natural approach to overactive thyroid?

[Faithbrown]

Natural approach for OVER ACTIVE THYROID ?? Hi there. I have had 'thyroid antibodies' in my blood test for a while now. But havent shown up in TSH, T4 or T3 levels. Well they have now. - TSH <0.01, - T3 11.3, - T4 46. Dr wants to put me on Carbimazole tablets. Has anyone had any success with a more natural approach eg supplements, herbs, diet, lifestyle? As keen to try first. I am 51. No symptoms. Many thanks

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

Can you let us know exactly which antibodies have been tested?

There are, more or less, three.

Thyroid peroxidase.

Thyroglobulin.

TSH receptor (TRab, or more specifically, TSI).

It is important to know why your T3 is now so high. Just having some thyroid antibodies does not explain it.

[Faithbrown in reply to helvella]

hi there - TSH <0.01, - T3 11.3, - T4 46.

Is this what you mean many thanks Diane

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Faithbrown]

No - afraid those are the hormone results (TSH from pituitary and T3 and T4 from the thyroid).

There is no uniform standard way of identifying them but might be something like TPO ab, or Thyroglobulin antibodies.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

And test vitamin D, folate, B12 and ferritin

[userotc]

I hope someone with personal experience in treating overactive thyroid replies. Meanwhile have you contacted a qualified, Nutritional Therapist specialising in thyroid or endocrine?Good luck.

[Faithbrown in reply to userotc]

hi there

I have a nutritionist. But if anyone knows one specialising in thyroid. That would be super useful many thanks Diane

[userotc in reply to Faithbrown]

Whilst I don't know one, I can send link(s) to options from which you can choose if you wish. Some should indicate their speciality. All should be qualified and BANT approved.

[Faithbrown in reply to userotc]

thank u that is very kind

[userotc in reply to Faithbrown]

practitioner-search.bant.or...

theanp.co.uk/member-directory/

Good luck.

[Faithbrown in reply to userotc]

many thanks

[Alanna012]

Hi, I confess I don't much about Graves disease, which is the name for overactive thyroid. I'm assuming you had Thyroid Stimulating Immunoglobulin antibodies tested and they were above the range?

I totally agree with natural therapies to mitigate the side effects and symptoms (lemon balm, L carnitine and iodine can help) But not as a primary treatment to control hyperthyroidism, (assuming you have it, and this isn't just the result of a massive dump of thyroid tissue as a result of antibodies attacking your thyroid) because it can be a very, very dangerous illness when not treated properly. A family member of mine almost died with it and a neighbour of my mother's ignored her symptoms and had a massive stroke and is now extremely disabled.

Things like Radioactive iodine treatment are debatable. But if you have hyperthyroidism you will need the meds to control it. I doubt anything natural will get a running T4 level of 46 down.

I'd like to be wrong. Sorry to be a downer. Hopefully someone who knows more will comment!

[Gingernut44 in reply to Alanna012]

Just to let you know that NOT all hyperthyroidism is Graves’ disease. You can have a hyper producing nodule without Graves antibodies.

[Alanna012 in reply to Gingernut44]

Thank you! I'll bear that in mind. It's good to keep learning.

[PurpleNails Administrator]

Welcome to forum

Please can you add range for FT4 & FT3 - ranges vary between labs & by most ranges they are quite high.

Do you have symptoms?   

They can be very varied but common ones are:

mood swings – such as anxiety, irritability and nervousness

difficulty sleeping (insomnia)

feeling tired all the time (fatigue)

muscle weakness

sensitivity to heat and excess sweating

unexplained or unexpected weight loss – despite having an increased appetite (though in a small number of cases, the increase in appetite can lead to weight gain)

Disruption to periods 

Often wrongly gets put down to other issues such as mental health or menopause. 

There are not any effective natural remedies for controlling high levels.  It’s important to control high levels as high levels long term isn’t good for health. 

Careful management with anti thyroid medication is the only safe way to stabilise your thyroid levels long term.  

I have previously found a couple a site which suggest some additional remedies.

stlukes-stl.com/health-cont....

htmhealthline.com/health/hyper...

I & most would not advise multivitamins which one site suggest as they will often contain least absorbable forms or nutrients which shouldn’t be taken unless deficient eg iron, calcium & iodine.   Iodine can behave in unpredictable ways with thyroid.  If deficient it’s helpful.  Otherwise excess iodine can often worsen it.

Don’t add too many remedies / supplements in one go.  1 type a fortnight in case you react to any ingredients. 

 A popular choice for hyperthyroid is Lemon balm (eg in a tea) this is reported to have healing and stress relieving properties.  It said to help with digestive complaints and aid sleep (ie the symptoms - not the source of the symptoms) 

Some find Acetly L cartinine helpful and can enhances treatment - as it reduces FT4:FT3 conversion.

I alternate between bottles of acetyl l-cartinine and l-Cartinine forms.  They usually come in 500mg capsules as maximum daily dose over the counter.  Some have taken higher but that should really be under medical supervision. 

 There are some things you can do to help like ensuring key nutrients are good and many find this difficult either thyroid despite good diet. 

Testing folate. Ferritin, B12 & vitamin D a good idea.

Many find strictly gluten free help as gluten allergy / intolerance common with thyroid autoimmune. 

TPOab (Thyroid Peroxidase antibodies) & TGab (Thyroglobulin antibodies) - TPO & TG  are positive with “autoimmune” - both Hashimoto’s & also present with Graves. 

To confirm suspected Graves you are looking for positive:

TRab (TSH receptor antibodies - measures stimulating, neural & blocking antibodies or all the antibodies)

TSI (Thyroid-Stimulating Immunoglobulin - simulating only)

[pennyannie]

Hello Faith and welcome to the forum :

There are 2 main reasons why you have been told you have an overactive thyroid and unless there are obvious signs of a swelling in your neck, or trouble swallowing or breathing we are likely looking at an auto immune disease - either Hashimoto's or Graves.

Initially both these AI diseases can present in the same way and we need to know which antibodies were found over range and positive from this first blood test result as the treatment differs according to which AI disease you have.

The antibodies unique to Graves are generally written as a TR ab - a Thyroid Receptor Blocking antibody or a TSI - a thyroid stimulating Immunoglobulin :

For Hashimoto's the antibodies are generally expressed as either a TPO - a Thyroid Peroxidase and or a TgAB - a Thyroglobulin antibody.

You might like to read around a bit - check out the life/style sections and the holistic / alternative treatment suggestions.

I read about Dr Eric Osansky who writes on naturalendocrinesolutions.com though 10 years too late in my thyroid journey.

For all things Graves - elaine-moore.com

For all things Hashimoto's - thyroidpharmacist.com

[Yoga54]

Hi I have Graves’ disease diagnosed 12 months ago, I was put on carbimazole immediately by my endocrinologist and most of my worst symptoms improved after 10 days, I’m on block and replace at the moment and feeling pretty much normal. I find yoga helps with the stress of it all and I have cut down drastically on caffeine and sweet foods and make sure I don’t get too stressed out or overtired, I also take selenium for hair and nails and thankfully my hair hasn’t got thinner but I do use a good quality shampoo, it’s just a case of trying to look after yourself as best you can but if you need medication definitely take it, I had awful heart palpitations which were so frightening and they stopped within a week after taking medication, I don’t particularly want to be on medication forever but I’m doing ok so that’s the main.