Last week I conducted a free 5-Day Accelerated Thyroid Healing Challenge. It was very successful, as over 1,400 people registered, and over 1,200 people joined my new Facebook group. Each day I released a new lesson, and probably the most popular lesson was where I discussed some of the “thyroid healing roadblocks” that prevent people from restoring their health. I figured I’d turn this into a blog post for those who didn’t attend the free challenge, or even for those who attended but might need some reinforcement.
So here are 7 “Thyroid Healing Roadblocks” that you’ll want to be aware of:
Thyroid Healing Roadblock #1: Not being strict enough with the diet. Although eating well alone many times isn’t sufficient to restore one’s health, certain food allergens can trigger Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s. Some of the common culprits include gluten, dairy, and corn. And even when gluten isn’t a trigger it’s important to eat an anti-inflammatory diet. As a result, you want to focus on eating whole, healthy foods. I commonly recommend an autoimmune Paleo (AIP) diet for my patients with Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s, but keep in mind that this is just a starting point, and that there is no perfect diet that fits everyone perfectly.
Thyroid Healing Roadblock #2: Not Doing a Good Job of Managing Stress. Even before 2020 chronic stress was a big factor with many people, but of course this year has been very stressful for just about everyone. While our body was designed to handle acute stress situations, chronic stress causes dysregulation of the immune system and the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis, and it leads to an increase in proinflammatory cytokines. In other words, chronic stress is inflammatory to the body, and while many people aren’t able to reduce stress levels, most people can do things to improve their stress handling skills.
I’ve written numerous articles and blog posts on stress management, and while most people should consider incorporating yoga, meditation, or a different type of mind body medicine, you might want to check out my recent blog post that focuses on the vagus nerve. A healthy vagus nerve is important for a healthy parasympathetic nervous system, which is known as our “rest and digest” system. And in the blog post I discuss a few vagus nerve exercises you can do on your own.
Thyroid Healing Roadblock #3: Not Getting Enough Sleep. Getting sufficient sleep on a regular basis is essential to achieve a state of optimal health. As for how much sleep you should get, I would aim for at least seven hours per night, and eight would be even better. And this doesn’t mean 7-8 hours in bed, as if it normally takes you 30 minutes to fall asleep and you’re in bed from 11pm to 6am then you’re only getting 6 1/2 hours of sleep. Of course some people struggle to get 7-8 hours of quality sleep, not because they are intentionally staying up late, but because they have difficulties falling and/or staying asleep.
Two common causes of sleep issues include adrenal imbalances (especially high cortisol) and blood sugar issues, although there can be numerous other causes as well. And while taking nutritional supplements and herbs on a temporary basis is okay, ideally you want to address the cause of the sleep issue. Sometimes this can be easier said than done, but for anyone with a thyroid or autoimmune thyroid condition who is looking to restore their health, getting good quality sleep on a regular basis is essential.
Thyroid Healing Roadblock #4: Haven’t FOUND All Of Your Triggers. What testing have you done to find your triggers? If you haven’t done anything other than blood testing then you might need to do more detective work. And if you have done testing and it did help you find a potential trigger or two, since multiple triggers are common you might need additional testing. Some examples of different tests you can do (other than blood tests) include an adrenal saliva test, dried urine testing, hair mineral analysis, comprehensive stool panel, and organic acids testing, just to name a few. Check out my website www.UnderstandYourTests.com, as I have put together video tutorials to help people better understand their test results, and it might also help you to decide what testing you should do.
Thyroid Healing Roadblock #5: Haven’t REMOVED All Of Your Triggers. You might think that you have removed all detected triggers because you followed a certain protocol, but sometimes it can be challenging to remove certain triggers. For example, you might have tested positive for a gut infection (i.e. a parasite) and follow an antimicrobial protocol for a couple of months. Perhaps the symptoms have greatly improved, and so you assume the parasite has been eradicated, but this might not be the case. Retesting is of course yet another expense, but sometimes it is necessary to confirm that your triggers have been removed.
Other times you just need to be more strict with your diet and lifestyle. For example, you might be attempting to go gluten free, but there is cross contamination at times. For some people this might not be too big of a deal, but for others it can be a huge factor that prevents them from restoring their health.
Thyroid Healing Roadblock #6: Gut Hasn’t Been Healed. According to Hippocrates, “All disease begins in the gut”. Without question having a healthy gut is important for optimal health, and for those with Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s, a leaky gut is a component of the triad of autoimmunity. Since most of the immune cells are located in the gastrointestinal tract it makes sense that you need a healthy gut to have a healthy immune system. While many people focus on doing things to support gut healing (i.e. taking probiotics, drinking bone broth, taking L-glutamine, etc.), just remember that you need to remove the factor that caused the leaky gut. It’s also important to understand that the lack of symptoms doesn’t rule out gut problems.
Thyroid Healing Roadblock #7: Overlooked Roadblocks. Some of the commonly overlooked roadblocks include electronic pollution, stealth infections, and toxic mold. These can be very difficult to detect, and many of you know about my experience with chronic Lyme disease in 2018. While this occurred 9 years after getting into remission from my Graves’ disease condition, many people who currently have a thyroid or autoimmune thyroid condition have a stealth infection, and they don’t always cause obvious symptoms.
What Thyroid Healing Roadblocks Do YOU Need To Overcome?
I hope you enjoyed this blog post, and I’d love for you to share any thyroid healing roadblocks that you feel might be preventing you from restoring your thyroid/immune health. Please feel free to share this in the comments below! If you have actually overcome one or more of these roadblocks I’d also like to know!
Fantastic article. For me, I’ve just started with cutting out gluten, dairy, eggs and soy. The hardest for me is dairy and I still have a little bit every day.
Thanks for reading my blog post Katrina! I understand it’s not easy to give up certain foods such as dairy products, but I’m glad you’re making an effort to eliminate this, along with gluten, eggs, and soy. I would definitely add corn to this list as well.
I was diagnosed with Graves one year ago, though probably had it coming on at least for 6 months before that when i look back (eye irritation, weight loss, hoarseness, trouble swallowing none of which i connected. It wasnt til I picked up Lyme last fall during Bay area travels (I was treated fast and OSTENSIBLY it’s gone, no coinfections either)—I did standard doxy 4 weeks + Buhner/Rawls type protocol. But my resting heart rate didn’t shoot up (from my normal 55 to 80s, 90s and 100s!) till September 18, 2020, about 1 mo after (I believe Lyme just pushed it over the edge). Since then, I’ve been able through diet, herbs, and recently adding LDN to get TSI down from the 800s (!) to high 300s. Maybe it’s just slow but I would like to be closer to remission. I was already a health coach / herbalist /health author, vegan and gluten free, organic and whole food, etc. But I experimented with the AIP for a month and it didn’t do much (and i was starving; I just couldn’t choke down that much meat, and my metabolism was so high that like you, I lost 15 pounds from an already slim frame eating 3000 cals a day! You cant eat 3000 cals a day of meat, or at least I cant, so i dont think AIP is a good choice for hungry Graves people. ) I tried all the standard herbs and supps (same ones you rec) and more, plus acupuncture, and i avoided the drug for 4 months before I couldn’t take the high HR any more and started methimazole—it just wasn’t well managed with herbs alone. i’ve been able to lower my methimazole dose from 20 mg a day to 7 mg a day since then (by spring i was quite hypo on the full dose!). But my biggest concern is I have a VERY serious case of thyroid eye disease. One of the rare few with severe double vision. As you know Tepezza is now an option, which I understand gives me a 50-50 shot at correcting the double vision (and then doing heaven knows what else). I would dearly love to resolve this without that drug. Here’s my question: I’m puzzled about what my triggers might still be. Sleep was hard in the early days for Graves when I had to wake 4x a night to eat, but now I sleep well. I was stressed by some big life events in early 2019 which makes sense re the initial trigger, but I generally manage stress well; even this time in the world, while deeply concerning, has not wacked me out as it has many. I am not at all prone to anxiety. I meditate, do qi gong and Reiki, and have a powerful spiritual practice. I was already gluten-free and dairy-free (easy for me), and as of October last year, so almsot a year now, I eliminated all corn, soy, and even nightshades just for the heck. I cut legumes for about 6 months I even limited grains for quite a long time. (I invented an awesome grain free tigernut flour cookie recipe.) I avoid chemicals in all forms—food, personal care, household. I’m taking not only the classic hyperthyroid herbs and supps but medicinal mushrooms (cordyceps has been shown to lower both Graves and Hashi antibodies), loads of greens, etc etc. So if you wouldn’t mind telling me your thoughts: what next test would you recommend to suss out what I might not have hit on yet? Should I spring for the big bucks Igenex text to see if there is still any Lyme?(I have no other symptoms of lyme whatsoever, unless Graves is a “symptom.”) Should I do a highly sensitive ELISA food assay like LRA or Cyrex? (Thats what my naturopath thinks.) Should I do a more sensitive adrenal stress index? (My cortisol curve is normal based on a basic saliva test.) basically, what the heck? thank you. I have enjoyed all your articles.