If you have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, then chances are you have been told that this autoimmune thyroid disorder is incurable. The truth is that most people with this condition will take synthetic or natural thyroid hormone for the rest of their life. However, this isn’t always based on necessity, as while some people do need to take thyroid hormone daily on a continuous basis, many people can have their health restored back to normal by following a natural treatment protocol. The problem is that these people are never informed that they can benefit from natural treatment methods.
But how can people with this condition benefit from natural treatment methods? Well, let’s take a look at how someone is diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. There are essentially a few factors which leads to the diagnosis of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. One of the main things to look at are the blood tests for thyroid antibodies, which will be positive for someone with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. In addition, since this is an autoimmune hypothyroid disorder, someone with this condition may have positive thyroid blood tests, such as a high TSH and/or low thyroid hormone levels. However, this isn’t always the case, as the immune system component will develop before the thyroid gland is affected. In other words, someone will develop thyroid antibodies first, and then over time will have thyroid gland malfunction.
Reminder: You Can’t Rely Solely On Thyroid Blood Tests
As I have stated in past articles, while thyroid blood tests are important, you can’t rely on them alone. While these tests can be helpful to diagnose an existing thyroid or autoimmune thyroid disorder, they don’t do anything to detect the underlying cause of the condition. And this is why I frequently recommend other tests such as an Adrenal Stress Index test, a hormone panel, as well as a hair mineral analysis. Each of these tests provides different values which can help determine the cause or contributing factor to Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.
Which of these tests do I recommend for my to patients receive? It all depends on the specific patient, as for most patients I will at least recommend one or two of these tests (usually adrenal testing and the hair mineral analysis), but for others I will recommend all three of them. The symptoms a patient presents with is a big factor which determines which tests I will recommend them obtaining, although of course one can’t rely on symptoms alone. Truth to be told, every patient can benefit from obtaining all three of these tests, as well as other tests. In fact, I can easily recommend five or six different tests that can benefit each patient. But in many cases I can find the information I need to restore the patient’s health through a couple of different “alternative” tests.
So when restoring a person’s health back to normal who has Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (or any other thyroid or autoimmune thyroid condition), this is what I’d eventually like the end result to be:
1. I want them to be asymptomatic. When it comes to the symptoms related to the Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, I of course want to eliminate these symptoms. This doesn’t mean they’ll never have a related symptom again. But after they have followed a natural treatment protocol, most of the time they should be feeling pretty good from a symptomatic standpoint.
2. I want the thyroid blood tests to be negative. This includes the tests for thyroid antibodies, as well as the TSH, T3, T4, and any other thyroid blood tests. While you can’t rely on thyroid blood tests alone, it is a great feeling when someone with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis obtains these tests and they’re all negative. For those people whose health can be restored back to normal it does take time for this to happen. But when it does, it’s an awesome feeling for both the doctor and the patient.
3. I want to see positive changes with the “alternative” tests I recommend. For example, if someone obtains an ASI test which has high or low cortisol levels, a low DHEA, a depressed total Salivary SIgA, etc., then I want these values to normalize over time. If they obtain a hormone panel and it detects an imbalance, then in the future when we retest I want to see these values improve and eventually normalize as well. With the hair mineral analysis this measures what’s happening on a cellular level, and as a result you usually won’t see perfection in anybody, but we should still notice significant improvement after following a natural treatment protocol.
4. I don’t want them to have to rely on thyroid medication. Although I can’t advise anyone to stop taking their thyroid medication, this is the obvious goal for many people. While some people will need to take synthetic or natural thyroid hormone daily for the rest of their life, many people don’t need to take thyroid medication forever. Following a natural treatment protocol under the guidance of a competent holistic doctor can frequently help to restore a person’s thyroid health so they won’t need to rely on taking medication on a permanent basis. Of course this depends on the cause of the problem, as someone who had their thyroid gland completely removed through surgery won’t be able to restore their thyroid health back to normal.
In summary, when someone with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis follows a natural treatment protocol under my guidance, I never promise a permanent cure. My goal is to help them to achieve optimal health and hopefully get them to a point where they no longer are experiencing any symptoms, both blood tests and alternative tests are negative (including the test for thyroid antibodies), and where they no longer need to rely on thyroid medication and can hopefully wean off under the guidance of their medical doctor.
