Hashimoto’s Diagnosis
I was that mom. You know, the one who was still a size 6. Who seemed to have boundless energy. Who was constantly on and never seemed to grow weary. Until…. about six years ago.
For six years I’ve been under a tremendous amount of stress. My dad died January 11, 2011 (and I’m a daddy’s girl). And from that point on, life has gotten crazy stressful.
Big stresses.
The threat of losing my house kind of stresses. And from what I am gathering, that was the trigger that led to my Hashimoto’s Diagnosis.
Since so many of us are facing this diagnosis, I knew I had to talk about it.
Share about it.
Come to terms with it.
Live with it.
With you.
I’ll write almost as if I’m writing in my journal.
Sharing my story.
As it unfolds.
I am 51 years old. And have never been over-weight my whole life. Until about three years ago.
But nothing had changed.
I wasn’t any more or any less healthy.
I wasn’t eating any better or any worse than normal.
I wasn’t doing any more or any less exercise.
So when I gained 50 pounds in less than three years, I knew something was wrong.
DRAMATICALLY wrong.
My mother had thyroid issues for 50 years. Two of my brothers and a nephew are on thyroid medication. So of course, I started with getting my thyroid tested. As I had many times before.
The test, yet again, showed everything was “normal.”
But I knew this was not “normal” for me.
So I researched.
And studied.
What I learned is that you have to use several different tests to get a full picture of your thyroid health. Fortunately, in December of 2015, I found a doctor who would do the full panel of tests. A naturopathic doctor who happens to be an MD.
What a blessing to find him!!
The frustrating thing about this is… my doctor pulled all the labs at the end of 2015, and his nurse called and said I needed to go see an endocrinologist. And I’ve already tried to go the traditional endocrinologist route and just heard my thyroid function was “normal.”
When I returned to my naturopath doctor at the end of 2016 for a checkup, he gave me my lab report. Here it is …. with my initial notes as I try to figure out what is happening.
So this is where the story of my Hashimoto’s journey begins. With a bunch of numbers that mean nothing to me (yet) and lots of questions. In my next article, I’ll share the panel of tests my naturopath used and what his very first recommendation was. It might surprise you.
You can find all the articles in this series here.
Have you been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s? How long ago? Do you have other thyroid issues in your family? Have you identified what might have triggered it for you? Leave me a comment below. Let’s help each other navigate through this crazy maze of treatment and recovery!!
Mine was triggered they think, after I was in labor for 32 hours & then had to have an emergency c-section to deliver my son. My husband was fed up with me, I couldn’t stand myself & it was about a yr later that I went to the dr & told her my symptoms. She ran blood tests & I had become hypothyroid. I hadn’t had any issues prior. No one in the family had either. So strange! I’m glad you’re speaking about this. More people need to be aware how it alters not only our physical body, but our mental state as well. Take care!
I know!! That will be one of the many aspects I dive into Melissa!! I’m so sorry you are dealing with this too. Are you on any medication?
I am 50 yrs old and was diagnosed with Hashimotos in December. I’ve spent 10 yrs going from Dr to Dr, surgery after surgery, because of my bloated belly. Now I’m navigating my way to find a new way to eat and recently started seeing a Naturopath who has suggested many different supplements.
Patty, I’m so sorry you are dealing with this too! Yes, I’ll be discussing some of those things in the next article… the various things the naturopath suggested.
I am 35. Single mom of 3. I homeschool. Stress. Stress. Stress. My third was born under a stressful situation. I was homeless with my two older, without a job, because no one would hire me that pregnant. (I did find a community program that helped us find a place and they paid my rent for 6 months). And that’s when it all changed, my thyroid went down the drain. My anxiety went through the roof. I started gaining rapidly. Started have gut health issues. I was diagnosed with hashi’s AND graves, hypothyroidism. My insurance will only cover labs once a year. We can’t get a good handle on my thyroid. My meds keep increasing. I’ve got an appointment on Friday with doctor to see if she will refer me to an endocrinologist…so I can get well again. This is my 5th year since diagnosis and I can’t get it together. 🙁
Kelli, bless your heart! I can’t even imagine the stress you have been under. Cortisol is not our friend, for sure!! Can you find an naturopath? If so, I might try to start there. I want to get to the root cause and fix it! Not just take meds to hide the symptoms, you know? Praying you can figure out the insurance thing so you can get tested regularly. That is pretty darn important for the management of your meds!!
Stop taking any thyroid medication ASAP. In my 20+ years of experience with “thyroid issues” I’ve come to realize it’s a scam. I have a history on both sides of my family of thyroid problems, and a goiter was noticed on me postpartum in 1995. Many years of Levoxyl, and then Synthroid when it was no longer available, did NOTHING. However, I did lose a significant amount of weight the 2 times I STOPPED the “medicine.” It cures nothing but makes some people a tremendous amount of money. I suggest concentrating on a diet/lifestyle that addresses reducing inflammation.
I haven’t started taking meds… but will be. We are focusing on only natural meds though. I’ll cover that in my next post. I’ve heard that about the synthetic meds. That is one reason my doctor is prescribing natural medication. Stay tuned…. we will see if it helps.
You may want to check out my doctor. He works with people around the world because of his expertise. He is AMAZING and has helped me to start recovering from my autoimmune problems. I FINALLY have HOPE!! Here is the website… https://www.nemechekconsultativemedicine.com/blog/which-happens-first-bad-thyroid-or-bad-bacteria/
Thanks April! I am pretty happy with my naturopath right now. I’m just starting this journey. But will keep your link to reference … should that change!!
I have not been diagnosed but pretty sure I have it. Thanks for sharing. I know I do have antibodies showing up in my thyroid but it wasn’t enlarged when I had it checked about 3 years ago. I was seeing a holistic D.O. who is amazing, and he warned me that my body could destroy my thyroid if I continued eating gluten. I quit gluten, corn, peanuts completely for 3 years but since having baby #2 1 year ago I cannot quit eating gluten, which I started again while I was pregnant bc of cravings! It is so addictive!! Trying to quit again.
I have most of the symptoms and have not been able to lose 40 extra pounds since my first pregnancy 8 years ago. I had a 38 hour labor but did not know that could be a trigger until seeing this page. I believe my issues were all triggered by living in a house that had mold in the crawl-space bc all of my issues started then as well as my 8yo having major issues with the same mold foods (gluten, corn, peanuts).
We also are very sensitive to sulfites, carrageenan, msg, red food coloring, corn syrup, chemicals/cleaners/fragrances/air fresheners (hoping this can help others who are reading this).
There is also a fb group I’ve joined recently where I’ve learned a ton about treating these symptoms which overlap with magnesium deficiency (Magnesium Advocacy Group and Mag Nificent Mommies).
The most brilliant thing I have read regarding this topic is Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It, by Dr. David Brownstein. My doctor insisted that I read it (there’s also a dvd) and had me take Iodine and himilayan pink sea salt to try to “jump-start” and detox my thyroid.
K, thanks for sharing your story too. It is so frustrating and hard to lose weight now. It is amazing how quickly I gained it! I know you understand. We did a whole panel of tests that showed what I was lacking… I’ll share those in the next article in the series. Thank you for joining me here on this journey. We need each other!! We can’t do all the research we need to do individually. So I’m glad to see your suggestions and recommendations.
I’m 64 5’2″ 110-115 from mid 20’s to 63. Somethings changed. Thyroids all normal. Press Med’s did nothing but make me feel worse. Will be following and reading all your info. I have no dr no job only 1100 month social security retirement. No hope.
I was diagnose 5 years ago been doing a lot of natural ways and I could say my hashimoto went to remission for couple of years but recently activate and got me hypo and hyper :/ due to atrás I’ve been tearing with armore for over 3 years but my doctor switch me for syntroid again I a hate it I already feel my joints are killing me.
What other natural meds do you suggest and how can I find a good Naturopath doctor in Houston ?
Thank you for all your help
I have been tested for thyroid problems .It showed mine was slow and I was put on medication . I am 56 and had never had a problem with weight .Now no matter how little I eat I can’t lose the 50 lbs I gained . What do I tell the Dr. to test for when I go for a physical ? 🙁