For those people that have Graves’ Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, many endocrinologists focus their efforts on treating the thyroid gland.  For Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, which involves an underproduction of thyroid hormone, they will typically recommend synthetic thyroid hormone.  With Graves’ Disease, which involves an overproduction of thyroid hormone, most medical doctors will prescribe a medication such as Methimazole, or sometimes use more extreme treatment measures such as radioactive iodine to slow down or completely stop the thyrodi gland from producing thyroid hormone.

While you don’t want to neglect the thyroid gland, at the same time you don’t want to ignore other areas of the body that might be causing the thyroid gland to malfunction in the first place.  After all, just because the thyroid gland is affected doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the root cause of the problem.

This is why when choosing a natural treatment protocol for your autoimmune thyroid disorder, the following three bodily components will almost always be addressed by a competent natural doctor:

1. The Immune System.  I discussed this in detail in a couple of previous posts, as addressing the immune system often times should be the first line of action when treating an autoimmune thyroid disorder.  The reason for this is because often times the weakened immune system is what actually caused the condition to develop in the first place.  Plus, people with Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis are more likely to develop other autoimmune disorders in the future, and a big reason for this is because most medical doctors don’t do much to help strengthen the patient’s immune system.

2. The Adrenal Glands.  The adrenals are yet another area that are neglected when diagnosing and treating both Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.  Many times the adrenal glands should be addressed before the immune system or the thyroid gland.  Just like most endocrinologists won’t do much to help strengthen the patient’s immune system, they usually won’t pay any attention to the adrenal glands either.  Doing so is easy and relatively inexpensive, and can provide a lot of valuable information that can do wonders for the patient’s recovery. 

3. The Thyroid Gland.  Of course we can’t forget about treating the thyroid gland itself, can we?  The funny thing is that often times strengthening the immune system and addressing the adrenals will help restore the function of the thyroid gland, without directly addressing the thyroid gland itself.  However, this isn’t always the case, and in many cases nutritional support will need to be aimed directly at the thyroid gland in order to restore health.  Once again, everyone is different, and therefore will need to be on different natural treatment protocols.

Although these are the primary bodily components that will usually be looked at, this doesn’t mean that other areas can’t be contributing to your condition, or even directly causing it.  For example, in some people with Graves’ Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, the gastrointestinal system can be the root cause of the problem.  So if these three primary areas I mentioned above are addressed and there isn’t much improvement in the patient, then a competent natural doctor will begin to look at other areas in the body. In some cases the GI tract will need to be addressed before these three bodily components.

Fortunately, with most people that have an autoimmune thyroid disorder, addressing these three bodily components is usually enough to help restore the patient’s health to normal, assuming this is possible of course.  In some patients complete recovery just isn’t possible, although many who can’t completely recover will still benefit greatly from receiving natural treatment methods.

So if you decide to consult with a natural endocrine doctor in the future, you’ll want to make sure they evaluate all three of these bodily components.  If all they do is address the thyroid gland itself, which is what most endocrine doctors do (even many of the holistic doctors), you might want to consider switching doctors, or at least get a second opinion before you begin treatment.

Last week I spoke about how most medical doctors neglect the immune system with patients who have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and Graves’ Disease.  Considering that these are both autoimmune thyroid disorders, I find this to be mind blowing.  And since a weakened immune system can actually cause a condition such as Hashimoto’s or Graves’, if you want any chance of restoring your health back to normal then it is essential to strengthen the immune system component before you can directly address the thyroid gland.

I concluded last week’s post by discussing that in order to strengthen your immune system, it is important to be aware of some of the common factors that can cause it to become weakened, thus leading to your autoimmune thyroid disorder.  You’ll notice that these tie in with the five factors of health I spoke about in a previous post, and so by now you should begin understanding why your condition might have developed, and what you can do restore your health back to normal.

So here are the three primary factors that can lead to a weakened immune system:

1.    Chronic stress. Many people are in a state of chronic stress, which our bodies were not designed to handle.  This chronic stress can and usually will weaken the immune system and adrenals.  And while a competent natural doctor will usually address these areas before focusing on the thyroid gland itself, it is just as important to help the person manage their stress in order to aid in their recovery.  While there is no way you will ever completely eliminate stress from your life, chances are you can do a much better job of coping with it, which will do wonders when trying to strengthen your immune system.

There are complete books written on stress management, and it would obviously be difficult to discuss this in detail in a single post.  However, I will be expanding upon this topic in future posts, and will also give you some resources you can check out to help you better manage the stress in your life.  While I don’t consider myself an expert on stress management by any means, managing my stress was a big factor in restoring my health after being diagnosed with Graves’ Disease, and I will share with you some of the things I personally did to help cope with stress.

2.    Poor nutrition. Just as is the case with stress management, I can easily dedicate a few separate posts just talking about proper nutrition, so I’ll make it brief here.  I do go into more detail about this subject in my free guide that I offer on this website, so if you haven’t received your free copy then I highly recommend you get it, as it consists of more than 40 pages of valuable content.

In any case, poor nutrition without question can weaken your immune system.  And while taking quality nutritional supplements and/or herbal remedies can definitely help strengthen your immune system, supplements are no substitute for eating well.  Just about everyone needs to eat better, but in addition to eating well, most will need to take some quality supplements so they can get the nutrients they aren’t getting from their food.  Because as you probably know, most people can’t get all of the nutrients from the foods they eat, which is why everyone should at least take quality multi-mineral vitamin and fatty acid supplements each day.

3.    Sleep deprivation. This of course can go either way, as sometimes a person has no problems getting quality sleep until they acquire an autoimmune thyroid disorder.  Then once they have the autoimmune disorder they begin having sleeping difficulties.  On the other hand, some people who are healthy will neglect sleep for a period of months, or even years, which can eventually lead to health problems.

For example, some people who work a typical 8 to 5 shift will stay up late each night, and will end up averaging only 5 or 6 hours sleep on a nightly basis.  Over time, this can definitely have a negative impact on their immune system.  On the other hand, people that work odd shifts that affect their sleep patterns can also be affected.  Then there are people with an entrepreneurial background who spend countless hours on their business, getting up early in the morning and going to sleep late.  This routine, combined with the stress of owning one’s business, will almost definitely have a profound impact on their immune system.

Once again these aren’t the only factors that can lead to a weakened immune system, as for examples, frequent exposure to certain environmental toxins can compromise your immune system.  So for example, someone can eat well, get ample sleep, and do a great job of managing stress, yet can still acquire a weakened immune system if they use household cleaners and other products that emit dangerous chemicals.  There are other types of environmental toxins as well, and while it is just about impossible to avoid them completely, most people can do a better job of reducing their exposure to such toxins.

In summary, if you have been diagnosed with an autoimmune thyroid condition, make sure you do what is necessary to strengthen your immune system.  You can of course try speaking with your endocrinologist or general practitioner about how to go about doing this, but as you know, most medical doctors don’t receive adequate training in preventative care, which is why you’ll see me constantly recommend that people with these conditions speak with a competent natural doctor.

In the next post I plan on talking about the 3 main bodily components anyone with an autoimmune disorder will want to address.

I wasn’t planning on posting today, as my next post was going to be this Monday and discussing the three primary factors that can lead to a weakened immune system.  But while checking out the sports news online the other day, I saw that a major league baseball player (Jose Reyes of the New York Mets) was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid.  What surprised me while reading this was that his medical doctor recommended conservative treatment, as he just recommended that he not exert himself and change his diet, and didn’t recommend any medications or treatment with radioactive iodine.

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While he wasn’t diagnosed with a serious condition such as Graves’ Disease, keep in mind that there have been many people who have been diagnosed with a mild case of hyperthyroidism and still were prescribed a drug like Methimazole, or even radioactive iodine.  In fact, recently I was consulting with someone who a number of years back was diagnosed with a mild case of hyperthyroidism, as her levels weren’t too off and she didn’t have any symptoms whatsoever.  But rather than just recommend rest and a change in diet like Jose Reyes’ doctor, her medical doctor gave her three different options:

1)    Treatment with prescription drugs
2)    Treatment with radioactive iodine
3)    Surgery to remove the thyroid gland

Once again, she was not experiencing any symptoms, and yet in addition to the prescription drugs option (which I could understand him recommending) he gave her some harsh treatment options that would either damage or completely remove her thyroid gland.   Not knowing anything about hyperthyroidism, she asked the doctor which option he would choose in her situation, and he told her he would choose treatment with radioactive iodine.  While it’s better than the third option, it’s still an extreme form of treatment for someone who had a mild case of hyperthyroidism with no symptoms.

So she received the radioactive iodine treatment, and to no surprise, became hypothyroid and took synthetic thyroid hormone daily, which she has been on for eight years so far.  So it made me happy to see that this baseball player had a doctor who was somewhat conservative…at least for the time being.  This doesn’t mean that I fully agree with the recommendations of his medical doctor, as it was recommended that this person avoid iodine (no seafood), as many doctors mistakenly think that every single person who has a thyroid gland disorder should avoid iodine, without even testing the patient to see whether or not they are iodine deficient, which many people with thyroid disorders are.

Of course Graves’ Disease is more serious than just a mild case of hyperthyroidism, and as a result it takes more than just resting and changing your diet to restore the health of the person with this autoimmune thyroid disorder.  I’m curious as to how Jose Reyes’ overactive thyroid condition responds, and hope he has a quick recovery.  While the article discusses how no drugs can help with his current condition, if he still has positive blood tests and is symptomatic in a couple of months I can’t imagine them continuing to take a “wait and see” approach.  But for the time being I must give some credit to his doctor for taking the conservative approach.  I wish more medical doctors were just as conservative with similar cases.

For those with an autoimmune disorder such as Graves’ Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, it is essential to address the immune system component before addressing the thyroid gland itself.  While many people think of Graves’ and Hashimoto’s as being thyroid disorders, the truth is that they are both serious autoimmune conditions.  It puzzles me why most medical doctors neglect the immune system component, and focus primarily on the thyroid gland.

After all, research has shown that people who have autoimmune disorders such as Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis are more likely to acquire additional autoimmune conditions in the future, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus.  And when you think about it, this shouldn’t be a surprise, as if most endocrinologists don’t do anything to help strengthen the immune system of their patients, then their immune systems will of course remain in a weakened state, and they will therefore be susceptible to other autoimmune conditions.

For example, when I was initially diagnosed with Graves’ Disease, the endocrinologist I consulted with recommended that I take Methimazole, along with a beta blocker.  And even though I didn’t take the medication, I respected the fact that she didn’t recommend that I treat my condition with radioactive iodine (which I of course would have rejected as well).  But besides recommending the prescription drugs, she didn’t recommend anything else that could help strengthen my immune system and thus prevent future conditions from developing.

In fact, she didn’t talk about any of the five factors I addressed in the previous post.  On the case history forms of most endocrinologists, they will ask if you have problems sleeping, and ample sleep is one of the factors I discussed that is necessary to restore your health.  For those who are having sleeping difficulties, in most cases they will simply prescribe another type of drug, which would be fine if that was the only solution to help someone get quality sleep each night.

In summary, the goal of most medical doctors is to control your symptoms, and not necessarily address the cause of your condition.  And don’t get me wrong, as symptomatic relief is important, and sometimes taking prescription drugs is necessary.  This is especially true in many cases of Graves’ Disease, as if a person has a very high pulse rate, then they might need to take a beta blocker for awhile to help control the symptoms, or else the condition can become life threatening.

Another thing to consider is that a weakened immune system can sometimes cause your condition to develop in the first place.  So for a person who has a compromised immune system and over time develops Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, giving them synthetic or natural thyroid hormone without addressing the immune system component is ludicrous.  The adrenals are another area that usually should be addressed before the thyroid gland, yet they are also commonly neglected by most endocrinologists.  I’ll talk more about the adrenal glands in future blog posts.

In order to strengthen your immune system, you should be aware of some of the factors that can lead to it becoming weakened in the first place.  And while there are a number of different factors that can lead to a weakened immune system, there are three primary ones that I will be discussing in the next post.

Many people with Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis don’t really have a good understanding as to what health really is.  For example, some people with autoimmune thyroid disorders think that in order to restore their health back to normal, all they need to do is visit their local health food store and take some nutritional supplements.  This of course isn’t specific to people with Graves’ and Hashimoto’s, as many others with different conditions think that taking one or more types of nutritional supplements and/or herbal remedies can “cure” their condition.

The truth is, when it comes to restoring the health of someone with Graves’ Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, there are five primary factors that are essential to their recovery:

Factor # 1: The Right Attitude. While having a positive attitude by itself won’t restore your health back to normal, a good attitude is an important component of the recovery process.  While it is normal to be skeptical when you have dealt with your condition for many months or years, the odds of restoring the natural function of your thyroid gland will be much greater if you have a positive attitude.

Factor # 2: Proper Nutrition. Once again, proper nutrition isn’t just about consuming supplements and herbal remedies.  Ideally we should obtain all of the necessary nutrients from what we eat, but since most people don’t eat well on a consistent basis, it is usually necessary for people with autoimmune thyroid disorders to incorporate nutritional supplements into a natural program.  Any competent natural doctor will also do their best to encourage a person with Graves’ Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis to eat healthier.

Factor # 3: Getting Ample Sleep. Out of the millions of people who suffer with autoimmune thyroid disorders, many don’t get enough sleep.  Sometimes this isn’t completely under their control, as they might try to get at least eight hours sleep per night, but might have difficulty falling to sleep and/or wake up during the night without being able to fall back to sleep.  Others have no problem falling asleep and can sleep through the night, but still don’t get what’s considered “quality” sleep each night.  Often times the adrenals will play a huge role in causing sleeping difficulties, which is why a competent natural doctor will evaluate the adrenal glands before they administer any treatment.

Factor # 4: Regular Exercise. While exercise is another important factor when it comes to one’s health, one problem is that some people don’t have the energy to exercise.  This is especially true for many people with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, although it holds true for some people with Graves’ Disease as well.  If you have the energy to walk for at least 20 minutes each day while in the beginning phases of your natural treatment program, then that’s great.  If not, then you might need to wait until the treatment methods begin to take effect before you can begin exercising.

Factor # 5: Managing Stress. Stress is a huge factor in people with autoimmune thyroid disorders.  In fact, stress can be a contributing factor, or in some cases can even cause these conditions.  I personally believe that stress was a big factor with regards to my condition, as I considered myself to be in good health, and was shocked when I was diagnosed with Graves’ Disease.  But at the time I was diagnosed I did have a good amount of stress, and had been dealing with a lot of stress for awhile before becoming symptomatic.  And while I exercised regularly, slept well, tried to keep a positive attitude, and ate a somewhat healthy diet, I must admit that I didn’t do a great job when it came to managing stress.

So these are some of the main factors when it comes to restoring one’s health.  I expand upon these factors in my free guide, and will also discuss them more in future blog posts, as well as provide other valuable information about natural endocrine health.