MY THYROID HEALING STORY - HASHIMOTO'S

This blog post is about one of the biggest challenges I've faced - my thyroid healing story for hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's disease).

In November 2020 they diagnosed me with Hashimoto's disease. From day one, my GP told me I would have to be on medication for the rest of my life. He didn't provide any other sort of health advice. After some months of struggle while taking the prescribed medication, I decided to look for alternatives other than Western medicine.

By late June 2021 I managed to stop taking the medication completely and I feel better than ever! I can happily say that I've been able to treat my thyroid condition with natural treatments!

Read through my thyroid healing story. I'll show you how I healed my hypothyroidism naturally, so you can help yours too!

*I'd be happy to share my blood test results with anyone who is curious!

DISCLAIMER: I am a big advocate of natural health, I am not a doctor. The information shared in this post is from a personal experience. I would recommend reaching out to a health professional if you have a condition that you would like to treat.

WHY I WANT TO SHARE MY STORY

I am upset I was told by my doctor, that I could only treat my condition taking a drug for the rest of my life, when it wasn't true. I healed my hypothyroidism naturally and you can help yours too!

It makes me feel deeply frustrated to think that thousands of people, especially woman, are put on this medication without being given any other alternative or advice.

I want to share my thyroid healing story hoping I can inspire someone, to not accept medication for life as an answer. To encourage you to find healing or improvement through natural alternatives, rather than conventional Western practices that focus on chemicals that benefit big pharmas, not patients.

THYROID HEALING STORY PART 1 - WHEN MY HYPOTHYROIDISM STARTED (HASHIMOTO DISEASE)

I had been feeling weird for months. At the beginning I was feeling tired all the time, but then it started to be low mood, I was always bloated, I would struggle to concentrate. My body was sore, my skin and hair were dull, and the list goes on. Not fun!

I was having all these random symptoms that I had no idea why they were happening to me. To be honest I didn't even think they were related. After a while of not feeling right, I went to the doctor to get myself checked, and the not-so-good news arrived.

In November 2020 I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism (Hashimoto’s disease). My doctor told me it was a disease without a cure, but that taking a medication everyday (for the rest of my life), I could handle the disease without problem. He said that the cause was unknown, but that I developed it because it was in my genes.

LOTS OF MIXED FEELINGS GREW WITHIN ME

At the very start I felt pretty down. Why me? I am young and I take care of myself, I exercise and have a balanced life. I couldn’t understand… All of a sudden I had an autoimmune disease for ever, and they couldn’t give me any more explanations.

Then I decided that feeling down was not going to help. If it was as easy as taking a pill every morning, maybe it wasn’t that bad right? The "medication for life thing" always made me feel hesitant, but since I was feeling miserable at that time, I decided to give it a try. I was hoping it would help me be the person I used to be.

I started taking the drug (Thyroxine) and the very first few days I felt my heart was pumping a lot harder. First, I freaked out a bit, but the doctor said it was normal. To be precise he said that “ the heart pumping harder is normal, but if it starts to hurt go to emergency straightaway”. Okay, too easy… I tried to stay calm.

THYROID HEALING STORY PART 2 - THINGS GOT BETTER REALLY QUICKLY, BUT BAD AT THE SAME SPEED

Only a couple of weeks later, I started to feel much better which was incredible. A lot of the symptoms started to go away!! I had more energy, would wake up feeling fresh, my mood was better… So maybe this pill really happened to be the solution to my problems!

Some of the symptoms, like for example feeling bloated, difficulty to concentrate, and having gained weight would persist. I thought I had to give it some time though, I couldn’t expect to see results so quickly! I had hope the medication was going to sort me out, but unfortunately, it only lasted six weeks or so, then I started going downhill again.

THE HYPOTHYROIDISM SYMPTOMS CAME BACK, AND WORSE THAN EVER

By early January 2021 I was experiencing a lot of the symptoms again. I would wake up feeling tired after an 8-hour night’s sleep, and I would feel tired all day. My body would take ages to recover after exercising. I had brain fog and forgetfulness, I was struggling to enjoy my personal relationships and I was feeling quite depressed.

I WAS TERRIFIED THAT WAS GOING TO BE MY NEW NORMAL

Nothing in my life had changed, but I was feeling completely different inside, and I was having a hard time to enjoy life in general. I was even embarrassed to share my feelings with my closest ones, because I was scared I wouldn't be able to get rid of this condition, and be the person I used to be again.

THYROID HEALING STORY PART 3 - I HIT ROCK BOTTOM

In late January 2021 I felt like I hit rock bottom. I was feeling like a mess. I was exhausted and depressed. Sometimes I would start crying out of the blue for no reason. My inner spark was completely off. Life was hard and I was aware it shouldn't be, but I just couldn't help myself. I honestly thought I was going crazy.

Following the doctor's advice, I went for the three months follow up check up. It happened that they had given me too much medication. Now my TSH was too low and I had a hyperthyroidism profile.

I asked my doctor whether there was something else I could do (like diet, natural supplements or lifestyle changes). His response was a plain "no, just take the pill, that's all you can do”. He even seemed surprised by my question.

THE ANSWERS I WAS LOOKING FOR, WHERE BEYOND THE MEDICATION

While it didn’t take me by surprise, it made me feel VERY FRUSTRATED. Why the f*** the modern Western medicine only focus on prescribing drugs? Probably because there’s very big pharmaceutical interest behind.

Once again though, I knew being frustrated wasn’t going to help, but only make things worse. It was on my hands to look for solutions elsewhere. Deep inside I felt like something in my body had to be wrong or not working properly, and that had to be causing all my problems.

I was not going to allow this condition to mess my life up. I would do whatever I had to do, to be the person I used to be again. Being dependant on a drug and constant medication adjustments, was not on the cards.

Over the previous couple months, I had already done a lot of research to find natural alternatives. There was a lot of misleading and contradictory information though, so I decided to reach out for professional help.

THYROID HEALING STORY PART 4 - MY SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS

HEALTH COACHING SPECIALIZED IN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE

I had always been interested in the healing power of food. The first thing I did was to book in a consult with a health coach specialized in autoimmune disease.

He asked me lots of questions about my lifestyle habits, my diet, and all the symptoms I was experiencing. It was very encouraging and helpful to hear how there was A LOT of room for improvement with my condition. He made emphasis on healing my gut and improve my digestion. Some of the recommendations (tailored to my case) where:

Go for a diet high in animal protein & healthy fats, and lower in carbs (especially avoiding grains for the first 4 weeks)

Avoid inflammatory food, especially gluten, dairy and soy

Chew the food very well to aid digestion

Avoid alcohol and processed foods

Sleep 7-8 hours

Do strengthening exercises 2-3 a week

Listen to my body, practice mindfulness and take it easy if that's what I needed

During the first few weeks I followed the diet program very strictly, as I knew my body was in need of it. I honestly felt a relief in a lot of the symptoms in a matter of a few days, especially the bloating.

While it was not easy giving up some of my favourite foods (bread, pasta, cheese...) it was so worth it!

TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE - MY ANSWER

I was very lucky my friend Enric insisted me to go see a Chinese medicine doctor he knew, who happened to be extraordinarily good. I managed to get an appointment straight away, and went to see him for first time in early February 2021. This doctor wants to stay anonymous so I will refer to him as Dr. Wise going forward.

Dr. Wise explained that I had a problem in my digestive system, my body wasn't absorbing the necessary nutrients and my blood quality wasn't good. This was causing that the nutrients and oxygen that would arrive to my brain weren't good enough. As a consequence of this, my brain was sending the wrong signals to my thyroid gland, which started performing incorrectly and causing a lot of the symptoms.

He shared his disagreement with the Western medicine treatment I was given (Thyroxine), and offered me a TCM treatment. The treatment consisted on promoting blood circulation throughout the body, with the assistance of a TCM machine and herbal oil. There were also three different types of herbal supplements I had to take throughout the day.

Other recommendations included: prioritising sleep, exercising regularly, chewing the food a lot, eating lots of egg, liver and bone broth, and staying positive.

THYROID HEALING STORY PART 5 - I FOUND HEALING

Since the moment I was told there was a lot I could do to feel better other than taking the drug, I felt the improvement REAL QUICK! In a matter of a few weeks all my symptoms got better: I was feeling happier, more energetic, less bloated and my concentration was better.

Dr. Wise advice was that I shouldn’t stop taking the Thyroxine until all the red cells in my blood had been replaced (which can take 3-4 months) as otherwise I could feel all the symptoms again. His recommendation was to do his treatment plus herbal, as well as taking the Thyroxine for several weeks. So after approx. 2.5 months of feeling really good, I started cutting down the Thyroxine pill progressively. Literally, cutting a little piece of the pill, and every week or two I would cut down more. Until finally 3.5 months later I stopped completely.

MY BLOOD TESTS CAME BACK GREAT!

My GP was pretty amazed with how good my results were. And he literally said, “whatever you’re doing, keep doing it because it’s working”.

And since then, I haven’t looked back. I am still taking herbal supplementation (in much smaller quantities) and following the diet my health coach recommended (although I must admit occasionally I skip it). I feel great and would never want to depend on the Thyroxine again!

LAST THOUGHTS...

I find very sad and frustrating how modern Western medicine seems to be highly focused on prescribing pharmaceutical drugs to treat diseases, which in most cases don’t actually heal the disease, but only suppress the symptoms temporarily and create side effects that, of course, will be treated with more drugs later down the track.

In my opinion, this extremely narrow and incorrect approach makes patients miss out on a whole lot of other healing options, that can treat the disease in a much more natural way and reverse it, hence improving their quality of life and helping them become healthier, which I think should be the ultimate goal.

Huge thank-you to the professionals that helped me out, and got me out of being dependent on a drug for the rest of my life. I am forever grateful with them for teaching me so much, and showing me there’s another path away from nasty chemicals and pharmaceutical drugs.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

I hope this post can inspire you to take the next step in your healing journey. Your health it's the most valuable asset you have, invest in it.

PLEASE SHARE THIS POST

I'm going to ask you a little favour! Please share this post with your friends and family. We all know of someone suffering from a thyroid condition, and I would love to bring hope to them. Doctors tell us it doesn't have a cure, but from my personal experience, I can say at least in some cases it does have a cure. Medication for life doesn't have to be the answer for everyone.

I would love to hear your thoughts, please leave me a comment below or send me an email to [email protected]. I’d be more than happy to share more details with anyone who is interested.