Published August 10 2010
If you have any type of thyroid condition and are considering natural thyroid treatment [1] methods, you need to realize that there are situations in which people won’t respond to these treatment methods. While most people can benefit from following a natural thyroid treatment protocol, the following represent three reasons why they don’t work on some people.
Reason #1: The patient isn’t compliant. When natural thyroid treatments don’t work, this is the number one reason why. Now to be fair, it isn’t easy to follow a natural thyroid treatment protocol, which is why many people choose not to do so. It’s far easier to simply take prescription drugs to manage the symptoms daily than to change one’s lifestyle, which is what is required when trying to restore someone’s health through natural treatment methods.
Part of the problem is that people want to be compliant, but many find a natural thyroid treatment protocol to be too challenging. This is the main reason why some patients need to take it slow when starting such a protocol. There are some holistic doctors that will pressure their patients to make immediate changes in their lifestyle. While I can understand their thinking behind this, at the same time, many patients are pushed away by this approach, and as a result will never give natural thyroid treatment methods a try.
So while I definitely commend people who right from the start begin eating well, cut out all of the junk food, and make immediate changes in their lifestyle, I realize that many people aren’t going to take this approach. Of course some people who want to restore their health using such a natural protocol will never make these changes, and of course won’t receive any benefits. Then again, there will be some people who initially make the necessary lifestyle changes, but for one reason or another are unable to maintain this, and end up going back to their old habits.
The latter is a common problem, as while there are some people who aren’t compliant right from the start, a good number will be compliant, and then once they begin feeling better will deviate from the natural thyroid treatment protocol. While most people who start such a protocol can eventually eat some “bad foods” in the future on an occasional basis, when first starting a natural protocol, for the first 21 to 30 days it is essential to eat well and change other lifestyle factors for optimal results. So for someone who does this for a few days and then relapses, or even if they follow such a protocol for one or two weeks, they might receive some benefits, but most likely won’t restore their health back to normal.
In summary, if you are thinking about starting a natural thyroid treatment protocol, please understand that you must take responsibility for your own health. Only you can make the necessary changes that are required to restore your health back to normal. But if you’re willing to make these sacrifices then you will receive some great benefits from following such a protocol.
Reason #2: The doctor misses something. While there are some doctors who seem to blame everything on the patient, the truth is that sometimes the healthcare professional is the one to blame for the patient not responding well. Sure, not everyone will respond to a natural thyroid treatment protocol, and sometimes a doctor will do everything they can and the patient still won’t receive any benefits. Fortunately this only happens a small percentage of the time, but it does happen.
On the other hand, just like there are some conventional medical doctors that don’t do a good job of evaluating patients and simply give them drugs based on their symptoms, there are also some holistic doctors that do the same with regard to natural treatment methods. For example, some holistic doctors will put every single one of their patients with a hypothyroid condition on the same exact protocol, without doing any additional testing. In other words, they don’t treat their patients on an individual basis. The same goes with hyperthyroid conditions, as well as autoimmune thyroid conditions.
Obviously I’m not describing the routine of most holistic doctors, but there are some who will take this approach. Sometimes it’s because they’re lazy, other times it’s due to lack of knowledge. Sometimes they fail to do certain things because they don’t think their patients will follow their full recommendations, so they take the “easy way” out. For example, a doctor might know that a certain individual needs a specific test, but doesn’t think the patient can afford to pay the extra fees for this test, and therefore won’t recommend it.
There without question will be patients who don’t want to invest in their health, or don’t have the means to do so, but it is the responsibility of the doctor to tell the patient everything they need to do in order to recover, regardless of the money involved. Some patients obviously won’t be able to afford care, but this doesn’t give any doctor the right to refrain from recommending certain tests, nutritional supplements, or anything else they think will benefit the patient. It is up to the doctor to completely evaluate the patient’s condition, tell them what they need to do or what supplements/herbs they need to take in order to recover, and then let the patient decide what they want to do.
Reason #3: The thyroid gland is too compromised. Unfortunately there are some cases where the thyroid gland is too far gone to respond to a natural thyroid treatment protocol. And sometimes the only way to find this out is for a patient to actually go through a natural treatment protocol. So for example, many people who receive radioactive iodine therapy and become hypothyroid can have the function of their thyroid gland restored back to normal through natural thyroid treatment methods. But there really is no way any holistic doctor can guarantee that a person will respond well to a natural treatment protocol. While they might be able to tell a person if there is a good chance they can recover based on their case history, symptoms, and test results, the only surefire way to find out is to follow a natural thyroid treatment protocol.
The same concept applies to someone who had their thyroid gland partially removed, as well as a person who didn’t receive RAI or had thyroid surgery but simply developed hypothyroidism and has been on thyroid hormone for many years. These people may receive some great benefits by following a natural thyroid treatment protocol. Some will have their health fully restored back to normal by following such a protocol, while others will receive some benefits without being cured. In either case, it is impossible to predict how the individual will respond ahead of time.
This might not be very reassuring to the person with a thyroid disorder who wants to be guaranteed that their condition can be cured through a natural thyroid treatment protocol. And there are some holistic doctors who will tell all of their patients that their condition can without question be cured by following such a protocol. If any doctor happens to tell you this, I would probably go ahead and switch doctors, as nobody can be 100% certain that any individual will be cured, especially those who have received harsh procedures such as RAI and thyroid surgery. This obviously isn’t just the case when following a natural thyroid treatment protocol, but with many other treatment procedures involving other conditions.
So these are three situations in which someone with a thyroid condition might not respond to a natural thyroid treatment protocol. This obviously isn’t meant to discourage anyone from giving natural treatment methods a try, as while there aren’t any guarantees, most people do benefit from following a natural thyroid treatment protocol. And when you look at the risks of taking drugs for the rest of your life, you’ll hopefully realize that giving natural thyroid treatment methods a try really is a wise “risk” for most people with a thyroid condition to take.
Other Articles You Might Like To Read:
Are You Skeptical About Natural Thyroid Treatment Methods? [2]
Why Finding a Natural Thyroid Specialist Can Be A Challenge [3]
Combining Natural Thyroid Treatment Methods With Conventional Treatment Protocols [4]