Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Update

It’s time for an update on the thyroid struggles here.  I know this may be boring reading for many, so feel free to skip this post.  It’s just that when your thyroid quits working and you are looking for information, reading valid personal experiences is of great help.  It reassures you that you are not losing your mind, for one thing, and it is for that reason I am posting about my own experience.

Carrots cooked in an iron skillet with olive oil, ground ginger, brown sugar and a dash of sea salt, basically cooked over low-medium heat until they are candied.  That black stuff you see is just like candy.  Yum.

Where in the world do I begin?  There’s so much — so much information to choose from and so little known about why my body decided to attack my thyroid.  I’ll start here:  food.  We truly are what we eat and before overindulging in any one thing, it might be a good idea to find out exactly what we are eating and what it’s doing for us — good and bad.

My mind keeps going back to one question:  when did this begin and why did it happen?  I look back through the years and remember vague symptoms, not realizing at the time that they were pieces of a larger puzzle that would not be clear until years down the road. 

Roughly two years ago I worked for a year in the bakery at Whole Foods.  It was a job that I loved and I would happily work there again, but it makes more sense for our family for me to work from home (not to mention the money and benefits are better here).  That said, the last few months I worked at Whole Foods my nose would run frequently.  You know, the clear sort of runny nose that comes from allergies.  I was constantly exposed to wheat, slicing 100s of loaves of bread each week in a huge slicer.  Stocking bread shelves, sweeping floors and wiping down counters exposed me to a steady stream of wheat dust.  On top of that, I consumed more wheat.  I have always loved and eaten whole grain breads, but I can easily say my wheat intake increased greatly while I worked at Whole Foods. 

Here’s an article I find signifiicant.  It mentions the link between gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley and rye) and Hashimoto’s disease. 

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

I probably don’t even need to tell you that I am now eating a gluten-free diet.  Do I feel better?  Yes.  Why?

Well, now let’s talk about skin. 

Over the past three months my skin has gone haywire.  If you have never seen the rash known as dermatitis herpetiformis (DH), you can google it and see how horrible a rash it is.  My rash began on my shins, moved to my arms, then to my shoulder blades, and then to my hip bones/sides.  I cannot overemphasize how itchy this is.  It looked remarkably like DH.  So much so that my dermatologist did two skin biopsies, one just a regular biopsy and one for immunofluorescent staining to test for DH.  Surprisingly to me, the results were negative for DH and positive for atopic dermatitis/eczema.  BUT, my dermatologist talked to me about how revved up my immune system is and how that any protein I consume is likely to be perceived as an invader and therefore staying away from gluten may make me feel better.  I also want anyone who finds this post to know that you can have a mean, mean eczema with Hashimoto’s disease.

I am not a doctor and I am not a scientist, but what my dermatologist told me reinforces for me that there is somehow a protein(gluten?)/autoimmune (thyroid?) connection.   I began to pay attention to how I would feel in the 24 hours following a large meal and always after eating heavy wheat flour-based foods like pizza or noodles, my skin would rage with itchiness!  It’s enough to drive one crazy.  I have now been gluten-free for about a week and a half and my skin is calming down and healing, though I know it’ll take time for this to completely go away.  I’m eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, staying away from gluten and decreasing dairy. 

Here’s another article about gluten and its direct connection to the thyroid:

The Gluten Thyroid Connection

My hope would be that as my immune system calms down, my thyroid can work again, but I’m not sure that will happen, as with all autoimmune diseases (and I’ve been typing medical notes for nearly 20 years) often the doctors are stumped as to why some go into remission and many do not. 

I do not want this post to be overwhelming so I’ll bring this to a close soon.  The other major thing I’ve been reading about is adaptogens.  In the herbal medicine world, adaptogens are the plants that “adapt” themselves to whatever it is your body needs and they are particulary known for helping the endocrine system balance itself out.  There are many plants that are adaptogens, though I feel I need to be careful which ones I take because my blood pressure and heart rate are still low (90/58 and 58 at my last visit, and that’s after walking around).  From what I’ve read about adaptogens, they will lower high blood pressure but not lower an already-normal blood pressure; still, I’m cautious.

A tea that I have found to be wonderful for me is Celestial Seasoning’s Tension Tamer.  It has lots of B vitamins, which thyroid disorder sufferers usually need, and Eleuthero (Siberian ginseng), which is an adaptogen.   I’m in love with this tea.  Green tea is OUT, and I’m a bit sad because I really loved green tea, but green tea is a plant that can absorb fluoride into its leaves which ends up in your body which then “tricks” your thyroid into thinking it doesn’t need the iodine you ingest. 

I’m taking a B supplement every day.  I’m also taking selenium 200 mcg every day.  There are actually medical studies that indicate selenium may decrease the levels of antithyroid peroxidase in Hashimoto patients.

I’m still on the fence about whether to ingest kelp, bladderwrack, and other sea vegetables.  Some sources say do it, others say it may aggravate the immune response. 

As far as herbs for my heart, I think Motherwort is not good for me right now, but Hawthorn (berries from a large tree) probably is. 

Here’s another good article about foods to eat:

Hashimoto’s Disease:  Food that helps

There’s so much more.  And more yet to come.  I just want to keep posting where my thoughts are and what I’m doing, in hopes that it may help others with Hashimoto’s disease. **

By the way, after one month of levothyroxine, my TSH has fallen from 43 down to 2.72 (in the normal range) and I have dropped 7 pounds as my metabolism has gotten back to normal. 

I am not saying that wheat caused my Hashimoto’s or that green tea caused my Hashimoto’s.  I have been  under much stress over the last 10 years, but I can’t say that stress caused my Hashimoto’s.  I think a combination of things (and let’s not forget genetics) worked together to create a situation.

Lynn

**I am under the close supervision of an M.D. and she is aware of everything I do naturally and diet-wise and she will be the one who helps me come off of levothyroxine, if that ever ends up being possible.  This blog is in no way trying to give out medical advice or take the place of a visit to a physician.  This is just a place where personal experiences are shared.