Time before I was diagnosed with Hashimoto, I had this issue that sometimes I felt anxiety or had health concerns for no good reason, but I didn’t know why.
I had the feeling that something was going wrong with my body and that I had to go urgently with the doctor.
I was around 22 years old when I had this apparently urge to go with the doctor to check why I was not feeling ok. I did some general blood tests and some heart tests and everything was normal.
“You might be under stress because of your trip or changing from cities” that was the doctor said. And I believed that, and I just kept my life going.
Couple years after, when I was 24, I started to have some pain in the internal left side of my abs. I thought that something is making bad to my gut or to by stomach. I was used to have gastritis and I always blamed to eating spicy or certain foods.
At that time I decided to go with a gastroenterologist, it is the normal thing to do, isn’t? Or at least, we are taught to go to the doctor if we are not feeling right.
After the visit, the doctor requested to do an endoscopy, and then he found that I had a Hiatus Hernia, and that I need a surgery. I was surprised, and I was ok, it is what the doctor said, let’s do what the doctor said. (I was so WRONG) And I even asked a second opinion of another doctor, and he was, “well yes you have a Hiatus Hernia, make the surgery”.
Weeks before, during some potential business meeting with a man around 60 years old, he told me, “when one makes the first surgery, then more issues come to place”, for sure I should have heard him better in first place, but hey, he was not the doctor and he was not the specialist, what would he know.
But truth is as the phrase, “The one who doesn’t listen to the advice, doesn’t get to older ages” something like that in spanish. (Certainly, I should have listen to him better than the doctor.)
The day of the surgery, I remember clearly the nurse saying before after checking my labs, “you are so young and having a surgery already, you have perfect labs, you are so healthy.” But deeper inner myself I was thinking, “then, why I am not feeling ok.”
The sugery run well, it was also like a gastric bypass, and after several weeks I was feeling fine. No more pain in the stomach or gut, and also no more gastritis.
One night after having Sushi with a glass Iced Tea, I started to feel pretty anxious. It felt that I was having some pressure in the chest, and I could also say even I felt dramatic. So we went to the hospital, they checked my heart rate, it was fine, and they injected me with some calming thing.
But again, I was feeling extremly anxious, and of course the nourses said, “yeah, probably it was a big reaction to the sugar on the Iced Tea”.
Eventually a year and a half later after the Hiatus Hernia surgery, I was found with a Thyroid Nodule, and there I started my road to finding a better Hashimoto treatment.
You can read that story in the other article.
But the point is, that not knowing that you have an autoimmune condition, could make really difficult to find out the root causes, or underlying causes that have the effect on the Psychological Symptoms of Hashimoto Thyroidits.
The root causes of your Autoimmune condition or your Hashimoto Thyroiditis will explain better why are fyou feeling anxious or depressed.
Once we discover that we have Hashimoto Thyroidits, we might just go with taking Levothyroxine to get back our labs to normal.
Or even if we show the TSH, T4 and T3 in normal levers, then we still ask ourselves, what is going wrong with me!
And it happened to me, and for sure it had happened to other Hashimoto fighters, that you feel ashamed with yourself of not having energy, of not feeling ok, of not feeling happy, of feeling sad more times, that even you are brought into a depressive state.
I don’t know how exactly everyone feels, but for sure from what I experienced from observing people with mental conditions, I will say and deffinetly affirm that their underlying conditions are not properly treated.
In Hashimoto Thyroidits, the one blamed is the disfunctional Thyroid, and is not!
As you can see in the well illustrated post from Rachel, I liked how if really shows how there could be different potential issues that are generating your Hashimoto Symptoms, and probably also your Psychological Symptoms.
And it is as that, hoping that the Levothyroxine will solve all our problems is a uncomplete solution to really work on a real Hashimoto Treatment.
So don’t blame your Thyroid itself for feeling, anxious or depressed, look for the underlying causes to find out your Why are you feeling like that answers.
And well, I have to say it, I do started to have some hate against science, because following that path had made me more bad than good.
I used to follow the common path of “It is what the doctor said, he is the expert”. Not anymore.
Well darling or mate, certainly there are a lot of doctors who are staying on the path they were taught because science or studies have proven that is the way Hashimoto should be treated, just with Levothyroxine for life.
And as I have heard a quote of Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher talking about Kundalini, “quoting somebody else, back to the original mistake maker”. How to be sure that doctors are actually following the right healing path of someone who has Hashimoto, and they are not actually the original mistake makers.
If doctors are not running the antibodies test, there is already the first sign that the doctor is not searching for a root cause to see if there is an antibody reaction, but how would you know if you barely know about Hashimoto.
Then, some other tests such as the food sensitivities, Vitamin D and B levels, plus other tests that can show nutritional deficiencies.
And even more terrible if the doctor just says that “You have the worst form of Hypothyroidism, your eyes might pop out and you will present goiter.” I heard that story from a woman who was just tested for TSH, T4 and T3. I am still hoping to see her in the future, because I do recommended to the the antibody test to confirm if she has Hashimoto, but at first her labs were not normal.
Certainly, listening that from a doctor is not one that brings up hope, rather fear on that woman. And of course, an impact on her mental wellbeing, and as consequence depression or anxiety of fear of the future.
So as a recommendation, if the doctor with whom you are working, is not supportive, change.
In my case, finding a functional medicine doctor, has been a better decision, since he has been more like an real ally, and have been a good guide to keep working on my health improvement. And for sure, he hasn’t brought fear to me.
And why wonder that Anxiety and Depression are the most common psychological symptoms of Hashimoto Thyroiditis, the impact that food has on our brains is huge.
I added that meme of the guy trying to fix his problems by putting some tape, and for Psychological Symptoms is the same.
I don’t think that anti-depressants solve the real problem or the root caue, and as the image, those drugs won’t solve the real problem, they will just mask them.
Dr. Uma Naidoo, nutritional psychiatrist, and I also would say the same, that food has a huge impact on our mind.
Working on food sensitivities will be key to reduce and keep on remission all the symptoms, even the psychological symptoms of hashimoto.
Besides on working on food that heal the gut like probiotics like Kefir, improving other nutritional deficiencies is important.
In my case, I am also working on restoring vitamin D, vitamin B, Zinc, Copper, Selenium, and Pregnenolone.
And here it is important to talk about our full body connection with our mind and soul.
If our environment is not supportive, then it will be harder to work on your healing.
For me, certainly coming back to Mexico from Germany had also an emotional impact.
I did and do love my time spent in Germany. My vitamin D levels were very low, and Germany is certainly not known for being a country with tons of sunlight.
Now back in Mexico, also being too close from family issues has certainly not been good for my healing and emotional well-being.
It is something I am still working on.
Also in spiritual paths, there are the ones who say that you should put your needs and desires first, rather then the ones you love.
If you are not right, you can’t be right with the ones you are surrounded.
Probably, for me, as an empath, it is hard to think to be selfish, but I can say that it is needed so that you can keep working on your healing.
Hashimoto Thyroidits is usually a sign of a disease of the Throat Chakra, and to heal it, it is important to express yourself as true as you are.
That is why I share here my path, because for some people with Hashimoto, or probably most of them, every time we tell that we are not feeling right, that something is going wrong, we are used to getting shut up, and not in the sense of people yelling directly at us, but indirectly by listening words or phrases like, “Those symptoms are in your mind.” “You are just under stress.” “I have been Hypothyroid and I can eat everything, you just have to relax.” “You need to pray more.”
Those are probably not the words I would like to be listening.
And, well in my case I just want to say that I am not doing ok, but since our surrounding is not really listening, I do prefer to let that feeling of sadness, worry, fear, anger, inside me, and since I don’t talk about it that much, the body has to bring it out somehow.
That is why Hashimoto is considered as well to be the communication disease.
Bringing the higher-self in a dark environment just makes us stronger, because we deal with Hashimoto, but we also certainly live working for our self-care, needs, dreams and desires.
And no, we are not seeking that people feel a pity for us. I personally prefer just to be heard and that is it.
Probably it is time to do back some spiritual work.
As a summary for working on your Hashimoto Psychological Symptoms I recommend finding your Hashimoto root causes, find a supportive doctor, it can be a functional medicine doctor or whatever that is a real humanized and supportive doctor, work on your gut and your nutritional deficiencies, take your sunlight and also supplements of Vitamin D and B, don’t over exercise because also too much exercise brings up stress to the body, cut ties and toxic relations, and do any spiritual practice in any form. It could be yoga, meditation, praying the rosary.
So I will be so happy if this article helps you, if you need some guidance, or share experiences please contact me.
