Here’s a great story of a woman who put her Hashimoto’s into remission with a little help. It’s what is possible with persistence and faith. (Used with permission.)
“Dear Marc,
In September 2015, I went see my doctor because I noticed my feet were swelling, I had unexplained dizziness, extreme fatigue, anxiety and depression. I knew something was wrong but had no clue what was causing me to feel unwell.
I also had body pains for years but didn’t think it was related to my other symptoms. I’m currently 54 and up until last year, my previous doctor (he retired so I had to find a new doctor) used to tell me I was healthier than most of his 30 year old patients so I was shocked when I was told I have an autoimmune disease called Hashimoto’s.
I had never heard of such disease! My doctor basically said to me “You have Hashimoto’s and you need to be gluten free for the rest of your life, eventually your thyroid will be damaged and you’ll have to take thyroid medicine for the rest of your life”. That was it!
Needless to say, I was frustrated and stressed out because I was clueless about everything Hashimoto’s related!
I went home immediately started doing research and your site came up, I initiated contact and right away I started the supplements you recommended, AIP and I also enrolled in your 5 Element course. The course helped me to understand what the disease is and how it affects my being.
I also learned that food sensitivities may be causing my body pain. I went back to my doctor and told her about the plan you prescribed…her response was “oh”! I also gave her the list of test I wanted performed and she graciously gave me the orders. I am so grateful to have found your site and the education I was so desperately seeking!
By December my TPO antibodies were at 1200 (they had gone up 60 points from the previous test) but I diligently followed the plan to the letter. I was concerned because the number went up but all my body pains and symptoms had disappeared, I felt so much better!
Early April I had another set of test done and I could not believe the results, I read them over and over! My TPO antibodies were down to 112 in 4 months!!!! Now I know I’m on the right path and God willing my TPO will be 0 by the next test. I don’t believe I would be where I’m at today if it were not for your gracious passion for helping others like us!
I have lots of work ahead of me but now I have more confidence that I will resume life as it once was. Marc, I thank you so much with all my heart and soul! Thank you for the time you put into your videos, your guidance, teaching and caring. The journey continues for a lifetime!
My vitality is more valuable than the instant gratification I got from a cookie!
God Bless You!””
Ilda L.
California
Case Study: Anything Is Possible
This case was pretty severe, yet it turned out pretty well.
A 29 year old female who was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s postpartum.
She suffered from fatigue, brain fog and concentration problems, muscle aches and hip and shoulder pain. Also suffered mild depression and thinning hair and nails.
She had both Graves and Hashimoto’s antibodies elevated, high TSH (above 16 at one point). She fluctuated from hyper to hypo symptoms. She reported that these were “crazy cycles” for about 15 months.
She also could not tolerate thyroid replacement hormone at all. She had a very bad reaction to both Synthroid and Armour.
Further investigating revealed signs and symptoms of leaky gut, hypoglycemia and adrenal issues, and high homocysteine levels.
We put her on an Autoimmune Diet, treated her hypoglycemia by making sure she started the day with a good protein and fat combination and didn’t let her sugar crash throughout the day. She ate at regular intervals.
We also treated the leaky gut and worked on the adrenals and helped her adapt to stressors.
And we worked to aggressively reduce the systemic inflammation that’s was at the root of this.
After working together for 3 months, she felt considerable improvement.
She returned to her primary physician, reported what she had done and requested a follow up blood test.
This doctor initially refused because he said that it wasn’t possible that there could be any improvement with that type of treatment.
Diet and the adrenals didn’t matter, etc.
She insisted and finally he relented and ordered the tests. Everything came back within the normal range, (all the antibodies, the TSH and everything else).
She was, of course, elated. The doctor, not so much.
Here is an email she sent me:
“Hello Marc!
I know you didn’t ask me for an update, but everyone deserves praise every now and then:)
Well this is… (her name),…and if you remember you helped me about 18 months ago. I had horrible anti-bodies, leaky gut, adrenal problems, etc.
All of this came after a pregnancy.
Anyways, my thyroid antibodies have not come back, my gut feels amazing (unless I accidentally ingest gluten:)) and I assume my adrenals are working just fine!
In fact I’m pregnant again with my second, and my thyroid is looking good and I’m feeling amazing!!!
I owe this all to you!
So once again thank you so much, you literally changed my life, and keep the facebook posts coming, I love learning all I can about the latest updates!
Wishing you wisdom and happiness!”
A. Greenwood
Brekenridge Mo.
I’m not going to pretend this happens with everyone, nor do I deserve all the credit.
She deserves the credit for persevering, following the plan and believing that something else was possible.
There are also some really important takeaways here.
Firstly, the answer wasn’t just thyroid replacement hormone. This is the answer for some people, but not for everyone.
Especially post partum when things are really in flux and your body is adapting to a new normal.
And as we discussed yesterday, there are also fillers that may be problematic for some people.
This case also shows that sometimes the thyroid isn’t the direct cause of the problems.
Here it was was the inflammatory process, the adrenals and the immune system dysregulation.
It took some digging and detective work to look elsewhere for solutions, but there were pretty clear indications about where they were.
What’s also really encouraging about this is that the changes were sustained over more than a year.
That’s a very good sign.
So if you’re struggling and the solution that has been offered you isn’t working, then don’t be afraid to dig deeper and look for solutions in other systems of the body.
And, bottom line, there is always hope because anything is possible if you believe it to be so!
REAL STORIES FROM REAL PEOPLE:
WHAT’S YOUR STORY?
“I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, PCOS, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, and IBS/Leaky Gut Syndrome over three years ago.
I went from running 6 days a week and feeling healthy and full of energy. To slowly deteriorating and becoming more and more sick. I was prescribed five different medications.
I chose to only to be on the Levothyroxine, and even then, the side effects for me only compounded my symptoms.
I was at the lowest in my life, physically emotionally and mentally. The best way to describe it was that it felt like my body was “literally dying”. I felt like I had a “hangover” everyday.
I never felt “right”. I had fatigue and widespread body pain. I would get bad headaches at the base of my skull that included nose bleeds that at times, lasted several hours and would put me in the ER.
Eventually my symptoms went from being just physical. To also affecting me mentally and emotionally. Along with daily foggy brain and stroke like symptoms. I had severe anxiety and depression, along with irritability and outbursts of anger.
I was at a point in my life, that I had more bad days than good. I was so exhausted and beat up. I had lost all hope of ever getting my health, life and well being back. I felt lost. This disease had become my identity. And for me, that was humiliating.
I stumbled across Marc’s Facebook page and could relate with everything he posted. The more curious I got, the more I looked into what he had to say. I thought “What do I have to lose? I’ll order his book and video series and see if this gives me any answers”.
After receiving my copy of Marc’s book Roadmap To Remission in September 2015. My wonderfully supportive but equally frustrated and exhausted husband and I started eating the Paleo/AIP lifestyle right away.
I noticed after a few days. My symptoms were becoming less severe and less frequent. Now a few weeks into it, I still have not had any flare ups.
My energy is coming back. I am no longer having pain, depression, anxiety, heartburn or bowel problems. And I’m even sleeping better at night. And to my pleasant surprise.
The weight is just falling off (with having Hashimoto’s, that was something I had given up hope of ever happening). My husband has also lost weight and has more energy for his demanding career as an Engineer.
As Marc recommends. I am keeping a journal. I find that since I’m feeling so good now. It helps remind me “why” I started this , and helps me stay on track with the things that work and don’t work for me.
I never would have started down my path of healing without the tools necessary that Marc Ryan and his book has provided me. He personally told me that I need to embrace “change” and be willing to “learn” and to not stray from my new “lifestyle”.
I am now enjoying and embracing my new lease on life, one day at a time. I know this is a life long journey that I will be on. But for the first time in years, I am excited about living again and seeing what life has in store for me!
I’m so grateful to Marc Ryan and his book, Roadmap To Remission. He has provided me with the gift of “Hope” and the tools to “Help” me down my path of my “Healing”. TONIA BALL
Hey people!
Here’s a real story about the huge difference diet can make. This was submitted to us by Hillary Bergh, a contributor and recipe-author at furtherfood.com
“Throughout my childhood, I suffered from psoriasis, various skin issues, extreme fatigue, digestive distress, migraines, mood swings, thinning hair, weak nails, and had trouble regulating my body temperature. I saw multiple doctors before I was finally diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis in my teens. I was put on synthetic thyroid and estrogen hormones to manage my condition. While some of the symptoms were reduced, my skin and digestive issues became much worse.
They all told me food was not a factor
My general practitioner, my endocrinologist, and my dermatologist all continued to tell me food was not and could not be a factor–which was a relief. I wanted to believe them because food was my life. My parents owned restaurants, and I was passionate about cooking and wanted a career in food. When I was a teen, my mom did take me to see a naturopath, who suggested I eliminate wheat and gluten. I simply couldn’t do it back then; it was too hard.
I went on to fulfill my dreams of going to culinary school, then baking/pastry school, and then obtained my business degree. Yet, I continued to be plagued by my health issues. I saw various western trained doctors over the years, took medications, used creams – yet saw no improvement, and more often than not, my symptoms worsened.
Hit rock bottom, and started a strict elimination diet
I got so sick that I was forced to spend weeks in bed, and was having increasingly painful symptoms. Finally, a very good friend covered the cost for me to see an acupuncturist for six months, four times per week. I was put on a very strict elimination diet and drank 4oz of a horribly bitter tonic after every meal. Within two weeks, I saw results that exceeded my wildest dreams!
Getting better, reducing meds
As the six month mark approached, I noticed my nails getting stronger, my hair getting thicker, skin issues reducing, no headaches, and had increased energy. I was able to reintroduce many foods, reduce my thyroid dosage, and eliminate my estrogen dosage.
Finding my life’s purpose
Since then, I have received an integrative nutrition health coaching certificate and expanded my knowledge of food as healing. I have been able to combine this newfound knowledge with my culinary education and be a coach to others. It is my life’s purpose to be an example and inspiration to others who are suffering. My health journey is an ongoing adventure and now I can enjoy the ride!”
Awesome! Another great example of why we need to be our own advocates and why the right food choices should be the foundation of any treatment strategy.
The heart and cardiovascular system are sometimes profoundly impacted by Hashimoto’s. Here’s a case study of someone with some potentially serious heart issues who was able to turn their life around. (Used with permission)
Patient is a 75 year old female with Hashimoto’s who presented with cardiovascular symptoms including palpitations in the morning, an irregular heartbeat, constipation, sensitivity on her scalp and back of head, and red itchy eyes in the morning.
Laboratory testing revealed an elevated TSH, low T4, low T3 and free T3, high cholesterol, high homocysteine, and hypertension. Her cardiologist also had done a workup and it revealed Atrial fibrillation.
She had recently undergone chelation therapy due to her practitioner finding high levels of lead and pesticides in her body.
We worked to heal her gut and support her liver detoxification pathways. Gave her plenty of anti-inflammatories and glutathione. Got her on a strict Autoimmune Paleo diet.
In addition, we worked to improve thyroid hormone conversion and absorption and to get her TSH into normal range. We also supplemented with B vitamins to bring down the homocysteine levels.
Her is a real email she sent us 6 months later:
“I just came home from the cardiologist, got tested and received a clean bill of health. Yep, he said that everything with my heart is normal and I don’t need to come back! This, after continual Afibbs and suggestion of beta blockers, blood thinners and possible ablation (going into my heart to desensitize trigger tissue).
Marc, your course influenced me and gave me courage to walk your talk. I can’t thank you enough for your help in turning my life around.”
PS: I have found a new friend (I’m not kidding). The name is Hashimoto’s. It knows my body better than anything else. It guides me to healthy eating and healthy living. It is always beside me, watching over me. And when I stray, it gently pushes me onto the right path. But if I don’t listen – it has a strong voice – for my own good. What a pal. I’m blessed.”
Edith S. Maine
Again, we can’t promise these results to everyone, but Edith deserves the credit for following our plan, really following through and making the changes she needed to make.
She also was able to change her thinking about this disease and was actually able to see some blessing in it. That’s truly inspirational to me to see that someone at that age could be open to growing and changing.
Here is some additional commentary she added:
“So this is what I did:
Foremost I kept in mind the most important thing ( in my opinion) something you said in your webinar, don’t listen to test numbers, but listen to how you FEEL. Wow, to me that was big!
I felt that I did not want a disease label slapped on me! And for life?! No way! I’m going to get BALANCED! One organ at a time. My heart to me was most crucial. So I went to town. Yeah, I tried everything. If it didn’t work, I dismissed it.
All summer I worked on the Paleo diet. Triggers were eliminated. My brain cleared up, perhaps since I’m mashing in Rosemary into my sweet potatoes, as well as Tumeric every day.
My sore scalp disappeared when by accident I forgot all my vitamins. I had an overload of vitamins because I was getting them from the healthy (everything organic and colorful variety) foods.
I truly had to adjust my years of conditioning to think a certain way. My body was craving food every two hours. So I said, your desire is my command. I fed it ( only healthy, organic) on demand, no questions asked or contemplated . After a while it told me, enough already! And now I’m eating normal because I respect my body when it gives me a signal.
Seems like it enjoys ginger (freshly grated) tea about half an hour after I eat. So I keep a batch at hand (no plastic jars, only glass). I don’t take fish oil in capsules, felt an overload of swallowing the outer capsule. Take cod liver oil instead (with lemon flavor). Not bad. Also take a condensed berry extract (anthocyanin) and lecithin.”
Wow! Notice how she really learned to listen to her body and trust what she heard. Totally awesome!
My Personal Story
One of the responsibilities of a nurse is to educate patients about their medication(s) and to assess and monitor for symptoms of adverse reactions or side effects.
As a previous cardiac nurse, I’ve observed my share of medications that cause significant side effects, many of which were severe.
One of the reasons I became a holistic and integrative nurse in private practice was to help people discover how they could take care of their health, mind, body, spirit, and emotions through healthy lifestyle choices and eating real food.
My second reason is because after 8 long years of seeing several doctors, I was diagnosed with 3 autoimmune diseases: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, pernicious anemia, and celiac disease.
My only knowledge with respect to medication for use in autoimmune disease at that point was of immune system suppressants such as Remicade, prednisone, Imuran and others.
As a nurse, I knew I didn’t want those because they carry significant health risks. So I set up business not only to help my clients, but also to help myself in the process.
I decided to follow many of the suggestions commonly recommended by functional medicine practitioners today. I was tested for food sensitivities, underlying co-infections such as H. pylori, Epstein-Barr virus, Lyme disease, Yersinia entercolitica and Candida overgrowth. I was also tested for adrenal fatigue, vitamin deficiencies, and had the Genova gut health test.
I had eliminated gluten and dairy within one week of receiving my diagnoses simply because I knew they wreaked havoc on the system and their potential for inflammation.
I was pleased when my kidney filtration rate increased by 20 points after 60 days simply by eliminating these two proteins from my diet!
Fortunately, I did not have any underlying co-infections to deal with. I did have an adrenal fatigue issue. However, after approximately 9 months of commitment to lifestyle changes, healthy eating and reducing stress, my thyroid antibodies hadn’t really moved much.
I was devoted to an anti-inflammatory diet based on my test results, healing my gut, reducing stress, optimizing vitamin & mineral deficiencies, and balancing my hormones.
Although I felt slightly better, I hadn’t really lost the weight I’d expected, and I knew with an immune system that was still “confused” about what was my tissue and what was foreign was the perfect storm for additional autoimmune illnesses.
In the past, I’ve cared for patients in the clinical setting who struggled with multiple autoimmune diseases (some 8 and 9) and their daily quality of life was null. I knew I wanted to prevent this for myself.
Within 6 months I was experiencing what I believed to be MS-type symptoms and this scared me. My doctor made arrangements for me to see a specialist.
One day I was sharing my issues with another nurse and she asked me if I’d ever heard of low-dose naltrexone (LDN) and as I listened to her explain how it basically cured her father’s autoimmune illness, I knew I had to learn more.
To make a long story short, I researched LDN, gathered the information and presented it to my physician in a way I thought he would be open to listening…very methodical and with research to back up what I was saying.
We consulted with LDN literate pharmacists and both agreed I didn’t have anything to lose; however I didn’t start it immediately. I continued to work on healing my body an additional 9 months.
LDN has changed my life and I’ve seen it change others for the better…however, it is not a stand-alone treatment, and for autoimmune thyroid disease, there is a specific protocol to follow.
Today I am an independent autoimmune/thyroid wellness nurse consultant, certified nurse-nutritionist, holistic lifestyle & wellness coach and nurse educator. I am also a LDN nurse educator and love to share my knowledge with physicians and pharmacists on its use in a variety of autoimmune diseases.
What is LDN?
LDN modulates the immune system and has been shown to help patients with autoimmune disease, cancer, and other neurodegenerative disorders. It is relatively inexpensive and is available by prescription only and dispensed by a compounding pharmacy. I recommend LDN only be compounded by a LDN approved compounder.
It has been recognized that in many diseases the body may be lacking endorphins. The discovery of LDN is somewhat of a miracle, e.g. it is derived from naltrexone which has been available in generic forms for many years; however in low doses, it has been shown to modulate the immune system by blocking opiate receptors during sleep resulting in an increase of endorphins.
The therapeutic effect is believed to be achieved by increasing the body’s production of bea-endorphin and metenkephalin which are important regulators of the immune system.
These endorphins can increase circulating natural killer cells and lymphocyte-activated CD-8 cells, both of which are important to immunity. They also help regulate T-helper 1 and T-helper 2 (Th-1/Th-2, respectively) balance in the immune system.
(For more in depth look at how LDN works read Marc’s previous post.)
Many physicians are not familiar with LDN, or what they do know about it is very limited. Big Pharma does not have a vested interested in marketing a drug unless they can hold a patent on it. The patent for naltrexone expired a long time ago so it’s not profitable for them.
This means that their best-dressed sales reps will never be knocking on the doors of physicians-at-large to educate them on the miracle of LDN. Sadly, it’s simply never going to happen!
What they might know about LDN is limited to generic naltrexone in 50 mg doses which is used for alcohol, opiate withdrawal and heroin addiction.
That’s not what we’re talking about here, at all. LDN used for autoimmune disease including Hashimoto’s is not prescribed higher than 4.5 mg – and we start at a much lower dose than that before landing on a maintenance dose.
LDN and Autoimmune Disease
As previously stated, LDN is not a stand-alone treatment; however it is an amazing adjunct with the potential to trick the body into healing itself. The people who experience the most success with LDN are those who have optimized thyroid hormone levels, corrected nutrient deficiencies (especially iron, ferritin, vitamins D & B12, selenium, magnesium, zinc, and folate, etc.), healed their adrenals, eliminated infections such as Candida (Candida will block LDN), or Lyme, and healed leaky gut and low stomach acid if that was an issue.
SIDENOTE: Candida must be healed to a level within normal limits prior to starting LDN or it will not work.
When LDN is prescribed for a patient with Hashimoto’s, we start very low with the dose and slowly titrate over two months prior to a 6 month period of what we refer to as the modulating dose.
When a physician refers a patient to me who has LDN in mind as their ultimate goal, not only do I work with them on lifestyle changes to get their body ready, I also teach them how to monitor their vitals at home when starting LDN and educate them on what to watch out for and what to report, etc.
Depending on a patients progress (believe it or not, going hyper is a sign that LDN is working) they will be taught how to titrate down their thyroid hormone. One of the biggest mistakes we see patients (and physicians) making when a patient reports hyper symptoms is that they will abruptly discontinue LDN.
This is the wrong course of action…what is necessary however, is to titrate down slowly on thyroid hormone (and of course lab tests are done to validate this action).
LDN and Medication Concerns
Since LDN blocks opiate receptors, it cannot be taken with any narcotic medication. Naltrexone is a pure opioid antagonist and will block the action of narcotics. In other words, pain medication won’t work if you’re taking LDN.
I recently temporarily had to discontinue my LDN due to surgery and I knew that pain medication was going to be prescribed for a few days after the procedure.
LDN will not work if you are taking medications that suppress the immune system like prednisone or others. LDN is an immune system modulator and steroids suppress – both will antagonize the other and neither will work.
Examples of narcotic-based medications include morphine, Percocet, duragesic patch and any medication that contains codeine.
LDN and Potential Side Effects
The main side effects I’ve observed and experience personally are mild and usually disappear within two weeks while the immune system is responding to the blocking of opiate receptors. Most common are:
Again, these typically go away within two weeks of starting LDN and given the potential LDN offers, are well worth the effort.
Tips if you are Interested in LDN
This article focused on LDN for use in autoimmune thyroid disease. However, LDN is used successfully in a variety of autoimmune diseases as well as in cancer and Lyme disease. Given its potential, it’s very sad to me that drug companies aren’t interested.
LDN has changed my life! I now live a life full of vitality, and I have my body and my brain back. I’ve been in remission for 3 years as of this writing and I’m passionate about helping other women find this same level of healing…whether it be through natural lifestyle changes or LDN, my goal is to help them succeed.
To read more about my story, I invite you to read my eBook Hashimoto’s: Finding Joy in the Journey available on Amazon as a Kindle book and soon it will be available in paperback!
I invite you to also check out my Facebook page (Holistic Thyroid Care) and website for resources to help you live your best thyroid life!
Shannon Garrett, BS, RN, CHLC, CNN