Six Effective Steps to Take When Diagnosed with Thyroid Disease
The word thyroid next to the word disease turns quite a few heads these days.
Why??
Thyroid disease is a modern-era common diagnosis or suspected diagnosis at least and here’s what patients are being told...
According to allopathic medicine, your thyroid is under or overactive OR your body is no longer recognizing your thyroid and your immune system is attacking the gland.
Lay aside all medical hierarchy and trust yourself as the authority for a second…
Ask yourself, does that make sense? Would my body just wake up one day and attack itself? Would my thyroid after all these years suddenly just go out?
OR…..
Could it be that the 200 million people with thyroid disorders (according to AACE) and millions more gone undiagnosed are living in a world set up for thyroid failure???
I would like to invite you to consider the latter.
Before we get into the six effective steps to heal your thyroid let’s go over a few quick truths and background information you first need to know.
COLD HARD TRUTHS
Women are the much higher risk of thyroid disorders due to:
FAMILY HISTORY- generational trauma of blocked throat chakra/suppression of truth runs in families and the energy manifest in the physical center of the thyroid
BIRTH CONTROL- see my post here, birth control increases your risk of thyroid disease as it crashes hormones and leads to nutrient deficiencies by depleting the G.I. lining, both of which you need for a healthy and happy thyroid. Furthermore, the pill increases thyroid-binding globulin (TBG). Elevated TBG causes free thyroid hormone to become bound—so now any thyroid hormone your body can manage to make is unavailable to your cells.
MENOPAUSE- The thyroid depends on the hormonal system to function and during this shifting time for women if an underlying hormone imbalance is exposed, the thyroid can take a hit.
PREGNANCY/BIRTH/POSTPARTUM- Heavy demand on an already stressed out thyroid gland accompanied by already existing thyroid inflammation results in postpartum thyroiditis. While a beautiful, healthy, and normal process, pregnancy is also a stressor on the thyroid.
ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS- Women more than men or adorning themselves with toxic perfumes, fragrant lotions, scented candles, and all sorts of endocrine-disrupting goodies. Most importantly, think about where I spritz my perfume? For most of us, it is directly on the thyroid gland! It is also crucial to avoid plug-in air fresheners and Febreze sprays to keep endocrine health in optimum condition.
Your liver is the site of the thyroid hormone traffic jam! Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) is how your brain speaks to your thyroid. Your thyroid then responds by secreting T4 and a tiny bit of T3. T4 is the inactive hormone that travels to other tissues in your body, namely the gut, liver, and kidneys, where it gets converted into T3, your active thyroid hormone. Most of the conversion takes place in the liver. If you are struggling with your thyroid health, healing your liver is actually the most important piece. Healing your liver heals your gut and your thyroid. Healing your liver looks like stepping away from over protein fed society and using food as medicine.
Tap water is toxic- forensic science has discovered that the thyroid is like a wide net for capturing toxins in the body. Tap water toxins interfere with the thyroid’s ability to concentrate iodine.
Iodine is essential- the body needs iodine to make T3 and T4. The two main components of thyroid hormone are iodine and the amino acid L-tyrosine.
T3, triiodothyronine is made up of tyrosine with 3 iodine atoms
T4, thyroxine is made up of 4 iodine atoms hooked to tyrosine
Most people are deficient in iodine. A high quantity supplement or eating atlantic sea dulse, nori, and kelp can help replenish stores. 70% of the body’s iodine is found in the thyroid gland and neck tissues.
Lastly, iodine plays an important role in the detoxification of the thyroid gland by helping to remove the thyroid toxic halogens in tap water like chloride, fluoride, and bromide.
INFLAMMATION
Your thyroid is your body's antenna for when something is out of order – it will often be the first to signal inflammation occurring in the body.
What causes inflammation:
Smoking - creates direct oxidative damage to the thyroid
Dairy - contains the most inflammatory and negative effects on the thyroid of all foods because it carries the most toxins and hormone disruptors of any food.
Gluten - Glyphosate makes this food an equal runner-up to dairy’s detriment to the thyroid gland. It is key to avoid both during thyroid healing.
Alcohol - if it isn’t good for your liver it isn’t good for your thyroid
Viral, bacterial, fungal, & parasitic infections
Processed foods - with polyunsaturated fatty acids- vegetable and canola oils are by far the worst
Heavy Metals, pesticides, herbicides- exterminators, weed killers, beauty products, home cleaners, if the brand isn’t being intentional it is likely toxic.
Medications - like beta blockers, glucocorticoid/steroids, and furosemide. Yes, even levothyroxine/Synthroid/Nature thyroid- the actual medications they prescribe you for thyroid disease are creating more inflammation and more thyroid disease. Why? These medications contain aluminum, talc, corn, ground and dissected pig gland, your body hates this stuff!
It’s like your body has been inflamed, stressed, or even poisoned and not broken after all!
SYMPTOMS OF THYROID DYSFUNCTION
A few symptoms to look for if you have not yet been diagnosed but you are leery of thyroid disease in your body!
Hypothyroidism
high cholesterol
cardiac irregularities
depression, anxiety, panic attacks
fatigue and apathy
poor memory/cognition
low libido/infertility
low blood sugar
menstrual irregularities
fluid retention
slowed metabolism
constipation
asthma and allergies
Hyperthyroidism
feeling overstimulated
irritability
insomnia
panic attacks
headaches
inability to focus
weight loss
decreased pain tolerance
bleeding gums/nose
bulging eyes
menstrual irregularities
anorgasm
KNOW YOUR THYROID GRAPH
The quick and dirty of the most common types of thyroid disarray!
FUNCTIONAL THYROID LAB VALUES
If I am being honest, which is why I have you here reading this, the lab values on your regular doctor’s report aren’t going to cut it. Those values keep you off medication and out of the operating room. I care about the ranges that keep you feeling well and protect your thyroid from further damage. So the next time you get your lab report, check out this graph instead of the ranges on your labs!
6 Steps to Healing
Understand that your body is NOT attacking itself. Your body & your thyroid can HEAL. Also understand your GI disturbances, hormone imbalance, & energy levels are all connected.
Hire a functional medicine provider you resonate with and find your ROOT CAUSE- likely a viral infection. Test, don’t guess. A comprehensive lab panel is ideal. A full thyroid panel MUST be drawn including TSH, T4, T3, TPO, T3 uptake, & sometimes Reverse T3 if needed (see Wilson’s Syndrome). It is best to include a viral panel if suspected autoimmune thyroid is present.
Change your diet! You knew that was coming, didn’t you? Every time we take a bite of food we either feed or fight infections in our body. Thyroid disease is inflammation secondary to existing chronic infection.
Foods that feed infections:
gluten
dairy
eggs
soy
corn
vegetable oils
processed sugar
Foods that fight infections:
fruit smoothies
sweet potatoes
white potatoes
leafy greens
vegetables
herbs
garlic & onion
raw nuts and seeds
honey & maple syrup
coconut water
celery juice
4. Replenish nutrient and vitamin deficiencies with high-quality supplements. You wouldn’t believe what some companies use as supplement fillers: soybean oil, corn byproduct, food dyes, and the active ingredient in antifreeze. Any of the supplements listed HERE are of the highest standard.
Here are common supplements I prescribe for thyroid healing clients:
Magnesium Glycinate
Ester C
L Lysine
DIM
Zinc
B12
Iodine
Ashwagandha
Brands do matter most. Refer to my dispensary here to find high-quality forms. Talk with your practitioner about your own personal protocol.
5. Medication can be appropriate in certain case studies. However, the commercial thyroid medications are inferior quality in that they create more inflammation in the thyroid containing known thyroid irritants: GMO gluten, dairy, GMO corn, aluminum, and pig thyroid. For those still struggling with thyroid function, after all other interventions, a bioidentical T4 (and sometimes T3) is most appropriate. Even with thyroid deactivation or removal it is appropriate to see how the thyroid regrows itself then supplement pharmaceutically from thereafter.
6. Remove the blockage- stored trauma or damaging events to the nervous system live in the thyroid gland when related to the inability to speak or express one’s truth. The throat chakra, located above the thyroid gland, houses all seven main energy centers or chakras. When the energy flow through the body is disconnected, thyroid disease often ensues. Working with an energy healing practitioner or somatic bodyworker can help you heal the root, root cause of all thyroid disease- a blockage in the energy field. All disease of any kind begins in the energy field, if we are only treating the physical body we are vastly limiting our healing. More specifically on energetically linked thyroid disease here.
7. Oops, sorry got excited and added an extra BONUS step…
Exercise - Interestingly enough, research shows that exercise helps both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism by increasing blood flow to the thyroid gland, providing increased nutrient and oxygen accessibility.
MY STORY
I look back and sure enough, this evidence laid out before you today certainly tells my story with autoimmune thyroid disease.
Tap water tonics, traumas stored in my throat chakra, nutrient deficiencies fed by college food, Epstein Barr Virus running a muck, and a TPO lab value so high it didn't even register on the test, I had full-blown Hashimoto’s with your classic moon face (myxedema) and fatigue so intense I could nap at the drop of a hat.
Flashback to nursing school at 22 years old when I was certainly struggling with my thyroid, but because Western medicine told me I was fine, I believed it. I remember vividly sitting in pathophysiology class as our professor read from a blue and yellow slide that said the words “Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis”.
I read a little further about the condition.. describing symptoms of fatigue, depression, body pain, weight gain, thinning hair, and little hope for life. “Wow, that would sure suck to have” I thought.
Little did I know that exact condition was what was brewing inside of my body. When I went to get my symptoms checked out, my endocrinologist suggested we remove my thyroid and medicate me. I ran out of that office never going back, not because I knew there was a better way. In fact, I had never even heard of functional medicine at that point.
When I started my functional medicine program with a former practitioner they had me eliminate gluten and dairy, which was huge for me! I had an immediate increase in energy and weight loss. And then things took a turn for the worse as I was on a really intense parasite cleanse for months and months along with the prescribed keto diet. This did not work for my body whatsoever. I remember sitting in the practitioner’s office telling them, “I think it's my liver” and they said, “oh, we just need to add another supplement to help with this!” Meanwhile, my liver was developing cirrhosis. I wish I would have trusted my intuition and quit the program much sooner than I actually did. I was desperate and wanted to give anything a fair shot at healing me.
I acquired a few more autoimmune diseases along the way until I found true healing that came through trusting my intuition once and for all. I took the potential profit back from big pharma along with the responsibility on how I arrived at autoimmune thyroid disease. Once I knew better I could do better. Then I finally learned my truth on how to heal and that I did once and for all.
I feel better in my 30s than I ever did in my 20s. I am proud to report I no longer have thyroid disease symptoms!! I am living my life symptom LESS and awakened thanks to my truth-telling body that has come back from the pits of despair.
Today in my office I treat hundreds of women who felt just like I did, and received the same misinformation I did. Your body is never attacking itself. Your body is not broken. You can indeed heal and rise from the ashes of thyroid disease.
Interested in working together?
I offer a free discovery call here:
Jen’s top three products for thyroid health…
Zinc supports overall health and is present in all tissues, organs, and secretions of the body. The B-Complex provides essential nutrients needed for numerous systems and biochemical reactions. Iodine is an important nutrient we all need. It is essential for healthy thyroid function, hormone balance, and metabolism. Magnesium is necessary for the metabolism of carbohydrates, amino acids and fats, as well as energy production and the utilization of calcium, phosphorus, sodium, and potassium. Try any of these to upgrade your systems!
