When I started this blog, I was initially a bit nervous about “coming out of the closet” and putting myself in the limelight. Here I was, a clinical pharmacist, talking about how drugs aren’t the only answer to autoimmune thyroid conditions.
When I attended the annual Illinois Pharmacist Association meeting, I watched one of my mentors and former professors speak about diabetes. “There are six broken organs in diabetes: brain, liver, muscle, digestive tract, pancreas, and lipid. Although we have many medications that treat diabetes, none of them fix all of these organs. Lifestyle changes fix all of these organs. Medications are an adjunct.” This woman is a pharmacist and nationally recognized diabetes expert and also happens to be someone I look up to very much.
I hope that one day this type of awareness of the impact of lifestyle will be present with regard to autoimmunity and that every patient with Hashimoto’s, Graves’ and any autoimmune condition will be counseled by their healthcare professionals on not just medications, but also the importance of lifestyle.
I can appreciate that many of you may be skeptical of lifestyle change. As a pharmacist, I have been trained to be very skeptical, so the information I present in my book, Hashimoto’s The Root Cause and blog has all been researched and tested. It’s also not a quick fix. Many of the things I present are a part of a major life change getting away from a healthcare system that is perfectly designed to produce so many sick people.
As an accomplished pharmacist, I believe that I am in a unique role to bridge the gap between conventional and functional medicine and my mission is to educate not only patients but also health care professionals about the value of lifestyle interventions and functional medicine.
October is American Pharmacists Month, and the motto of the American Pharmacists Association for October is “Know Your Pharmacist, Know Your Medicine,” thus I decided this was going to be the perfect time for you all to get to know me, and hopefully not just get to know your medicine but also your condition and what more you can do about it.
Pharmacists are the most accessible and trusted healthcare professionals and do much more than fill prescriptions. They are medication experts, and many of them pursue advanced training disease state management and prevention. To become a pharmacist in the United States, a minimum of 6 years of professional education is required. Most pharmacists, however, have 8 years of professional education and end with a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) Degree. If you ask most of them why they became pharmacists, the answer will be simple: “I wanted to help people.”
Many of them want to have a much more positive impact on your health than they are able to by working at chain drug stores. I know that I was heartbroken after graduating from pharmacy school and realizing that the only “help” I would be offering people who came to my pharmacy would be with directions on how to find the toilet paper in the store when I was trained to do so much more.
Make your pharmacist part of your healthcare team. They can help you to get the best results from your medication. Your pharmacist can also help you determine which doctors in your area are more likely to prescribe Armour, Cytomel, Nature-Throid, or compounded thyroid medications. Bonus: if you see a compounding pharmacist, most of them have advanced knowledge in nutrition and hormone balancing and can even work with you to make customized thyroid medications for you.
Of course, as a thyroid patient, my commitment is not only to getting you the right diagnosis and the right medications, but also to lifestyle changes that can make you feel better, help get your life back, and can even reduce or reverse your condition—whether that is a medication, food, supplement or stress reduction strategy.
Click here to find a list of compounding pharmacies or to submit one yourself.
I am touched by your support and allowing me to be a part of your thyroid journeys. I also love to hear all of your success stories and kind words.
So, I’d like to reintroduce myself, I’m Izabella Wentz, PharmD, your Thyroid Pharmacist. I am on your team. My hope is to inspire all of you to find the root cause of your thyroid condition and to inform and empower you to get your life back through the many resources available to you, be it diet change, the right thyroid medications, stress reduction, functional medicine and knowledgeable health care professionals.
PS. You can also download a free Thyroid Diet Guide, 10 Thyroid friendly recipes, and the Nutrient Depletions and Digestion chapter for free by going to www.thyroidpharmacist.com/gift. You will also receive occasional updates about new research, resources, giveaways and helpful information.
For future updates, make sure to follow us on Facebook!
I am in pain, losing sleep and am eager to start Selenium/Vit. E supplements, but then fear the whole Iodine imbalance possibility.
1) Who do you recommend to use for an Iodine Test? (I see it most often conducted via postal mail).
2) How much Vit. E is proper with 200 mcg of Selenium?
Thanks so much, I wrote you a message on Facebook as well, and after reading this site for hours this AM, I am looking to go purchase Selenium soon but am still unsure of these details.
Best, Aimee
400 IU of Vitamin E is usually a good dose with the Selenium. ZRT labs offers a spot iodine test. Hope it helps!
Chris Kresser has a recent cautionary article on selenium supplementation:
http://chriskresser.com/important-update-on-selenium-supplementation
Apparently, iodine and selenium act synergistically in our bodies. In your book, you recommend keeping dietary iodine intake low as well as avoiding iodine supplementation. Regarding selenium supplementation you recommend ruling out iodine deficiency before supplementing with selenium. So, these two minerals probably should be closely monitored with regular labs, because it sounds like it’s easy to end up having more selenium than iodine if one is supplementing with selenium while avoiding dietary and supplemental forms of iodine: tricky stuff.
About 3 months ago, I was taking 400mcg of selenium and my level was high (double the norm) according to a urine mineral test. So, I decreased to 200mcg of selenium (Pure Prescriptions selenomethione form). About 1 month later, an Iodine/Creatinine ratio (ZRT labs) was low (84.52 ug/g Cr (100-300 optimal), so I started supplementing with potassium iodide 12.5mcg/day for 7 weeks and maintained the 200mcg of selenium. My second urine mineral test in the same week as the Iodine/creatinine ratio showed my selenium was within the acceptable range. So, NOW, I’ve stopped the potassium iodide (I’m taking WP Thyroid 97.5grain, so I should be getting enough iodine that way, right?) but I’ll continue with the Selenium 200mcg/day (taken with my thyroid meds in the am) and will have both minerals tested through mymedlabs. Interestingly, a hair mineral analysis (which covers the prior 3-6months) confirmed that my Selenium was low before starting any supplementation. Most of these tests were done to check other things, heavy metal toxicities, etc, so this isn’t the best way to go about finding the results on these mineral levels, but it was helpful, since labs can be so expensive.
Which Selenium form and brand do you prefer? Selenomethionine? or Citrate? (Pure Prescriptions has both of these, but I read, somewhere, that the former, selenomethionine, was the better form. Apparently, there’s also a yeast form. Which form of Selenium do you recommend? And, do you prefer the Pure Prescriptions brand for Selenium or another brand? Thank You.
Paula- Thank you so much for sharing! I recommend taking the pure encapsulations brand of selenium on an empty stomach with vitamin E, which works in synergy with selenium, to ensure proper absorption. (Please note, many Vitamin E brands are made from soy oil, which can be detrimental to thyroid health, I recommend NOW Foods Sun-E, which is derived from sunflower oil instead). 🙂
http://www.purecapspro.com/thyroidrootcause/pe/products/product_details.asp?ProductsID=177
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AQ4SJTE?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B00AQ4SJTE&linkCode=xm2&tag=thyroipharma-20
I’ve tried looking for the answer to this question on your other blog forums without success. I was hoping you could help!
Pure Encapsulation offers two forms of Selenium: Citrate and Selenomethiamine.
Both forms, to my surprise, are derived from a fermented corn process. Understanding that pure Encapsulation is an allergy free brand and came recommended in your book, I am still curious if two things:
1. How do we know that we are consuming Selenium from a non-GMO product when nearly all of the worlds grain and corn have been modified?
2. Which form of Selenium do you recommend; citrate or selenomethiamine?
Thank You Dr. Wentz!
Erica – thank you for following this page. The corn used is non GMO. Any reactions from corn are generally caused by the proteins. Dextrose is not a portion and is used up in the fermentation process so there is very little chance it will cause any reactions even in those sensitive to corn. Here is an article you might find helpful.
NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES – SELENIUM
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/nutrient-depletions-in-hashimotos-part-i-selenium
Thank you so much for your awesome videos. They have changed my life!! I have stopped all hair coloring. I used to just highlight (foil) my hair and then these last two to three times I colored my hair. I have since stopped after watching your videos and reading your book. My hair dresser believes that highlighting would still be fine since the chemicals go on the foil and my hair not my scalp. Can you give me your thoughts. I like the body it gave me and I miss that but I don’t want to put my health at risk. Thank you so much!!
Nancy – thank you following this page. Determining our individual root causes and avoiding the triggers that worsen our auto immune disease is a personal journey for each of us. I can tell you that I had an auto immune flare after trying a very popular hypo allergenic brand of make up and I have the labs to prove it! Some of us are more sensitive than others. Here is an article you may find helpful. ARE YOU SACRIFICING YOUR HEALTH FOR EXTERNAL BEAUTY?
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/are-you-sacrificing-your-health-for-external-beauty
Hello Dr Wentz
I was diagnosed with Hashimotos three months ago in Nov 2017. I now know I’ve been having serious symptoms for three years, but feel that my thyroid problems go back to teenage life. I had mononucleosis at age 13 and was untreated.
I just purchased both your books and am reading the Root Cause.
I had blood work done 2 February and my TSH was 17.70 ng/uIU. This is the highest reading so far.
I’m feeling a little desperate. Over the past two years my readings have been all over the place.
I am interested in the medication which allows the recovery and repair of the thyroid, and is attacked by the antibodies instead of them attacking the thyroid.
What is the name of it and can my MD prescribe it?
Deborah – thank you for support and for reaching out. <3 Were you thinking of Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)? LDN is an immune modulator that can be used to prevent further damage to the thyroid while one is looking for their root cause or to rebalance the immune system when the root cause cannot be found. Root causes are different for different people but may include infections or food sensitivities that result in an immune imbalance. Appropriate levels of Vitamin D, full spectrum light exposure, food sensitivities all play a role in autoimmunity and need to be considered as well. It’s also best to work with a compounding pharmacy that can help you titrate your dose correctly. This article gives the full details:
LOW DOSE NALTREXONE AND HASHIMOTOS
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/low-dose-naltrexone-and-hashimotos
Here is an article you might find helpful.
COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT SUPPLEMENTS AND YOUR THYROID
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/common-questions-about-supplements-and-your-thyroid/
Pure Encapsulation offers two forms of Selenium: Citrate and Selenomethiamine.
You never answered the question “which of the two do you recommend and why?
Richard – thank you for reaching out. I recommend Selenium Methionine at 200-400 mcg per day. Selenium citrate is the inorganic variety. You may find this article interesting!
NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES – SELENIUM
https://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/nutrient-depletions-in-hashimotos-part-i-selenium
Thanks for your reply. I should have mentioned in my question to you which of the two do you recommend that could help prevent colorectal and prostate cancer, autoimmune deficiency, cognitive health and anti-inflamatory aid in senior years. My wife received 4 weeks of daily radiation therapy for gastric MALT lymphoma 3 years ago. She also is taking insulin 4 times a day for type 2 diabetes. Her hypothyroid med is .85 .
Family Dr. stopped her premarin hormones in 1995.
Our neighbors oncologiste/hematologist highly recommends taking 200 mcg of selenium daily but did not mention which of the two mentioned in my first question. Our oncologiste has interrupted her practise for 2 years of further studies of the profession.
Richard – thank you so much for sharing your wife’s journey. I am so sorry to hear she is struggling with all of this. I am not able to advise on whether this supplement would be appropriate for her specific health needs without a comprehensive health assessment. 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://thyroidpharmacist.com/database-recommended-clinicians/
FIND A FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE CLINICIAN
https://ifm.org/find-a-practitioner/
http://www.thyroidpharmacistconsulting.com/recommended-compounding-pharmacies.html