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Hypothyroidism, anyone?


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Happy Sunday All!

 

Just wondering if anyone out there has hypothyroidism?  I was diagnosed this week.  My TSH was 4.6 and the doctor said normal is 4.5, so he wanted to treat.  I'm not a big fan of medicine, so I decided to do some research.  All the journals say that women should really be under 2.0...so according to that, I'm WAY over.  This is my third Whole30 and I'm planning on doing a Whole180 to see if it helps my numbers.  I started today and forgot how much food prep is needed!  It's a good thing I love cooking!

 

Anyone else out there have success with being hypo and doing the Whole30??  I would love to have some support here!!!

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Hypothyroidism is a little different than other conditions like, say, high cholesterol. Taking medication for blood pressure, etc. is taking medication which is actually trying to change how your body works. Thyroid medication is more like a supplement in that you're taking something that your body can't or won't produce by itself. It is possible to improve your thyroid function through diet and lifestyle changes, but if your thyroid is shot then all of the Whole30-ing in the world won't be enough because your thyroid is no longer able to do its job.

 

Did the doctor also test your TPO antibodies to check for Hashimoto's?

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Honestly, I think you're smart to hold off on meds. I've struggled with hypothyroidism caused by head and neck radiation for 20 years. Doing Whole30 and working with a functional medicine practitioner has gotten me off my meds and feeling better than I have in years. There are many causes of hypothyroidism, and a depleted food system is one of them. That's not to say Whole30 alone will help your thyroid function. Do your research, don't panic, and best of luck!

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I had radioactive iodine treatment done 3 years ago for hyperthyroidism and I have regreted it ever since.

Last month my blood work showed my numbers were 9.6 and I felt horrible. My Dr upped my Armour Thyroid

but I still lacked energy. I had a friend tell me she took iodine and it helped her stay off medication. It would

not work for me since the treatment I had destroyed my thyroid completely. I can tell you I have noticed a HUGE

difference in my energy level since starting the Whole 30. I feel so much better !!

 

Good luck !

 

Lorilou 

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I have mild hypo, my TSH had been around 3-4 but my doctor at time time wouldn't treat it because the lab's reference range went up to 5.5 or something ridiculous. Eventually I went to another doctor who tested T3 and T4. T3 was slightly outside the reference range. T4 was within but at the bottom.

 

He decided to start me on a very low dose of levo (25 mcg) and I've been on it for almost four years now. My TSH went down to below 2 and I felt somewhat better. With Whole 30 I felt even better, and eventually my T3 and T4 did normalize as well.

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I am hypothyroid....well that is what the medical chart says. But my thyroid was removed around 15 years ago due to a large tumor thought to be cancer. 

 

About to start first Whole30 on Tuesday. Been gluten free for nearly 5 years. 

 

Full of autoimmune diseases--asthma, allergies, arthritis. Hoping to reduce joint pain, which was greatly improved with eliminating gluten but has gradually come back. If some weight falls off, that would be super too! 

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Hypothyroidism is a little different than other conditions like, say, high cholesterol. Taking medication for blood pressure, etc. is taking medication which is actually trying to change how your body works. Thyroid medication is more like a supplement in that you're taking something that your body can't or won't produce by itself. It is possible to improve your thyroid function through diet and lifestyle changes, but if your thyroid is shot then all of the Whole30-ing in the world won't be enough because your thyroid is no longer able to do its job.

 

Did the doctor also test your TPO antibodies to check for Hashimoto's?

All of this.

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Hi

 

I am a 61 year old, 5' 4" tall mum of four adult daughters and I am living in the North West of Ireland. I have just started another Whole30.  This is just another of many (and I intend to keep on going).  I have Hashimotos and an underactive Thyroid.  I have been taking medication for this condition for over 22 years.  Over the last 2 years I  adopted the Whole30 way of eating and included Dr. Sarah Ballantyne's autoimmune protocol recommendations for those with this condition.  I have lost 84 lbs and my medication for my thyroid condition has been reduced once so far - my TSH dropped to 0.36 during the two years, so actually I became overmedicated.   Also since adopting this way eating my cholesterol levels have dropped substantially - from 7.9 down to 4.6 ( just normal according to Irish test readings) and my allergic rhinitis symptoms have just about disappeared - so with my doctor's permission I was able to stop taking Singulaire -a pretty serious medication, and stop using nasonex, a steroid spray. My sleep patterns have improved dramatically, joint aches and pains have reduced substantially and my almost daily headaches are gone (provided I stick to the guidelines).  From the research I have done including reading 'It starts with food' and Sarah's 'The Paleo Approach', as well as,  taking part in all my previous Whole30s', I know I need to stay away from grains, gluten, dairy, sugar and several other foodstuffs  permanently. I am still in the healing process so I have made a commitment to myself I will not try any reintroductions this time for 90 days.  Needless to say I am delighted with my progress and I feel liberated after all the years of not knowing why I could not deal with my weight and health issues more positively.  I could not have gotten this far successfully without support and I find signing up for the daily Whole30 email  for each Whole30 helps me stay on track  and remain motivated when the going got tough.  I think it is important to get you doctor on board with you as you go so that you can address the need to deal with medication differently as you heal.  The best of luck with your journey.  Mitzymel

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That's fantastic, Mitzymel. I have hypothyroid and allergies, too, so it's wonderful to hear about all the improvements you've made to your health following the program. Your story is very motivating to me and I wish you the best of luck on your 90 days.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi there, I have Hashimoto's as well. This is my second attempt at a W30. I'm on day 24, started on 5/11. The first try last year, I was following the diet, but was indulging in a glass of wine on the weekends, then I just kind of drifted off plan. But I wound up losing about 6 lbs.and gained back about 3. This year, i've been fully compliant, but my energy is non existent. The bloating around my face has gone down, but still feeling thick around the middle. I don't feel as "lean" as I did last time, and I've yet to feel any tiger blood. I actually went to the doctor today to have blood drawn to see what my levels are. Gotta love Hashi's-just when you think you're ahead of the game, the game changes.

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Hi there, I have Hashimoto's as well. This is my second attempt at a W30. I'm on day 24, started on 5/11. The first try last year, I was following the diet, but was indulging in a glass of wine on the weekends, then I just kind of drifted off plan. But I wound up losing about 6 lbs.and gained back about 3. This year, i've been fully compliant, but my energy is non existent. The bloating around my face has gone down, but still feeling thick around the middle. I don't feel as "lean" as I did last time, and I've yet to feel any tiger blood. I actually went to the doctor today to have blood drawn to see what my levels are. Gotta love Hashi's-just when you think you're ahead of the game, the game changes.

 

If you want to post a few days' worth of meals, we may be able to help you pinpoint things you could tweak to help with the energy.

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I haven't read all the replies, so this might have already been answered.  I'm Hypo, have been for years and years. I take Armour thyroid, I had a horrid horrid reactoin to the synthetic meds (Synthroid and Cytomel).  I'm extremely active, as in backpacking and hiking (about 30 miles/week in the summertime) plus yoga, kayaking, biking, swimming, etc. I'm active a LOT, at least 5-6 days a week. Still, this stupid body of mine will NOT drop weight.

 

Here's where I'm going with this... In the last month I found out I'm ridiculously sensitive to these fun chemicals and additives called "endocrine disruptors" that are almost impossible to get away from.  BPA (in plastic bottles and many canned products, in the can itself), parabens, PEG-(insert number here), BHT and BHA in particular. These are found in 95% of all sunscreens in the U.S., virtually any common cosmetic you can buy off the shelf, lotions, potions, shampoo, conditioner, body oils, all brands of gum, and even many foods like Jennie-O turkey breaksfast sausage. I had a horrible reaction after using a new body oil, felt like I did when I was reacting to the attempted change to synthetic thyroid meds.

 

After doing some research about endocrine disruptors and how incredibly pervasive they are in our everyday lives, and after cutting those products out of my life as much as possible, I decided to take it a step further and do Whole30, to detox this poor body not only from lotions and potions with bad things in them, but from the inside out too, by eating only whole foods.  If weight loss is a side effect, I'll take it, but I'm not doing it for that. I'm doing it to feel good, to try to get what's left of my thyroid working well again.

 

You are definitely not alone in your thyroid troubles, and I'm hoping this Whole30 works well for both of us!

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Ahhhh! Okay so maybe I am not crazy then. I did my first Whole 30 in March of this year, lost 11 pounds without exercise and felt better than I had in a long time… then got married two days after it was over and went on a bad-food binge of epic proportions for a couple of weeks. Right after my wedding I went to the doctor to have a lip problem taken care of and I hadn't been to the doctor in about 6 years (minus the obgyn of course) so as a formality she took a blood test.

 

Well, I came back with Vitamin D levels at 1/6 of what the should be (30 is the ideal, 12 is low, I was at 5) and a TSH of 4.9. She put me on prescription strength Vitamin D supplements of 50,000 units that I am now taking twice a week, but insisted that my thyroid level was "fine." I wondered why she bothered to mention the thyroid at all until I did a little poking around on the internet and realized that 4.9 is NOT fine according to a lot of standards. Ever since then I've just been dutifully taking my Vitamin D pills and trying to figure out if this thyroid thing is something I should look into (as well as considering a second Whole 30 to get some of my energy back).

 

Sounds like I should, huh?

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softlysoaring - The AACE (American Association of Clinical Endorinology) changed the recommended TSH guidelines over 10 years ago - normal TSH should be between 0.5 and 2.5, but for some ridiculous reason most U.S. labs and "standard" doctors still go by the old range of 0.5 to 5.0.  There was a AACE press release in the 2000s that they put out stating this, but most mainstream doctors have never changed. I fell into the range where I was showing all the textbook symptoms of hypothyroid, but was considered "normal" by my family doctor because I was 4.something. I had ridiculously high thyroid autoantibodies too, but he just would not budge and would not prescribe the meds for me.

 

I ended up seeing a naturopathic doctor who was wiling to work with my symptoms, not just a number printed out on a lab sheet, and he started me on Armour thyroid.  WOW!!!!  The difference in how I felt was unbelievable.  It's worth checking out, and try to search for the AACE guidelines for TSH levels.

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Hi everyone,

 

I'm hoping maybe someone here can help me with my frustration.

 

I have Hashimoto's, have had it for years. I'm on Synthroid and my levels are fine. I'm not a huge fan of the medication, but I did a trial without it and my levels were insane. I've been working with a functional medicine doctor for about a year now, and have made a tons of progress with my hashi's symptoms, but my general overall story is no matter what I do, my body doesn't change. No weight loss, some muscle gain, but in general, it's like it's stuck.

 

I'm on Day 11 of my third Whole 30. I did my first in January, my second in May and now my third. I'm almost doing a Whole 60, but there was a day 31 in between May and June. Prior to January and when not doing Whole 30 I'm pretty strict paleo because of the Hashimoto's. I'm sensitive to all sorts of crap and just feel better when I don't eat certain things. However, despite all of the dietary restrictions, exercise, trying to keep stress in check, and sleeping well, my body just stays exactly the same. During this round, days 8-11 (right now) and during the same time during round 2 in May, days 8-12, I literally feel fatter, like I am gaining weight, and bloated a ridiculous amount. 

 

Any thoughts or ideas? Can anyone explain this? Or help shed some light?

 

Could it be possible that I'm not eating enough?

Are my hormones so whacked that my body just does not change?

Am I stressing out my body too much so the weight stays the same?

 

Side note - I'm by no means overweight, but have some extra weight around my midsection that I would like not to be there - purely out of wanting to look lean for the hard work I put forth for my health and fitness. I'm active and fit, I practice power yoga, strength train and walk/run at least 3 times per week in total. I work full time as a teacher and have two small children. Stress is definitely a factor, but my sleep is great.

 

Thank you in advance!

:) Jenny

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Jenny, I can truly empathize with you. I'm in a very similar boat. This probably isn't the answer you're looking for, but it sounds like your body doesn't need to change much in terms of composition. If you're able to be as active as you like and you're eating good food and overall feeling good, you may need to roll with it, give it time, and accept some of the body's mysteries.

If you're feeling midsection bloat, it could be an issue of digestion that will likely work itself out in time. You could talk to your functional medicine doc, who likely knows your body far better than well meaning internet strangers.

FWIW, I've been working with my functional medicine doc for two and a half years and my body is still changing and responding. It never happens as quickly as I'd like, and it requires more patience and faith than I ever thought I'd be capable of.

Hang in there!

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This stuff is not easy. One thing that we've learned over time is that people with thyroid issues do better with some starchy carb in the mix--try for that fist-sized portion at least once per day.

 

AND Yes, you may be underrating and overexercising. It is so easy to do and to do it thinking you are doing everything you possibly can to heal and improve your body composition at the same time, but in reality sometimes a more gentle touch is required: more nourishment, less movement, or more gentle movement. ease is what works.

 

NOTE: I don't know you Jenny, so I'm totally projecting here. Replace you with me in the sentences above for accuracy.

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Jenny - You just wrote my life story.  I'm so much the same it's scary!  I exercise 5-6 times a week, yoga, hiking, backpacking, biking, kayaking, elliptical in the wintertime.  In summer, I usually hike/backpack 25-30 miles a week.  And I can't drop ONE. SINGLE. POUND.  I also normally eat no grains when I'm not doing whole30, tons of fresh veggies and fruit, organic meats, healthy fats, etc.  I could stand to lose 25-30 pounds, but it just doesn't get off.

 

One thing to look into is "endocrine disruptors".  I'm super-ridiculously-sensitive to chemicals like BPA, BHT, BHA, parabens, phthalates, etc, that are all known to have an effect on hormones.  This stuff is in 95% of every sunscreen, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, body oil, and cosmitics, not to mention in a lot of foods (Jennie-O breakfast turkey sausage, right on the front label!) and every stick of gum in the U.S.  Even though your lab numbers could be perfect, all of these chemicals can affect your hormones in negative ways.

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Thank you LadyM, Missmary and doublemom. I appreciate all of your kinds words, truly. Patience is something I struggle with... I've been working so hard for so long. I have made a ton of symptom improvements all through nutrition alone, but I'm constantly asking myself is this as good as it gets? I know feeling good is definitely more important than looking good, and I don't look bad by any means, but come on body, can't you cooperate a little?

I have considered endocrine disruptors and have changed the majority of my products. Makeup is the last one I haven't completely switched over. I will research some more though.

It doesn't feel like I'm overexercising. 3 times a week? I actually feel like I could move more, but if my nutrition is spot on and I'm getting in some good workouts and nothing is changing, who knows what I need more or less of.

And to further complicate my story... I just learned this week after seeing the functional medicine doctor that I have a candida overgrowth! Lovely. Still wondering how in the heck that happened, especially since I've been Whole 30 for May and June, but it does explain the remaining fatigue, bloating and weird eczema on the back of my neck.

The doctor is putting me on an anti-fungal regimen, but now I'm researching candida diets. Feeling a little overwhelmed and unsure where to go food wise for July and August while I'm on the regimen.

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I'm not diagnosed but wanted to chime in on this thread. Almost a year ago, after having my 3rd child, I had a very sudden, very rapid weight gain followed with a lot of classic hypothyroid symptoms. My blood work (just TSH and Free T4) showed "normal" results so I was told I was fine and to keep doing what I'm doing. Fast forward 6 months and the weight is still coming on despite improved diet and increased activity (mostly walking). The Endo I saw claimed it's all probably just insulin resistance despite the blood work showing a completely normal A1C (not even borderline). My second round of thyroid labs included Free T3 which also registered as "normal" but everything I've researched says that my labs are far from optimal and likely point to a hypothyroid. Frustrated and not getting anywhere on the medical front, I joined a gym, hired a trainer and started the Whole30. I'm on Day 22 and suddenly my symptoms hit me like a brick wall (mind you, I was feeling pretty great for the first two weeks). I convinced my rheumatologist to order a slew of blood work to get a more comprehensive picture of what's going on. I'm curious to see if at the end of this Whole30 there is any improvement but considering how I feel right now, I'm worried that there won't be much difference.

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I'm not diagnosed but wanted to chime in on this thread. Almost a year ago, after having my 3rd child, I had a very sudden, very rapid weight gain followed with a lot of classic hypothyroid symptoms. My blood work (just TSH and Free T4) showed "normal" results so I was told I was fine and to keep doing what I'm doing. Fast forward 6 months and the weight is still coming on despite improved diet and increased activity (mostly walking). The Endo I saw claimed it's all probably just insulin resistance despite the blood work showing a completely normal A1C (not even borderline). My second round of thyroid labs included Free T3 which also registered as "normal" but everything I've researched says that my labs are far from optimal and likely point to a hypothyroid. Frustrated and not getting anywhere on the medical front, I joined a gym, hired a trainer and started the Whole30. I'm on Day 22 and suddenly my symptoms hit me like a brick wall (mind you, I was feeling pretty great for the first two weeks). I convinced my rheumatologist to order a slew of blood work to get a more comprehensive picture of what's going on. I'm curious to see if at the end of this Whole30 there is any improvement but considering how I feel right now, I'm worried that there won't be much difference.

Sue, you'll have to post your food so someone can eyeball it.  A few tweaks might really help you.  I'm curious what you've been eating, too. 

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