I have come a long way over the last 2 to 3 years. However, having discovered by private blood test in January 2017 that I do have Hashimoto's and not Hypothyroidism, I'm struggling to rid my body of the inflammation from high thyroid antibody (thyroglobulin).
I seem to be up and down like a yo-yo, and can only presume now that it's the hashi's inflammation causing it.
Any advice gratefully received.
Hi marigold22
I’ve recently been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, so still learning.
The only support and advice I’ve had if from here, not my GP or Endocrinologist.
Do you take vitamins?, selenium?. Have you gone gluten free?
I’ve been gluten free since September 17, cut out fizzy drinks and this has definitely helped.
Are you on any medication, Levothyroxine?.
Best wishes
Peanut31
Hi Peanut31 Thanks, yes I do take vitamins and minerals including selenium. Have started to take vitamins on one day and minerals on alternate days. I have always had a reasonably good diet, and never drank fizzy drinks etc. Since September 2017 I've cleaned my diet up even more, going mainly Paleo - ie cutting out all grains, adding cholesterol. I have to say that I have been adding things like Hellmans mayo but yesterday I looked at the ingredients label and was horrified to read the stuff in it... so that's had to go now. I've certainly been gluten free since September 2017.
At the moment I've got an extremely healthy casserole in the oven, but I can see that there's a Catch22 there in that if I feel a bit down on one day I won't feel like cooking from fresh & will eat healthy snacks, salads etc.
Maybe I'm still eating foods that my gut doesn't like.
P S Only take Liothyronine/T3. I've had a bit of a set back as in the spring & summer 2017 I panicked big time over whether I would be able to continue getting my desperately needed T3 prescription. I couldn't breath some days from stress & anxiety over it. As it turns out an endo has in fact prescribed it for me. But in August 2017 I consulted with a homeopath & he 'cloned' one of my T3 tablets. It seemed to work initially but in the new year I started to realise that I felt under medicated ... my hair was coming out in handfuls, constipated, skin on ends of fingers was splitting. So I have gone back onto NHS T3 until I see homeopath again very soon. Hugs x
Hi I use curcumin with black pepper for inflammation. Two capsules a day with food and it works.
Hi mischa , thanks. As I mentioned above in my reply to Peanut31 I have got a casserole in the oven right now, having forced myself to chop up veg etc. For the first time I've added turmeric & lots of black pepper. I had no idea you can buy curcumin with black pepper capsules.
I'm finding that all the supplements I've been taking are costing me so much. High dose Vit C, vit B12, multi B's, vit K2, magnesium, selenium, zinc, garlic capsules. All the tubs are about to run out at the same time.... uggghhhh!
I am very new to hashis and find the cucurmin & black pepper seem to reduce inflammation. It's a pain to add another, mind - if you shook me, I'd rattle 
Hi Marigold. I hear what you are saying about expense of supplements. It is a small fortune. I try where I can to keep costs down but it seems like a losing battle. Oh yes they do run out at the same time! Then you have to juggle what's the most important ones and what ones can wait another week. I take more or less the same supps as you.
Which brand do you use please mischa ?
I use nutravita organic tumeric with black pepper. Tumeric is curcumin. I get it on Amazon.
Hi marigold, sorry to hear you've been up and down.
Well, having chatted with you quite a few times, I know that you already do a lot of the nutritional approaches that help with reducing inflammation. Most of the things I'd suggest are things I know you are already familiar with!
This is a supplement that my nutrition therapist had me on: dcnutrition.com/product/kap...
When you say you're up and down like a yo-yo, do you mean mood wise, or energy wise, or general health wise? The thought I have in my head is whether that having relatively recently got to the bottom of your health issues, and taking supplements that have really improved things for you, perhaps it's a lot of unresolved traumas surfacing? I know that you've certainly had more than your fair share of them. Just a thought, anyway.
I hope you get to the bottom of it. Take care xx
Hi again ShinyB , thanks for your reply. Yes - my mood & energy, have reverted to bad depression since the weekend but a lot better today, (took 2 x natural 5-HTP an amino acid).
Yes I had realised I've got PTSD from all the horrible things that have happened in my life. However I had been having weeks at a time where I had totally forgotten about it all and happily got on with my life now.
I am thinking that I must have eaten something that my gut doesn't like and it had a devastating effect on me. I have had stomach cramps for a few days too.
I'm meant to be on 30mcg & 40mcg of T3 on alternate days as stated by an endo, but since Sunday I've increased it to 45mcg a day, using some I bought a year or so ago from Greece or Turkey.
My story is so horribly complicated --- I was born with only half of a uterus, have researched online, it says that many women with this condition have only one kidney, so I'm wondering now if I have only half a thyroid. Great to hear from you, how are you doing now?
The gut is soooo central to everything. Hopefully it was a one off and not something you're eating often. Do you think you might have had some sort of virus?
I thought you were taking some sort of T3 equivalent, you mentioned something about cloning? I remember now you saying how helpful the PTSD forum is.
I'm pootling along. Have felt a bit better since starting T3 but it's still relatively early days. Hoping things will improve a lot!
I've not had the chance to watch this yet (got interrupted 1 minute in!), but it turned up in my inbox and it says: 02:41 Depression: Illness of Modern Civilization, Not a Chemical Imbalance 04:53 Animal Model of Depression 08:20 Multiple Different Lifestyle Pillars 12:00 Meditation and Productivity 16:42 Supplemental Ways to Address Brain Inflammation. youtube.com/watch?v=yFQ8i_U... Could be worth a watch.
Don't think that link worked... Use 'Dr. Kelly Brogan - A Mind of Your Own - Podcast #165' in the youtube search box.
Thanks ShinyB, I will watch it.
Try drinking a glass of kefir three times a day as good gut health is important. It’s as easy to make as a pot of tea.
Also avoiding inflammatory foods such as margarine, artificial sweeteners, & anything processed.
Autoimmune diseases bring their friends, so you may have coeliac/gluten/fructans issues.
I like Chris Kresser’s advice re functional medicine, ie, eating for better health.
I bought a pot of "Icelandic style Skyr" today in Sainsburys. I have bought a packet of kefir granules in the past but couldn't concentrate on how to mix it up.
I haven't been eating foods like margarine, or anything processed I don't think. I must learn to scrutinise every label, even plain bio yoghurt. Have started a daily list of foods eaten. I will google Chris Kresser's advice and save it to watch when I'm sitting down. Many thanks
You're welcome!
I'm not sure whether Skyr is an especially good probiotic as most commercial yoghurts have only one lactobacillus culture that's mostly killed off to prolong its shelf life. Kefir powder has only a limited number of probiotics compared to kefir grains. The grains need fresh organic wholemilk on a once or twice daily basis, & keeping at an ambient temperature. Once they're fermented strain the kefir, put the grains in a clean jar, pour on fresh milk, cover loosely, then leave them till they're ready & repeat.
Hope you can open this from HE: healthunlocked.com/healthye...
Plain bio yoghurt should be fine, it's the low fat sugar free stuff with rubbish in that's not good for us, though good to check labels if you're in doubt!
I will have another go at the kefir grains. thanks
They're about £10 for 10g, online. Be aware they take a week or so to settle in & become drinkable.
Mine grew to 300g in months, & have reproduced over 300 times.
How do you eat kefir grains? On their own or with another food?
The grains aren't eaten, but strained & fed again for each batch. The liquid they grow in is drunk for the probiotics, though I often end up swallowing the grains, too. It's madewith kefir grains added to milk, or a sugar substrate. It needs to be fermented for the kefir grains to grow & culture the milk with probiotics. It can be drunk alone, or with some fruit added for a second fermentation.
Basically add some grains to fresh organic milk, it likes wholemilk best as it uses the fat to reproduce.
Leave for several hours ~as few as 4 in warm weather, 24 in cold weather. Strain, & add the grains to a clean jar, add milk & repeat.
I usually drink half a batch when I first eat, & add a little fruit to the rest & leave this to ferment again for the afternoon & evening.
Marigold22, if you struggle with the maintenance of kefir, try kombucha. It take a week to develop (so I make 1.5 liters at a time), rather than just one day, so it's friendlier to very low energy levels.
I also like yoghurt, it takes about 8 hours to develop, but that gives you a week's supply and you only need to remake it once a week. You can try this using supermarket yoghurt as your first starter to see if you like it. But to make multiple generations you need to buy a more robust starter. I've just started branching out into some of the more obscure Scandinavian varieties. You can buy Skyr starter on Ebay!
Sauerkraut is probably the easiest ferment of all, as all it requires is. Cabbage and some salt.
thanks. I did some sauerkraut just after Christmas, must try it now. I've today decided to try a dairy free diet on the advice of another member here. As I said to her, I'm getting very tired now of trying so many different things to rid myself of this vile illness... it's been 36 years. Thank you all for your kind knowledge.
Good luck with the sauerkraut, I hope it's tasty when you try it
A great habit to get into. I haven't made any for ages, but need to get back to it.
I did auto immune paleo illumination diet and found my inflammation was caused be gluten, yeast, cows milk, and tap water, I have lost most of my swelling just have the mucin in my skin though, good luck
Thanks for that excellent info Joanneconnor . I had closed my eyes to the AIP diet, although I have been sticking to the Paleo Diet since late August 2017. I've had a quick look at the AIP diet & I have been eating nuts, dried fruit, a fair amount of dairy, eggs. When I started the Paleo Diet I felt an incredible difference but then slowly went downhill again - depression, terrible lethargy, anxiety, difficulty getting to sleep.
I haven't had the mucin for a very long time. I don't seem to be a classic case, it's very peculiar. There must be something else that my gut/body don't like.
How on earth did you manage to stick to the AIP diet for 6 to 8 weeks? I will definitely be doing that. thanks for your help
IT was really hard the first four weeks, the first two weeks I felt worse then the next two I felt amazing, but I kept ending up in hospital with my gall bladder going into overdrive every time I ate yeast( but I didn't know at the time) it was bugging me not knowing what to eat. I stuck at it just short of 6 weeks then each day added back in the food items that would cause the least problems heading towards the big problem foods last. How did you get rid of the mucin?
Mucin hasn't ever been a big problem for me. This is why I always think there might be something else wrong. Only in the first year of being incorrectly diagnosed hypothyroid in 1981 - it was obviously Hashimotos, (when my baby was 8 months old) did I have any mucin. I was put onto Levothyroxine only for the first 14 years after that, which I obviously didn't convert properly (although wondering if the conversion thing is now in fact due to wrong gut bacteria), but I still lost a lot of weight on it. I felt absolutely horrendous. Swelling and weight have never been an issue for me fortunately.
What on earth did you eat for the first week of AIP diet? I need to get started asap.
I've just sat and watched the Kelly Brogan video recommended by ShinyB . I forget things so quickly, I had forgotten how awesome she is. Must watch more of her. Link "A Mind of your Own"....
youtube.com/watch?v=yFQ8i_U...
Can you pm me your email and I can forward my paperwork to you and I also have a link for you
Hi I’ve just been reading your interesting thread. Please can you tell me the difference between a normal diagnosis of under active thyroid and Hashimotos? I’ve been diagnosed with the former about 20 years ago and hadn’t even heard of Hashimotos. I keep reading about autoimmune, and I also have vitiligo (autoimmune disease), and various related diseases run in the family. I don’t have any swelling, but seem to have everything else. I’m wondering now if I actually have Hashimotos.
Thanks for your help.
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis is an auto immune disease. It's when thyroid antibody or antibodies attack the thyroid gland, which then dies off bit by bit. This then causes the Hypothyroidism, ie underactive thyroid (Hypothyroidism) . I was diagnosed in 1981 with "simple straight forward hypothyroid", but not until I did a private blood test one year ago did I discover that one of my two thyroid antibodies was raised and therefore I did have Hashimoto's.
About two years ago I had demanded my GP to do thyroid antibody blood test but the NHS only tests one (peroxidase); and it was the other one (thyroglobulin) which was raised in me. I know, complicated medical words, when our brains aren't working properly! I too ignored all posts and replies on here about auto immune disease & hashimoto's as I couldn't even begin to get my brain around even more complicated info.
A very high percentage of diagnosed hypothyroid patients do in fact have the raised antibody(ies), and therefore are suffering with Hashimoto's.
Hashimoto's - discovered by Dr Hashimoto in Japan in 1920's - causes inflammation within the body; although not inflammation like we get if we stub our toe. The inflammation therefore needs to be reduced right down, and we do that by changing what we eat.
If you look at the Topics list on the right hand side of this page, you will see Hashimoto's. Click on that and a lot of info will come up for you to read up.
You aren't the first and certainly won't be the last person diagnosed with hypothyroid, who in fact has hashimoto's. GP's, and even Professors of Endocrinology in my experience, haven't got a clue about hashimoto's, and obviously find hypothyroid so much easier to diagnose and treat. Good luck
Surfchick22, almost everyone that is hypothyroid has Hashimotos. Other causes are much more rare. Central hypothyroid is probably the next likely, and after that a small number of members have unknown causes.
And then another group of people like me that have had a thyroidectomy or radioactive iodine, for Graves disease, cancer, or sometimes nodules that restrict breathing.
You need to ask for antibody tests TPO and TG I think, I've never had them my doc said I had thyroidosis to no mention of Hashimotos but over 90% of people will probably have hashimotos
Thank you. What is TPO and TG please? Am now thinking I should try Gf diet!
Where do people get this T 3 from please? It looks like it’s not available on the nhs from what I’m reading.
I suggest you write a new Post asking all those questions. You will get a better response if people see your post.
Marigold22 explains TPO and TG antibodies back a few posts, I take thyroid s now, natural pig thyroid, I feel a lot better, doc will give you T3 in the uk, you may have to mither it's more expensive, I cut out yeast, milk, tap water, and gluten, these were my triggers that caused a lot of pain surfchick22
Hi what a challenge for you marigold22 ! If it helps I’ve had hashi flare ups for years experiencing heart palpitations, anxiety, stress, and various other symptoms. My doc would often reduce my levo only for me to go too hypo again. However I’ve been on a gluten-free diet for a few years now and it definitely improved things.... to an extent. Then, last year, somebody here posted a link to an article by izabella Wentz where she recommends going fully dairy free as well. Since I was diagnosed with COPD too and suffer from a lot of mucus I decided to cut out all milk products.
Also, before resorting to T3, I thought I’d up my supplements and dosage following the medichecks blood tests I had. And yes, i agree, it’s all rather expensive. But on the plus side, the gf/df approach plus supplements seems to be working for me (at least from the autoimmune angle) and I’ve not had any flare ups for a while
I'm now thinking I'm going to have to try cutting out dairy. Heaven knows what I will be eating. Some days I just do not have the energy to prepare vegetables.
I know it's not easy marigold22 , and I'm certainly missing my favourite goats cheese. My additional problem is that I don't eat meat (yet my husband does) so if it wasn't for the very occasional fish meal, I'd be a vegan who can't eat certain fruit and vegetables either due to some food intolerances... it's all so complicated and you just can't win!
Yet I still think it's worth a try, even just for a few months to test it. What helped me at the beginning is to plan a week's menu, then shop online, get everything delivered and repeat the menu for a month until I felt more confident. (Not going food shopping also means fewer temptations) I also freeze more than I used to which helps on days neither of us feel like cooking. Good luck if you decide to have a go.... it can be done.
I thought I'd dig out the article that prompted me to give df eating a go... it explains a lot of issues with hash and dairy!
thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...
Thanks. I'm overflowing with masses of info I've read over the last two days! I will read it. Getting somewhat desperate now. I too kept having my thyroid med reduced by GP (& endos); it was a constant fight. To be honest, I'm getting too old for all this malarky now
Izabella wentz is where I heard about the auto immune paleo elimination diet
Update - It seems that once again I have been under medicated. Constantly over 36 years of having this horrible debilitating illness doctors of every type have tried to reduce my thyroid meds down. I'm truly sick to death of it. I will most definitely be self medicating from now on. I really think I had what amount to Myxoedema Madness - again. Thank you all.
Trying to get rid of the madness
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