While more and more people with Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis are choosing natural treatment methods to help restore their health, there are many people with an autoimmune thyroid disorder who don’t choose natural treatment methods. Of course there are various reasons for this, but one big reason is that many people who have what I refer to as a “tough case” of Graves’ or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis don’t think that natural treatment methods can help them.
There are three tough cases I’d like to specifically focus on:
Tough Case #1: The Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis sufferer who has been on thyroid hormone for 10+ years.
Tough Case #2: The Graves’ Disease sufferer who has really severe symptoms.
Tough Case # 3: The person who has had thyroid surgery or has received radioactive iodine.
Let’s first take a look at Tough Case #1, which involves the person with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis who has been taking synthetic or natural thyroid hormone for 10+ years. It is natural to assume that by taking thyroid hormone for so long that your thyroid gland is no longer functioning. For some people this is true, which of course means that taking thyroid hormone is necessary.
On the other hand, just because you have been taking thyroid hormone for many years doesn’t automatically rule you out as a candidate for natural treatment methods. Even though you have been taking thyroid hormone for so long, this doesn’t mean that it is impossible to restore the function of your thyroid gland back to normal. Sure, in some people this isn’t possible. In others, complete restoration isn’t possible, but it still might be possible to restore enough function to their thyroid gland so that it produces a sufficient amount of thyroid hormone on its own. But for a good number of people, especially those who never had thyroid surgery, completely restoring the function of their thyroid gland is possible.
Of course this probably will take some time to accomplish, but the point I want to make is that if you have been taking thyroid hormone for 10+ years, don’t assume that you can’t be helped through a natural treatment protocol. I would still recommend that you consult with a competent natural doctor before coming to this conclusion.
Let’s move onto Tough Case #2, which involves the Graves’ Disease sufferer who has really severe symptoms. Often times these people aren’t even thinking about natural treatment methods, as they just want their symptoms to be under control. Having been diagnosed with Graves’ Disease in the past I can relate with people who have this condition. And to be frank, someone who has an extremely high pulse rate and other severe symptoms probably should take some prescription drugs to manage the symptoms.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t also choose to take natural treatment methods. You can do both, as you can use prescription drugs such as Methimazole and/or a beta blocker until the symptoms are under control, and at the same time begin a natural treatment protocol to help restore your health back to normal. Although I personally chose to not take any prescription drugs when I was diagnosed with Graves’, if my pulse rate had gotten to greater than 120 beats per minute I probably would have did a combination of the prescription drugs, along with the natural treatment protocol. And by the way, I’m not suggesting that you not take medication if your pulse rate is less than 120 beats per minute, as this was just a personal decision I made. Some people with a pulse rate around 90 to 100 will feel more comfortable taking medication, which is fine.
Finally, let’s take a look at Tough Case #3, which involves the person who has had thyroid surgery, or has received radioactive iodine. When someone has had complete removal of their thyroid gland, they will need to be on some type of thyroid hormone for the rest of their lives. However, if a person with Graves’ Disease has their thyroid gland completely removed, keep in mind that this isn’t doing anything for the cause of the problem. It is just getting rid of the symptoms, as by doing this the thyroid can no longer produce excess amounts of thyroid hormone (or any thyroid hormone for that matter).
But doing this does nothing to address the immune system, adrenal glands, and other areas that may have caused this disorder to develop in the first place. As a result, it wouldn’t be a surprise for someone with Graves’ Disease who has their thyroid gland removed to eventually develop Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. And the reason for this is because the autoimmune component was never addressed by surgically removing the thyroid gland.
When someone has their thyroid gland partially removed, and/or has received radioactive iodine treatment, there is a good chance that their thyroid gland still produces thyroid hormone. As a result, there is a chance that natural treatment methods can help to restore the function of the gland back to normal. This is true even if part of the gland is removed or destroyed, as the body has an amazing ability to compensate under such circumstances. This isn’t always possible, but it definitely wouldn’t be a waste of your time to consult with a natural endocrine doctor to see if you can avoid taking thyroid hormone forever.
In summary, just because you are classified as a “tough case” doesn’t automatically rule you out as a candidate for natural treatment methods. And as I mentioned above, many people that fall under these categories that can’t have the function of their thyroid gland restored to normal still can benefit from natural treatment methods to help strengthen the immune system, as well as address other areas of the body such as the adrenal glands and digestive system. Doing this can make it far less likely that you will develop other autoimmune conditions in the future.