Many people with Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis don’t realize that it takes years for an autoimmune condition to develop. As a result, for those that can be helped through natural treatment methods, it almost always will take a decent amount of time to restore their health back to normal. I’m not suggesting that it will take years for someone to recover. But for those that think they can take a few supplements and/or herbs and restore their health in a few days or weeks, this is unrealistic.
The good news is that it usually doesn’t take too long to begin experiencing the benefits of a natural treatment protocol. Of course it can be difficult to tell for those people who choose to take prescription drugs and begin a natural treatment protocol at the same time, as it could be challenging knowing if it’s the drugs that are managing the symptoms, or the natural treatment protocol. These people do need to be careful when they begin weaning themselves off of the medication, which is why it’s always a good idea to consult back with your endocrinologist or general practitioner before doing this.
In my case I decided not to take any prescription drugs, so when my symptoms began to diminish, I knew for sure it was due to the natural treatment protocol I was following. And in my case, it only took a few weeks before I began noticing the symptoms diminishing, and a few months until they were completely gone. As you know, everyone is different, so some people will experience symptomatic relief quicker than others, while for some it will take longer. But in most cases it usually doesn’t take too long before realizing that the natural treatment methods are working.
As for why it takes a long time for an autoimmune thyroid disorder to develop, the reason is because it takes years of stressing out the body before it begins to break down. So even though the adrenal glands weren’t designed to handle chronic stress situations, the body is usually able to handle these types of situations for months, and sometimes even years before it reaches its “breaking point”. And it’s common for people to deal with chronic stress on a daily basis for a prolonged period of time, which is one of the reasons why there are so many autoimmune disorders.
This doesn’t mean that there aren’t other causes of autoimmune disorders besides chronic stress, but regardless of the cause, it still takes time for a condition such as Graves’ Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis to develop. And it can take even longer before one becomes symptomatic. In fact, in most cases the symptoms are the last thing to develop. So when you first began experiencing your symptoms, the condition had been developing for months, and most likely years.
And even though the symptoms usually are under control pretty quickly when under a natural treatment protocol, not having symptoms doesn’t mean that your condition is cured. And to be honest, even when the blood and/or saliva tests come out negative, this also doesn’t necessarily mean that you are completely cured. As I mentioned in a previous post when I spoke about the differences between remission and a cure, with any autoimmune condition you need to do a good job of maintaining your health, or there is always the chance of having a relapse.
The reason I decided to write this is because for those people with Graves’ Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis who decide to give natural treatment methods a try, I want them to understand why it will take time to completely restore their health to normal. This once again assumes that you are a good candidate for a natural treatment protocol, although as I’ve mentioned in other posts, most people with these conditions can benefit from natural treatment methods. So when beginning such a protocol, please be patient, and realize that it took time for your condition to develop, and as a result it will take time for you to fully recover.