Email This Article To A FriendThose of us with Hashimoto’s often blame our thyroid for the many signs and symptoms we experience. Hair loss? Thyroid! Weight gain? THYROID! Fatigue? It’s gotta be the thyroid!
Treating hypothyroidism without treating the adrenals is one of the biggest reasons people continue to feel exhausted despite receiving treatment with thyroid hormones. Patients may initially report feeling more energetic after starting thyroid hormones, but this is usually followed by feeling worse and worse until they are right back to where they were before they started the thyroid medications. At this point, they will likely go back to their physicians to check blood work and will be told that everything is normal.
The patient begins to feel crazy… but that’s when another layer of what is broken in Hashimoto’s becomes unraveled. Many symptoms of hypothyroidism overlap with symptoms of underactive adrenals. However, physicians don’t routinely check adrenal function in those with Hashimoto’s.
Symptoms of poor adrenal function may include the following:
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Feeling tired despite adequate sleep
- Difficulty getting up in the morning
- Craving for salty foods (a.k.a. the “I just ate a whole bag of chips syndrome”)
- Increased effort required for everyday activities
- Low blood pressure
- Feeling faint when getting up quickly
- Mental fog
- Alternating diarrhea/constipation
- Low blood sugar
- Decreased sex drive
- Decreased ability to handle stress
- Longer healing time
- Mild depression
- Less enjoyment in life
- Feeling worse after skipping meals
- Increased PMS
- Poor concentration
- Reduced ability to make decisions
- Reduced productivity
- Poor memory
Do any of these sound familiar?
The Adrenals at a Glance
The adrenal glands release hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. These “stress hormones” impact many important functions throughout the body. They help establish your stress tolerance, tame inflammation, regulate blood sugar and body fat, control potassium and sodium levels (impacting blood sugar), and influence sex drive and anti-aging… among other things.
You may have heard that the stress hormone cortisol is “bad”. This is misleading — while high levels of cortisol are problematic, what could be equally or more problematic is having low levels of cortisol, especially when it comes to having an autoimmune disease and fatigue.
Cortisol is a hormone that is required for life — we could not live without it, and it is an important anti-inflammatory hormone. In fact, it gets released whenever we have inflammation to cool things down.
I have found that the majority of people with Hashimoto’s have low levels of cortisol.
Testing for Adrenal Issues
In addition to looking at your symptoms (above), you can determine if you have adrenal dysfunction by utilizing the assessments below.
The Irritability Test
Irritability and overwhelm are two cardinal signs of adrenal dysfunction. My best test for determining adrenal issues is being snappy or short-tempered, feeling overwhelmed, or finding other people annoying. For example, I can always tell that my adrenals are overwhelmed when my mom calls to say hello, and I feel like this is too much of a demand!
Blood Pressure Test
People with adrenal fatigue often have low blood pressure and/or a drop in blood pressure after standing up from a lying down or sitting position (orthostatic hypotension). If your blood pressure is below 120/80 mmHg, this may mean that your adrenals are underactive, or that you are dehydrated. Symptoms may include dizziness or lightheadedness when standing up from a sitting/lying down position.
Pupil Contraction
People with low adrenal function may often have difficulty with contracting their pupils. Usually our pupils dilate (enlarge) in the dark, and contract (get smaller) in the light. Symptoms of adrenal dysfunction may include light sensitivity, difficulty seeing in bright lights, having to wear sunglasses on most days, or as I like to call it, feeling like a vampire in daylight!
Unstable Temperatures
If you are keeping track of your first morning temperatures, low and unstable morning temperatures may be suggestive of adrenal insufficiency. In contrast, pure hypothyroidism usually results in temperatures that are low, but rather stable, on a daily basis.
The “Whole Bag of Chips” Test
Have you ever eaten (or wanted to eat) an entire bag of chips in one sitting? You’re not alone! Salt cravings are a cardinal sign of adrenal issues. With adrenal issues, we may find ourselves with intense cravings for salty foods like crackers, chips, pretzels and olives.
Hormone Testing
Adrenal saliva tests provide a way to test our current adrenal function. These tests are generally only available from functional medicine and integrative health care professionals.
Normally functioning adrenals are supposed to put out the most cortisol in the morning, and the levels of cortisol should decline during the day until very little cortisol is secreted at bedtime. A cortisol kick in the morning helps us to get out of bed bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to face the day. Low cortisol secretion at bedtime helps us relax and sleep.
Some people with adrenal dysfunction have the opposite pattern — they can’t get up in the morning and drag their feet until the early afternoon, feel slightly human for a few hours between 2pm and 8pm, then get a second wind at bedtime. These people often have a flipped cortisol rhythm, where their adrenals put out very little cortisol in the morning and too much in the evening, causing them to be alert and sleepy at the wrong times.
Other people may have abnormally low cortisol readings all day, everyday. These poor souls wake up tired and the fatigue lasts all day — I have been there, and it’s not fun. This low cortisol causes inflammation to go unchecked in the body, prevents healing, and causes the person to be sluggish for most of the day.
I recommend the HPA Stress Profile test from BioHealth Lab. I have found it to be the most accurate for adrenal testing. However, the lab recently redefined their reference ranges, resulting in labs I would have previously classified as dysfunctional to be misread as normal by the untrained eye. If you’re going to go down the road of adrenal saliva testing, I recommend working with a practitioner trained in interpreting these labs, preferably one who has been interpreting them for at least 4-5 years.
What Causes Adrenal Fatigue?
In most cases of adrenal fatigue, the problems generally originate in a communication breakdown that occurs within the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, otherwise known as the HPA axis. The HPA axis describes the interactive feedback loop that takes place between these three endocrine glands.
The hypothalamus is like the CEO of our body’s production of hormones. It scans messages from our environment and other endocrine glands, as well as checks the body’s overall hormonal status before passing on the order for more hormones to the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland then acts as a project manager and will pull together individual workers (like the thyroid gland, the adrenal gland, and the gonads) to do their jobs. The pituitary will also make sure the workers have adequate resources to do their jobs by managing growth (and repair), and electrolyte/water balance.
The HPA axis works in response to two types of stress: immediate stress and chronic stress. Let’s see how the responses to each type differ.
In cases of immediate stress, the hypothalamus senses stress and sets off a hormone cascade that leads to the activation of our fight or flight response. As part of this response, the adrenals pump out extra hormones and our bodies go from the state of relaxing, digesting and healing, to a survival state.
Your body’s energy is shifted from activities not essential to survival like growing beautiful hair, metabolizing nutrients into energy, making hormones, and digesting and repairing itself to instead focusing its resources to meet the great, stress-induced demand for cortisol and adrenaline.
Then, once you’ve escaped from the threatening bear or gotten out of the way of the oncoming car, the demand for emergency levels of hormones settles down and the focus once again turns to parasympathetic response, focused on body maintenance and upkeep.
In cases of chronic stress, the never-ending presence of stressful, yet non-life-threatening situations, can lead to the constant activation of the stress response.
To help meet the demand for cortisol, your body will decrease the production of other hormones normally produced by the adrenals such as progesterone, DHEA, and testosterone.
Eventually, with enough chronic stress, the HPA axis becomes overwhelmed and desensitized to the usual feedback loop and stops sending messages to the adrenals to produce more hormones or less hormones, no matter what’s happening. Additionally, a person may run out of nutrients that are required for proper adrenal function.
One of the most common causes of adrenal fatigue is stress, which creates an intense demand for stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. There are four main types of stress to consider:
- Sleep disorders
- Mental/emotional stress
- Metabolic/glycemic dysregulation
- Chronic inflammation
Sleep Disorders: One of the fastest ways to induce adrenal dysfunction is through sleep deprivation. In fact, sleep deprivation is used in lab animals to suppress the hypothalamic-pituitary and adrenal axis (HPA) axis. Sleep deprivation can be caused by insomnia, sleep apnea and shift work.
Mental Stress: Feelings such as grief, guilt, fear, anxiety, excitement and embarrassment can be classified as stress. This stress is based on our perception, not on the nature of the individual stress. For example, public speaking may cause plenty of mental stress for someone with social anxiety, but another person who enjoys speaking in front of others may perceive the experience as pleasurable. Situations that are new, unpredictable, and threaten the ego, or that involve feeling a loss of control, are perceived as stressful.
Glycemic Dysregulation: Researchers in Poland have found that up to 50 percent of patients with Hashimoto’s have an impaired tolerance to carbohydrates. This means that after consuming carbohydrate-rich foods, their blood sugar levels would spike up very high, causing a great amount of insulin release. The role of insulin is to clear blood sugar out of our bloodstream and store it in our cells, so a large insulin release is followed by a rapid drop of blood sugar (hypoglycemia). Symptoms of hypoglycemia are very unpleasant and may include irritability, fainting, lightheadedness or tremors. Hypoglycemia necessitates the release of cortisol to help maintain the glucose supply to the brain and counteracts insulin, causing insulin resistance. (This is also linked to the Type 2 Diabetes epidemic).
Inflammation: Chronic inflammation may occur from joint pain, obesity, toxic burden, inflammation in the GI tract from irritable bowel disorders, pathogens, or food sensitivities. These conditions will signal cortisol for its anti-inflammatory effect.
The Conventional Approach to Adrenal Fatigue
The adrenals are a source of disagreement between conventional medical doctors and natural practitioners. Conventional medical doctors only recognize Addison’s disease as an adrenal insufficiency disorder, but do not recognize “adrenal fatigue” as a medical diagnosis.
When my integrative doctor first suggested that I get tested for adrenal fatigue, I “Googled” the term and found a “reputable source” that adrenal fatigue was a made up disorder and did not exist.
Being a skeptical pharmacist, I put-off testing my adrenals — I had just ventured into the world of alternative medicine, and was always afraid of people trying to take advantage of me and take my money, not realizing that they were simply trying to help.
But then I got to a point where I was just so exhausted and irritable, despite taking thyroid medications and following a gluten free diet.
I started talking to Carter Black, RPh, my compounding pharmacist, about the symptoms I was experiencing; and he suggested that I have my adrenals tested. Mr. Black had specialized in hormones for many years and told me that the interventions for adrenal fatigue did indeed work well for many of his patients.
Finally, it stuck: maybe it was hearing it from a fellow pharmacist, or maybe because he didn’t have any adrenal test kits to sell to me, that I decided to try it out.
Sure enough, I had an advanced stage of adrenal fatigue, and the recommended treatments for the adrenal fatigue helped me feel tremendously better!
I now recommend the adrenal saliva test to all of my clients with Hashimoto’s, and have found that 90 percent of my clients (who do the test) have some degree of adrenal fatigue. So trust me, adrenal fatigue does exist!
Recovering From Adrenal Fatigue
There are six main pillars of my Adrenal Recovery Protocol:
- Rest
- Balance blood sugar
- De-stress
- Reduce inflammation
- Replenish nutrients
- Build resilience with adaptogens
Rest
Sleep is the reset button for the adrenals. When we sleep, our body releases human growth hormone and repairs itself. Make sure to get at least 7 hours of sleep each night and go to sleep before 10pm. If you can pull it off, I actually recommend getting 10-12 hours of sleep per night for 1 month in my adrenal-focused recovery protocols. Be sure to read my article on the Sleep Apnea and Hashimoto’s connection if you have unrefreshed sleep, snoring and/or a scalloped tongue.
Balancing Blood Sugar
Stabilizing your blood sugar through diet is a crucial step in overcoming adrenal fatigue and thyroid conditions. Balancing your blood sugar can create noticeable improvements in how you feel each day.
Aim first and foremost to eat more fats and proteins, and less sugary and starchy carbs. When consuming carbohydrate-rich foods, your blood sugar goes up too high, too quickly, causing symptoms such as nervousness, lightheadedness, anxiety, and fatigue. These swings in blood sugar can weaken your adrenals and cause a spike in your thyroid antibodies.
Check out my article on stabilizing your blood sugar with diet for more information.
Stress Reduction
The most important strategy for combating adrenal fatigue does not involve dieting, supplements, medications, or testing. This strategy, however, is often the hardest to implement.
That strategy is… stress reduction.
Reducing my stress was probably the hardest lifestyle change for me to implement. I only had two settings, “GO” and “SLEEP.” I did not know how to relax, smell the roses, turn-off, or unwind.
So, I came up with this list of strategies to make myself more relaxed and shift my body into a state of relaxing, digesting, and healing. I hope some of my strategies will resonate with you. But, many of you will want to come up with your own list. Many of these items may be really difficult to implement, especially for those of us with responsibilities like jobs, children, or elderly relatives who need our care. However, somehow, you HAVE to schedule time for yourself.
We often expect our doctors to heal us, but the healing comes from within just the same. No one else will do it for you. Put it in your planner if you must.
Some strategies to reduce stress include:
- Do your best to eliminate, simplify, delegate, automate.
- Be more resilient by being more flexible. Bruce Lee once said, “Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.”
- Do the things that you like.
- Avoid burning the candle at both ends.
- Massage, acupuncture, meditation or tai chi may help get you relaxed.
- Avoid multitasking. Do one thing at a time and keep your full attention on it before you move on to the next task. Take a small break in between tasks.
- Start a journal, make your list, be mindful of what makes you feel better and what makes you feel worse.
Reduce Inflammation
Food sensitivities are a common source of inflammation. Gluten, dairy and soy are the most common reactive foods in Hashimoto’s, and eliminating them will eliminate inflammation in your body. Elimination diets and food sensitivity testing may help you determine additional foods that may need to be removed from your diet. I have an article on Food Sensitivities you can read for more information.
Chronic infections are also a common source of inflammation in the body. Common infections include H. pylori, Blastocystis hominis and Candida, but there are numerous potential infections that can be root causes as well.
Replenish Nutrients
The salt cravings and feelings of dehydration that occur with adrenal fatigue are our body’s way of letting us know that we need more salt. Rather than reaching for processed foods or thyroid toxic iodized salt, including a good-quality sea salt in your diet may help if you feel a bit dizzy getting up in the morning or after a hot bath, or have other symptoms of adrenal fatigue. I like to recommend buying a pink or grey sea salt and making yourself a salty drink each morning and sipping it throughout the day. Homemade bone broths with plenty of sea salt are also a great and tasty way to rehydrate.
Supplements
While supplements often need to be individualized for people depending on their level of adrenal dysfunction (which needs to be determined via testing), I have found that most people with Hashimoto’s feel better when they utilize the ABC’s of adrenal supplements.
The ABC’s are: Adrenal Adaptogens, B Vitamins, and Vitamin C.
Adaptogens
Adaptogenic herbs are any natural herb products that supplement the body’s ability to deal with stressors. In order to be considered an adaptogen, an herb must possess several qualities. First, the herb must be nontoxic to the patient at normal doses. Secondly, the herb should help the entire body to cope with stress. Finally, the herb should help the body to return to “normal” regardless of how stress is currently affecting the person’s functioning. In other words, an adaptogenic herb needs to be able to both tone down overactive systems and boost underactive systems in the body. Adaptogens are thought to normalize the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.
Adaptogenic herbs include: Ashwagandha, astragalus reishi mushroom, dang shen, eleuthero, ginseng, jiaogulan, licorice, maca, schizandra, spikenard, and suma. These are examples of herbs that may increase the body’s ability to resist stress, and have been helpful in relieving adrenal dysfunction when used in combination with vitamins and minerals.
I personally love using adaptogens. I always joke that adaptogens make other people in my life much easier to tolerate. 🙂 I have taken adrenal adaptogens on and off since 2012. I like to use more of them around holidays and periods of stress, and they really help me stay balanced. I did stop them during pregnancy, and getting back on them is one of the things I looked forward to the most, with the exception of my little one’s arrival of course. 🙂
B’s and C’s
Vitamin C and B Vitamins become depleted during high cortisol production. Pantothenic acid and biotin deficiency in particular have been linked to decreased adrenal function in animals and humans.
While some may wish to obtain these supplements from natural whole food sources, due to gut issues, people with Hashimoto’s usually have an impaired ability to extract vitamins and minerals from food.
Rootcology Adrenal Support 
I created the supplement Rootcology Adrenal Support to use a combination of the ABC’s I recommend for balancing adrenals: Adaptogens, B Vitamins and Vitamin C.
I included ashwagandha in the blend, as ashwagandha has research-supported benefits for thyroid health. Please note, ashwagandha is a nightshade, so if you have nightshade sensitivity, you may be sensitive to ashwagandha. (However, some people may only be sensitive to certain nightshades and may tolerate it).
I also added licorice to this blend. Licorice was one of the herbs that helped me the most in overcoming fatigue. Licorice root extract prevents the breakdown of cortisol into inactive cortisone. Thus, it keeps our cortisol around longer, giving us more energy. It may be helpful for those with low cortisol and low blood pressure. Please note, it should not be used by those with water retention or high blood pressure.
I generally recommend using the ABC’s long-term, as life is inevitably full of stress. For added convenience, you can subscribe to get Adrenal Support delivered straight to your door on a monthly or bimonthly basis. As a bonus, the Subscribe & Save option will give you a 10% off discount!
If you are unable to get the Rootcology brand of supplements in your country, or have high blood pressure, the following formula is comparable to the Rootcology Adrenal Support, but contains different ingredients.
Alternative ABC Blend
Daily Stress Formula –This blend of adaptogenic herbs, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids is designed to support the adrenals and provide a powerful defense from the mental and physical factors associated with occasional stress. The formula synergistically supports mental relaxation while counteracting the metabolic effects of occasional stress as well.
In some cases, you may benefit from additional B vitamins and Vitamin C to support your adrenals.
Standalone B Vitamins
B Complex Plus – B vitamins play an important role in cell metabolism, thyroid function, and adrenal function. They become depleted in stressful situations that often precede the development of autoimmunity. Four especially important B vitamins are pantothenic acid (B5), thiamine or benfotiamine (B1), biotin (B7), and cobalamin (B12). This exceptional combination of B vitamins, including Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, biotin, and folate (as Metafolin L-5-MTHF) should be helpful for most people with low energy levels. B vitamins are water-soluble vitamins and do not build up in the body, so the risk for toxicity is almost nonexistent.
BenfoMax – Thiamine is one of the B vitamins, known as B1. It supports blood sugar function, the adrenals, and can boost our energy levels. It also has the important roles of converting carbohydrates into energy and aiding with the digestion of proteins and fats. Thiamine is required for proper release of hydrochloric acid in our stomachs, which is needed for proper protein digestion. (Most people with Hashimoto’s have little or no stomach acid.) The latest research suggests that a mild deficiency may exist in people with autoimmune disease and related malabsorption issues. If you’ve been struggling with fatigue, low stomach acid, carbohydrate intolerance, low blood pressure, and your adrenals, you may benefit from up to 600 mg of Thiamine a day.
Other Supportive Nutrients
Magnesium Citrate – As magnesium is depleted by stress and is often difficult to obtain from foods, most people will benefit from long-term supplementation. It is also excellent for promoting relaxation.
Vitamin C – Vitamin C is an essential vitamin for supporting adrenal function. I recommend doses of 500 mg to 3,000 mg per day, as tolerated.
Advanced Strategies
While many cases of adrenal dysfunction are caused by current stress and modifying those stressors can help with overcoming adrenal dysfunction, in some cases, additional interventions may be needed to address past traumatic stress, as well as chronically altered release of adrenal hormones.
Traumatic Stress
Traumatic stress may lead to a chronic pattern of adrenal hormone dysfunction. Various types of traumas and abuse have been tied to autoimmune conditions and thyroid hormone abnormalities. Many of my clients have experienced significant traumas such as the loss of a loved one and/or being in an abusive relationship before the onset of Hashimoto’s. Some of us have also experienced childhood trauma, which can set the tone for altered hormone patterns in adulthood.
Resolving traumatic stress usually requires a targeted therapy (I prefer neurofeedback and EMDR), and is a bit beyond the scope of this article, so until I have a chance to write an article on this topic, I have dedicated an entire chapter to it in my recent book, Hashimoto’s Protocol.
Supplemental Hormones
A variety of hormones and adrenal-supporting substances may be used based on your cortisol saliva test results and adrenal insufficiency stage.
Although most of these hormones are available over the counter at health food stores, they are certainly not benign and should be used under the supervision of a trained professional with extreme caution. Not everyone will need all of these supplements.
Your practitioner may utilize pregnenolone, DHEA, 7-Keto, adrenal glandulars and in some cases, the medication hydrocortisone to rebalance your adrenals.
Looking for more info about the adrenal glands? I cover adrenal protocols in my book Hashimoto’s Protocol.
I wish you the best of luck on your healing journey!
P.S. You can also download a free Thyroid Diet Guide, 10 Thyroid friendly recipes, and the Nutrient Depletions and Digestion chapter of my Root Cause book for free by signing up for my weekly newsletter. You will also receive occasional updates about new research, resources, giveaways, and helpful information.
References
- Cadegiani F, Kater C. Adrenal fatigue does not exist: a systematic review. BMC Endocr Disord. 2016;16(1). doi:10.1186/s12902-016-0128-4.
- Cook SB. Current Controversy: Does Adrenal Fatigue Exist?. Natural Medicine Journal. 2017;9(10).
- Cortisol Imbalance Can Cause Different Issues – DUTCH Test. Dutchtest.com. 2018. https://dutchtest.com/2016/08/23/cortisol-imbalance-can-cause-different-issues/. Accessed February 25, 2018.
- Kauw D, Repping-Wuts H, Noordzij A, Stikkelbroeck N, Hermus A, Faber M. The Contribution of Online Peer-to-Peer Communication Among Patients With Adrenal Disease to Patient-Centered Care. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2015;17(3):e54. doi:10.2196/jmir.3869.
- Harvard Health Publishing. Understanding the stress response. Harvard Health Publishing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response. Published March 2011. Updated March 18, 2016. Accessed February 25, 2018.
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Adrenal Insufficiency & Addison’s Disease | NIDDK. NIH. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/endocrine-diseases/adrenal-insufficiency-addisons-disease. Published May 2014. Accessed February 25, 2018.
- Wang X, Ping F, Qi C, Xiao X. Delayed diagnosis with autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 2 causing acute adrenal crisis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016; 95(42):e5062. doi:10.1097/md.0000000000005062.
- Blahd W. Adrenal Fatigue: Is It Real?. WebMD Reference. https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/adrenal-fatigue-is-it-real#1. Published January 23, 2017. Accessed February 25, 2018.
- Endocrine Society. The Myth of Adrenal Fatigue. Hormone Health Network. http://www.hormone.org/hormones-and-health/myth-vs-fact/adrenal-fatigue. Accessed February 25, 2018.
- Wilson J. Clinical perspective on stress, cortisol and adrenal fatigue. Adv Integr Med. 2014;1(2):93-96. doi:10.1016/j.aimed.2014.05.002.
Note: Originally published in September 2013, this article has been revised and updated for accuracy and thoroughness.
Disclosure: We are a professional review site that receives compensation from the companies whose products we review. We test each product thoroughly and give high marks to only the very best. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.
Trust me you’re not alone!
Stella – thank you for following this page. I‘ve found that an inability to manage stress is often at the core of the condition. Most people can trace back the development of Hashimoto’s and autoimmune conditions to a particularly stressful time period. Stress is inherent, and it’s how we handle our stress that matters. I recommend self-management stress-reducing habits like mindfulness, yoga, and meditation. Meditation has specifically been found to be helpful in building resilience to stress. If you have a history of childhood trauma like I do, your stress response could be severely impacted, leading you to overreact and get into a ‘fight or flight’ state at the easiest provocations. I recommend therapies like the self-guided tapping, self-help books, neurofeedback or therapist guided EMDR to reset your stress response. https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/are-your-adrenals-sabotaging-your-health/
There are several HPA stress profile tests to choose from when you click on the link you provided. Which one do you recommend?
Amy – thank you for reaching out. It is your choice to use the basic HPA Stress Profile 201A or the more complex with all the hormones, the 205-CAR. If you have any other questions about the testing please feel free to email my team at info@thyroidpharmacist.com and they will be happy to help. <3
Thank you for sharing your story, and I hope that you have found a doctor that will listen, and I am glad that you are taking charge of your own health. Keep me posted on your progress
Thank you for writing, and I wholeheartedly agree with you. I am so glad that you have found a compassionate and caring acupuncturist. I had a wonderful experience with mine as well. Hope that this site has been helpful in your journey 🙂
Find a doctor that will listen. Work on balancing your blood sugar, get plenty of rest. Check out my book for a whole chapter on how this works and what you can do about it. It does get better, I promise!
It’s time you Breathe, Believe and know you are Whole.
Yes… We all lived together… I have found out how he has used these last 2 crazy years to turn everyone against me. Would not touch me for over a year because of the weight gain. My normal weight 118 for 30 years.. Lost all but 20 lbs, now he’s interested… Now I want something more in every sence of the word!!! We have been married 24 years, 6 years together before.. I have never been more hurt and have no idea what was ever real?
Thank you for writing. I can appreciate the effect the thyroid can have on the whole body. Many patients are unfortunately under-dosed on thyroid meds, so I would start there…please take a look at the archives on this blog for helpful strategies as well as my book.
Thanks for writing, many of us with autoimmune conditions tend to be that way. This characteristic unfortunately contributes to the vicious cycle. I had to make myself a list and learn how to relax. I still have to remind myself now. Not to get all philosophical on you, but it did help me to do some soul searching and asking myself why I always needed to be so busy and active. I am more scientific then spiritual, but read a book called the “Healing Code” and thought it had some good points about the effect of stress and how to reprogram yourself. Hope that helps and I wish you all the best in your journey. Keep me posted 🙂
Unfortunately we need to take charge of our own health, my hope is that this site and my book will give you the tools and inspiration to do so.
Is there a reason the article doesn’t open, can I have access to it? You mention that some people are sensitive to the night shade’s, how do I find out if I am or not?
Rebecca – thank you for following this page. I am so sorry you are having technical issues. Please email my team at info@thyroidpharmacist.com and they will be happy to help you. 🙂
Stabilizing your blood sugar as well as Selenium would be a great place to start. I have a ton of other strategies in my book that may help. Here’s a post on Selenium- https://thyroidphramacist.com/1/post/2013/06/nutrient-depletions-in-hashimotos-part-i-selenium.html and anxiety- https://thyroidphramacist.com/1/post/2013/06/are-you-going-crazy-or-is-it-just-your-thyroid.html
Message to all, if your doc will not listen to you, find another one, and another until you find the right one to recognize your needs.
Would you mind sharing what helped your hair stop falling out? My symptoms are excessive hair falling and fatigue. Fatigue is improving, but what can I do to stop the hair loss? Many thanks.
Meredith – thank you for following this page.
Hair loss is a distressing symptom experienced by women with Hashimoto’s. For women, our hair represents our femininity, and losing our hair is a constant reminder that something is off and that we are not well. Have you read these articles?
HASHIMOTO’S AND GETTING YOUR HAIR BACK
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/hashimotos-and-getting-your-hair-back/
HAIR LOSS AND YOUR THYROID
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/hair-loss-and-thyroid
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https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/hashimotos-and-low-stomach-acid
I just did an adrenal test with ZRT. It shows I have some issues, but I’m having a hard time reading all the results. I wish I would’ve seen your comment about them before I did this. I’ll give BioHealth a try. Thanks for posting.
Most thyroid conditions result from the immune system attacking the thyroid because the immune system is out of balance. Even when the thyroid is taken out surgically or treated with radioactive iodine the autoimmunity still persists in most cases. Many people will have their thyroids removed, and will develop new autoimmune disorders such as Lupus, Rheumatoid arthritis, etc. The immune system just finds a different target 🙁 We need to rebalance the immune system to prevent this (sometimes the autoimmunity can be reversed as well! The gut determines your immune system. With the exception of discussing proper thyroid medication dosing, the majority of my website and my book focuses on balancing the immune system.
This sounds exactly like me! Except I also have celiac’s disease. I recently went to Mayo Clinic because my adrenals are so enlarged, both of them. Mayo doesn’t believe in adrenal fatigue and put me on an estrogen patch and progesterone, horrible, and I was totally bloated! I quit both after 3 weeks. I then went to a naturopath MD in Chicago, and she gave me cortisol(all natural) that I took for 2 weeks along with nature thyroid. I couldn’t figure out why I felt so awful, turned the cortisol bottle over and it contained 3 different formas of wheat. I am just furious and sick, right now have a horrible sinus infection. I’ve had all blood tests and saliva tests, all came back abnormal. What do I do???
It’s important to discuss AI thyroid conditions but what about us who have hypothyroidism but no antibodies? Would you still give the same recommendations? I’ve tried T4, combination of T3/T4 and now T3 but my body don’t seem to utilize it. My saliva results are fair but I think it’s some sort of inflammation but it’s so hard to figure it out. My holistic doctor doesn’t have a clue any more what to try next.
Thanks so for sharing this important info. I don’t know what to say, but I have 3 excellent docs working with me and no one can get me to sleep at night- no one! I get these insane bouts with anxiety (not too sure where they come from), and I get wired and can’t sleep. Actually, most nights I can fall asleep, but I wake up, sometimes a lot, sometimes it’s once, but it’s deadly and I NEVER fall back to sleep. I know my adrenals are KICKED, because I’m like a zombie all day long, but I just can’t find the correct adoptagen. I have tried MANY, with doctor support. I have not tried the one you did, but I am always wiling to. I also wondered if low iodine would have anything to contribute to this issue as well! Please, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am at my wits end!
Could this be causing inflammation? My NP didn’t think so.
I couldn’t find the article referenced in the book. The website stopped linking to articles written in that year. I have had thyroid and adrenal problems for 20 years.
Hey Dr. Wentz, I have Hashimoto’s and high cortisol. A long time ago I tried Thyroid Support from Gaia that contains L-Tyrosene and it made me feel overly anxious. If the Daily Stress Formula from Pure Encapsulations contains L-Tyrosene (250mg), is that a good idea? Are there any other adaptogen recommendations that don’t include it? Thanks so much!
Ilya- Not everyone will need every single supplement! In fact, I believe that most nutrients should come from the diet, this is why I always list food sources for most of the nutrients, vitamins, minerals and probiotics that are depleted in Hashimoto’s in the book and on the blog. However, some may require/prefer supplements and the supplements on the website are a resource for those that do. I recommend getting tested for deficiencies to determine your need for a supplement as instructed in the book and blog. I also don’t recommend starting multiple supplements all at once. I recommend starting one at a time and then adding another a week or so later once it has been confirmed that the first supplement is not causing any harm.
I do have a full supplements chapter in my book. Have you checked it out? Not everyone should be taking every supplement and the book will help uncover your root cause. This will help you figure out your supplementation.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0615825796?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0615825796&linkCode=xm2&tag=thyroipharma-20
My ft3 was at 2.51, my free t4 at 0.96, my tsh at 9.42. I have gotten the tsh down three points by just dropping gluten, sugar and caffeine. My question is, would I be a good candidate for your adrenal supplement? My concern is that Ashwagandha can up my t4, and don’t I want it to drop, and my t3 come up??
Thanks
Tiana – thank you for following this page. I wish I could give you more direct advice but, each person will react differently. I would advise you to ask your personal pharmacist or a trusted clinician who’s care you are under. I am not able to respond directly to these types of questions here. Adaptogenic herbs include ashwagandha, astragalus reishi mushroom, dang shen, eleuthero, ginseng, jiaogulan, licorice, maca, schizandra, spikenard, and suma. These are examples of herbs that may increase the body’s ability to resist stress, and have been helpful in relieving adrenal dysfunction when used in combination with vitamins and minerals. Not everyone will need every single supplement! In fact, I believe that most nutrients should come from the diet, this is why I always list food sources for most of the nutrients, vitamins, minerals and probiotics that are depleted in Hashimoto’s in the book and on the blog. However, some may require/prefer supplements, and the supplements on the website are a resource for those that do. I recommend getting tested for deficiencies to determine your need for a supplement as instructed in the book and blog. I also don’t recommend starting multiple supplements all at once. I recommend starting one at a time and then adding another a week or so later once it has been confirmed that the first supplement is not causing any harm.
I do have a full supplements chapter in my book. Have you checked it out? Not everyone should be taking every supplement, and the book will help uncover your root cause. This will help you figure out your supplementation.
Hashimoto’s Root Cause
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0615825796?ie=UTF8…
Hashimoto’s Protocol
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/protocol
Dear Dr. Thank you very much for your post. The last year my partner was diagnosed with Hashimoto and two months later a thyroid carcinoma, she was operated, extracted the whole thyroid and received radioactive iodine. Now, she are taking Euthirox 100 mg. She still hypothyroid and always has cold and very tired (but not sleep good!), also have tachycardia and irritable bowel. Recently we start the diet that you recommended and she feeling better. I would like to know if for she applies this information of adrenal fatigue? Although she hasn’t thyroid? I think her brain has not yet learned that her thyroid is not! Thank you very much!
Ismar – thank you for following this page. How wonderful and caring that you are looking out for your partner. <3
Please, understand that due to liability issues, I am unable to answer specific medical questions.
I highly recommend that you work with a functional medicine clinician. It’s a whole medical specialty dedicated to finding and treating underlying causes and prevention of serious chronic disease rather than disease symptoms.
FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE APPROACH TO THE THYROID
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/functional-medicine-approach-to-the-thyroid
WHAT TYPE OF DOCTOR SHOULD YOU SEE IF YOU HAVE HASHIMOTO’S
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/what-type-of-doctor-should-you-see-if-you-have-hashimotos
10 THINGS I WISH MY ENDOCRINOLOGIST WOULD HAVE TOLD ME
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/10-things-i-wish-my-endocrinologist-would-have-told-me
CLINICIAN DATABASE
http://www.thyroidpharmacistconsulting.com/clinician-database.html
FIND A FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE CLINICIAN
https://www.functionalmedicine.org/practitioner_search.aspx?id=117
I am very touched by all the emails. These interactive issues are complex but Dr Wentz has outlined step by step ideas to begin with.
Personally I believe anyone with an autoimmune condition could just try some of the diet changes, you might get a big surprise. Feeling better is good who knows if a full remission is possible or not. Some people have had them!
Get a notebook. I started with getting dairy and wheat out of my diet, getting more sleep and walking briefly in the morning or when I can.
Try to get a routine and note how you feel. I take multivitamins with lots of B vitamins, fish oil, vitamin D and minerals. If I miss the multivitamin, I get teary and reactive.
Record little pleasures- plant blooming in the garden, seeing a baby, be kind to yourself and model how you want to be treated. Say no and take time for yourself, let others take more responsibility.
People, even our loved ones can’t listen to non stop complaining. If they don’t know what to do they may react by being unsupportive because they feel helpless. Ask for things which would help.
I want to share dinner making- which night could you do?
Lets go to …..something relaxing and fun. Lets watch…..
Find people who understand, read these blogs. Ask for the tests you need at the Drs. I have found a helpful naturopath. She has given be alkylysed minerals to take and they helped to remove excess copper from my system. Filter your water. After 1 month I noticed a big improvement.
I thought I was alright to eat some 100% rye bread but I’m not feeling good again. I get mucous in my throat if I have any dairy.
The pieces to your puzzle come to you gradually. If you’ve observing and noting every day, you’ll work out the mystery with help!!
I got a little off track again and overwhelmed but now I’m going to make a big list of all the things I am doing and new ones I’m trying when I can.
I still need another thyroid test. I had one a year ago so that will make a good comparison.
If you begin to take responsibility for your health and stick to it, family and friends will notice your resolve, you will probably feel better.
Lesli – thank you for following this page and for sharing. <3
I am really hoping to build a database of testimonials to submit to a medical journal. I would very much love if you submitted your story. You would be helping so many. Would you consider doing this?
http://www.thyroidpharmacist.com/testimonial
I have been tested and I do not have Hashimoto’s but I am having problems regulating my thyroid. I Am a flight attendant and travel overseas . My adrenals are blown and managing stress and sleep is a challenge. I have always had a healthy diet but it is difficult while traveling. Do you have any advice for me please .
Lisa – thank you so much for following this page.
Did you know that if you live in the United States, Australia, Europe and most developed countries that add iodine to the salt supply and take thyroid medications, there’s a higher probability that you do have Hashimoto’s?
Depending on the source, estimates are that between 90-95% of those with hypothyroidism have Hashimoto’s.
But most doctors will never tell people that they have Hashimoto’s, or that their own immune system is attacking their thyroid. People are told that their “thyroid is sluggish”, and that these things happen with age and “Just take this pill, you’ll be fine.” I hope you check out these articles that I wrote.
ARE YOU DOING EVERYTHING FOR YOUR THYROID BUT NOT YET WELL?
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/are-you-doing-everything-for-your-thyroid-but-not-yet-well/
DO YOU HAVE HYPOTHYROIDISM OR HASHIMOTO’S OR BOTH?
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/do-you-have-hypothyroidism-or-hashimotos-or-both/
Here are the tests you need for diagnosis. Most endocrinologists don’t run them all so you will have to request them. Make sure to request a copy of your labs as well.
TOP 6 THYROID TESTS FOR DIAGNOSIS
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/top-6-thyroid-tests/
The stress formula you recommend (by pure encapsulations) can be VERY dangerous
to someone with Hashimoto’s. Lemon balm is a big no no especially when it comes to a balanced immune system.
Hello,
I tried various combination adaptogenic herbs this year and they give me insomnia, causing me to wake up between 2-4am and unable to get back to sleep. This starts on day 2 of treatment and persists for months after discontinuation.
I have low cortisol and am thinking of taking Dr James Wilson’s Adrenal Rebuilder (adrenal and other glandular extracts with the hormones removed). In his book, he recommends eating protein before bed to prevent waking up with adrenaline due hypoglycemia caused by low cortisol. I eat a handful of walnuts before bed and that does prevent the adrenaline surge but does not prevent me from waking up and having too many thoughts running through my head. At this point, it may just be anxiety from insomnia that is preventing me from getting back to sleep. I am sleeping later, like 4-5am instead of 2-3am. In the book he also recommended taking an adrenal cell extract with cortisol before bed to prevent waking up due to low cortisol, or even exercising before bed. I don’t have any cell extracts yet but I tried exercising and that did help a bit but I still had restless sleep. I tried licorice root tea and that helped a bit but I still couldn’t fall back asleep.
I am doing your 90-day Hashi’s protocol and just started Adrenal Program but am hesitant to try the adaptogens due to previous ill experience with them. I have borderline low hypothyroid so went on NDT but RT3 went higher so went on T3-only med but it gave me brain fog, low energy and anxiety so I stopped taking it as well (I had just started them and was on really low doses for only a few months). My ferritin went from 90 to 40 while on NDT 1/2 gr daily x 1 mo then Cytomel 5mcg BID x 1 mo. Thyroid antibodies are negative.
My AM serum cortisol has been in range of 6-9 in past year. I had SIBO and Candida for a few years and did a rigorous program to eradicate them, which I believe resulted in my adrenal fatigue (or just worsened it severely). My progesterone is low so I’ve been on oral Progesterone, started with 25mg daily on days 1-28 then increased to 40mg daily on days 1-28 after my last trial of adaptogens. I have also been increasing my melatonin dose from 1mg qhs to 5mg qhs.
Thanks for writing your book. I lost a few pounds of water weight (toxins?) during the liver flush and am hopeful that the adrenal program, in addition to Dr Wilson’s supplements, will help tremendously. I probably won’t do the GI program since I did one last year with the SIBO/Candida program and I get anxiety from glutamine (even Mag Glycinate).
Yours in healing,
Sierra
Sierra – thank you for your support! <3 For questions pertaining to the supplements and protocols please contact my team at info@thyroidpharmacist.com and they will be happy to help you. 🙂
Hi Izabella, I was diagnosed with hypothyroid three years ago, over that time my doctor would call me back in for lab work redo because my liver enzymes were elevated from time to time. Each time labs would show a decrease and wouldnt say anything else. Recently, I was applying for life insurance but wouldnt get coverage becuz liver enzymes were elevated. I went to a specialist, he tested me for eveything possible all test read negative but liver enzymes were still slightly elevated and he had no diagnosis for it. I am on a paleo diet and no gluten or processed sugars, no soy etc… I have your first book and because of it I was able to reverse hypothyroid but still a have this liver issue with no diagnosis. Hope you could shed some light. I do use honey at times for sweetener in my green smoothies and blueberries. Thank You
Kathy – thank you so much for your support! Here is an article you might find helpful. HOW SUPPORTING THE LIVER IS KEY TO RECOVERING FROM THYROID DISEASE
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/support-liver-recover-from-thyroid-disease/
Any suggestions on Generalized Miasthenia with Anti Musk antibodies?
Thank you.
Linas
Linas – thank you for following this page. I highly recommend that you work with a functional medicine clinician. It’s an entire medical specialty dedicated to finding and treating underlying causes and prevention of serious chronic disease rather than disease symptoms.
FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE APPROACH TO THE THYROID
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/functional-medicine-approach-to-the-thyroid
CLINICIAN DATABASE
http://www.thyroidpharmacistconsulting.com/clinician-database.html
FIND A FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE CLINICIAN
https://www.functionalmedicine.org/practitioner_search.aspx?id=117
Hi Izabella
I was diagnosed with Hypothyroid about a year ago. Nothing was tested except TSH (16). I was put on levothyroxine and have felt worse ever since. I have taken Levothyroxine, Synthroid, T3, Amour and now Tirosint over the last year. I also have hashimoto’s which I insisted they test for (800). The thyroid medications have only made me feel worse over the last year and I am wishing I would have never started them as my originally complaints were weight gain, tired and swollen. Now I have hot flashes, night sweats, headaches, brain fog, panic attacks, dizziness and an over sense of going crazy! I would like to stop the thyroid medication but have a fear that I will send myself into the ER. I have been gulten, soy, dairy, caffeine free for 50 days and take selenium, vitamin E, B12, Vitamin D3, probiotic. I am wondering if I ever needed this medicine in the first place and can these other supplements help me reverse my condition. I am also waiting on tests for food sensitivity and female hormones. Thanks!
Sarah – thank you for following this page. The most common triggers in Hashimoto’s are: nutrient deficiencies, food sensitivities, intestinal permeability (leaky gut), stress, an impaired ability to get rid of toxins and in some cases, infections. Optimizing your health starts with food. Figuring out which foods nourish you, and which ones cause you harm is the single most important thing you can learn in your health journey.
I’ve found that recognizing and eliminating reactive foods can be a life-changer for most people with Hashimoto’s.
Reactive foods trigger an inflammatory response in the GI tract, leading to malabsorption of nutrients (gluten sensitivity in particular has been implicated in causing a Selenium deficiency, a well known risk factor for Hashimoto’s), and can also produce intestinal permeability whenever they are eaten.
Most people will see a dramatic reduction in gut symptoms, brain symptoms, skin breakouts and pain by eliminating the foods that they are sensitive to. Some will also see a significant reduction in thyroid antibodies! An additional subset of people will actually be able to get their Hashimoto’s into complete remission just by getting off the foods they react to, normalizing their thyroid antibodies, and some even normalizing their thyroid function! Here are some articles which I wrote:
BEST DIET FOR HASHIMOTO’S AND HYPOTHYROIDISM
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/best-diet-for-hashimotos-hypothyroidism
TAILORING YOUR THYROID DIET
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/tailoring-your-thyroid-diet-to-your-needs
DAIRY AND HASHIMOTO’S
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/got-hashimotos-you-may-want-to-reconsider-dairy
Dr. Wentz,
I’ve read most of your books, eat according to the SIP diet. My adrenal are low functioning, I have difficulty taking my thyroid meds and I often have stress responses to supplements especially, all B vitamins.
It’s all maddening.
The information regarding accupunture sounds great will certainly look into that as an alternative.
Keep the faith ladies. Remember, you are while perfect and complete.
Wow, that should have said, whole, perfect and complete! 😊
Glenna – thank you for following this page. Having Hashimoto’s can feel very stressful. Having out of range thyroid hormones, adrenal fatigue, negative food sensitivities and low nutrient levels can lead to feelings of anxiety, hopelessness and stress. Treating these issues one at a time is the best plan of action. You can recover and regain your health! My new book Hashimoto’s Protocol is a step by step guide to the interventions that helped 80% of the people 80% of the time. I hope you check it out.
Hashimoto’s Protocol
http://amzn.to/2B5J1mq
Wow…. I knew it wasn’t all in my head and that something is wrong in my body! I just didn’t know what. My thyroid was so low one year that I started having severe panic attacks. As in I shook so badly I looked like I was having a seizure. I couldn’t sleep for days. Found out my thyroid was so low that I was close to going into a coma.
It took 2 years but the correct synthroid dosage was found. But now I’ve become anemic, b12 deficient, and I’m still low on vitamin d even though I take the highest prescription amount. They can’t give me anymore. I’ve been feeling like my body has been shutting down on me and I’ve been so lost. I also have been obsessively craving salt and chips. Even that part was on this page! And now thanks to you I now have a good idea of what’s going on! My entire adrenal system is haywire right now! Thank you thank you!
Now I just need to find a good specialist and/ or endocrinologist near Omaha, NE. Any recommendations?
Laura – thank you for following this page. I highly recommend that you work with a functional medicine clinician to be a part of your own health care team. It’s an entire medical specialty dedicated to finding and treating underlying root causes and prevent serious chronic disease rather than treating individual disease symptoms.
FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE APPROACH TO THE THYROID
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/functional-medicine-approach-to-the-thyroid
CLINICIAN DATABASE
https://www.thyroidpharmacistconsulting.com/clinician-database.html
FIND A FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE CLINICIAN
https://ifm.org/find-a-practitioner/
Thank you so much for all this. I hate being sick soooooooo much!!! I’m terrified about this adrenal stuff. I am a competitive athlete. If I have what seems to be stage 2 adrenal fatigue, do I have to stop training? (I race bicycles.) I haven’t found a whole lot of information online about endurance training and adrenal fatigue. Can I ride easy – keeping my heart rate low? Is this going to put me back? What can I do to stay fit – or at least not lose all of my fitness??? Thank you, Sharon
Sharon – you are very welcome! I would recommend anyone embarking on a program of exercise starts slowly and progresses at their own pace. Exercise can be very healthy, but for people with Hashimoto’s it can create stress. Stress causes our adrenals to pump out extra hormones, and shifts our body from a relaxing, digesting, healing state to a fight or flight state. The body’s energy is shifted from doing “useless” things like growing beautiful hair, metabolizing, making hormones, digesting and repairing itself, and instead, all of the body’s resources are reserved to make cortisol and adrenaline that is pumped through our veins so that we can keep going. Eventually, we run out of nutrients that are required for proper adrenal function and we get to a state of adrenal fatigue. This is when our body is no longer able to heal itself and we feel drained.
Replenishing nutrients and using adaptogens, that balance out the adrenals can be helpful for everyone. The Daily Stress Formula from Pure Encapsulations contains nutrients and adaptogens that can help your body repair itself.
ADRENAL SUPPORT
https://www.rootcology.com/products/adrenal-support
thank you, I purchased 4 of your books and am just now reading them.
I have hashimotos and adrenal fatigue. Finding a competent doctor in the south is most difficult. they cannot read the tests! only TSH. I have asked 3.5 years now to have my adrenals improved only to be told adrenal glands are unnecessary.
My doc cannot read or interpret blood tests. Saw a low TSH and reduced my synthroid and stopped T3. told me to see endocronologist. New patients takes 4 months to get in. My naturopathic has me on vitamins for adrenals now.
I went VEGAN 1.5 months ago and changed blood panel.
Pam – you are very welcome! I appreciate you sharing your journey. <3 Most people feel best with a TSH of around 1 or lower and with a Free T4 and Free T3 in the upper half of the range. It is expected that your TSH will be very suppressed when optimal on NDT medication. How much thyroid replacement therapy is needed is unique and different for each person, so it's important to work with a functional medicine practitioner or a doctor, who can closely monitor your dosage and your progress.Every six weeks is usually a good schedule for testing your thyroid hormones. Here are the tests you need for diagnosis. Most endocrinologists don't run them all so you will have to request them. Make sure to request a copy of your labs as well.
Top 10 Thyroid Tests and how to Interpret them.
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/top-6-thyroid-tests
If you cannot find a Functional Medicine practitioner in your area, it is possible to work with a
practitioner remotely via Skype or some other online video platform. Here are some links that might help:
CLINICIAN DATABASE
https://www.thyroidpharmacistconsulting.com/clinician-database.html
FIND A FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE CLINICIAN
https://ifm.org/find-a-practitioner/
I was diagnosed 8 years ago with Addisons disease (wrongly) as I wasn’t able to produce cortisol. My levels were virtually zero. After being put on Cortisone daily I actually got worse and worse to loosing the use of my arms and legs with zero strength. Thankfully a Dr was clever to test me for CIRS (mold toxicity) and Lymes disease, both of which I had which was the cause of producing no cortisol. Now after getting out of the moldy environment and numerous diet changes, weekly Vit c IV’s, I now have a life back and my body is now producing it’s own cortisol and I have been able to come off cortisone steriods. There is Hope, even though it is hard to see it sometimes. Never give up and always Look For The Root Cause.
Kim – thank you for sharing your journey! My mission is to collect 10,000 success stories with the hope of submitting them to a medical journal in the future. Understandably, you are probably very busy, but if you have some time, please do you mind sharing your full story with me here at this link? https://thyroidpharmacist.com/testimonial/
These stories will go a long way in helping others who are going through a similar journey to yours. Thank you for your consideration!
Sorry for the delay but I have finally submitted my story. I just want to ask whether we are ever notified when and where our stories are published if they are. Thanks
KIM – thank you so much for sharing you journey with me! I am looking forward to reading your story. <3 Please email my team at info@thyroidpharmacist.com and they will be able to give you the publishing information.
hello. I have had thyroid problems for 15 years or more. I am on armour. It wasnt until two years ago that i landed in the hospital with severe health issues, kidney stones, kidney, bladder and uti infections. Was at that time diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. I also was told i had hashimotos. 7 years ago i had surgery to repair a hyatal hernia. it was in the area of the diaphragm, upper stomach and lower throat area. I have been in pain ever since. It affects my pulse rate which can be up to 180. I also know it is affecting my Diabetes. the drs cant see to find what is causing the pain. although they suspect it may be neurological. took gabapentin and helped to reduce the pain considerable….I was wondering can Hashimotos be contributing to the pain? Im am even considering CBD oil or mecial marijuana, due to being unable to take prescription pain meds. Thank you
Brenda – thank you for reaching out and sharing your journey. <3 I highly recommend that you work with a functional medicine clinician to be a part of your own health care team. It’s an entire medical specialty dedicated to finding and treating underlying root causes and prevent serious chronic disease rather than treating individual disease symptoms. I believe that everyone needs to find a practitioner that will let him/her be a part of the healthcare team. You want someone that can guide you, that will also listen to you and your concerns. You want someone that’s open to thinking outside of the box and who understands that you may not fit in with the standard of care. It's a good idea to ask some standard questions when contacting a new doctor for the first time. Something else to consider is you can work with a functional doctor remotely, via Skype. You could also contact your local pharmacist or compounding pharmacy, who may be able to point you to a local doctor who has a natural functional approach. But I encourage you to keep looking for the right one for you! Here are some resources you might find helpful.
CLINICIAN DATABASE
https://www.thyroidpharmacistconsulting.com/pages/clinician-database
FIND A FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE CLINICIAN
https://ifm.org/find-a-practitioner/
http://www.thyroidpharmacistconsulting.com/recommended-compounding-pharmacies.html
wait… don’t you need iodine for thyroid health? Wouldn’t iodized salt be better for thyroid issues?
Jill – thank you for reaching out. I am very hesitant in recommending iodine in Hashimoto’s. Although iodine serves as fuel for our thyroid and is very important in iodine deficiency hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s is a different mechanism. It’s like pouring gas into an engine that’s on fire… that’s essentially what’s happening in Hashi’s, thyroid inflammation. Adding iodine to the mix before putting out the fire and fixing the engine may result in further damage to the thyroid. In those with a predisposition to autoimmunity, this has been documented time and time again, in animal and human studies.
I have spent 4 years researching about this issue, and have seen too many people suffering the consequences of adding iodine too soon. My approach is, let’s fix the engine first (usually a gut issue), and then add the fuel once we know that the engine is no longer on fire. Hope that you will check out my books. I do have a chapter on the iodine controversy that references numerous studies as well as the work of Abraham and Brownstein. Here are the links to my books :
Hashimoto’s Protocol
http://amzn.to/2B5J1mq
Hashimoto’s Root Cause
http://amzn.to/2DoeC80
You may also find this article helpful as well:
IODINE AND HASHIMOTO’S
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/iodine-hashimotos/
I jumped the gun a little on my previous post…
I have been on medication for hypothyroidism for over ten years, three years ago I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s (who knows how long I’ve actually had either of them). I have always struggled with my weight and other little symptoms here and there. Right after my diagnosis, I tried the AIP diet… to no avail – I didn’t feel ANY different. Therefore, I didn’t think much of my diagnosis until I came home from a trip to Thailand and felt like I just couldn’t kick the jet-lag… and here we are four months later – still feeling jet-lagged. I thought maybe it was just macros so I tried that, as well as introducing some pretty major weightlifting and neither my weight or energy budged.
I’m diving in myself now – I read a bit a few years ago and am getting back in since I am desperate. I’ve just eliminated dairy, gluten and soy and am feeling a bit better – it hasn’t even been a week yet but I am so excited to finally figure things out – for myself since there aren’t any doctors who have seemed to help. After much research I decided on what supplements I was going to try – but then I read this and now I’m confused! Does the Adrenal Support have enough of the Benfo-Max? I had one of each in my cart but would taking Benfo-Max in addition to this be too much?
Meg – thank you for reaching out and sharing your journey. I am happy to hear you are diving in and taking charge of your health! <3 The Adrenal Support does not contain thiamine. Here are some articles you might find helpful.
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/thiamine-and-thyroid-fatigue/
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/12-strategies-overcome-hashimotos-fatigue/
could you please remove my last name from the previous comment, if you don’t automatically do so. I looked at other comments and only saw first names, so assumed you did. but it looks like my full name will appear. Thank you.
Sandy – thank you for reaching out. I have removed the message with your last name. <3 For questions about the supplements please email my team at info@thyroidpharmacist.com and they will be happy to help you.
Hi,
Will this supplement work for low cortisol?
Thanks.
Claire – thank you so much for reaching out. Adaptogenic herbs such as ashwaghandha, rhodiola, holy basil, astragalus reishi mushroom, dang shen, eleuthero, ginseng, jiaogulan, licorice, maca, schizandra, spikenard, and suma are examples of herbs that may increase the body’s ability to resist stress, and have been helpful in relieving adrenal dysfunction when used in combination with vitamins and minerals. Not everyone will need every single supplement! In fact, I believe that most nutrients should come from the diet, this is why I always list food sources for most of the nutrients, vitamins, minerals and probiotics that are depleted in Hashimoto’s in the book and on the blog. However, some may require/prefer supplements, and the supplements on the website are a resource for those that do. I recommend getting tested for deficiencies to determine your need for a supplement as instructed in the book and blog. I also don’t recommend starting multiple supplements all at once. I recommend starting one at a time and then adding another a week or so later once it has been confirmed that the first supplement is not causing any harm.
I do have a full supplements chapter in my book. Have you checked it out? Not everyone should be taking every supplement, and the book will help uncover your root cause. This will help you figure out your supplementation.
Hashimoto’s Root Cause
http://amzn.to/2DoeC80
Hashimoto’s Protocol
http://amzn.to/2B5J1mq
I have a 15 yr old daughter recently diagnosed with Hoshi. Her symptoms are more hyper than hypo with a resting pulse of 115-125. Her T.Peroxidase is 791.8 Thyroglobulin 18. She definitely needs adrenal support but can’t swallow pills, are there liquid, chew-able or dis-solvable options? I have her on a B-12 and D-3 but the mg are low. After reading and more reading I found liquid selenium and Zinc but now I don’t want to start those until we get new blood work. It kills me to see my daughters world turned upside down and I just want to help her function. Everything I find is in a pill form.
Pauline – thank you for reaching out and sharing your daughters journey. My heart goes out to you both. <3 For children, teens, (and adults), I always recommend starting with the diet. Are they gluten, dairy, corn and soy free? Are they eating a nutrient dense diet with fermented foods? Implementing those changes can help many symptoms. For example, some cases of anemia can be helped by eating liver, others may resolve by going gluten free. Acid reflux is often caused by food sensitivities. Most of the interventions recommended in my book can be done with children, with the exception of the dosing of supplements. I do suggest that you work with a functional medicine doctor that is familiar in working with children (I only works with adults). I hope this helps!
FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE APPROACH TO THE THYROID
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/functional-medicine-approach-to-the-thyroid
CLINICIAN DATABASE
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/database-recommended-clinicians/
FIND A FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE CLINICIAN
https://www.functionalmedicine.org/practitioner_search.aspx?id=117