Hypo Cure

[cj2000]

I've been treated for hypothyroidism for a quarter of a century - mostly using a mix of Armour and Eltroxin - and have never felt really 'right'. Many here will know exactly what I mean. A few months ago I decided to come off all artificial sweeteners - purely as an experiment to see if it was causing my IBS and food sensitivities. It was. My digestion slowed from 9 hours down to 30 hours - still short of the normal 40-ish but I suppose some things aren't completely reversible.

Then something really strange happened. I started to go from hypo to hyper.

It was difficult to tell at first as many symptoms are the same for both. But, with confirmatory blood tests I found I had to come off all medication as my thyroid had returned to normal levels. I still don't feel fantastic - but at least I no longer need meds. Researching the net it seems many rat and human studies now show nearly two-thirds of hypo patients who eliminate artificial sweeteners from their diet return to normal within a few months.

Thyroid antibodies dropped and returned to normal, TSH fell, and most of the patients were able to stop taking thyroid hormone replacement medication. This has been covered at the International Thyroid Congress since 2015. Has anyone else tries eliminating aspartame and other artificial sweeteners? It seems to have worked for me.

bynote: I've since found my testosterone levels are very low so I'm going to try medication to see if that helps with my fatigue and weakness - which I always used to associate with my thyroid.

[AnnaSo]

I’ve done that two years ago. Turned out was the reason behind the digestive issues I’ve been having for years. Haven’t touch it since but on one occasion I had Pepsi Max (which I used to have very frequent before) and the same familiar stomach rumbling and bloat returned for a couple of hours. I immediately knew why.

I wouldn’t go as far as not needing thyroid meds. Yes my antibodies fell but I still require medication, I’m on NDT and feel fantastic.

Have you had blood test done since? What are your T4 and T3 levels like?

[cj2000 in reply to AnnaSo]

Mid normal for Free T3 and Free T4 and TSH and low normal for Reverse T3. I'm so glad you were able to improve by eliminating sweeteners. On a private note I used to love Pepsi Max - really miss it!

[AnnaSo in reply to cj2000]

Same! Gutted but I rather keep my belly happy 😄 how great that you don’t need meds anymore! These artificial things can cause so much damage. Better to keep clear!

[greygoose]

Thyroid antibodies dropped and returned to normal, TSH fell, and most of the patients were able to stop taking thyroid hormone replacement medication.

The question is: for how long? This sort of thing will happen from time to time with Hashi's. It's a Hashi's swing which will go from hypo to 'hyper' and then through a euthyroid period, which can last for several years. But, the patient will always return to hypothyroidism eventually.

[tattybogle]

Shame i cant try your cure, i've always avoided them like the plague anyway, mostly because they taste nasty, (and also because i don't trust the chemical food industry)

So i try to limit my real sugar intake , but whenever i've tried to cut that out completely i pretty much fall over. Should probably try for longer than a week though, to be fair , but need more will power, and just end up eating too much bread instead for some reason i cant fathom.

[cj2000]

The believer in me likes to think 25 years as hypo then suddenly hyper after stopping artificial sweeteners isn't just a co-incidence. Still, so far so good. I actually couldn't believe how many foods it's in before I started reading the labels. It's frightening...