can you take ashwagandha with hypothyroidism

[Dollc86]

Hey guys,

Any advice on taking this with hypo please?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Dollc86

I always use drugs.com to see if there are any interactions between my thyroid meds and anything else I'm considering taking.

It depends on what you are thinking of taking ashwagandha for. It is said to be an adaptogen which theoretically should balance cortisol, ie simply put it should lower high cortisol or increase low cortisol.

However, you should do some research (and maybe test cortisol levels with a cortisol plus DHEA 24 hour saliva test) because there are plenty of links through a search engine that tell you that ashwagandha lowers cortisol.

Here are a couple of articles but I would suggest you do further research yourself:

healthline.com/nutrition/as...

healthline.com/nutrition/as...

[Dollc86 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi Seaside, thanks for your reply. It was really just to combat anxiety and target stress, currently taking an increase of levo from 75 to 100mcg as tsh jumped to 7.59 due to having covid last year according to my endo, only on 100 the last 2 weeks so hopefully all might settle soon, I'll do a bit of research too see x

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Dollc86]

Oooh, that's a high TSH, hopefully your increase in Levo will bring it down soon, you've a long way to go. Don't forget to retest 6-8 weeks after this increase and push for further increases until you feel your levels are where you need them to be to feel well.

Anxiety is a symptom of hypothyroidism so being so undermedicated may possibly be causing this.

I had Covid in April but my TSH never moved, it's always suppressed and is usuall 0.01 or <0.01. I can't imagine what would ever get my TSH to rise!

[Dollc86 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Yep have had a rollercoaster of a year of horrible symtoms. First went Hyper for a few months! Down to 75mcg since September last year tsh kept coming down until April it was 3.5 and July 7.59 endo says it a as definitely covid. So he wants bloods done in 4 weeks instead of 6 or 8 and then back to see him. It's just awful. Do you feel good at that number?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Dollc86]

Do you feel good at that number?

It's been stuck there for 20 odd years, unlikely to ever change, been diagnosed/treated for almost 50 years so feedback loop probably broken. I'd love to know if my thyroid has shrivelled up completely after all this time. I take no notice of TSH, just FT3 and FT4 and know where they need to be for me to be OK.

[radd]

Dollc86,

I love Ashwagandha.

It is important to try reducing long term elevated cortisol levels as otherwise it can eventually encourage effects such as insomnia, high inflammation and dysregulated blood sugars.

Ashwagandha doesn’t raise or lower cortisol directly but encourages normalisation of the HPA axis which in turn helps to normalise cortisol levels by raising or lowering them. However, it appears to have a tendency to lower cortisol more than is required for some so be mindful about dosing, and only supplement in a cyclical method .

Also when we have autoimmune conditions, its efficacy is dependant upon how our immune system is working and I have explained further here …….. healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...