I can't say that this book was super amazing, but it was interesting. Mostly, I was confused by how this author recommended gradually adding back in iodine, but other natural-type practitioners recommend never ever taking iodine again (iodized salt, anyone?).
Part of the reason I was curious about this particular book is because Dr Haskell is one of those who believes that Hashimoto's can be 'reversed' and you don't have to take medication for life. Intriguing to me, to say the least. So, I gave it a try. Here's my summary and subsequent review. This will probably only be interesting for those who struggle with thyroid issues, but writing this helped me understand the info in the book. It's kind of a selfish blog post. :)
Introduction
*Even patients who hope to overcome Hashimoto's must start on some sort of synthetic hormone replacement. The medication will lower the body's levels of TSH, which is responsible for thyroid disease sufferers feeling crappy.
*When there's a lack of any nutrient the thyroid will struggle to make thyroid hormones and the pituitary will crank out more TSH, in the hopes (teehee) of encouraging the thyroid.
*This could lead to inflammation which, to sum up, is bad.
*We need Selenium to help reduce inflammation and protect our thyroid from the harmful effects of inflammation. Selenium deficiency has been associated with Hashimoto's.
*At least initially, someone with Hashimoto's should avoid iodine/iodide because it's believed that, thought necessary, iodine might actually raise TSH. The reason he gives for this increase is because TSH helps the body store iodine in tissues and so an initial increase in iodine will encourage the body to increase TSH in order to 'capture' the iodine.
Phase 1
*Goals of Phase 1 include lowering TSH to 1.0 or less, decreasing inflammation, getting the nutrients you need, and repairing thyroid damage.
*Eliminate iodine and iodide. It appears both a deficiency in iodine will increase TSH (since iodine is necessary to make thyroid hormones) and a surplus in iodine will increase TSH (since the body is trying to maxmize absorption).
*Iodine will be reintroduced when the number of thyroid antibodies (anti-TPO) go down.
*Recommended supplements: Selemiuwm (to help reduce imflammation), 400 mcg, Zinc Picolinate, 25-50 mcg, Iron, Vitamin A, and Essential Fatty Acids (recommended mixed EFA's from Biotics Research).
*The primary antioxidant studied in relation to Hashimoto's is glutathione. Glutathione can help reduce thyroid antibodies. Dr. H recommended taking N-Acetyl Cysteine (which is also apparently something people with Cystic Fibrosis take to break up mucus....).
*Drop the wheat.
*Take some time to think about whether or not your health symptoms could be caused by anything else, heavy metal poisoning, halogen saturation like fluoride, chronic infections, cholesterol, eating crappy foods, yeast infections, allergies, other hormone imbalances...
Phase II
*Goals of Phase 2 include reintroducing iodine into your diet, monitor antibodies, take a bunch of supplements, evaluate thyroid hormone production.
*Start taking liquid doses of iodine and iodide 25 mcg a day. Increase it gradually, every four days or so.
*Adjust thyroid medication dosage, hopefully to a lower dose. Monitor everything, TSH, free T4, free T3.
Phase III
*Gettin' off the meds.
*Check bound T3/T4 and free T3/T4 to see if everything is working well.
I am still intrigued. I can say that I took a multi-vitamin with lots of Iodine (too much maybe?) and I felt crappy. Anecdotally*, I would love to try to reduce my thyroid med dosage and see if I could fix what's going on. Realistically, I like the way I feel right now and I'm afraid to feel crappy again. Sigh.
*Auto-Correct says 'anecdotally' isn't a word. Screw Auto-Correct.
**The Internet says it is. ;)
I admit I'm totally clueless when it comes to iodine and whether I should be taking it or not. My mom uses it in drop form and honestly, it scares me. She has never formally been 'diagnosed' and I don't even know if she knows (or has ever known, even as a benchmark) what her TSH is. I don't think she has antibodies, though. I do, although they were elevated they weren't sky-high.
ReplyDeleteThe meds don't bother me so much. I'm almost at the point where I was surprised and excited when my TSH shot up because it meant the burnout phase was finally here and we could start leveling off somewhat LOL instead of being up and down periodically. Not sure of my iron/ferritin levels exactly (but was told they're "normal," which could mean just about anything) but know I have tried to raise three times in the past and it was a disaster. After my TSH went up now I've finally been able to raise and tolerate it, so I don't know.
Great post!