On April 3, 2017 I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. "What in the hell was that?" I kept thinking. "How did this happen?" I was under a great deal of stress last summer. Stress that brought up horrific trauma from the past. I knew something was off then but nobody could tell me what was wrong because all labs came out normal. I was always so tired, always freezing. OMG I am always so cold. My memory was going, my hair was falling out, and my eyebrows were thinning. "Why is the happening?" I just kept thinking it was old age that maybe my body was going through some hormonal changes. I am pushing 46 but again, labs looked normal. My stomach was constantly bloated and since I'm being honest, I have always been very constipated. I'm a super healthy eater in fact, I make sure my whole family is too. Only NON GMO, all organic, grass fed meats, and 70% fruits and veggies. Unfortunately, my body couldn't handle what I was eating even though I ate better than I have in years.
At first, I was just diagnosed Hypothyroid from my General Dr. He knew about my stress last summer and said that my stressed out adrenals could have triggered the hypothyroid. He was quick to do what he does best - prescribe me medication and when I told him I refuse pharma drugs he convinced me to fill a prescription of Armour anyway and to seek out something to ease my stress. I ended up filling the prescription but haven't taken it.
My very good girlfriend has Hashimotos and suggested that I get tested for that so I made an appointment with my Holistic Doctor who is a Homeopath/MD. I do not go to him often since he is an hour and half away but since I was prescribed pharma medication by my general doctor, I decided it would be best to have a second opinion by someone who takes a holistic approach. He wrote me up some labs to get specific bloodwork done and sure enough, as suspected, the blood test results came back positive for Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. He ended up giving me a homeopathic remedy for Thyroid that I have to take daily which is fine because it is a tiny pellet that taste like sugar and dissolves under your tongue. During this time I also went and saw an Endocrinologist who confirmed my diagnosis. She too was quick to prescribe me pharma medication but this time it was Levothyoxine. She was pretty in my face about it so I filled it but never took it. Then she sent me off to get an ultrasound on my Thyroid. The results show that I have two small nodules on my right side. They are too small for a biopsy but are being closely monitored.
Both the Armour and Levothyoxine have been sitting on my counter untouched but I take the homeopathic remedy every day and definitely feel a difference if I forget to take it so I know its doing something.
Here comes the lifestyle change. I began digging deep trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. I started by going through all the food I eat that and found out that I was eating all inflammatory foods. For people with my condition that includes - Gluten, sugar, eggs, nightshades, grains, starchy veggies, legumes, dairy, nuts and seeds. I ate the occasional sprouted bread sandwich, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, cheese and nuts so I started to pay more attention to the foods that I was eating and writing down what foods made me feel icky and what foods didn't.
Next, I went through all the beauty and household products that I use. I couldn't believe all the toxic ingredients I was putting on my body and cleaning my home with. Everything that I thought was good for me was killing me slowly and making me feel like shit.
I ended up putting all my toxic products in a box outside with a sign that said FREE on it. Since then, I've been slowly replacing them with everything that was a 2 or lower on the EWG. I also recently replaced all of my toxic coated nonstick pots and pans with stainless steel. My next big improvement is to get a whole house water filtration system. It's baby steps but feeling clean and more aware.
I started desperately searching for more natural options to treat Hashimotos Thyroiditis. My whole life I always said I would NEVER be that person who had to take a boat load of pills daily to stay alive even if they were natural raw supplements. You know, having the Mon - Sun pill case out on the counter. I hate taking pills. I'm not consistent with it in fact, I totally suck at taking pills. Everything about them. Swallowing them, having to take them at a certain time daily, trying not to choke on them - and here I am researching what holistic changes I need to make and although it's alternative, even they list a boat load of pills.
So here I am having to make a decision.
My girlfriend cured herself by going vegan.... EASY, or so I thought. I tried a couple times but I'm such a meat and potatoes girl that it didn't last long. I don't eat meat much but like the option to have a chicken or fish dish if I am feeling it. Plus, I'm a grazer. I mean come on, I'm a Mom. I make my kids breakfast, lunch and dinner and sometimes there is eggs, bacon, chicken or meatballs involved so of course I have to test it to make sure its good. Right? That said, I'm not sure becoming a vegan now is the right time but it is a goal for the near future.
You will never find me with a whole plate of food unless we are at a restaurant. I never slow down enough to enjoy a nice plate of food while I'm home. There isn't enough hours in the day for me to sit down for 5 minutes. A typical night is me making dinner grazing all through the cooking process so by the time I serve my husband and kids I don't feel like eating.
In fact, I'm the one you will find crouched down in the refrigerator hiding from my kids looking for a quick bite to eat because I'm hangry all the time.
I have always been thin with effortless abs. Good genes I guess... always weighed around 105-108. I never work out. I hate the burn. I know most people love it. I'm not one of them. I just never got into working out and if I did it was short lived. I always felt weird at the gym like everyone was looking at me doing the machines wrong which I probably was. I do enjoy pilates reformer but it gets expensive some months so its inconsistent.
I am 5'4 and after both of my pregnancies I weighed
118 lbs and I know that doesn't seem heavy to some but I felt big, sick and gross. I thought it was weird I just couldn't lose the weight. It rarely fluctuated and when it did, it was just a pound or two down to 115 lbs then go right back to 118 lbs. I contributed it to post pregnancy weight and it will take time to lose but my son is 4 so that didn't make any sense. I began to
researched what diet would be best to start for Hypothyroid and found most suggest the paleo diet. Holy crap. Game changer. My stomach stopped being bloated and I am able to go number 2 with ease. I dropped 10 lbs since being diagnosed. I'm now back to my pre pregnancy weight of 108. Yay me....
Unfortunately, I still feel run down. Not HALF as bad as before but I need to dig deeper. Why do I still feel this way is the question. I know a lot has to do with my diet but the important thing for me now is to find out my root cause which could be the stress.
This is not a big fat joke thats being played on me. This is real, this is raw and this is a total commitment -
a lifestyle change thats been so tough for me.
I know it will get easier because I want to learn more. I'm eager to learn more. I'm always researching and grateful to my friends and family who have been so supportive the last few months sending over articles and good books to read. The confusing part is, I've researched everyones suggestion and found so many conflicting foods to eat. Eat broccoli and kale they say and then another site says stay far far away from broccoli and kale. So what foods can "I" eat? This is what I am on a mission to find out. So far, the Paleo seems to be working out great if I am strict about it. Bone broth (when I have it) in the morning to replace my coffee has been a lifesaver. I know that Gluten is the devil because the second I'm glutened I blow up like a baloon and it takes a few days to feel back to normal so I need to stay away from that. I also feel much better since I've replaced all of my toxic beauty and household products with eco friendly and 2 or below on the EWG.
I know this journey is going to be long. My body is incredibly toxic and just because I feel better doesn't mean I'm cured. I want to be CURED. I'm determined to be cured. I'm tired of being tired and I'm ready for this lifestyle change so I'm putting on my boxing gloves and ready to fight this disease head on.
To be continued...
