How I healed my thyroid

For at least the last 10 years I’ve been on various medicines to manage my thyroid. I’ve had an underactive thyroid (Hypothyroidism) which meant it wasn’t doing its job properly. I was cold ALL the time, my hair fell out, I had irregular periods for my whole life and an absolutely hopeless memory. I also discovered in my 40’s that I had polycystic ovary syndrome. Tie all that in with peri-menopause and I had quite the combination of symptoms meaning it was difficult to figure out what on earth was going on with me and my body!

Packing on the weight

I really started panicking when my weight, which has ALWAYS been stable, started going up and up and up with no end in sight. By the time I had put on 8 kg’s over two years I was in a state of despair. I went to my Doctor who put me on synthroid. Then I went to a specialist to try and figure out what was happening with my sudden weight gain. After looking at my ultrasound scan, he diagnosed Polycistic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and put me on spironolactone, which is an antiandrogen (i.e. it blocks overactive male hormones like testosterone). It helped, but it didn’t take away all the symptoms. It just slowed the weight gain down.

An Integrated Doctor

Next I went to an integrated doctor who took a more holistic approach on things. She was great. She told me I was a complex case, took loads of blood tests and started trying to help me balance things out. She indicated that the ‘norm’ in a lot of blood tests wasn’t always accurate for individuals and that we needed to find what was right for me. She looked at the dryness of my skin, eyes, nose and other areas. She looked at the colour and health of my tongue. Discussed mood, libido, energy levels, brain function (or lack thereof - think foggy brain here!). In other words, she took a much broader approach than either of my other two (male) doctors.

She put me on whole thyroid which is a natural thyroid replacement and I stopped the synthroid. My body suddenly warmed up. I was no longer cold all the time and for someone who has been cold my whole life, this was just amazing! I looooved being on whole thyroid just for this fact alone. I realised that this was how other people were all the time - nice and warm!

She also eventually put me on estrogen cream and progesterone capsules. I used to look forward to taking my progesterone because I would sleep like a log. I was always ‘out for the count’ at night for the two weeks of my cycle that I took it. I could sleep through anything - it was fabulous! She also put me on DHEA to improve mood, memory and muscle strength, and Vitamin B12 to improve brain fog.

Do I need medication for life?

I took all these pills for years and it was great. I felt so much better in all areas. When we got the balance right, and it took quite a while of making minor adjustments to get it spot on, it stopped the sudden weight gain, brought things back to normal, reduced the hair loss (although that would come back from time to time) and generally brought me back to a better place within myself. I felt so much better and much more positive in myself.

But after 10 or so years of taking all these medications (which are pretty expensive) I began to wonder what the future held and how good it was for my body to really be taking all these medications year after year. And I kept hearing more and more about how our body can heal itself given the right opportunity to do so. I started watching things like the Heal documentary, listening to podcasts about health and wellbeing, and I began to understand that there were other ways to deal with all these issues.

Time to heal

I decided I’d like to see if I could come off all those medications and let my body heal itself but I wasn’t sure how to do this. Then I came across the book “Medical Medium: Thyroid Healing” by Anthony William. He indicated that all my problems (hypothyroidism, polycystic ovaries) were caused by the effects of the Epstein Barr virus and advocated healing through diet. The book explained what the Epstein Barr virus did, how it operated, and what effects it had on the body. He then talked through the foods that caused problems for my thyroid and those that would help. There were recipes and a diet programme to follow for three months.

After reading the book I thought “Why not? I have nothing to lose and everything to gain”. I have to admit that eliminating all the foods looked daunting and I wondered exactly how I would do it. I met resistance from the rest of the family because it would be awkward cooking for me and I would need certain organic fruits (blueberries are a big one!) which were seen as expensive. But the cost of my health to me far outweighed the cost of organic food, and also the medications were extremely pricey. If I could heal my thyroid I’d be saving my health and my pocket.

What had to go

So what did I have to eliminate from my diet? First up eggs needed to go, followed by dairy, gluten, soy, corn and pork. I swapped my milk products from dairy to plant based. I stopped eating eggs altogether. I started making my own, and very delicious, gluten free muesli. I cut out all bread and baking that contained gluten. I removed soy, corn and pork from my diet. And to be honest, I don’t actually miss them that much.

My intention was to do the diet for three months and then stop but I felt better while I was on the diet so I continued. My foggy brain cleared up. I could think again, and remember again. I had more energy. And it just wasn’t that hard once I got into the swing of it. I found alternatives for milk and butter. I have smoothies for lunch, rather than sandwiches. I pick meals that include what I can eat and leave out what I can’t. I’ve been on this diet for a little over a year now and just feel so much better in myself. And it’s really not that hard.

I dropped off my medications

Over time, and in conjunction with my integrated Doctor, who was fully supportive of my choice to heal through diet, I dropped off the medications one by one. At my last consult the blood tests showed that my thyroid was operating perfectly and all my other hormones were nicely balanced. I don’t need ANY expensive medications at all now. I’m so thrilled. I feel great and I’m actually really proud of myself for what I’ve achieved. We’re going to recheck all this in six months, just to be sure, but I’m pretty confident that all will continue to be well.

I’m starting to add in the odd sneaky little thing - like a little bit of feta in my salad occasionally, and I’ll continue to add things back in as I feel like it, but for now I’m going to maintain the majority of this diet simply because it makes me feel better. Maybe I’ll add in a sweet treat with my cup of tea in the afternoon, because that’s one thing I really have missed, but that might be it for now.

Your body can heal

So, I’m here to tell you that the body can and does heal itself as long as we give it the opportunity to do so and provide the right environment for it. If you’ve been on a health journey and find yourself taking more medications than you would like, maybe look at what else you could do to support your body to heal. As always, check with your Doctor first. I wouldn’t want you to cause more harm than good or stop medications that were essential to your health but I did want to let you know that sometimes we can heal ourselves just through what we eat.

Good health!

Karen