I have Hashimoto's and have for decades (undiagnosed until 6 years ago). I am thinking of doing a radical diet change. The Americans call it a reboot, others juicing diets. I am planning to juice all organic vegetables like kale and carrots, cucumber, beetroots etc., in fact anything considered to be a super-food at the moment. I will also juice and add to the vegetables fruits in any seasonal or high quality anti-oxidant variety. I wondered if anyone else had tried this approach. I will do this with my GP's knowledge and will have the usual blood checks.
I am currently on 75mg from 100mg of Levothyroxine, but my aim is to reduce this considerably and all other medications (painkillers mainly) related to osteoarthritis, headaches and practically all Hashi symptoms.
Advice welcome!
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Orpheline1
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When I become ill it goes into something much more extreme due to the autoimmune deficiency problems. I was watching a programme on Netflix whereby a man cured his weight and skin problems with this juicing approach. He was on prednisone a cortisosteroid drug, and the side effects were immense. He is now drug free. When I am ill, as was the case recently it started with a cold, went to flu, an I was prescribed prednisone to help with the asthma/chest problems. I am not overweight. I am hypo but weigh 9.8 stones at 176 metres. My intention is to be drug free, with the help of giving my body all of the micro nutrients it needs to help itself heal.
I am willing to be a human guinea pig, with a full blood screen before I start under the supervision of my GP who is a new-style doctor investing interest in alternative holistic remedies along side traditional medicine.
As the modern body is starved of micro nutrients, and these are crucial to maintain health, this is my reason to try it. My nails are weak, my skin is dry and dull. I will try it for perhaps two weeks or 30 days. I am interested to see if my blood results improve (not sure what it will do for the reduction in Levothyroxine...that is unknown). I am convinced that the right combination of high quality fruit and vegetables will improve overall health. The thyroid equation is unknown.
I am a healthy relatively fit person, but the Hashimoto symtoms, are getting me down. The doctor who found that I had Hashi, only found it because my immune system was so bad, he thought I had AIDS! Needless to say it was the thyroid.
I presume the program you are talking about is "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead". I saw this a while ago and found this very interesting. I looked it up just know to find the title and read that he had an auto immune disorder which he cured with this approach. Didn't know anything about auto immune disorders when I first watched it as I wasn't diagnosed with Hashi's. Will have to watch it again.
Yes, this was the programme! I was impressed by how he had recovered and was in no need of the prescription drugs after his Re-boot, as he called it. The only thing I am aware of since writing this post is that the damage that has been done to my thyroid may not be reversed. The damage to my lungs from pneumonia which started as a cold is irreversible. The best I can hope for is a better level of health, improved vitality and hair, nails and skin. As for the Hashimoto's itself, I have yet to find anyone who has treated it this way. I do know of a friend who has reduced her level of Levothyroxine by eating very healthly. It is my intention to ask her in more detail what regime she follows.
Don't forget that many brassicas are goitrogenic, so you might feel worse and need more levo - cutting calories can also reduce T4 to T3 conversion. I doubt that your GP will have a clue about anything diet-related unless s/he's not an NHS GP.
If you are not affected by goitrogens, generally, veg juices are best, but you can add a little apple or carrot or lemon to improve the taste. Sauerkraut juice is excellent (probiotic and digestive aid).
You'll need a decent juicer, but I'm sure you've though of that. One of the Omega ones or a Hurom, for example, if you are going to do cabbage and kale. Fruit juices are usually too high in sugar and acid (teeth! - and liver).
I am lucky in that my doctor is a new age NHS doctor believing in a more holistic approach to health. Thanks for the brassicas tip, I've never liked the taste of broccoli much anyway.
I am doing this experiment to increase the micro-nutrients in my body to help the immune system. I am not sure even after having this disease for decades, how the whole thyroid works. My last TS4 was 15.9 and TSH 1.67 which was a blood test done in 2013.
I am thinking of following the advice of expert writers in juicing to increase the levels of micro-nutrients without eating kilos of plant and fruit food. I will also add spirulina and hemp etc.
I am going to be my own human guinea pig. I will get some blood work done before, and after a maximum 30 trial. I am willing to invest in a high quality juicer,although I have an old one that juices fruits and vegetables already.
I suffer with constant heaches, my nails are breaking and skin is dull and dry. If nothing else, I expect this will improve. Whether I can reduce the levothyroxine or come off it completely is an unknown.
Thank you so much for reply. My weight is roughly 9.5 stone and I'm roughly 5ft 10.
Spirulina is not recommended for hypos - especially not Hashi's - it contains too much iodine,and too much iodine can make things much worse. I agree that it's a good thing to get more micro-nutirents into you. But the problem is, you might also get a lot of things you Don't need.
All your symptoms are probably caused by low thyroid, rather than the Hash's itself. The antibodies have obviously destroyed enough of your gland for it to be a problem. You might get rid of the antibodies with your new regime, and prevent further damage, but you cannot restore the gland that has been destroyed. It can no-longer provide you with all the hormone you need to be healthy. And that is always going to be a problem no matter how healthy you are in other ways. You need to take thyroid hormone replacement - which, by the way, is not a drug. It's hormones.
I really think you need to learn a bit more about the thyroid before you start.
Carrot and ginger is nice, melon and cucumber on a hot day. Beetroot and apple. Celery is good for you but terribly salty as a juice, so needs to be added to something else. I'm lucky not to be too obviously bothered by goitrogens, so I can tell you from experience that kale, cabbage etc are like eating horseradish - very hot and spicy.
Sauerkraut (if you can take it) is a fantastic early morning juice to help with digesting breakfast. But none of it, as Grey says, will replace your missing thyroid hormones, plus you may become deficient in iron and B12 if you replace too much food with juice, which will make your T4 to T3 conversion worse.
I was 100% raw including juicing for a while (no cooking facilities) and it didn't help my bad nails, fatigue, hair loss or permanent cold feeling probably as they weren't caused primarily by the lack of the nutrients in the vegetables. Definitely helped asthma and migraine, though. Raw and juices can be very helpful for some conditions (eg type 2 diabetes) but can't replace missing hormones. BTW I also became very orange (as I wasn't processing beta carotene), but hey - it saves on fake tan.
Thank you so much for your precious input. I have perhaps forgotten that my thyroid is damaged! Like the lungs, it will always be so. My only hope is that by doing more research, I embark on a road to improve things. I never understood the thyroid unfriendly foods until starting this post. It does explain how clever the body is though, as most of these foods are my least favorite!
From starting to enter into conversations within the community, I will proceed with caution, and perhaps do an intelligent detox once in a while as opposed to thinking I can come off of the hormone replacement one day!
Thank you so much. I agree my understanding of the thyroid is lacking. I am going to do more research, and with the help of you and the community will find a balance. Due to not being diagnosed over a couple of decades (perhaps longer), I have damage to my lungs (a flu which turned into a pneumonia). I almost lost a kidney (another miss). I have been treated for depression, which is not uncommon without the proper diagnosis of Hashimotos. As you may be fully aware, this is a disease which is very difficult to diagnose due to its similarity with other ill health problems. The doctor who discovered I had Hashimoto's Disease initially thought I had AIDS.
Are you referring that even though I might improve my overall health, I will have to take levothyroxine for life, as I have been told by doctors.
I had hoped I could be free of it, but as you quite rightly point out, it is a hormone of which I am lacking. Perhaps my hopes of reducing the dose are possible...we will see.
Penelope56, if your last thyroid blood test was in 2013 you are long overdue for another. Thyroid blood tests should be done annually at the very least. TSH 1.67 is too high for comfort for most people. FT4 looks low but it's not possible to be sure without the lab ref range (figures in brackets after your results). Low FT4 will make it difficult to convert sufficient T3 which is the active hormone, and when it is low hypothyroid symptoms are experienced.
The goal of thyroid hormone replacement (Levothyroxine) is to restore patients to euthyroid status and for most people this will be TSH just above or below 1.0 with FT4 in, or towards, the top 75% of range. Read Dr. A. Toft's comments in Treatment Options in this link
Improving your micronutrients and diet is undoubtedly good but, as Greygoose said, it won't reverse thyroid damage and when you have low thyroid hormone you will require thyroid hormone replacement for life.
I have the latest results from my doctor, last done on 31 Oct 2014. Thyroild function test (X77Wg).
T4 15.9 (12.0 - 22.0)
TSH (XaELV) 1.67 (O.3 -4.2)
Other was rheumatoid factor level (XE255) above range 17 (0.0-14.0)
My test done on 22 Oct 2013 was 16.1 (12.0 - 22.0)
and 0.42 (0.3 - 4.2)
I am now researching what to eat and have made some changes. Remember my quest is to increase micro-nutrients and avoid things that the thyroid is known to dislike.
I am eating more organic protein if I touch chicken or animal protein, but prefer fish. I snack on fruit like bananas or apples and eat goji berries or nuts and seeds.
Penelope, FT4 is less than half way through range and with TSH 1.67 I would say you are slightly undermedicated. A dose increase may help relieve some of the symptoms you mentioned above.
Thank you so much for the links I am so pleased to have joined this site. I feel I am in such good and knowledgeable hands! I made a mistake with the year in my last comment, I believe I had those results from a year ago. The first check with my current doctor was in 2013. Any way I am going to the surgery to ask for a print out of my last one, then I can give the precise reading required. I feel that the condition has got worse recently although my last result T4 of 15.9 and TSH of 1.67 was considered normal by my doctor.
I am extremely cold, tired and headaches are relentless, among other side effects which are too numerous to mention. The last time I could not get warm (it was about 4 years ago, I self-prescribed and increased my Levothyroxine to 100mg (my initial dosage upon diagnosis) for about a week...the result was I had an increased heartbeat and could not sleep. As you can imagine my doctor slapped me on the knuckles after laughing his head off... I have not done anything like that since!!
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