Natural Hypothyroid Suggestions

From your profile...."I am a mom of 3 little girls. I am a newlywed. And, I work 4 jobs. To say I am a busy person is an understatement." Are you sure its hypothyroidism? I suffer from hypothyroidism and take 300 mcg of synthroid a day.

I tried a lot of the "natural" fixes, the right diets, the motivation for my thyroid also. None of them worked very well if at all.
I am on medication for mine now and it is still a struggle. I wish you luck with yours, but please try to get to a doctor if you
can soon, the thyroid is nothing to mess with, it has control over a lot of functions in your body. Try googling the womans day
thyroid diet, that was one that I did for a while and it was easy and seemed to work for a bit.

Good Luck.

Um, I'd like to know that too. But the only way to be sure is to see a doctor. I am on levothyroxine fo rmy hypothyroidism, and the prescription is very inexpensive. Also, a lot of medical centers and organizations are willing to work out a billing situation with people who don't have the money. My hubby works for one!

what are your symptoms?

I would *really* try to find a low cost doc to check it out-- look for health fairs in your area, because they often do screenings there for little to no cost.

I take selenium for my thyroid, but that's <I>as directed by my doctor</I>. I really wouldn't recommend going this alone.

The pills are inexpensive and they could save your life. There are a lot of clinics that have flat fees per visit and are reasonably priced if you don't have insurance.

If you live on city water services then you likely have water treated with chlorine. (Even some wells are treated with chlorine). Chlorine inhibits the thyroid from working properly. You may consider switching to distilled drinking water. Also, your body requires iodine which can be found in iodized salt. I have an issue with my thyroid and actually needed to increase medicine because I switched from iodized table salt to sea salt which does not have any additives. You can also visit the health store and find supplements in the form of kelp and seaweed. However, this can be pricey (that is why I am on the Levothyroxin script). You may want to check your local hospital lab and see if they offer any special prices for lab fairs. These do not require a prescription from a doctor and they will mail the results directly to your home. I paid $10 for mine in Florida. If your lab results are out of range then you would need to see a doctor for a prescription. I get the generic Levothyroxin for $10 for a 90 day supply. Sometimes doctors will allow you to haggle the cost of a visit when yodon't have insurance but this has to be done prior to the appointment. Most doctors do not receive the full payment from insurance companies that they bill for. They usually get about $50.

i have a friend who has hypothyroidism and she is a holistic all the way type of person! however, she has told me that there is no treatment that does not utilize a synthetic form of the thyroid hormone. although dr. visits are expensive, i know that my levothyroxin (typical rx for hypo) is a very cheap drug, $4/month, so realistically you'd only have to see the dr enough times to get the meds situated. absolutely consider this, you will be amazed at how much better, and more vital you feel when this is taken care of. take it from someone who knows it. the otc, non fda approved stuff is DANGEROUS! for yr own sake, don't do it ! <3 n-

If you're not completely sure that it's your thyroid, leave it be. Please. There are ways to mess with thyroid levels through supplements but without constant monitoring through bloodwork you can do serious damage.

You can do this safely:

Avoid any and all soy products. Check salad dressing for soy bean oil. No soy.

Use your muscles. Resistance training, light weights, heavy weights...doesn't matter. Just use them.

Be cautious with vitamins. Zinc, magnesium, potassium...it's so easy to throw your levels off with too much of these and a few others.

Let food be thy medicine. Pay insanely close attention to how you feel when you eat certain foods. You crash or get sluggish, drop it from your diet.

Rest. I know this is easier said than done. Try to treat yourself with kindness.

I've had hypothyroid disease since age 19. Mine came on with EXTREME fatigue and severe joint pain even in walking.

Medically, hyporthyroid disease is easy to treat but is nothing to ignore. It can can cause serious, serious health problems if left untreated. As someone said earlier, are you sure you have it? It goes way beyond just "not losing weight". If you are poor like me, saving money by cutting back on a few things won't take too much if you can find a cheaper alternative like a clinic to go to to get a blood test. It is one of the cheapest medications you can buy if you need it. You are jeopardizing your health if you seriously have symptoms but ignore them.

Here is a link to an interesting website all about the thyroid: http://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/thyroid/hypothyroidism-too-little-thyroid-hormone

Here are some of the symptoms:
Common Symptoms of Hypothyroidism
Below are major symptoms associated with hypothyroidism.

Fatigue
Weakness
Weight gain or difficulty losing weight (despite reduced food intake)
Coarse, dry hair and dry skin
Hair loss
Sensitivity to cold
Muscle cramps and aches
Constipation
Depression
Irritability
Memory loss
Abnormal menstrual cycles
Decreased libido
Slowed speech (severe cases)
Jaundice (severe cases)
Increase in tongue size (severe cases)

You don't have to encounter every one of these symptoms to be diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Every patient's experience with the disorder is different. While you may notice that your skin and hair have become dry and rough, another patient may be plagued more by fatigue and depression.

You could try getting blood tests on your own before spending money on a doctors visit. There is a web site called Healthcheckusa that has a good thryoid profile for $85.00 which you can order yourself. The hospital in my area offers a type of blood work panel that is common profile (cholesterol, kindey, liver, thyroid function) and includes a base thryoid test called TSH. The cost of that service is $30.00 which is the same as what our local public health fair provides.

If you are hypothyroid, there is a prescription medication that is considered more natural than the synthetic thyroid preparations. It is usually referred to as Armour thyroid but it can be challenging to find a doctor who will prescribe it.

Best of luck to getting some help.

There ARE certain foods that can slow down your thyroid. However, who knows how much? and without blood work there's no way to tell for sure if you have hypothyroidism or not.

Until you can see a doctor, do some google research. You'll find sources that will warn you about foods that can potentially slow down thyroid function (like broccoli, cauliflower, etc).

There are MANY things that copy hypothyroidism, that's why diagnosis is so important. My sister has ALL the symptoms I have with my hypothyroidism but she does not have hypothyroidism! Go figure eh? Her problem is stress and allergies.

Anyway. I'm sorry I can't tell you what you want to hear. The bottom line is, you need blood work to confirm your self diagnosis and then medication. That's the only thing that will really help a slow thyroid.

I follow Dr. Furhman (Eat to Live) and looked through his "Ask the Doctor" forums as I've always heard stuff about soy and even cruciferous veggies being bad for you. Below I've copied and pasted the "conversation" that I found between a website member and the doctors of dr.fuhrman.com These answers answered my own questions about whether I should be eating cruciferous veggies, too.

QUESTION:
I have a close friend whose mother is planning to make a dietary change to a nutritarian lifestyle, with whole, plant-based foods. She is overweight, pre-diabetic, addicted to sugar and refined carbohydrates, and suffers from hypothyroidism, for which she is taking Armour Thyroid Hormone (http://www.armourthyroid.com/cons_aboutArmour.aspx).

He is concerned about whether the dietary change will cause any thyroid problems or interact badly with the medication. My questions below are in the context of a whole foods, plant-based diet:

* Are there any foods that promote thyroid function, so that someone with hypothyroidism should eat more of them?
* Are there any foods that interfere with thyroid function, so that someone with hypothyroidism should eat less of them?
* Are there any symptoms she should look out for that would indicate her thyroid function has increased as a result of dietary change, meaning she should cut back on her medication?
* Are there any risks to making this dietary transition, based on her condition?

DOCTOR'S ANSWER:
Foods that support thyroid function include all of the foods in a nutritarian diet as well as some sea vegetables. Gluten sensitivity is a common cause of thyroid problems so eliminating gluten should be a consideration. Cruciferous vegetables have been implicated to cause thyroid problems but they have so many health benefits that the potential risk is negligible. Studies have shown no detrimental effect with whole soy foods like tofu, tempeh, edamame in moderate quantities. Avoid any processed foods, including soy processed foods. Supplements that support thyroid function include iodine, zinc, omega 3 fats and Vitamin D. You can review the supplement section for assistance on what to take. Regarding symptoms, she will know when she begins to feel better. The risks would arise from not adopting this diet style. This diet and other lifestyle changes are crucial in reducing her risks of diabetes, stroke, heart disease, dementia and cancer.

Just to be more accurate with the semantical choice of words. Cruciferous vegetables do NOT cause thyroid problems. They prevent thyroid problems lowering the risk of developing thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer. However, a very large amount of raw cruciferous could reduce may an iodine deficient person more likely to develop mild hypothyroidism, but this is almost never clinically relevant.

QUESTION:
My husband is on Synthroid for 4+ years. Since following ETL for 3 months and eating a lot of raw cruciferious as well as juicing raw cruciferious (about 20 oz per day) he recently had blood work and his doctor increased the Synthroid from 100 mcg/day to 112 mcg/day. Might this from the cruciferous intake or iodine deficiency? If he adds iodine supplement (kelp?) can he continue eating raw cruciferous?

ANSWER:
He should not be juicing 20 oz of raw cruciferous a day. One glass of juice per day max (8 oz and it should not be more than half greens.

QUESTION:
Okay, I'll let him know to restrict the juice. Can he still continue to eat salads with raw cruciferous and would an iodine supplement be beneficial?

ANSWER:
Yes, one more reason why I recommend the Gentle Care, cause the iodine is in there.
..................................................................

Back to me ~ In another post 1/5 tsp of kelp was advised to get iodine. I imagine this would be done by weighing it out rather than trying to figure out what the heck 1/5 tsp is! Less than 1/4 in any case!

You could research foods that help support thyroid function, but I am not recommending this. I went undiagnosed for a long time and my levels were really low. The doctors were surprised I was not in a coma. I really think you should put your health first and save some money for a consultation and an initial lab test. I bet you could find a clinic near you that has a sliding fee scale. Good luck!

Low levels would be hyper High levels mean hypo.

Just trying to keep clear information out there!

I would go to the doctor before trying to self-treat. I went to the doctor a while back and she was convinced that from all of my symptoms I had hypothyroidism and/or was low on any number of vitamins and minerals. She ran a ton of tests on me, up and down the bracket, and everything came back negative for any thyroid issues and I was about the recommended levels on every single vitamin and mineral test she did.

Mind you, we still don't know why I'm having the symptoms and the issues, but even after a second round of tests at a later time, just to make sure, it was all the same results. So if a doctor can misdiagnose based on external symptoms alone, I definitely wouldn't start self-treating on a self-diagnosis.