Underactive Thyroid

[RawMagnolia]

Hello,

I have always wondered, since I got into RAW foods last year, is it possible to heal an underactive thyroid? I have been to many sites... and no one mentions if it is possible... the conclusion I've come to is that perhaps you can get it to work better... but you'll probably never be "off" the meds.

Does anyone know if it's possible to heal and get off the meds?? Any articles to read? I know that RAW is very healing, and many ppl have healed themselves from soo many diseases that it makes me marvel that an underactive thyroid could be so very different.

Thanks!!
Sandra

[RowanC]

Do some onlin research on coconut oil and thyroid. There is a LOT of info out there. . . . . maybe buy the Coconut Oil Miracle book. He talks quite a bit about underactive thyroid in it.

[RawMagnolia]

Thanks Rowan... I do know about kelp, and sea veggies, and coconut oil being "helpful"... but I would love to know can a thyroid actually be fully healed?? I think I'll go track down that book now, and see what it's all about.

Thanks a bunch Rowan!!!
Sandra

[karenisraw]

RawMagnolia,

I will ask my raw vegan doctor when I go in for my initial cosultation with him in April. I will post his answer here.

k
:)

[solarliving]

The body is always renewing itself. It is my personal belief that the thyroid can heal if given the right conditions to do so.

[RawMagnolia]

Thanks Karenisraw... that would be fantastic!!!

[RowanC]

I once had a doctor tell me that once you have thyroid problems, you always have thyroid problems. I took thyroid med when I was a teen... stopped when I left home just because i was too busy having fun. In later years when these medical issues popped up, I asked for a test. The allopath said my thyroid "looked normal" and didn't give me meds.

I suspect there's more to it than that.

But as to your question, I personally feel that our bodies can heal themselves from just about anything, with enough persistence and intent and focus.

When pain is so bad that you cannot concentrate, then it's more difficult. But something like an inactive or underactive thyroid, I believe, can be healed with proper balanced diet, exercise, herbs, and lots of concentration -- maybe with pendulum or visualization.

Having said that, I'm still fighting a raging tendonitis. But honestly, I have NOT taken the time to concentrate on it like I should.

I use tuning forks also, for healing. I have many sets of Acutonics forks and find they work miracles with balancing the body's energies and vibrations.

[JMD]

I read SO very often that kelp and coconut oil assist in thyroid healing. Here is my dilema....waht do I do if I am allergic to coconut and sensitive to kelp...

Are there any other foods that can help??

Thanks...
JMD

[karenisraw]

JMD,

Oooohh. Dratz on the coconut oil and kelp sensitivities. They do wonders for me. Is it possible for you to introduce yourself to them slowly and maybe the sensitivities will go away? Otherwise, I am meeting with my RVD in April for this particular subject. My RVD said I may have a hormonal imbalance.

I have tried an herb called guggul. It is from india and has been used for thousands of years to treat underactive thyroid. When I tried this, my BM'
s increased and I no longer had constipation. I switched to kelp because it is cheaper.

Google "guggul" LOLOL...I did not intend that as a joke, it just came out that way.

k
:)

[RawMagnolia]

Karenisraw...

Which kelp do you buy... over the counter?? Which brand??

Thanks!
Sandra

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Yes,

You can get off your thyroid meds with eating all raw. I'm high raw and my meds have been cut back 5 times so far.

Here are some people who are no longer on their thyroid meds:

Jaime, who posts on a raw food board. She was on 180mg of Armour Thyroid. After one year of being 100% raw, she is totally off her meds.
http://www.shazzie.com/raw/transformation/jaime.shtml

Rose Lee Calabro – Hypothyroidism – raw foods only, off her meds
http://www.rawfood.com/calabro.html

Carlene – go down to Dec. 19th
http://ibeatobesity.com/CJJournal-Dec05.php

Igor Boutenko – Growth on thyroid – Graves disease (autoimmune)
http://www.consumerhealth.org/articles/display.cfm?ID=20030810073725
http://www.rawfamily.com

I have read other testimonies of people who no longer take thyroid meds; and I know when I'm 75% or more raw, my meds get cut back.

[karenisraw]

RawMagnolia,

Hi. The kelp I buy is "Nature's Way" brand. I bought it at Rainbow Foods for $6.99.

k
:) :)

[honeybee joy]

Helen of tennessee,

I have read on another raw board that someone said that if you are taking a synthetic form of thryoid medication that after awhile your thyroid stops working and then you are stuck taking it for life. They started me out on synthroid almost 3 years ago. Has anyone heard of that? Has anyone heard of a person's thyroid healing that was on a synthetic form of thryoid meds?

[juliebove]

I suppose that all depends on the cause of your underactive thyroid. The cause of mine was never found, although thyroid problems run on both sides of my family. My problem cropped up during pregnancy and while it was never given an official label, my Endo. called it a "roller coaster" thyroid since it could go either hyper or hypo.

After learning that soy can affect the thyroid, I made an effort to totally stop eating it in any form. I also limit goiterogenic foods such as Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Kale, Kohlrabi, Mustard, Rutabaga, and Turnips. I do eat some of these on occasion, but only in small amounts.

I've been totally off the thyroid meds for about 6 months now and my thyroid remains in normal range.

[juliebove]

I was on Synthroid until my insurance decided they would no longer cover it. Was then switched to Levoxyl. Was taking from 1999 until about 6 months ago. One or the other. For me, I think it was avoiding those foods that can cause thyroid problems.

Many years ago, I did eat a lot of soy. I ate Tiger's Milk bars, Veggie burgers, toasted soy nuts, and Edamme. Also used soy sauce on occasion. And paid no mind to soy that was in any prepared foods that I bought...although I didn't really eat a lot of prepared foods.

I then cut back on the amount I was eating, limiting myself to soy no more than twice a month. Apparently this wasn't enough. When my daughter was diagnosed with a soy allergy, I got rid of every speck of it and have had none since. That would be as of late June or early July of last year. About one month after that is when I was taken off the thyroid meds. So for me there seems to be a clear connection.

[Helen Of Tennessee]

I've been on either Synthroid and/or Levoyxl for a total of about 10 years. I currently take bothLevoxyl and Armour Thyroid.

Since going high raw, my meds have been cut back 5 times!!! So I really believe if I went all raw, I will be off all the meds.

I had a TSH of 40.
I had Hashimoto Thyroiditis so I was hyper then hypo.
I had a cold nodule (hot nodule never cancer, cold nodule 5% of cancer, I didn'thave cancer)
I had a goiter.
I still have Hypothyroidism, although my body is healing it.

I no longer have Hashimoto Thyroiditis, the cold nodule or the goiter. The meds were probably responsible for these changes, but I also know that my meds are being cut back as the more raw I eat and these other symptoms aren't returning so the raw foods seems to be doing their job.

[RawMagnolia]

Helen...

that is very inspiring!! I sure hope that I can get off mine. I've been on .1 mg of Eltroxin since the early 90's... so hopefully I can be free of them one day.

my doctor recently put me on iron pills... which I am taking faithfully... but I hope to be done with them soon as well... half way thru the pills now. But all the green leafies that I've been eating should do the trick nicely... and then I can finally give blood again ;)

Thanks for the links... will check them out now!!

Sandra

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Hi Sandra,

I took iron pills for a month. My figromyalgia and chronic fatigue came back. It took me a long time for me (okay my husband) to figure out that the iron was blocking my thyroid meds. Iron and Calcium does that to the thyroid meds (at least the Armour Thyroid), so make sure you don't take the iron pill too close to your thyroid meds, especially if you start finding you are getting symptoms back. I tried taking my12 hours from my thyroid meds and it didn't help, so I stopped the iron pills. Anyway, once I went high raw, my iron levels have improved :D I rarely ever get turned away from donating blood now.

Just wanted to mention this in case you are seeing more hypo symptons.

[RawMagnolia]

Helen... are you serious :eek: I actually HAVE been tired lately... perhaps that's why. I couldn't figure out why my tiredness wasn't abating with me eating almost all RAW.

I'm half way thru the pills... she gave me a 3 month script. Hmmm... wonder if I should just stop taking them... b/c I know that my eating better will get my iron up where it should be. Darn... I can't believe that she didn't even mention that it will interfere... darn doctors :mad:

Thanks for the warning!
Sandra

[luinla]

I had two periods in my life when I took synthetic thyroid- one was after a bad car accident at 20 and the other after a difficult 7 month work period out of the country at 25. Both times I took the meds for a period of time and then weened off of them, the first time not very successfully and the second so far so good. (I'm now 29, 25 lbs lighter than I was at 20, and on no medication at all.)

I do agree that it depends on what the cause of the problem is. Mine I think had to do with a combination of an overall endocrine system imbalance due to stress and its impact on my liver and adrenal glands. The symptom was hypothyroidism, but the real cause was stress and my adrenal gland's inability to process stress.

Two things that really helped me- I did not know about raw at the time:

1. Bikram Yoga- This form of yoga is fantastic for several reasons. Many of the poses focus on balancing the entire endocrine system which will clearly support the thyroid. Also, it is detoxing and cleansing so you begin to lose weight and build lean muscle which bumps up your metabolism and helps slow and/or reverse some of the symptoms of hypothyroidism. And finally, it's a great stress reliever that focuses on looking yourself in the eye and taking control over your own self-work which I think is very valuble in healing.

2. Trying alternative means of taking thyroid which for me was following the protocol for a wilson's thyroid diagnosis. http://www.wilsonssyndrome.com/ This is a controversial theory on thyroid treatment mostly followed by alternative minded docs. I had great success following the protocol and completely went off the meds.

My biggest problem with thyroid diagnoses is what is considered the "normal range". I got into it many times with my doctor when I felt the symptoms flaring up but my bloodwork did not corrolate. This was when I sought out alternative thyroid treatments like the Wilson's diagnosis.

Now that I'm on raw, I'm noticing that a lot of my symptoms such as chronic constipation and mood swings due to hypoglycemia can be controlled by my diet. Even though I was off the meds before, my quality of health is much improved by raw.

That's my two cents.

Lu

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Hi Sandra,

Here is Synthroids website:

http://www.synthroid.com/patientinfo/menu2_6.jsp?page=menu2&submenu=5

It says:

Drug and Food Interactions
Some medications and foods can interfere with the effectiveness of your thyroid medication or your overall treatment - these are called "drug and food interactions".

Make sure your doctor or healthcare provider has a complete list of all prescription medications, vitamins, or over-the-counter medications you are currently taking. In some cases, your condition or therapy may need additional monitoring. Your doctor may ask you to take your thyroid medication at a different time of the day, separately from some medications, to avoid potential interactions.


Nutritional Supplements
Calcium Carbonate
Ferrous Sulfate (Iron)

I also read this in my insert that came with my thyroid meds.

[juliebove]

Another thing I failed to mention is selenium. If you are not getting enough of that, you can have thyroid problems. Brazil nuts are one of the best sources of selenium. All you need is to eat a few of these each day. Here's more info.

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/selenium.asp

[honeybee joy]

Wow I totally forgot about the calcium thing. Silly me started taking my calicum & iron supplement in the afternoon, right before one of my afternoon thyroid meds. Wheeww. No wonder my gland has been swelling up. I also started taking a all around whole foods multi vitamin, until I started getting more of that stuff from raw. It does have iron in it.

I just bought some more vitamins, so do you think it should be ok to take the iron if it is like in the evening, away from my thyroid meds? If not I am going to return them and find a iron free kind.

What foods are high in iron?

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Hi Honey Bee,

All you can do is give it a try. Some doctors say not to take your iron or calcium within 4 hours of your thyroid meds, but like I mentioned, I took mine 12 hours away from my thyroid meds and it still blocked my thyroid meds, so I just quit them.

[juliebove]

I've been told that you need to wait at least 2 hours after taking iron or calcium to take a thyroid med. For this reason, I started taking all of my vitamins at night and when I did take the thyroid med, I took it first thing in the morning.

[RawMagnolia]

Wow... you guys have been immensely helpful... I cannot thank you enough!!!