First, my doctor checked for other imbalances that may be affecting my body, including food sensitivities, toxins, and cortisol levels. There were no abnormal levels of toxins in my body, but she did find that I have issues with food sensitivities and chronic fatigue. So, my whole treatment plan addresses all of these issues - the food sensitivities, chronic fatigue, and Hashimoto's.
For Hashimoto's, my treatment plan initially began with cutting out gluten, increasing my protein intake, and taking a thyroid supplement. We wanted to see if I could improve my numbers with this route first, along with treating any other imbalances. To address the other issues, I've been on a six month plan that has included A LOT of supplements and some diet adjustments. I even had to get a pill box with four dividers. It looks crazy. But I don't know what may sound crazier - the amount of supplements I'm on, or the diet adjustments. Because my food sensitivities test showed a lot of sensitivities, my diet adjustments are rather restrictive, but this too is temporary. Although it's made me very aware of what foods make me bloat. Essentially, I'm avoiding the foods I tested higher sensitivities for, and alternating days for when I eat lower sensitivity foods (at least as much as possible, because it's not always easy). If your eyes are bulging from reading this, or you're rolling them at me...let me just say that it is all working! First of all, the earliest clear signs of improvement I noticed were improvements in my cycle. For the past two years, I've had maybe one or two days where my body didn't feel as bloated as normal. Now I have just one bad week, and at least two where I feel really great with minimal bloating, especially in the mornings. On top of that, my bleeding is lighter during menstruation. I haven't felt this good in a long time. When we went on vacation, I knew there was no way to stick to my diet - in part because I wanted to enjoy some local foods. Our first day on vacation, which was our travel day, I had gluten and dairy for the first time in a long time, and you know what? I didn't feel bad at all. I thought, oh...this is a good sign that my gut is truly healing. That only lasted a day though. The day after, I started feeling the affects of gluten and dairy. And the sucky part was that for the rest of the trip, I was constantly bloated and not feeling my best. However, it wasn't as bad as it has been in the past. Still, I worried that 2.5 weeks of vacation would really mess up my progress, even though my doctor told me that it shouldn't. And I wondered how long it would take me to feel good again when I got back from vacation. The good news is that as soon as I returned to my adjusted diet, I started feeling better. It took a couple of days to de-bloat, but that could also just be from traveling. And just before I left for vacation, I took another blood test to check progress. Overall, my health is on the right track and my TSH level has come down as well as my antibodies count. My TSH level is not yet at optimal levels, but it's close. It has come down more than 50%. My antibodies count still has a ways to go, but it's come down 130 points, so we're getting there. That being said, my T3 and reverse T3 numbers haven't moved much so my doctor did recommend I take natural hormone therapy pills. It seems like most people with Hashimoto's do need to depend on hormone therapy. So, in another month I will take another test to see how the hormone therapy is working. My doctor tends to start out patients conservatively just in case. I have a feeling she will need to increase the dosage for me, but we will see! As I said before, overall, I'm very happy with my treatment plan, because it has really helped me see the way food affects my body and how much we can take care of our bodies naturally, if we're just willing to make the commitment. I hope to keep giving you positive updates and continue sharing the power of food and nature :)
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