This article is part of a special report on Thyroid Disorders. To see a comprehensive eBook on thyroid health, click here.
An estimated 20 million Americans have some form of thyroid disease. Up to 60 percent of these people are unaware of their condition. One in eight women will develop a thyroid disorder during her lifetime. The number of people suffering from thyroid disorders continues to rise each year. (1)
Hypothyroidism is one of the most common thyroid disorders. It’s estimated that nearly 5 percent of Americans age 12 and up have hypothyroidism. (2) It is characterized by mental slowing, depression, dementia, weight gain, constipation, dry skin, hair loss, cold intolerance, hoarse voice, irregular menstruation, infertility, muscle stiffness and pain, and a wide range of other not-so-fun symptoms.
Every cell in the body has receptors for thyroid hormone. These hormones are responsible for the most basic aspects of body function, impacting all major systems of the body.
You can think of the thyroid as the central gear in a sophisticated engine. If that gear breaks, the entire engine goes down with it.
That’s why people with hypothyroidism experience everything from weight gain and depression to infertility, bone fractures and hair loss.
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One of the biggest challenges facing those with hypothyroidism is that the standard of care for thyroid disorders in both conventional and alternative medicine is hopelessly inadequate.
The dream of patients with thyroid disorders and the practitioners who treat them is to find that single substance that will magically reverse the course of the disease. For doctors, this is either synthetic or bio-identical thyroid hormone. For the alternative types, this is iodine.
Unfortunately, in the vast majority of cases neither approach is effective. Patients may get relief for a short period of time, but inevitably symptoms return or the disease progresses.
So what’s the problem? Why have replacement hormones and supplemental iodine been such dismal failures?
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Because Hypothyroidism Is Caused by an Autoimmune Disease
Studies show that 90 percent of people with hypothyroidism are producing antibodies to thyroid tissue. (3) This causes the immune system to attack and destroy the thyroid, which over time causes a decline in thyroid hormone levels.
This autoimmune form of hypothyroidism is called Hashimoto’s disease. Hashimoto’s is the most common autoimmune disorder in the United States. (4) While not all people with Hashimoto’s have hypothyroid symptoms, thyroid antibodies have been found to be a marker for future thyroid disease.
Most doctors know hypothyroidism is an autoimmune disease. But most patients don’t. The reason doctors don’t tell their patients is simple: it doesn’t affect their treatment plan.
But in the case of Hashimoto’s, the consequences—i.e. side effects and complications—of using immunosuppressive drugs are believed to outweigh the potential benefits. (Thanks to conventional medicine for a relative moment of sanity here.)
So the standard of care for a Hashimoto’s patient is to simply wait until the immune system has destroyed enough thyroid tissue to classify them as hypothyroid, and then give them thyroid hormone replacement. If they start to exhibit other symptoms commonly associated with their condition, like depression or insulin resistance, they’ll get additional drugs for those problems.
The obvious shortcoming of this approach is that it doesn’t address the underlying cause of the problem, which is the immune system attacking the thyroid gland. And if the underlying cause isn’t addressed, the treatment isn’t going to work very well—or for very long.
If you’re in a leaky rowboat, bailing water will only get you so far. If you want to stop the boat from sinking, you’ve got to plug the leaks.
Extending this metaphor to Hashimoto’s disease, thyroid hormones are like bailing water. They may be a necessary part of the treatment. But unless the immune dysregulation is addressed (plugging the leaks), whoever is in that boat will be fighting a losing battle to keep it from sinking.
Hashimoto’s often manifests as a “polyendocrine autoimmune pattern.” This means that in addition to having antibodies to thyroid tissue, it’s not uncommon for Hashimoto’s patients to have antibodies to other tissues or enzymes as well. The most common are transglutaminase (Celiac disease), the cerebellum (neurological disorders), intrinsic factor (pernicious anemia), glutamic acid decarboxylase (anxiety/panic attacks and late onset type 1 diabetes).
For more on how to balance the immune system and treat Hashimoto’s, check out this article.
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My husband is 77, still working full time and has had Parkinson’s symptoms for over 10 years. He isn’t on any Parkinson’s meds yet. He is on a lot of nutritional supplements and has had a favorable response to the Coconut Oil Diet. He is on 4.5 mg of LDN for about 1 year. Everything helps a little but then the disease continues to progress. He was recently started on 25 mcg of Synthroid for elevated TSH and low normal T4 and free T4. (One study showed Parkinson’s patients with untreated Hypothyroidism seem to have exacerbation of symptoms which get better when properly medicated. We are hoping that his increased tremor, fatigue and brachycardia will improve once his thyroid is better regulated.) He had been experiencing “flushing” the month before and this disappeared the first month (but no effect on tremor). Starting this second month he is flushing and feels hot from lunch to about 4 PM and getting up more often at night (usually 2, sometimes 3 times). I read recent research that suggested people have less symptoms taking Synthroid before bed rather than first things in the morning. Since he takes LDN before bed, do you know if the two could interact? Also, any known interaction with Melatonin which he also takes in the evening?
I had PIP implants and following removal and new implants 1 1/2 yrs ago I haven’t been feeling well physically I’ve been affected in my lymph glands and can feel the lumps of silicone in my neck and armpits, also been diagnosed with depressionrecently had my TSH levels amongst tests for my thyroid these were high, my doctor wants them repeated in a month then ? start treatment for hypothyroidism. Does anyone know if there could be a connection between my lymph glands being affectected and the risk of autoimmune disease therefore leading to hypothyroidism (complicated I know, my brains trying to work out things)
i had cancer and had a complete thyroidectomy and I am hypothyroid and I take 300 synthroid and I feel horrible I have severe sleep apnea I have edema in my legs real bad my body hurts I lose hair and so many other problems I have been to several doctors and no one seems to help me I cant lose weight and my thyroid changes all the time and low on vit d I have no energy and mental fog please help any suggestions
I haven’t had a thyroidectomy but am hypothyroid and I still felt like this even after taking synthroid. My doctor said it was just my age (65) and there was nothing more he could do!!! So, after investigating a bit online, I started a gluten-free diet and take vitamin D3 and I am now feeling so much better, I have much more energy, my legs no longer swell up as before and my arms have stopped hurting, maybe it could help you.
i have a question hashimotos autoimmune my ths is 150.00 and thyroid peroxidase is 1000 if it does not go down am on synthnoid 175 already ?
Hello,
Am I understanding correctly your expertise is Licensed Acupuncturist? Or did I miss something in your base information?
Thank you
Greetings,
I usually just read peoples suggestions on things to try. But I find I’ve exhausted almost every avenue with no luck.
Everyone is so desperate for help, me included. We would just like one pill, we take it, and everything is cured, and OK. If only that existed…
Well anyway, my biggest problem is that I’ve always felt “not fully conscious”. It is like I am going through life without living it. Its difficult to explain.
I have all the other associated symptoms also… Fatigue, droopy eyes, sun hurts my eyes etc etc…..
My TSH is 1.50 and free T4 is 14.7
I’m 22 and have been on the doctor rollercoaster since 13.
I’ve had these symptoms since childhood.
I decided to see a private endocrinologist 2 days ago, and his suggestion was that I exercise more!!!
Anyway, if you have some suggestions for me Chris, would be much appreciated.
Also if anyone relates to what I’m saying I’d be happy to hear from you also.
Hi,
I really hope that somebody fromthis web site will take few moments to read and to answer to my questions.
First of all, I am 27, I have TSH, T3 and T4 in the normal range (TSH is near the superior level, but still normal) and Anti-TPO level around 100 (max should be 34). Some doctors told me that I should already start taking diferent synthetic hormones and some that I should still wait until the hormones will not be any more in the range..when I was asking for causes, for diff thinks that I can do for decreasing AntiTPO, everybody was saying the well-known slogan: ‘ This is for live, you cannot do anything against it!’..
Reading more via Internet, since April I started a gluten free diet, but I would like more guidence here where I am leaving, in Austria.
If by any chance you can recomand me a doctor in Austria or if you can recomand me anything else (blood tests, books,etc.), please let me know here or via [email protected].
Thank you and kind regards,
Adriana
Hi I have hypothyroid as well as pcos and almost 50% of my hair are gone,I hv put on 20kg. In last five years now I hv decided to go to gym n work hard , I am taking eltroxcin125mcg and now I hv started taking thyro max support +cla+l-carnitine daily twice 2 tab each of them.am I doing right please help me I just want to reduce some weight and want my hair back as I am 25 yrs old female, not married and I have been suffering with this please guide what should I do. Pls help
According to Pubmed, l-carnitine interferes with thyroid.
Somewhere, I think on this site it indicated that T3 help prevent (restore?) hair loss. I had no hair on my body except head and eyebrows/eyelashes before T3. Noe a new endo M.D. stopped access even with normal blood levels so we’ll see what happens.
I was just told I have high thyroid antibodies and am guessing that I have Hashimoto’s. I have been 3 years off of a cold turkey from a 17 year stint with a benzodiazepine Klonopin. I have been through Hell with this drug withdrawal and recovery. I am slowly tapering Prozac. What I want to know is could the Benzo cold turkey and the Prozac taper be causing this raised antibody test and will my thyroid/body ever return to normal again…I did not have a thyroid problem before I went on either drug…or is this permanent damage…hoping you can help me figure this out. Thank you!
I’m only a senior in highschool, and I recently had been losing my hair, getting sick and gaining weight gradually even though my diet and exercise was the same. I also started to get tired during volleyball games and classes for no reason though I had a great nights sleep the night before. Then I suffered from severe constipation and had blood and urine samples taken to see what was wrong. My doctor told me I had hypothyroidism and prescribed medication, but I have yet to fill the prescription because I dont know what I should and shouldnt take. I decided to go home and research everything I could to figure out how to fix what was wrong with me. I started to double my exercise and decrease my food intake and still my metabolism seems to be slow. My hair is still falling out and my sleep schedule seems to be getting worse. I would like to know what medications I am supposed to take for my hypothyroidism so I can get back to feeling better and get back to playing volleyball.
Thanks
How do I find a doctor that will do the correct testing? My daughter has hashimoto and I have all the symptoms…loss of hair, dry skin, tiredness, weight gain and depression. My family dr did the normal blood test that came back negative and an endocrinologist won’t see me without a diagnosis. I know I have a thyroid problem. I am in Tampa,Fl. Can anyone recommend someone?
This is an excellent series on hypothyroidism. I’d like to add a possible cause of hypothyroidism to your list. I was born with a “lingual thyroid” and the gland is only partially developed. Tis was revealed in scans and tests when I was 14 but my thyroid levels were normal at the time. I am 36 now. About 7 years ago I was finally diagnosed with hypothyroidism (my TSH was measured at 12 a I was barely functioning!) and given synthroid which has been extremely successful in boosting my thyroid t3 and helping me live normally. I think this possibility should be examined especially for prematurely born people, as I understand that thyroid formation is one of the last functions during pregnancy.
Dear Dr Kresser
You have an amazingly informative website – Thank you.
I’m 29 years old, otherwise fit and healthy individual.
I have recently had blood tests from my GP revealing very high thyroid antibodies but euthyroid (my symptoms were that I felt my neck was swollen in the thyroid region). I would like some direction on what I should do next. I have been to see an endocrinologist who just said I have Hashimoto’s and to come back and see him when I am hypothyroid.
I am extremely health conscious and just feel helpless that I’m just supposed to wait until I have more symptoms as a result of my thyroid gland being completely destroyed!
Thank you in advance for any advice!
Firstly I would recommend that you go gluten free as this is recommended for Hashimoto, which is an auto-immune condition, where your immune system has gone crazy and is attacking your thyroid. Whether this will help your thyroid much I don’t know but it may stop you getting more complications. Depends really how much damage your immune system has already done to your thyroid.
When I was diagnosed with Hashi in 2009 my endocrinologist did not mention a GFdiet to me and even after medication I still had many problems which I was told were my age, I was then 62, In 2012 I had a bout of what I thought was IBS and also eczema and while looking for a solution I came across the GF recommendation. All I can say is it worked like magic for me and I haven’t felt so well for years, I am still on medication but I have been a year on 100mg and sometimes even only 75mg so it doesn’t seem to be advancing. I can’t help thinking that if I had known about gluten in 2009 maybe going GF then I could have avoided all the other problems, maybe my immune system could have righted itself at least partially, or maybe it still can whos to know but GF seems to me to be the right path. Maybe you should also change your endocrinologist if you can but I’ve found that it’s difficult to find one that has any interest in his/her patients welfare!
Hi Chris,
Is it possible that having chicken pox as an adult could trigger Hashimoto’s?
Hi Chris,
My thyroid antibodies have twice come back <1. So does that mean I'm positive for antibodies, even though they're low (maybe because I'm gluten free)? Does this mean Hashimoto's? My TSH is slightly elevated and I'm getting on Armour.
I have always had many alergies, sinus, skin, etc. Could this be a sign of autoimmune disease? In 2008, my hypothyroid was discovered. I went on synthroid 50, and it seemed to work (goiters run in my family). In 2009, my high parathyroid numbers were found to be very high (due to what I called bone pain). I had not had menepause but was already showing early osteroperosis. In 2011, My endocrinologist told me I had a vitamin D deficiency, and hashimoto in 2011. He told me to keep taking Vit D in high dose, and not to increase synthroid, and take randidine for gerd, but not to worry, my blood calcium was OK. I always thought I was cooking, and eating healthy, whole grains, rice, lots of milk, yogurt, olive oil, low fat, etc, but now I think that may have triggered my autoimmune disease, and it may be attacking my whole body. Vitamin D helps with bone pain, but my biggest concern is that I use to be a great multi tasker, and now my short term memory, and word recall is really affecting all of my skills, and I sleep very lightly.
Bone building also includes vit K2 and boron and silica so those may help along with magnesium.
Hi chris. Found your articles afew days ago. I hope you answer. My tsh was 2.5 and i have all the clinical signs of hypo. The past three yeats have been aweful. I often get headaches at the back of my head and they feel like my brain glitches like a messed up computer or like i go in and out of reality for split seconds when i feel swelling back there. Can hypothyroidism cause this? I wont be tested for antibodies until next week. But thr pain at the base of my head makes me wonder if its related. Thanks!!
Hi Chris,
Thank you so much for providing all the information!!!
I’d be very happy if you (or some of your readers) find some time to reply to my message.
I am 35 years old and am taking levothyroxine 75mcg for about ten years now, but I haven’t really felt a difference when taking it.
My TSH tests showed 0.68 (in 2010), 0.21 (in 2011) and 0.38 (in 2012) from a morning blood test without taking the medication. Free T4 was 0.9 (in 2012, not taken before).
Since 2009 I am experiencing fatigue, feeling exhausted, foggy brain, lethargy, depression, cold hands and feet & easily feeling cold in general, menstruational problems, back pain.
A saliva test showed very low progesterone which I treated with progesterone cream.
Parts of the menstruational and depression problems improved a lot.
Can you give me advice how to proceed from here?
Thanks again!!!
Helen
Helen,
This might be of interest;
Star Scientific Thyroiditis Data Published
First, preliminary results of the study, yet to be peer-reviewed and published, provide the most compelling evidence yet that Anatabloc is what I’ve said it is — the first effective therapy for endemic autoimmune disorders. While this study demonstrated the first-ever ability to reverse the course of thyroiditis, its importance is in its ability to treat or prevent autoimmune disorder, which plays a role in virtually all age-related diseases, including thyroiditis.
Second, the famously cautious Dr. Paul Ladenson, one of the top endocrinologists in the world, has gone on record saying, “Data from this rigorously conducted, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial show that anatabine-treated subjects had progressive decreases in circulating thyroglobulin antibody levels, which became significant by the end of the trial.”
Dr. Curtis Wright, Medical Director for Ross Creek Pharmaceuticals, said:
“It is remarkable that dietary supplementation is able to help lower the thyroid antibody activity. To see antibodies that may have been elevated for years beginning to come down in a significant way after three months of supplementation is exciting. Given the rate of decline over three months, it is quite reasonable to expect that the effect may continue with longer use, which has already been observed in individual cases. I look forward to following subjects over a longer period in order to establish how profound and clinically meaningful the effect is going to be. The thyroglobulin levels in some patients returned entirely to normal in this three-month study.”
They are talking about Anatabloc. I take it with good results.
You may benefit from changing your levothyroxine to natural dessicated thyroid. Also, for myself while the Progesterone cream did raise my levels in bloodwork, they didn’t make me feel any better. Once I switched to Oral Progesterone (Prometrium) I started feeling way better. Seems that even though you waste a lot of it as it goes through your liver to be metabolized, it seems to act more “slow release” that way and really improved my condition. that, plus natural dessicated thyroid, and now added some bi est estrogen, going gluten/grain free, and I’m way better than before. no more cold hands and feet. even my eyeballs and mouth were cold. not anymore!
I have hasimoto hypothyroidism and eventhough I am only in middle school I found it very informative… but I am wondering if this could cause anemia, and is it very rare in children under 14 years old. Thanks, UNICORN LOVER!!!
Erin,
Have your parents and your physician look into Anatabloc. A human study completed in January this year showed ‘significant’ results in ‘halting’ the progression of this disease.
Cards
Thanks for the suggestion.
Hi Dr Kesser,
I have been treated for Hashi since mid 1980s. I also had a pit tumor resected in 1985 (prolactinoma) and I wonder if that precipitated the Hashi. Have been on Synthroid since 1980s in gradually increasing doses. A couple of years my GP added Cytomel to my regimen. My doc doesn’t understand that I feel really bad when my TSH is super low…I think his feeling is the lower the better. I now take 200 mcg levothryoxine 1/2 tab M-F and 1 tab Sat & Sun. TSH stays between 1 and 3 which is okay. But I have lots of other auto immune symptoms that I never related to the thyroid issues….bloating, gas, fatigue, mental fog, sluggish, joint aching.
Thinking I need to look at the gluten issue. I am a South Beach diet person with limited carbs anyway, but have not restricted gluten per se. Feel better with less joint inflammation etc on SB phase 1, but again that is not necessarily gluten free.
What are you thoughts on this?
Thank you,
Linda
From my own experience with Hashi, diagnosed in 2009, and on synthetic thyroid meds, I had all the symptoms you have. After a bout of IBS symptoms last year I decided to try gluten free for this and, like magic, the IBS and all the other symptoms dissappeared, including severe migraines that I had had since I was 11 years old.
GF may be tiresome, all the checking food packet info and being careful when eating out, but it’s worth it, I feel so much better, now I feel human again, I hadn’t felt really well since the Hashi decended on me so obviosly going to stick with GF forever, I feel 50 again (I’m now 65) ! Not been diagnosed as I’m not willing to eat gluten again even to do the tests!