articles related to Hashimoto Thyroiditis to dig deeper into this discussion.
