The lab results weren't too shocking, though I really wish I was able to compare them some results from just a few months prior. My cholesterol was a bit higher than normal (for me anyway) at 150ish total - it's normally less than 120 and I've even been in the 90's at one point. Blood sugar levels normal. Even my blood pressure that day was close to normal (120/60), but a little higher than my typical reading (110/58). Doc said I was good to go and come back if anything came up.
So I was surprised when her nurse called me a couple days later saying my doctor had reviewed my chart again and saw that my thyroid results were high. She wants me to be retested in a few months and if they are still high, the recommended course of action is medication. Ugh. I HATE medicine. I asked if there was anything else I could do other than meds, but the nurse was clueless. She was absolutely no help in telling me what causes hyperthyroidism or natural ways to deal with it. I told her I would do some research and see if I could bring my levels down in the next few months.
Now, I'm hardly surprised this is the input the nurse or the doctor gave me. I mean, medical doctors in the U.S. don't know anything about nutrition unless they have a personal interest in it. I don't blame them; their schooling doesn't teach them nutrition. But it does make me frustrated with our healthcare system. I could go on and on right now about how I think the drug companies, lobbyists, FDA, the food industry and medical professions are all in cahoots with each other to keep themselves in business at the expense of the general populations well being, but I can save that for another blog. Bottom line is that if I want to feel better, I must do all of the research on my own and treat myself. Not a huge issue for me because I love to research and read. I just don't always have the time.
Before I talk about what I found to do about hyperthyroidism, I figure I'll take a second to explain it. I know when I heard my test results, all I could think was "I've heard of it, but what are the symptoms again? What makes it so bad?" and on and on. So here is a summary from Wikipedia:
Hyperthyroidism, often referred to as an 'overactive thyroid', is a condition in which the thyroid gland produces and secretes excessive amounts of the free (not protein bound, and circulating in the blood[1]) thyroid hormones, triiodothyronine (T3) and/or thyroxine (T4).
The classic symptoms are these:
Major clinical signs include weight loss (often accompanied by an increased appetite), anxiety, intolerance to heat, hair loss, muscle aches, weakness, fatigue, hyperactivity, irritability, hypoglycemia[citation needed], apathy,polyuria, polydipsia, delirium, tremor, pretibial myxedema, and sweating. [emphasis added]
I find this interesting because before I started eating Paleo, I had major hair loss (which I attributed to being a postpartum mom, though I never experienced the same kind of hair loss after my first two babies), and I also had many muscle aches, weakness, fatigue and irritability. Once I started eating Paleo, many of these symptoms improved significantly, especially the hair loss.
So what causes hyperthyroidism?
The major causes in humans are:
- Graves' disease. An autoimmune disease (usually, the most common etiology with 50-80% worldwide, although this varies substantially with location- i.e., 47% in Switzerland (Horst et al., 1987) to 90% in the USA (Hamburger et al. 1981)). Thought to be due to varying Iodine in the diet.[12]
- Toxic thyroid adenoma (the most common etiology in Switzerland, 53%, thought to be atypical due to a low level of dietary iodine in this country)[12]
- Toxic multinodular goitre
High blood levels of thyroid hormones (most accurately termed hyperthyroxinemia) can occur for a number of other reasons:
- Inflammation of the thyroid is called thyroiditis. There are several different kinds of thyroiditis including Hashimoto's thyroiditis (immune-mediated), and subacute thyroiditis (DeQuervain's). These may be initially associated with secretion of excess thyroid hormone, but usually progress to gland dysfunction and, thus, to hormone deficiency and hypothyroidism.
- Oral consumption of excess thyroid hormone tablets is possible (surreptitious use of thyroid hormone), as is the rare event of consumption of ground beef contaminated with thyroid tissue, and thus thyroid hormone (termed "hamburger hyperthyroidism").
- Amiodarone, an anti-arrhythmic drug, is structurally similar to thyroxine and may cause either under- or overactivity of the thyroid.
- Postpartum thyroiditis (PPT) occurs in about 7% of women during the year after they give birth. PPT typically has several phases, the first of which is hyperthyroidism. This form of hyperthyroidism usually corrects itself within weeks or months without the need for treatment.
- A struma ovarii is a rare form of monodermal teratoma that contains mostly thyroid tissue, which leads to hyperthyroidism.
Hypersecretion of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), which in turn is almost always caused by a pituitary adenoma, accounts for much less than 1 percent of hyperthyroidism cases.[13] [emphasis added]
Again, the causes are interesting because maybe this is a normal thing for my body to go through, seeing that 7% of postpartum moms deal with it. Phew! Maybe all will be well after all and I don't have to worry about the family history of hyperthyroidism.
Next step was to figure out how I can help my body correct itself without taking medication. I have three months to get there, which to me is plenty of time to make a difference!
I came across NaturalNews.com, which promotes natural ways to tackle health issues and read this on their page about hyperthyroidism:
.....
Dysbiosis is an overpopulation of antagonistic organisms in the gut that damage the intestinal wall allowing food particles to easily pass over and end up in the bloodstream. When undigested food particles are recognized by the immune system and tagged as foreign invaders in the body, the immune system then unleashes an assault of inflammation causing a systemic allergic reaction.
The most common food allergens to avoid include gluten containing grains such as wheat, barley, rye, oats, kamut, & spelt. Soy products, different nuts, eggs, and heavy proteins are often not tolerated well. Obviously all processed and man-made foods need to be avoided at all costs. Other common allergens include those of the nightshade family such as eggplant, tomatoes, & onions. Anyone with auto-immune reactions or excessive inflammation should get tested for food allergies or try an elimination diet to see if the conditions improve.
An anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle are critical for full recovery from these conditions. Anti-inflammatory foods help to modulate the immune system giving it a more accurate pair of eyes so as to not over-inflame when stimulated. To effectively de-inflame, it is key to completely avoid man-made foods, sugars, and food allergens as listed above. The long chain omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA powerfully de-inflame the body by restoring natural balance to the lipid wall of the cell membrane
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/031642_hyperthyroidism_hormones.html#ixzz2Q01U8e00. [emphasis added]
Ah-hah! The most common food allergens to avoid are things that are automatically eliminated in the Paleo Diet. And that bit before about having a leaky gut? Can relate to that too after being told I had IBS about 10 years ago (which, of course, was to be treated with prescribed medicine, but because I won't take medicine unless I'm on my death bed, I found a new diet that healed my gut so well I rarely ever have the same symptoms, even after eating the "bad" foods).
So I looked to my husband after reading this excerpt to him and told him to stop giving me grief about eating Paleo. (He believes it's too restrictive, but I will save that for another blogpost).
The author goes on to say that eating certain anti-inflammatory herbs like ginger and cinnamon, should be eating as much as possible (which happen to be AWWWE-SOMMMME in smoothies!!). And also, that about 20-30 minutes should be spent out in the sun each day to help the production of Vitamin D. That's not too hard, considering summer is around the corner and I much prefer to be out in the sun than stuck inside.
In the end, I won't have to think too hard about ways to reduce my hyperthyroidism because I've already made almost every single dietary change that is recommended. The new thing that I've decided to incorporate is regular exercise at the gym. I don't really like working out at the gym, and actually prefer to get my exercise in by doing yard work or manual labor (so much more to show for it at the end!). But, we don't really have any yard projects in the works because I did them all a few years ago, so I must get over my distaste of going to the gym and figure out a new routine to help me change my view. I started a ZUMBA class last week and hope to go once a week, and then the other days head to the gym to get in some cardio and weight lifting. I already have a goal to get into "short-wearing" shape by this summer so I can wear appropriate clothing (shorts and tennis shoes) while hoofing it around at Disney. Oh, and also so I'm not too ashamed to be seen in a swimsuit. So my motivation to exercise is there, two times over!
I'll keep you posted on my progress and the pending recheck later this summer!
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