Just published this post on Purehealth blog but here it is in case it helps you too..
I am fare whizzing along with the updates to some of the factsheets in the Health A-Z!
This time, I have massively updated the Thyroid Factsheet with a ton of info, tips, resources, testing and treatment recommendations on, mainly, hypothyroid (underactive thyroid) as I get asked about this such a lot!
In fact, I have to say, I’m not sure that many of you use the A-Z automatically when searching for health condition info – the new Google Custom Search I have added to the site will help you find what you need now over my clinic site and both blogs – all from one search, so that should make it easier for you to search this huge resource. Do remember it’s there for you.
Other new factsheets recently include Leaky Gut and Worms, would you believe! Do check the A-Z out if you need some info – I have usually written something somewhere about a subject close to your heart! A lot of the links need updating now, of course, which I am slowly doing to the new shop etc, but the info is more or less there. I seem to update or add something daily currently.
Anyway, back to the new Thyroid Factsheet. Here’s a bit to start you off – read the full factsheet here where there is tons more for you.
My Thyroid Top Tips & Approach
In short, what you need to know is that it is very unlikely that a normal TSH/T4 test in mainstream medicine will diagnose a more hidden thyroid disorder. Sad, but so very true. I have lost count of the number of people who have been left with ‘no problem found’ and still feel completely on thier knees because of a thyroid disorder.
My own approach has been specifically to look for conversion problems – where someone shows enough TSH or T4 but it isn’t converting into the active hormone – T3 – enough. Very common. See the iodine and selenium issues below – once you’ve identified this, it is relatively simple to solve and can save a lot of suffering!
Secondly, someone could be producing enough T3 but too much of it is being converted into Reverse T3, which is the inactive form of it. So, again, someone would look Ok but really hasn’t got enough active hormone even though the surface situation on tests looks OK.
The third angle to look at is the autoimmune antibodies. If someone’s thyroid has been identified with a problem, one of the major causes of that is autoimmune attack on the thyroid gland. Have your levels of peroxidase AND thyroglobulin been checked; often only one of them is and I have often found the other one high when I double-checked? Some docs do, some don’t. I always check as sometimes it can be the only indicator of a developing problem – early identification means early heading it off! And you can. I regularly see antibodies reducing – just this morning, in fact. Always so nice to see.
The most common cause of autoimmune attack on the glands – adrenal or thyroid – in my clinical experience is a form of gluten related disorder – not necessarily coeliac disease. And PLEASE don’t tell me you’ve had a coeliac test done and you were fine – this is another test that you simply cannot rely upon. See my Gluten Illness page for more on this and Gluten Tests here. In short, I have seen loads of people have seemingly intractable adrenal and thyroid issues helped by treating the gluten disorder. Don’t shoot the messenger 😉.
I have written quite a bit about the Thyroid-Gluten link on my specialist blog at TrulyGlutenFree so do search on there. Here’s one post to start you off:
Thyroid or Adrenal Problems? Check Gluten!
Finally, you need to consider what your adrenals are up to. I’ve touched on this more below for you, but so often a ‘resistant’ thyroid issue is hiding an underlying adrenal problem that has to be fixed first. I come across this quite a lot. Here is a blog post, for example, I wrote a while ago now but has some good tips for you on this:
Read the full Thyroid Factsheet here. Hope it helps 🙂
Micki, you are so right about thyroid testing. But you also should know that the Thyroxine (or whatever brand they use as the standard replacement) wears off so is less effective if taken long-term eg I’d been on it for nearly 20 years. I now take a live T3/T4 form of thyroid supplement which is made for me specially in Australia at a strength which has been gradually adjusted to optimal. I buy this as a private client at about $90 per 100 tablets. It’s so well worth it! I gather you can’t obtain it in the UK, even if you’re willing to pay. In Australia there are compounding chemists who can do this sort of thing on a doctor’s prescription. Thank goodness! The difference it made to me was huge – I very quickly felt so much more alert and alive and HAPPY. I continue to feel good in that way. And my nutritional medicine doctor has tweaked other things too, in the supplements I take to enhance its effect and deal with other things needing small adjustments. Some of the medical fraternity are very slack about really correcting thyroid problems. A doctor persuaded me to have a sub-total thyroidectomy in my 30s which was the worst thing he could have done. I’ve regretted it bitterly ever since. Turns out, the surgeon said, I have a larger than usual adam’s apple and it was making me feel I was choking with only a small thyroid enlargement. I now take charge of my own health in partnership with relevant specialists. And guess what, since 2001 I’ve set a lot of problems right by doing this. I’m lucky I can afford it. It ain’t cheap. But it costs no more than a moderate smoker will pay for cigarettes. I know which I prefer.
That’s really helpful, thanks Anna, and you are SO lucky to have such a good specials system there then!
Hi, I just came across your site and am wondering if you’re still using Helminth Therapy. Did it work for you, as I have Hashimoto’s Disease and a pretty bad case of laryngopharngeal reflux and am hoping HDC’s might be beneficial. Thanks!
I never used helminthic therapy actually Nicole (yet!) but plenty of people have, see the new Worms page.http://www.purehealthclinic.co.uk/health-a-z/wriggly-things-worms/. First thing I would do though is grain and dairy free diet and see how you get on if you haven’t done that already.