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One of the problems that I faced on the first stage of my Hashimotos was that I was not able to sleep really well.
Actually, before I was actually diagnosed with Hashimoto, my sleep was good and deep.
But as I have started the conventional treatment for Hashimoto, that is usually just to take levothyroxine, my sleep got terribly bad.
At first, the first endocrinologist have me a high dose of levothyroxine.
His idea was that a high dose will help to reduce a thyroid gland nodule, which it was not the case, and as consequenc, what I had were terrible chest pressure, tachychardias and horrible feelings in the hear area.
This certainly have ruined my sleep quality and gave me sleep problems.
So, I talked with my doctor and hist first solution was to decrease the dose.
It eventually helped with the sleep disorder, but not totally, plus my Hashimoto symptoms were still appearing.
I was actually feeling worse after I started a treatment, than time before.
It took me a while to find a right dose for me that could handle my thyroid disorder, but at that time I was unaware of the real Hashimoto treatment and the things that I actually have to do in order to recover my health fully.
Sleep issues are a common problem for thyroid diseases like hypothyroidism and Hashimotos autoimmune disease.
If you go with a conventional doctor or endocrinologist right after you have already started your hormone replacement therapy, then it would be probable that the focus would be in the sleeping pattern rather than the root causes of your Hashimoto.
So, some doctors will focus on a “quick fix solution” by prescribing sleep medicine for your poor sleep.
But guess what, that will be just a band aid of the problem, it won’t be the real sleep solution.
To heal a thyroid condition that is affected by an autoimmune disorder, will require to go after the root causes.
We all are not the same in body, nor personal experiences, so what might help me, might not be totally beneficial for you, so as what food are healing for me, might not be at all for you, therefore take the following recommendations as a grain of salt, and take only what might give you an idea of what disrupt sleep.
Keep reading if you struggle with sleep.
One important aspect when healing Hashimoto is to do a food sensitivity test.
There are certain types of foods that might bring out inflammation for people with Hashimoto, and gluten is one of it.
The issue with food and Hashimoto is that there might exist a leaky gut, which could also be a reason of the sleep disturbances.
When I did my food sensitivity test I had to remove foods with gluten, oatmeal, oranges, pineapples, tuna and some more, so that I can eventually build up my Hashimoto diet with foods like corn, meat, kiwi, yogurt, dairy and more.
There might be your case that some foods are triggering you over the night and are being part cause of your insomnia.
For sure eating sugary foods at night won’t be the best deal, neither coffee or drinking too much liquids that will wake you up to go to the bathroom.
If you are not able to do the food sensitivity test, try out which could be the foods that interfere with your sleep and remove them eventually.
In my case, one of the big causes of my sleep loss was to take the brand Eutirox for levothyroxine.
With some doctors, it is common to talk just about adjusting the dose of the levothyroxine, to improve your thyroid hormone levels and that is it.
But also, one of its secondary effects is that it can also cause insomnia or sleeping problems.
Yes, in some cases levothyroxine will be needed for a proper thyroid function, but it is also important to investigate which brand could be the one that best fits for you.
As mentioned, for me Eutorix was not the best solution, neither for sleep, neither for improving health, and neither for feeling well overall.
In my case, this brand generated me really bad chest pressures and horrible tachychardias, even with a really low dose.
There was a time that I decided to don’t take at all levothyroxine, and actually that period was a time where I was having back again restful night’s sleep and feeling better the next day.
But after a certain time, I was feeling a bit slower than usual and my TSH was showing back again high levels, so it meant I needed some support for my thyroid.
It was until I decided to change brand and started taking one that is named Karet here in Mexico, and so far it has not given me any of those horrible symptoms.
Finding a correct brand that worked out for me has been a major milestone on my Hashimoto healing journey that certainly had a positive impact to get better sleep duration.
It is hard to heal if you are not able to sleep well, so this should be also an objective for a person who wants to really take care of him or herself while treating Hashimoto.
We live in times where we spend a lot of time using mobile devices.
Unfortunately, we are seeing people around the streets walking like chickens with the head down looking out for something to eat.
Certainly, technology and mobile devices has brought advantages, but in terms of disadvantages, it has generated this addiction.
It becomes difficult to fall asleep if we are tuning out every social media channel on the night.
What the use of mobile devices generate to our brain at night is that it keeps up giving us shots of dopamine, where it can become difficult for the brain to relax.
Too much dopamine can bring up poor sleep quality, and this will eventually also affect your next day performance.
Therefore, it is recommended to stop the use of any electronic device 2 hours before sleep so that your braind can calm and start to dive into a good sleep.
