Interview on Hypothyroid Disease

**We've moved!!**


Please visit our new site, ModernAlternativeMama.com.


Comments on this post have been locked and updates are no longer being made to this page. Please click here to view this article on the new site.

Today’s post is kind of special. I got a chance to sit down with a family member recently and learn about her story. She has hypothyroidism and has been struggling with it for about 15 years. I was interested to hear her perspective on what has helped her most, as well as what else she has tried. This story is being presented as her experiences and opinions in an interview-style so that anyone who is interested can hopefully glean helpful information from it.

She doesn’t want to be identified, but if you have questions for her, you can post them as comments to me and I can forward them to her. Some of what’s in here is paraphrased, as I was typing what she was saying and may have missed some pieces, but most of it is word-for-word what she told me (there may also be some questions or prompts that I asked her that are missing, because I already knew the story and we were “remembering” together, but those don’t change any of the information presented).

Question 1: Why are you telling your story?

Answer: Basically, the reason I would come forward and share any personal information would be that years ago, when I felt so terrible, I looked everywhere for a solution and couldn't find one. So hopefully if I share what's happened to me, it will encourage other women to find a solution that will help them as well.

Q2: What is the background on your health? When did it start to go bad and why?

A: I grew up on a farm, and we ate healthy, home cooked and canned foods. I was active on the farm, and in high school sports. I considered myself to be a very healthy person. But I definitely had a craving for sugar. Sugar and bread were the things I was attracted to more than anything else.

When I went to college, I was trying to get good grades, and working, and it was very stressful. I ended up in a serious car accident that resulted in a back injury. Shortly after that I came down with a very serious case of mono that landed me in the hospital for three days, and I actually had to drop out of school, because I wasn't well enough to continue. During that time frame, I ended up meeting my husband and getting married. In the course of the next few years I had two children. After my second child was born I developed serious back pain and started seeing a chiropractor for relief.

During my 30's I feel like my health really began to fall apart. I had three active children and I tried to support their efforts. I was taking on too many responsibilities, and just really never got any rest.

Then we had a really terrible financial crisis in our business. That just kind of tipped everything over the edge. After that crisis, I went to a medical doctor and it was determined that I had some thyroid issues.

Q3: What happened then? What did the doctors tell you and do to help you?
A: I went through a series of blood tests to determine what was wrong with me, and it was labeled as hypothyroidism. Doctor #1 put me on an experimental drug program with the University of Michigan. I don't know the name of the drug, I don't know if they even gave us the name of the drug, it was supposed to be very hush-hush. You started with a very low dose and increased it for 15 days, until you were taking a really high dose. I felt terrific on the 15th day. Then you decreased the dose until the end of the month. You kept doing this every month, cycling. I felt great for 2 - 3 days out of the month on the high dose, because I was on the wrong dose for me [most of the time]. It was supposed to "jump start" your thyroid. I did this for 18 months and really felt horrible.

Q4: What did you do next?
A: I decided to go to a new doctor. Doctor #1 who gave me the drugs was really upset when I left the program. She just kept saying "Stick with the program, stick with the program" even though I was going in every month saying "I feel terrible." I realize those studies are valid to try to help people, but they sure didn't help me. I went to Doctor #2, and he labeled me as hypothyroidism too. What did he put me on? ...Synthroid. I took that for several years. I felt ok during this time period, but I never really felt good.

When I started taking Synthroid, I started gaining weight, and I that in itself made me feel even worse. I exercised and did whatever I could to eat salads and stuff, but I just kept gaining weight. In the middle of all that stuff going on, the doctor put me on an antidepressant. I just kept feeling worse, constantly feeling terrible. I started developing all this back and shoulder pain so he put me on something called Bextra. So at this point I was taking the antidepressant, the Synthroid, and the Bextra. It soon became obvious that those drugs do not mix well within the body. [Note: Bextra has since been removed from the market, declared dangerous, and a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit. I could have gotten $200 in the settlement, but it wasn't worth the hassle to get a lawyer. It does make me mad that I was "sold" something that wasn't good for me. It did nothing to improve my health.)

Q5: So did you finally find something to help you feel better? What did help?
A: So now I'm like into this quest, because I never feel good... ever. I just couldn't function, I couldn't get anything at all done. I just felt terrible all the time. Finally, I started going to a new chiropractor, who was really promoting health and nutrition (8 years ago). He did this thing with muscle testing. He used muscle testing to determine how many vitamins I needed to take and what type.

During this time I kept telling Doctor #2 I was frustrated by the weight gain and the fact that I didn't feel normal, so he changed my thyroid medication to something called "Levothyroxine." This drug was actually hand compounded at a local pharmacy and I seemed to begin to have a life again. It was also at that point I decided to get off the Bextra and the antidepressent. I believe that the Levothyroxine was helping me, along with the vitamins my chiropractor was suggesting that I take. I began feeling better and after 20 years of being out of school actually went back to college and completed my degree.

Then Doctor #2 moved out of the state, and I had to find another doctor. At the local phamacy, I saw some liturature for an endocrinologist (Doctor #3) in a nearby town and decided that perhaps I should see a specialist because I began having issues with soreness in my neck and losing my voice. I would lose my voice for a week at a time, I couldn't even speak above a whisper. I certainly couldn't sing. I just felt like something was really wrong with my neck. I continued taking the Levothyroine in various doses but it didn't seem to help whatever was going on in my neck. He suggest an ultrasound of my neck and fond a lump on my thyroid. He wanted to do a needle biopsy on to see if it was cancerous, or if it was a non-cancerous tumor. When he showed me the size of the needle, and the fact that this was located next to my jugular vein, I questioned him about that. I thought, there's no way I'm going to let someone stick a needle deep in my neck next to my jugular vein. Doctor #3 really wanted to take my thyroid out. He wanted to completely take it out, and his solution was for me to take a drug for the rest of my life. When I questioned the procedure, he said I was welcome to get another opinion.

I decided to have an indepth conversation about all these issues with my chiropractor and he recommended a medical doctor that was more into treating with nutrition than with drugs. This led me to Doctor #4. He did blood tests, to see what levels my thyroid was was at. He recommended that I go on a strict diet. That's when I got off all grains, all sugar and sweeteners, and basically was just eating meat, most vegetables, and some fruit. I was on that plan of eating for about 8 months.

When I started with that diet, I started rapidly losing weight. I wasn't eating flour or sugar, and basically everything I ate was plain. The interesting thing is, now that I'm almost 50, I feel better now than I ever did in my 30s. I've lost 25 lbs. and I've kept it off for nearly a year. I think right now I weigh what I'm supposed to weigh.

In addition to the restricted diet, Doctor #4 also put me on something called "Nature Throid," It is a perscription drug, but it's made of natural ingredients rather than sythetic. That has been a huge part of my recovery.

Q6: How do you feel now? How did you feel about all the stuff that happened to you?
A: I feel like I've wasted 15 years of my life, that I can't ever get that back. One year, I was so frustrated, I walked a thousand miles on the treadmill, and I didn't lose any weight! In what world is that normal? I felt a little stronger, but I didn't lose any weight. That thyroid drug didn't allow me to. So every time I tried to take my health into my own hands, I just didn't have all the pieces of the puzzle. Which, for me, was the diet and natural thyroid medication.

Q7: What about the thyroid testing and biopsy? Did you have that? What happened with that?
A: My current doctor is monitoring my thyroid and the lump now. It feels so much better though. My voice is stronger, and the soreness in my neck is nearly gone. Doctor #4 says that the soreness was actually from my lymph glands trying to cleanse my body of the foods I could not break down (flour and sugar). I am hoping that by following the restricted diet my body will heal. If not, I certainly will do whatever is necessary to stay healthy.

Q8: What do you think is happening with all of these mainstream doctors?
A: As far as thyroid disease, I think a lot them are looking at a blood test to determine what they should do for you, but they are deaf to the cries of those who do not feel "normal". I think women are struggling because they don't feel good. One thing that stands out to me is that I feel like I've lost more than a decade my life feeling terrible. I was so desperately looking for a solution. After four different doctors, it's just so frustrating that I can't get that time back. I didn't know I could have felt this good in my 30s.

In defense of medical doctors, they are looking to treat you in the only way they know how, which is with a drug. The doctor I'm seeing now is using vitamins and the restricted diet to help the body to heal itself. Then, if you NEED some kind of drug, he will make sure that you take it in a form that will help you, rather than work against the body healing itself naturally.

Q9: Tell me more about the diet and how it helped you.
A: At the very beginning I did not cheat on the diet at all. I was very determined to give this change of eating a fair chance, and in the back of my mind I was determined to avoid surgery if possible. I was also staying away from dairy. When I would eat a piece of pizza or something it would make me sick so that also was a motivator to stick with the diet.

It's been 10 months now and I'm able to eat foods on a limited basis and be okay. But generally I'm still sticking to the diet. I try to avoid eating sandwiches. I pay more attention to the ingredients that are in foods. I'm still only eating sugar and flour in very limited amounts. I feel like me again [after the diet]. I didn't realize I felt that bad. I didn't realize I could feel this good.

Well, I think you have to be personally responsible for your health. I was trying to be, I was trying to be responsible and do healthy things, but until I started on this diet, I didn't realize how bad we, as Americans tend to eat. I always had meat and vegetables, but the way you prepare food, isn't always as healthy as it could have been. Getting away from dairy has really helped me too.

… when I was on the strictest form of the diet, it was plain meat, most vegetables (no potatoes), only some fruits (no bananas, grapes) very low sugar fruits. Pineapple was okay, and apples, and pecans, and walnuts, and eggs were okay. Typically in the morning I would make eggs, and maybe I would cook some kind of vegetable to go with it. As a maintenance diet, I'll eat leftovers from supper for breakfast, or eggs. Apples, fruits and nuts. I'm still not eating much potatoes at all. I'm really trying not to eat bread, but I think that I’m still in the healing process.

Q10: What would you say to women in your situation? What advice would you give them?
A: I know that there's a lot of women out there with the same struggle. They trust their doctor, and their doctor says "take this and that," and it's supposed to help them feel better. I know a lot of women my age who feel terrible constantly. I know a lot of it's their diet, as it was with me. But when you're taking a bunch of different drugs, well, there's no quick fix. I think that's what they were peddling me, a quick solution to feeling better. Don't give up. Keep looking until they find a solution that works for you. I know there are other women out there who are looking to improve their health. By simply taking a drug, you're putting the responsibility of YOUR health onto somebody else.

Q11: Any final thoughts?
A: In this whole process, I really tried to be a good patient and follow the directions that doctors gave me. In the long run, I am so thankful that I kept searching until I found some solutions to help me deal with the changes in my body. The only medication I currently am taking is NatureThyroid and am working with Doctor #4 and my chiropractor for the vitamins I need to maintain good health.

Words cannot express how thankful I am that I finally found a solution that is working for me. So to encourage others out there who are struggling with thyroid issues....Keep searching until you find something that works for you. Take personal responsibility for your health and whatever you do...don't give up.

Thanks for this interview! I hope that this helps someone out there who may have thyroid issues.

Does anyone struggle with thyroid or undiscovered health issues? Does anything here stand out to you? Any thoughts on natural treatments or this woman’s experiences?

Like what you read? Subscribe over on the right and get posts everyday in your email!