Achieving Thyroid Balance with Natural Remedies and Nutrition

The magazine For Women First (April 8 2013) includes an article called "Escape the yeast-thyroid fat trap!" and is VERY informative. It discusses how yeast is the cause of a sluggish thyroid (which I suspected) and how to overcome it with seaweed foods available at Amazon. It says seaweed lowers fat absorption by 75%!!! This is great news!

Thank you Lou from Tyler, TX for the info about "Escape the yeast-thyroid fat trap" - I don't have access to the magazine but when I did an Internet search, a PDF version showed up. Very interesting! I'm going to the health food store today to check out seaweed products. Cheers, Bess

There are several good thyroid websites, if you join the forums and post your results, somebody will interpret them for you. My numbers never matched my symptoms.. The "doctors and specialists" didn't know what to do with me.

Good site to help you interperate your thyroid test results: http://www.westonaprice.org/metabolic-disorders/low-metabolic-energy-therapies

Hi Laura, Peanuts are on some lists as a goitrogen food, although it is said that if these foods are cooked they loose it. Peanut butter is usually hydrogenated so it is not good unless it is the non-hydrogenated version. If your symptoms are getting worse when you eat it then I would not have it as a regular food and have it as a treat food. I do not know what is used to kill or prevent molds from forming on the peanuts but maybe (and I stress maybe) the chemical/s that are used are displacing your iodine. So it would be worth looking at supplementing with some iodine if you are not already. All the best.

Hi Laura, I remember reading about this before that peanut butter contains goitrogens which can slow the thyroid down. Cooking goitrogen foods like soy and cruciferous vegetables (e. G. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc) is said to remove most of the goitrogen effects. Are you eating raw peanut butter or peanut butter made from roasted peanuts? Roasted nuts should have very little goitrogens. Of course, some people can be more sensitive than others. Is it organic peanut butter? Non-organic has a lot of pesticides that can affect people too. Have you considered almond butter?

Levothyroxin is not a good drug. It is also not usual to increase a dose that much that quickly. I would certainly want to know why the doctor is suggesting that large of an increase. levothyroxin has a lot of problem with the time release not working well. Meaning that you get surges of the medication rather than a slow dose throughout the day. A lot of generic drugs have problems with the time release element of the medication. I would ask to be placed on synthroid, the trademark med, if your insurance carries it and you can afford it. The doctor can write out a prescription to state that you cannot take generic if your insurance requires that. Good luck.

I recently started having thyroid problems couldn't take synthetic hormones. I had to start armour thyroid and now my left gland is swollen and hurts.

Was wondering if you found out oil pulling had anything to do with swollen thyroid. I have been oil pulling for about 3 weeks and noticed a swollen thyroid. Blood test for thyroid came out normal. Had an ultrasound today but will not find out results until next week. Thanks

Hi Tiamat, I have no experience with UT but have been on over 200 mcg of Levothyroxine or Synthroid for several years; at one time, I decided to stop taking it and felt fantastic for about a week..... When I started feeling bad and began the meds again, it took a couple of weeks to feel better. You and your son, Please be careful.

Thanks Linda, I'm going to get my son retested in about a week. I'm back on my full dose and also trying bentonite clay with the UT. We shall see what happens.

I am interested in what you drink for the thyroid, what is UT?? I know it's been yrs since you posted, and wonder if you still drink this hardcore? And how is your thyroid doing by now? TIA! Blessings!

I'm not Joyce but I hope you don't mind the reply. May I ask what meds you're taking? I've read that too much thyroid hormone can cause a rash.

Have you been checked for thyroid antibodies? With the rash and the spots, it might be a good idea to get those tested. TPOAb and TgAB are the tests you'd want.

Hi T: Thks for responding to my query. To answer yr question, I am currently on T3 (5mcg) and T4 (16mcg). I usually get these from a compounding pharmacy and my pharmacist says that they are plant based. He also did mention that it is a very small dose. Thats why I didn't think it might be too much meds. As for the antibodies test I had those and it was elevated but very slightly. Its been about 3 months since my diagnosis so I am kind of new to this. Any advice would be helpful.

To Ann from Dothan, Al.

Hello Ann, Sorry you are having those palpitation problems, but start paying attention to what you are eating or drinking within a few hours of them starting. Our processed foods are heavily laden with monosodium glutamate and aspartame, both excitotoxins known to cause palpitatations, panic attacks, mood swings, seizures,brain tumors, brain cancers, parkinsons disease, alzherimers disease, Lou Gehrigs disease, among other things.

Magnesium is another mineral that has a lot to do with blood pressure & heart rate control. To build yours up, start taking about 500 mgm 2/day orally, but I would also be putting a cup of epsom salts in my bath water daily to bring it up without flushing it right through
the GI tract, thanks to its laxative properties.

That lugol's should help on the low thyroid, but so would a kelp supplement. Another thing your thyroid needs to operate properly is a good supply of the B complex vitamins. Get you a good B l00 complex to take daily or even better get a good stress tablet (Bcomplex + vitamins C & E) and take one at meal time & bedtime. This should give that thyroid what it needs to function properly.

To get an idea of your MSG/aspartame intake go to that page in EC & print out the list of names they hide MSG under, Take that into your kitchen and start reading ingredients list on everything in there that goes into your GI tract. I'll bet if you tossed out everything containing either or both, you wouldn't have much left in there, because it is hard to find any broth, bouillon, sauce, salad dressing, ketchup, or even raw meats without those natural flavors, natural flavorings, hydrolyzed plant proteins, or lately just (pea, corn, soy, etc) plant proteins.

I'm sorry I have no input on the supplements you mentioned, but I would strongly suggest blood testing for TPO and antithyroglobulin antibodies. Having symptoms of both hyper- and hypothyroidism could mean Hashimoto's, an autoimmune disorder in which your own system attacks the thyroid. Elevated antibodies are a good indicator of Hashimoto's. Unfortunately, when you have doctors already ignorant of thyroid disease, they're likely going to be even worse when it comes to Hashimoto's. For the longest time I figured I couldn't have thyroid disease as I am not overweight (everything I had heard seemed to mention weight problems for thyroid patients) and I had symptoms of both hyper and hypo, which I didn't know could be possible. It was only when I finally became devastatingly ill that I started researching and began realizing what was going on. After being brushed off despite dozens of symptoms and family history of thyroid disease, I got my own blood work done and diagnosed myself. It took over $2000 out of my pocket to get the quacks to give me an $11 bottle of medicine I had told/shown them I needed from the start. Ridiculous!!

Many doctors are appallingly ignorant of thyroid disease (a good read around thyroid forums will show you just how epidemic, entrenched, and damaging that ignorance is). My own struggle with this is how I became interested in natural medicine in the first place. It's what made me realize what uncaring, arrogant, ignorant moneysuckers too many in the medical profession are. Not all are that way, but sadly I haven't seemed to find one of the good ones for myself as yet.

My synthetic med (Levoxyl) has helped some, but I am still nowhere near up to par despite adding in excellent dietary changes and vitamins, etc. I'd like to try Armour natural thyroid medication, but they just won't listen (apparently quite the big pharma influence there; they have absolutely no other reason not to let me try it). Your quality of life means nothing to them; in fact, any problems you have after they medicate you their way must all be "in your head". As you found, that one single lab number (TSH) is the entire picture as far as they are concerned. Nothing could be further from the truth. Thyroid problems can be highly complex and are not "one size fits all" by a long shot. Do some research around the web as it's just too big a topic to really cover here, but the bottom line is get tested for those antibodies and see if you do have Hashi's - and if they won't test, there are online labs where you can order them for yourself, as I did. You should also have Free T3 and Free T4 tested. Take those results in with some good research backing you up and insist on proper treatment. Don't take their word for what is 'normal'; check it out for yourself. Thank God we have the internet to learn for ourselves and share information. You will find thyroid forums extremely helpful, and you might be able to get a recommendation at some for a good doc in your area.

I supplement with calcium/magnesium/D3, and also selenium (I take 100 mcg a day). Selenium supports the thyroid. Magnesium may help with the palpitations (seems to be helping with mine). Make sure you're getting adequate potassium intake; this too will affect the heart. Taking organic unrefined coconut oil (work up slowly to a few spoons a day - see other posts here on that) may also help the thyroid from what I've been reading. I am still looking into iodine and have not tried that yet. As you're having blood pressure problems, be sure to monitor that closely as you try things.

I wish you the very best of luck, and please let us know how it goes!

A friend of mine used to eat bananas when they felt there heart acting up. She would also eat one if she ran out of meds before she could buy more. I would try a banana once a day and see if that helps. I think it is the potassium in them that effects the heart, but not too much to damage it.

I've had palpitations off and on for as long as I could remember, but last summer they started happening all day long.

After awhile I started worrying and did some research on the web. What I found was that magnesium deficiency could cause them, so I went out and bought a bottle of Natural Calm Magnesium Citrate that you take at night dissolved in hot water.

The effects were immediate, not only did I fall asleep faster that night, the next day the palpitations were gone. I believe there is some magnesium in ACV and that's why it had a positive effect for you.

The thyroid and the adrenals work hand in hand, all of the endrocrine glands do. They are like dominoes, if one has trouble, others follow suit. I have adrenal fatigue and thyroid resistance and in my research it was said that magnesium was vital to the recovery of adrenal fatigue, as is vitamin C.

I had a tubal ligation, (tubes tied) and that's when a lot of my problems started. The reduced blood flow to the ovaries cause then to shrivel and all but die. The adrenals have to do the work of producing a lot of my female hormones that the ovaries just couldn't handle anymore. This is talked about on the web too. I want to say it's called tubal ligation syndrome but I'm not 100% on that. That plus chronic sinus infections and a very stressful life living with an abusive ex husband was a further drain on my adrenal glands resulting in adrenal fatigue.

For about 100 years Dr.'s used to treat adrenal fatigue with much success using vitamins, mineral, herbs, glandulars, rest and lifestyle changes. At some point, they stopped even teaching about this once cortisone was developed and the result is Dr.'s out there that don't even know this ailment exists or how to treat it. They don't go by symptoms, they go by tests and all they know to test for is the two extremes on the scale, Cushing's disease and Addison's disease, leaving nothing to diagnose in between.

Check out www.adrenalfatigue.org for more information and remedies for this ailment. The book sold on this website and in stores is an excellent source of information.

If you cannot find a Naturopath in your area, often an Environmental Physician will know about the disorder. Some of them know what to do about the thyroid as well.

I also supplement with Lugol's Iodine, kelp or bladderwrack capsules for my thyroid, when I remember that is.

Blessings and goodluck!

I appreciate everyone's input on my problem with thyroid and heart palpations, I am going to try some of these suggestions. I have actually started, I will keep you up to date. I did go back for another blood test and my thyroid had dropped from 9.11 to 8.13, I tried to talk to the doc about my concerns, I wanted to try armour thyroid, he would not listen he just upped my mcg of synthroid, which I can't take because it makes me shake all over.. I told my cardiologist and he said that I need to make the doc listen or see someone else. My cardiologist just ran another eco-cardiogram and a stress test, I am waiting on results. I am trying to find a medical/naturopathic doc that I can see. None in my area in a 5 mile radious. still looking though. I am not sure which part of my home remedies that made my TSH drop down to the 8.13 so I am going to keep doing what I am doing and add some of your suggestions. I will keep you all posted.

Dianna from Austin, TX said she took VCO for her thyroid. I was wondering what is VCO?? Thanks Ann from Dothan, AL

I see a lot of people using Armour Thyroid. Armour changed their 'recipe' a while back and although it works in the beginning, subsequent use brings back all of the same symptoms. Read on website 'Stop the Thyroid Madness' and see all the alternative natural desicated thyroid prescriptions that work. They list the ingredients and what people prefer. Just good luck on getting the doctors to listen to you when you bring up something other than Armour--if they are even open to that.

Hi Neelam and EC, I agree with you: they don't have to take out your thyroid, or irradiate you. That is just silly. I mean unless you have an excessively serious form of it. Removing the thyroid to treat Graves' disease is like punishing the victim. Graves' is a disease where the immune system is working too hard, not an issue with the thyroid, really.

I was diagnosed with Graves' in Mar. 09 and was off work from then until Apr. '10 with hyperthyroid symptoms and adrenal fatigue symptoms. I am way way better now, thank God!

Adrenasense is a remedy that supports the adrenals. I take 4 capsules a day: 2 in the morning, and 2 at lunch. This has been a lifeline remedy for me! When I was off work there, for some of the time I could only stay awake one hour and then had to sleep 2 or 3 hours to get my energy back. When I started to take Adrenasense, I was gradually able to do more and more. When I went off it, my energy level went very low. I remember one day after I had run out a week before, it took me 1/2 and hour to walk very slowly across the park to the library becuase I had to stop and rest on 2 park benches and take a nap at a table in the library. That walk usually takes about 5 minutes. It took 2 weeks to get my previous energy back when I started back on the Adrenasense.

Also, a special diet from my naturopath helped immensely: no wheat, dairy, sugar, refined or processed things. Brown rice, freshly cooked veggies and meats. Organic as much as possible. No fruit for the first 2 weeks and then just a few, b/c of the sugar. I felt sooo good on this. I went off it, to go to my cousin's wedding and will get back on later I hope!

I took Tapazole for a long time, and a beta blocker for my heart, which I was very very happy to get off of. I work half time now, and am just tweaking my intake of remedies. I take a motherwort tincture, which you can get, straight, from Wild Woman Herbals, or other companies. And another one from Genestra Brands, Motherwort Combination #3, which my Naturopath had recommended. These helped me a lot! I'm going to try EVCO now, because it sounds promising!

I was on Tapazole for 2 years, down to 1 pill a day from the initial 4, but then stopped it to see how I would do, in January. My levels went up above normal again, even on the motherwort. But not very far up and the only symptom I had was a bit of anxiety. Then I restarted the Tapazole and for some reason started getting palpitations, pain in my thyroid, and a sad, discouraged feeling, which I think is my thyroid reacting to being suppressed. Anyway, I told my doctor about the heart and pain issues and so now I'll stop the Tapazole for a bit, at least, and try the coconut oil and other things.

Now I want to try meditation, really, truly. Before I did it sort of, but now that I am off Tapazole again, I see this is a great opportunity to try connecting with my thyroid and becoming one with it, seeing things from its perspective and then encouraging it to make less hormone, and to feel safe in my body. I do this, connecting to God, asking for God's guidance, and other healing guides. If you want to know how to get into that, you can write to me. My Dad's meditation manual, The Prayer of Silence, will be published in a couple of months, if you want to look at that, too. He discusses basic silence, and advanced inner work in the silence, and how he used meditation to heal his broken back and heal himself from encephalitis, with God's help and also Jesus' inner guidance.

These are some things I suggest. Best wishes!

Oh, have any of you tried THYROSOOTHE? It is a remedy made by a company... It is 37$ on sale! Plus 10 bucks shipping. Is it worth it? The Genestra motherwort combo 3 that I've been taking is only 16$. Can anyone give feedback re. Thyrosoothe? Thank you! Rachel

How did you use the hydrogen peroxide to help your thyroid?