What came first, Chicken or the egg?

[AngieAsh]

Hi. I have spent the last couple of days since I got my new results (see my last post) trying to figure out what is caused by what and I just can't get my head around it.

Do I have Hashi's becuase I let my Vitamin D get severely low which in turn lowered my Vitamin B and Phosphate and raised my parathyroid hormone level and messed with my immune system or did all of my Vits and minerals go whacky because of my Thyroid?

I don't have the best of diets nutrition wise and I am a veggie but I have been ok as a veggie for 20 years without previous problems and I do eat plenty of dairy and eggs. I haven't been outside as much this last year or so to get any sun because of generally feeling crappy and tired and because of back pain when I stand and walk. So it could be my lack of outdoors that caused the low vit D. I have been reading that low Vit D can cause a lot of problems. I don't think it's Hyperparathyroidism because my Calcium is higher end but still within normal. I also know that lots of people with Hashi have low nutrients. I'm really just not clear on which came first like the chicken and the egg.

Can anyone please clear this up for me. Can I have caused my Thyroid issues myself through Nutrient insufficiency or was it just going to go Hypo anyway and it caused me to have the deficiency problems? Thanks

[shaws]

It's not good looking back as it would probably just have happened.

Hashimoto's is the commonest cause of hypothyroidism and it is the thyroid antibodies which attack the gland and it waxes and wanes until you are hypothyroid. I doubt it has anything to do with nutrition as I think the majority on this forum have good diets.

For some reason if hypo our vitamins/minerals are low even if we have a good diet as I believe hypo also causes gut issues so it could be due to that itself which causes gut/digestion/reflux problems.

50mcg of levo is a starting dose and should be taken with one full glass of water and wait an hour before eating.

For blood tests it has to be at the earliest possible, fasting (you can drink water) and allow a gap of 24 hours between last dose and test and take afterwards.

It is important all of our vitamins/minerals are optimum as we are usually low or have deficiencies.

[Clutter]

AngieAsh,

Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disease which causes hypothyroidism. It's not caused by low vitamin D. If you've not been outside that will be why vitD is low. Sunshine on the skin is how most vitD is made, very little is obtained from diet. If you are not going outside during the spring and summer you need to supplement vitamin D3.

Vegetarian diet will be why B12 is low despite eating dairy and eggs. Supplement 1,000mcg methylcobalamin. Folate should be good if you eat plenty of green leafy veg.

Hypothyroidism slows metabolism and lowers stomach acid which can make obtaining nutrients from food difficult.

[AngieAsh]

Thank you shaws and Clutter . I was trying to read up and educate myself and just got muddled by the sheer amount of info out there and trying to figure out all of the abnormal results at once. I had started to think that I might have brought the Hashi's on myself. Good to know that's not the case.

[shaws in reply to AngieAsh]

You can sleep well

[silverfox7]

It's a huge learning curve I'm afraid so don't try to do it all at one! If you look at the Thyroid Uk site who run this forem then loads of good info but look at how to take your medication and the do's and don'ts first. If anything you don't understand then shout out and someone will help you I'm sure!

[Clairewalker751]

Read the root cause by izabella Wentz great book really informative

[AngieAsh in reply to Clairewalker751]

Hi Clair, thanks for the reply. Having had just a quick look into her she seems to be advocating Paleo style eating with no dairy, grains, nightshades, sugars or legumes. Is this correct? If so I have little or no chance as a vegetarian of following her diet recommendations. I could drop one of those, maybe 2 but dropping all of them would leave me eating nothing but a limited number of veggies, some seeds and eggs.

[Clairewalker751 in reply to AngieAsh]

Her book does describe causes and trigger and one of the ones she discusses is vegetarianism, however the general consensus from all I've read is cut out gluten and soy and make sure you get plenty of protein and good fats?