Going, Going, Gone...into remission from hypo

[Helena877]

I have been wondering about this recently and as to what 'remission' actually means.

I went to see a Naturopath and her view was that through a diet such as the paleo autoimmune one; and through supplements (I will dig out the list later) it was to get me off Levothyroxine and any alternatives.

Interestingly the practitioner was also a fellow Hashimoto's sufferer but was on Natural Dessicated Thyroid.

So - at what stage would you have to be at to consider going down this path if you did want to see if you could put your hypothyroidism into remission? Obviously whatever stage your at these could possibly alleviate a ton occasionally symptoms.

I'm just interested. I take my Levo and have done for 6 weeks or so and now up to alternating between 50 and 75.

Does the thyroid come to rely on T4 after a time and then stop working all together? Is it something you would need to do early on .... weeks from diagnosis??

Just interested

[Clutter]

Helena877,

Natural Dessicated Thyroid (NDT) is a combination T4 and T3 replacement hormone. It is an alternative to Levothyroxine but it is not licensed for use in the UK so is rarely available on the NHS. Hypothyroidism is not something which can be cured with diet, supplements or medication, ergo it cannot be put into remission. Best that can happen is that symptoms are managed with thyroid replacement either Levothyroxine, NDT, or Liothyronine (T3).

[Helena877 in reply to Clutter]

yes - I only went there to get a referral to a GP to discuss NDT.

It was useful in terms of diet etc but when she got out yet more supplements to get me "off Levo" I declined. I must dig out the list - make others aware.

[Clutter in reply to Helena877]

Helena877,

How hypocritical to want to get her clients off Levothyroxine when she is taking NDT.

NDT is rarely prescribed on the NHS. Most members buy theirs online and self medicate. Write a post asking for sources to be PMd to you if you want to know where to buy it.

[Helena877 in reply to Clutter]

In fairness she did say that she was on NDT because she didn't convert Levo and didn't blame me for wanting to go on NDT.

She said unlikely he would prescribe it given my results: I used a month-old TSH circa 13 and T4 11.

Two weeks on I have given up on hearing back from her regarding the referral. I rang through to the GP and it was pricey - £150 for 1/2hr consultation and then "they make up the medication to my specification?" Do £££ all around I guess!

[Helena877 in reply to Clutter]

I have just re-read.

Yes absolutely - surely she should be on herbs rather than replacement hormone!!

[radd]

Helena,

There are some who have managed to diagnose Hashimotos before too much damage has occurred to the thyroid gland. With diets, supplements and a life style chosen to lower thyroid antibodies, further attacks have been avoided and the thyroid gland has remained working.

However, for the majority, the standard care is to simply wait until the immune system has destroyed enough thyroid tissue to be classified hypothyroid, and then medicate thyroid hormone replacement usually in the form of Levothyroxine.. If and when other symptoms commonly associated with hypothyroidism are exhibited (depression, insulin resistance, weight gain, etc) additional drugs are prescribed for each individual problem.

The obvious shortcoming of this approach is that it doesn’t address the underlying cause which is the immune system attacking the thyroid gland but a healthy life style, etc will only control the autoimmune condition. If you are deficient in thyroid hormones, they will need replacing no matter what.

[Angel_of_the_North]

You might be able to put the autoimmune part of Hashis into remission or at least slow down the damage by avoiding triggers, but you can't rebuild the destroyed thyroid gland.