Many people with a thyroid disorder choose to self-treat their condition. It seems easy enough to visit your local health food store and purchase some supplements on your own. The funny thing is that many people who do this speak with the employee working in the “supplement aisle”, who in most cases doesn’t have any credentials and/or a genuine knowledge of the products, and is simply working there to make a living.
So while I don’t recommend that anyone with a thyroid disorder self treat their condition, if you do choose to take this route, I definitely wouldn’t take advice from the person working at your local health food store, unless if they happen to be a licensed healthcare professional, which probably isn’t the case. Or to put it another way, you can listen to what they have to say, but you might want to obtain a second opinion. To be fair, some people who work at health food stores have a strong passion for natural health and do have a greater knowledge than the “general public”, but the problem is there is really no way to tell who has this knowledge, and who doesn’t.
Another thing to look out for is a website or article that gives some information about thyroid natural treatment methods, and then goes on to promote a single thyroid support formula that claims it will restore your health back to normal. While some of these supplements might help manage your symptoms a little bit, most of them are a complete waste of money. I wish it were that easy to take a single supplement or herbal remedy and restore your health back to normal. But unfortunately it isn’t an easy process.
So why shouldn’t people with a thyroid condition not self treat their condition? Well, there are essentially three reasons for this:
Reason #1: There are risks involved. Many people assume that “natural treatment methods” are completely harmless. When following a natural treatment protocol under the guidance of an expert the risks are minimal. However, self-treating your condition does come with greater risks. Taking the incorrect supplements and/or the wrong dosages can create other problems, and even flare up your symptoms. This is especially true when combining different supplements and/herbs. So you need to be extremely careful.
Reason #2: You won’t receive optimal results. A big reason for this is because most people with a thyroid disorder don’t know what is actually causing their disorder. In other words, most people, including endocrinologists and other medical doctors, focus on the malfunctioning thyroid gland, which in most cases is not the actual cause of the problem. Obviously the immune system is an issue with autoimmune thyroid conditions such as Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. But other areas of the body can also be involved and causing the compromised immune system, such as the adrenal glands, digestive system, and a hormone imbalance.
And even if you do know exactly what is causing the disorder, it can be a challenge to treat such a disorder. For example, do you have an iodine deficiency or not, and if so, how much iodine do you need to take? And it’s important to know that someone with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis shouldn’t take iodine until they first address the autoimmune response. What other nutritional deficiencies do you have, and what supplements should you take for them, and in what dosage? Again, these are questions that most people can’t answer by simply reading books or surfing the internet.
Reason #3: It typically will cost you more time and money. Many people think they can save money by self-treating their disorder, when usually the opposite happens. They’ll go out and spend money on supplements and herbal remedies, only to realize that they aren’t too effective. Some will actually purchase a different supplement for every symptom they have, which of course can end up costing a lot of money. Some people will spend weeks and months self-treating their condition, rather than see a qualified natural endocrine doctor, only to eventually “give in” and finally see one when they realize that they aren’t receiving optimal results.
Now this doesn’t mean that you can’t do some things on your own. Obviously you can start eating better, exercise regularly, do a better job of managing the stress in your life, etc. There are definitely a lot of things you can do on your own to improve your health. But if you are serious about trying to restore your health back to normal, then I strongly suggest speaking with a competent natural endocrine doctor. Most people that take this approach not only are happy with the results, but after taking this approach, frequently their number one regret is that they didn’t speak with an expert sooner.