Are you tired of your health problems? Read on about the journey of a member of the Jeevam family who was frustrated with hypothyroidism. She had just one question in mind- how to cure thyroid permanently?
Let us see how she found a solution with our specialist thyroid doctors. We can also understand how functional medicine gave the results that she never expected.
My experience with Hashimoto's thyroiditis: thyroid treatment plan
Does your thyroid diagnosis feel like a life sentence to you? I understand how that feels. I was in the same position before I visited Jeevam Health.
When I asked my doctors is thyroid curable, I always got one answer- The thyroid problem is permanent. I would have to continue with regular medication.
I felt discouraged and hopeless. The weighing scale kept creeping upwards as I felt increasingly lethargic daily. No amount of medicine was enough.
That is when I decided to transform my life. For this, I needed a team of thyroid specialists.
My struggle with thyroid has been longstanding. Through that journey, I have tried various thyroid medications and thyroid treatments.
After my pregnancy at the age of 28, little did I know that the presence of thyroid had just begun. Even after my delivery, I was unable to lose weight.
I always knew I had a family history of hypothyroidism and diabetes, but I never thought I could get them so early. I always thought these were conditions of old age.
When my health did not improve, I visited a doctor who did some blood tests and diagnosed me with hypothyroidism. He started thyroid medication at a dose of 25 mcg. Even then, my condition did not improve.
My weight did not reduce. I was always low on energy. I was often too tired to even play with my child. Soon multiple other problems began. My skin looked dull. I was having a lot of hair fall. The doctors decided to increase the dose to 50 mcg.
I decided to become serious about my health. I had the medicine regularly. I even started to exercise. Even when I was tired, I pushed myself. In my early 20s, I had a regular diet of junk food. I replaced this with fruits and salads.
At this point, I was regular with my hypothyroidism medicine. I was trying my best to stay healthy. Still, visits to the doctor only resulted in a further increase in dose as my complaints remained constant. Soon I was taking 125 mcg of thyroid tablets daily.
Even after this, my TSH levels remained high. As my thyroid medicine dose kept increasing, doctors told me it would normalize soon. But with every test, they remained the same.
I was absolutely at a loss of what I should do next. Why was my body not responding to the medicine? Despite taking all the measures, why was I not feeling better? Why was the hypothyroidism treatment not working for me?
Even with regular exercise, I was not losing weight. And the high doses of medicine for hypothyroidism were making me tired and irritable. The doctors did not seem to have the answers.
That is when I saw a webinar hosted by Jeevam Health. I was impressed by it. When the doctor spoke about thyroid disease, I could see my own story reflected. I knew that there had to be more to my thyroid problems. There was only one way to be sure.
I contacted the Jeevam Health team the next day. At first, I was apprehensive. My family asked what yet another doctor would say that others had not said already. But I decided this would be my last effort. I wanted to try to cure thyroid permanently.
From the first visit itself, the difference was clear. While other doctors usually just asked my complaints and advised blood tests, the Jeevam Team had a different approach. The care representative spent a long time talking to me and taking a detailed history.
The history did not just involve asking about what my current problems were. It was a comprehensive timeline extending from my childhood to the present time. Little did I know that soon doctors would be able to connect the dots and tell me what had made me develop thyroid disease.
After this, the team advised of a set of blood tests. I expected the usual T3, T4, and TSH levels. However, I was surprised to see a variety of investigations that covered every aspect of my health.
The tests included thyroid antibody levels and free T3 and T4. The free hormones denote that amount that is functional.
Following this, I had a session with my doctor that lasted for 1 hour. That itself was more time than any doctor had allotted me before. The doctor was patient as he took me through the various factors that could have triggered thyroid disease.
He told me that I had an autoimmune condition called Hashimoto's thyroiditis. He explained to me that this meant that my body's immune system was attacking my thyroid.
He also explained that we were going to work together to reach the root cause of the disease. One of the concepts I learned was that of a leaky gut syndrome.
As a child, I used to get a lot of infections, and ultimately I had to get my tonsils removed. At this time, I had taken a lot of antibiotics. The doctor explained to me how that itself had affected the balance in my body. It had resulted in gut dysbiosis.
He also explained how repeated intake of sugars and unhealthy food might have caused a deficiency of many vital nutrients. Following this, the physical stress of my pregnancy and the mental stress of the months that followed with no relief only aggravated my condition.
Seeing the team so invested in my case in itself reassured me. I felt like my doctor and coach understood my body and health. The treatment plan made was also just for me.
I was still scared to ask the question- would I ever lead a good life?
But I did not need to worry about it. From the start, the focus of the team was on building a healthy future for me. And this is what always kept me motivated.
Anyone with thyroid disease knows that Hashimoto's thyroiditis treatment is not easy.
I was first introduced to the concept that food itself could be medicine. It only has to be consumed in the right way. The tests conducted were studied by the nutritionist who prepared a hypothyroidism diet plan for me.
My doctor taught me what leaky gut syndrome is. It meant that a combination of bacterial imbalance and poor diet had damaged the wall of my intestine. These changes allowed harmful substances to enter my body.
Then I advised an elimination diet. This thyroid diet plan required systematic cutting down of unhealthy substances which were harming me.
My nutritionist gave me a list of what foods to avoid with hypothyroidism. Advanced testing also revealed a gluten allergy. These were things I had never learned about before.
The first to be eliminated was gluten. I stopped eating refined oil and sugar as well. Lastly, my nutritionist told me that I had to cut down on dairy as well.
My 9-month's Thyroid Treatment Journey
A few months back, I would have thought this was impossible for me to do. But Jeevam Health made it easy .
Anyone who has ever been on a diet knows it can be challenging. That is why the thyroid diet chart given to me took me by surprise. It enlisted the food which I could take and which to avoid. I understood the importance of healthy fats and good-quality proteins.
The biggest revelation for me was that being on a diet did not mean having bland, tasteless food all the time. I had a lot of options available.
My nutritionist also gave me easy but tasty recipes. The real motivation was the way she spoke to me in every follow-up. That always encouraged me to keep going ahead.
My dose of medication had to be regulated and reduced slowly. I was also prescribed an additional T3 supplement.
Before working with Jeevam Health, T3 and T4 were just words to me. I did not understand their impact on my body.
The Jeevam Team took the time to explain to me that T3 was the active form of the hormone that I needed. Regular supplements given are T4. That meant my body had to convert the T4 into T3.
Because of the leaky gut, this conversion was not happening. So until my digestive system recovered, I needed additional T3 supplements as well.
Within three months of treatment, I started seeing results that I had never imagined. The weighing scale was dropping, and so was the requirement of my thyroid medicine. By the fifth month of treatment, I had lost 10 kgs of weight. My tablet dose was down to 50mcg. I also felt much more energetic and well-rested. The initial lethargy and tiredness had reduced. Only my digestive issues persisted.
Seeing the results, I had all the motivation I needed to go ahead in my journey. By the seventh month, I could stop the T3 tablets. My thyroid medication dose was now 50mcg. My longstanding digestive issues were also improving.
By the end of the ninth month of treatment, my weight had reached the normal range. My stamina had increased as I was doing regular exercise. I felt less stressed.
I had started this journey being grossly overweight and taking 125mcg of thyroid medicine while still being unable to walk more than 15 minutes. Within nine months, I reached a stage where my disease was under control with 25 mcg of thyroxine. I was the fittest I had been in years.
I learned how to control my thyroid disease instead of letting it control me. I understood how a hypothyroidism diet could change my life as much as tablets.
If you ask me today, "so, can thyroid be cured?" I only have one answer. The disease is your body's way of telling you there is an imbalance. And only experts can help you restore your health.
My thyroid treatment was only possible because of Jeevam Health. My top 3 lessons from my journey were:
- Just because you have a disease does not mean you have to suffer forever. Sometimes all you need is the treatment that is suited to you.
- Trust your doctors. The only way you to get better.
- Take the necessary steps for your health by actively putting in the effort. If I can do it, you can do it too!
Want to cure Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and live a healthy life? Reach out to us.
