Dr. Izabella Wentz, PharmD

Thyroid Pharmacist

Top Tips for Traveling With a Thyroid Condition

Solutions for Traveling with Autoimmune Disease, Thyroid Disease, Hashimoto’s and Hypothyroidism

Medically reviewed and written by Izabella Wentz, PharmD, FASCP

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Travel for anyone can be stressful—but it’s especially stressful when you have any kind of health concern.

Traveling with a chronic health condition like Hashimoto’s, hypothyroidism, Celiac disease and other kinds of autoimmune diseases can be quite challenging, especially if you follow a special diet to keep your condition into remission.

In the past, I was afraid of traveling because of Hashimoto’s and my special diet. In one instance, I missed my cousin’s wedding in Europe because I was really afraid of getting exposed to gluten and feeling ill during my trip. I wasn’t sure what food I would be able to eat while abroad. I didn’t want to be a nuisance to my family members and travel companions. So even though I wanted to celebrate my beautiful cousin’s wedding with my family, I opted to stay home and look at pictures online instead because I was too scared to leave the comfort of my own home.

My cousin’s wedding wasn’t the only thing that I missed. Through the deep challenges of my healing journey, I began to withdraw from the world around me as well. I started turning down dinner and party invitations from friends because for fear that the extra activity, stress or exposure to foods would leave me feeling worse for a few weeks—if not months—after.

Missing out on life because of my health condition made me feel bad about myself and perpetuated the victim-martyr patterns many patients feel in their initial stages of a health diagnosis. I felt like I was constantly victimized by my health condition and that I had to martyr myself time and time again.

While I knew I had to stay away from certain inflammatory foods to prevent flare-ups, I didn’t realize that thoughts, just like foods, could produce inflammation.

Needless to say, negative thoughts in your head are never beneficial when you’re working on healing your body. Skipping my cousin’s wedding and withdrawing from the world didn’t help me heal; in fact, I faced setback and stress just the same. Additionally, my world just became smaller and smaller…

“Just when the caterpillar thought its world was over, it became a butterfly.” This is one of my favorite quotes related to the journey of healing thyroid disease. The butterfly is a symbol for the thyroid gland, as well as for transformation.

Transformation needs to happen for us to heal. We need to know that we are powerful and that the path to feeling our best lies within.

I don’t quite know when or why, but I eventually emerged from my self-imposed cocoon and began to spread my wings.

I traveled to Belize with my husband for our wedding anniversary.

I traveled for work and for job interviews and to visit family members…

My world began to open up again, and I felt good and my healing started to blossom…

You don’t have to miss out on life because of your autoimmune condition. In fact, I’ve found that people who don’t stop living just because they have a health condition are the ones that experience faster, deeper and more profound healing.

As a result of my own healing journey, I was able to step into my own calling—of helping others heal. I began to specialize in the very same condition that affected me and wrote two NYT bestselling books to help guide others on their health recovery: Hashimoto’s the Root Cause and Hashimoto’s Protocol.

I left my job and followed my passion for becoming a heart-centered entrepreneur focused on helping others recover from Hashimoto’s.

With the books and a new business came a lot of speaking and travel.

I spent most of 2016 traveling from city to city to record The Thyroid Secret documentary series. I’ve also spent a bit of time traveling around Europe in the past few years.

All this time, I have maintained my health AND my gluten-free and dairy-free diet.

I don’t want you to stop living your life because you’re “sick.”

I want you to look at your illness as an opportunity to heal.

I want you to live your life and do what fuels you—this is how you will achieve true healing.

If travel is not your thing, then by all means, stay home and find the things that add joy to your life.

But if you love to travel and have been locked up and afraid to spread your wings because of your illness, don’t be afraid anymore.

While my work is specifically focused on thyroid disease, the real reason why I do what I do is to give people an opportunity to reveal their true selves and follow their passions. Stepping out and following your dreams can be scary—especially if you have not yet achieved your health goals, but paradoxically, when you set up big goals and big dreams for yourself, you will begin to shed the symptoms that prevent you from achieving them. I want you to follow your passion… If your passion is travel, here are some of my best tips.

These tips will also work if you just need to travel out of obligation, and they will hopefully make your obligatory travel feel more relaxing as well!

Planning

What do pregnancy and travel have in common? You have to prepare for both if you have thyroid disease to have the best outcomes!

Get TSA Pre-check 

This service will allow you to bypass the lines, skip the scanner machines (radiation, even at low levels can exacerbate a condition like Hashimoto’s and asthma), and makes for an overall less stressful travel experience.

Food Planning…

Call ahead (at least 24 hours), if you’re flying overseas to request a gluten-free meal for your flight.

If you are following a Paleo or autoimmune Paleo diet, pack your own food in your carry on bag!

Meatballs and diced roasted veggies travel very well.

Look up local restaurants before you go to look for gluten-free options.

Print some food sensitivity cards for the countries where you will be traveling to show to waiters and wait staff.

Pack Some Snacks! 

I recorded these quick videos for you to show you just a few of the snack options that you could choose from to keep your blood sugar balanced.


Links to Products Discussed:

Pack Some Travel Supplements

Here Are my Favorites:

  • Adrenal Support – Travel can be stressful, and when you already have an impaired response to stress (like most people with chronic illness), you will likely have an exaggerated response to the stresses of travel. You may overreact a bit! As our adrenal glands produce our stress hormones that allow us to better handle stressful times, supporting adrenals during travel is especially important. The ABC’s of adrenal support are adrenal adaptogens, which help us be more resilient to stress; B vitamins, which often get depleted during stress; and Vitamin C, which boosts our immunity. I often say that adrenal support makes everyone else more tolerable :-). When we’re more relaxed and calm, things don’t get under our skin as much.  Though most people with Hashimoto’s will benefit from daily adrenal support, I always recommend taking adrenal support during travel. I formulated Rootcology Adrenal Support for this purpose. It contains adaptogens, B vitamins, and Vitamin C.
  • Activated charcoal – Activated charcoal binds up toxins and is great to have on hand when you’re traveling. Charcoal can minimize reactions from your food and environment. You never know when you may end up in a moldy place or when you’re exposed to toxins in your food while eating out. It’s also great for times when you may, ahem, overindulge in wine or other types of alcoholic beverages. On average, I recommend 1 capsule per drink at bedtime, up to 3 capsules after a night of drinking or if you’re in a suspect environment. Keep in mind that activated charcoal binds EVERYTHING, so don’t take it with other supplements and medications you would like to absorb. I also recommend supplementing with magnesium whenever you take activated charcoal. Just be sure that you take the supplements at least 4 hours apart to prevent impairments in absorption.
  • Magnesium citrate – Magnesium becomes depleted when we’re stressed out, and we all know that travel can be stressful. Many people report anxiety, constipation, headaches, muscle aches, and insomnia while they travel… People think that these symptoms occur because they’re away from their usual routines, but these symptoms are actually symptoms of magnesium deficiency. I recommend daily magnesium for most people with Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism. Taking additional magnesium while you’re traveling will ensure that you feel calm, well rested, pain-free and that your bowels are moving properly.  [Read full article on magnesium]
  • 200mg of Zen – This supplement contains a blend of threonine and GABA, which support a calm mood and is a great alternative to the pre-flight Xanax many people use to calm their flight anxiety. Magnesium also helps in this department. 🙂
  • Lavela – Lavela is another Xanax alternative for traveling. This is a lavender based supplement that has been clinically shown to calm nerves and can be taken before your flight. It does contain non-GMO canola oil, so keep that in mind if you are sensitive to canola. Another idea is to douse yourself with lavender essential oil, which makes you smell nice and also has calming properties.
  • Gluten-Dairy Digest – These enzymes help to break down gluten and dairy. I use this whenever I’m eating out at a restaurant and am concerned about gluten and dairy cross-reactivity. It will help to minimize any adverse reaction you may experience from gluten and dairy proteins. Unfortunately, the enzymes don’t fully break down gluten and dairy so I don’t recommend indulging in a pizza just because you have these enzymes.
  • Melatonin – Hello, jet lag! Jet lag can be a beast, especially when you’re flying east. Melatonin can help you get back into your circadian rhythm routine. I recommend taking melatonin at bedtime—wherever you are. You can also take it before you get on the plane.
  • S. Boulardii – S. boulardii is one of my favorite supplements. It’s a multitasker that I love to use for Hashimoto’s. S. boulardii is beneficial yeast that can do wonders to restore a healthy gut microbiome. S. boulardii can displace Candida yeast, help the body with clearing parasites, including Blastocystis hominis, and most importantly, it can prevent food poisoning! It also raises our body’s internal secretory IgA levels. Secretory IgA is gut protective immunoglobulin that prevents adhesion of pathogens to our gut wall. I recommend taking S. boulardii as a preventative while you’re traveling— especially if you’re traveling overseas. While many brands of probiotics need to be refrigerated to stay active, I developed Rootcology S. boulardii to be shelf stable – so it’s perfect for travel!
  • Electrolyte Blend – If you’ve ever been on an airplane, you’ve likely realized that being up in the air will cause you to become dehydrated. When we’re dehydrated we tend to get headaches and be more reactive to internal and external toxins. The solution to pollution is dilution. I recommend drinking plenty of liquids while you’re flying. It’s also really great to make sure you have enough electrolytes on board. Many of the electrolyte drinks on the market contain added sugars and artificial colors. I developed Rootcology Electrolyte Blend to contain the electrolytes our bodies need to stay hydrated – it’s also great in case you have traveler’s diarrhea or indulge in alcohol.
  • Physician’s Elemental Diet – Have you ever had food poisoning or been glutened while traveling? You feel miserable and you end up having to stay in bed for a couple of days after. This can really ruin a trip! Prevention using Gluten-Dairy Digest and S. boulardii works best, but after the fact, it’s best to give your body a bowel rest—when you don’t consume any solid foods—to allow the inflammation to cool. The problem with this is that when you’re not eating any foods, you end up feeling exhausted and depleted. I really love the Physician’s Elemental Diet because it contains macro and micronutrients that provide adequate nutrition and energy while allowing your intestinal lining to repair. In my experience, the elemental diet also seems to accelerate the healing and speeds up recovery. Please note, Integrative Therapeutics has removed distribution of this formula from retail channels, as it is an FDA regulated medical food. As always, I do recommend working with your personal health care provider to ensure this (or any other) intervention is appropriate for you. However, if you and your practitioner are having trouble obtaining this elemental formula, Dr. Siebecker’s homemade Elemental Diet may be a suitable alternative.

Traveling with Autoimmune Thyroid

I hope that these travel tips will help you make your trip more fun and relaxing and allow you to follow your passions!! Bon voyage!

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Disclaimer: The information contained herein is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. Please consult your physician for any health problems and before making any medical or lifestyle changes.

Lifestyle changes can result in improved thyroid function and/or an increased absorption of thyroid hormone medications, leading to a lower required dose and possible symptoms of hyperthyroidism at a dose that was previously stable. Please discuss lifestyle changes with your physician and ensure that your thyroid function is monitored every 6-8 weeks while making lifestyle changes. Symptoms of overmedication include, but are not limited to: rapid or irregular heartbeat, nervousness, irritability or mood swings, muscle weakness or tremors, diarrhea, menstrual irregularities, hair loss, weight loss, insomnia, chest pain, and excessive sweating. Do not start, change, increase, decrease or discontinue your medications without consulting with your physician.

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Comments

  1. I avoid restaurants altogether. I have found the Nutribullet blender with its travel bag and travel cups with lids useful. I can make a smoothie anywhere I have electricity, and I can pack the smoothie ingredients into the travel cup. Cans of coconut milk and avocados travel well, as do nuts and sweet potatoes. I also avoid recipes, even the gluten and dairy free ones; they inevitably have something I can’t eat in them. Meals with very few ingredients work best. If I have a reaction, I can figure out the problem that way.

    Reply

  2. Dr. Wentz,
    Your email could not have come at a more perfect time! I’m on the road as I type (hubby is driving), returning from a weekend trip. This was a good experience to see how it is when following a dairy and gluten free diet and traveling. In 1 month, my family and I leave for a 3 week trip to Europe. I’m so excited, but was also nervous about my diet and Hashimotos. Your email is exactly what I needed. I’m going to use everything you wrote to prepare myself for a great trip! Thank you!!!!

    Reply

  3. Thank you so much for this. I am an avid traveler (hence my newly found parasite from Nicaragua) and a hashis patient. I thought well now I will never get to macchu picchu or anywhere out of country now. But this is super helpful and gives me renewed hope that I can backpack anywhere I want to go. What a huge relief.

    Reply

  4. Dr. Wentz: I am happy that you posted this, although, I am almost finished with my happy travels to Sunny Florida, from Chicago. I knew deep inside I needed to take this special trip, I needed more healing. And I believe the Sunshine does just that!! Along with the nice warm temps. Iwhile reading this article, I wish I had this handy 2 weeks ago, but, I kept your book The Root Cause with me at all times to guide me thru my journey here. I want to say you are really an amazing woman, you are a true healer, and very informative. I am thankful to have found you thru Dana: Hypo Thyroid Mom. And I enjoy when you share things with me on my E- Mail, And Your Facebook connections. Thank You once again for helping me thru my journey with Hashimotos, And Hypothyroidism, and giving me the confidence to go on with life to do the researching, for myself also.

    Reply

    • Deborah – thank you for following this page and for your kind words. <3

      I’m looking forward to hearing your progress on this page. Make sure to take the book slow, take notes, highlight, and establish a baseline when making changes.

      Reply

    • Hi Deborah. I’m travelling to Chicago from Sunny Florida! Do you have any restaurant recommendations for someone following gluten/dairy/soy free? I’ll be staying about 10 minute walk from Wrigley Field. Thanks!

      Reply

  5. Hello from another Colorado resident! Thank you for all the tips! My husband works for an airline, we have the travel perks but after discovering that I have Hashimoto’s and candida, travel feels near impossible. I’ve been following your protocols (thank you!!!!) and have moved from my moldy home, as well as sold or tossed ALL of our possessions. I’ve been taking anti-fungals 10 months and the candida hasn’t cleared. I have a facial rash that won’t quit. While frustrating, It’s been a crazy path of renewal. We’ve been in our new home for two months and I’m seeing slow improvement but traveling is still quite the challenge as I’m avoiding sugar to handicap the candida growth. I’m limiting my diet to include most animal proteins and non-starchy veggies. I try to introduce fruits like blueberries but seem to have a rash reaction about 3 days later. I’ve been on this diet for a year. Any insight you could offer regarding traveling with AI and candida would be amazing! I’d also love recommendations for a biodentist, ob/gyn, dermatologist (I’ve battled intense acne for years in my 30s) or integrative doctor, I’d be so appreciative. THANK YOU for your infinite wisdom and your heart to share and heal others. Much love to you!

    Reply

  6. Thank you for the tips!!! I’m curious, how long after consuming gluten-containing-food should I expect symptoms? What kind of symptoms can I expect?

    I was diagnosed with Hashimoto recently, and as soon as I started hormone treatment I went gluten free; however I have a big trip on July and I think it will be imposible to stick to my diet. I’m traveling alone and with a tight budget. So I just want prepare for the worst.

    *Also: why are GMO free so important? What’s the connection between thyroid reactivity and them?

    Reply

    • Glory- 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&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0615825796&linkCode=xm2&tag=thyroipharma-20

      Hashimoto’s Protocol
      https://thyroidpharmacist.com/protocol

      Reply

  8. You mentioned last week at your book signing in Glenview that you had names of functional medicine clinicians. Do you have any recommendations of ones for the area north of Chicago? Thank you! Barbara Palmer

    Reply

  9. Firstly, Thank you Dr Wentz for all that you do. I am attempting the Paleo Autoimmune Diet at present. Previously, I tried Paleo but always felt sick & unhappy & thought it may be due to previous gallbladder removal & the higher amounts of fat that is Paleo. So far, I feel better than before & my husband & son are also doing it with me this time, making it easier all round. I hope this will be something that I can continue long term as I am hoping that ketosis will help me drop the extra kilos/pounds. I have tried a few other different ways of eating – low GI, Mediterranean etc, but don’t feel well on them. Regarding today’s article on travel, I did a lot of research last year as we travelled around Italy for a month & despite having little choice sometimes but to eat gluten suspicious foods, I am pleased to say that I was only really sick once on the trip from Florence to Bologna. That I believe is definitely due to all the healing I have been able to do on my leaky, IBS gut. I am strict with avoiding gluten, dairy, soy, peanuts, corn, yeast & caffeine & most packaged foods especially as these seem to give me heartburn but sometimes I do have sweets/desserts. Your book helped me find the major root cause – candida. Have now beaten candida with a 6 month herbal protocol & am feeling the best I have ever felt in the last 20 years with Hashi’s. So thank you again, very much!

    Reply

  10. My husband and I are one week into the cleanse. We noticed that pea protein is actually made from chickpeas. Does that mean eating hummus is okay once the grains and legumes are eliminated from our diet>

    Reply

  11. Hi Izabella,
    Regarding taking activated charcoal, I usually take magnesium, Zink and 5HTP before going to bed. Does this mean I cannot take these when taking activated charcoal? I usually do not have 4 hours between evening meal and going to bed.

    Reply

    • Kitty – thank you for reaching out. Activated charcoal binds up toxins and is great to have on hand when you’re traveling. Charcoal can minimize reactions from your food and environment. Keep in mind that activated charcoal binds EVERYTHING, so don’t take it with other supplements and medications you would like to absorb. I also recommend supplementing with magnesium whenever you take activated charcoal. Just be sure that you take the supplements at least 4 hours apart to prevent impairments in absorption. Here is an article I hope you find helpful as well:
      MAGNESIUM AND THYROID
      https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/new-studies-on-magnesium-and-thyroid-health/

      Reply

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