Many people who are considering natural thyroid treatment methods are concerned about whether following such a protocol will offer a permanent solution to their thyroid condition. In other words, they wonder whether natural treatment methods offer a permanent cure, or if there is a chance of a relapse. The truth is that if a person restores their health back to normal but then neglects their health there is chance they will suffer a relapse.
Let’s look at an example of this in the form a person named Ellen who has hyperthyroidism and has a high pulse rate, palpitations, and other symptoms associated with the condition. She follows a natural thyroid treatment protocol, and after a few weeks the symptoms begin to subside, and then after a few months they are completely gone. She is doing fine for 8 months, but then one night while trying to fall asleep she notices some minor palpitations. The next day she measures her pulse rate, and it’s not extremely high, but around 85 beats per minute, when it’s normally in the low 70s. Ellen is upset, as it looks like her hyperthyroid symptoms are returning.
When following a natural thyroid treatment protocol, Ellen changed her diet dramatically, eating only whole foods for 30 days, eliminating gluten from her diet, and also took numerous nutritional supplements and herbs. She changed other lifestyle factors as well, making sure she obtained at least eight hours of sleep each night, she did a better job of managing her stress, and she began to exercise regularly. When her symptoms began to improve she still ate relatively well for a few months, eating some refined foods every now and then, but a few months after she was symptom-free she began eating more refined foods, ate a decent amount of sweets, etc.
What essentially happened to Ellen is that she followed the natural thyroid treatment protocol, continued to eat well for a few months thereafter, but then slowly began incorporating the bad habits into her lifestyle again. And while she didn’t completely go back to the same habits she had before she began her natural thyroid treatment protocol, she obviously did enough to cause some of her symptoms to return.
This obviously is not what anyone wants to hear, as what people want to hear is that they will follow the natural thyroid treatment protocol, and then their symptoms will completely go away and they will be permanently cured. Unfortunately it doesn’t work this way, as not only does one need to take responsibility for their health while following a natural treatment protocol, but they also need to maintain their health thereafter.
This doesn’t mean that once you restore your health you won’t be able to eat junk food anymore, stay up late again, etc. But anyone who follows a natural thyroid treatment protocol needs to keep the following two things in mind:
1) It takes time to completely restore one’s health back to normal (whenever this is possible). Even though many people experience positive changes in their symptoms quickly, and might even have their labs normalize within a few months, this doesn’t mean the person’s condition is permanently cured. Just remember that with the development of a thyroid condition, frequently the symptoms are the last to arrive, and the thyroid blood tests also become positive after the condition is “full blown”. So without question anyone with hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism (including Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis) can maintain their state of health after following a natural treatment protocol, but they need to realize that this will take a good deal of time to accomplish.
2) There is always a chance for a relapse. If you do a good job of maintaining your health, meaning that you eat well most of the time, obtain quality sleep, do a good job of managing stress, etc., then there is an excellent chance you will continue to maintain your health for many years to come after you follow a natural thyroid treatment protocol. On the other hand, if you neglect your health and go back to the same old habits then there always is the chance that you will suffer a relapse of your condition. This doesn’t mean you will need to follow a natural thyroid treatment protocol forever, but it does mean that you will continuously need to take care of your health.
So what should you do if you neglect your health and then suffer a relapse? If this were to happen, the solution is to follow a natural thyroid treatment protocol again, and this time do a better job of maintaining your health. Some people who suffer a relapse become discouraged and turn to the prescription drugs, or RAI in the case of hyperthyroidism or Grave’s Disease. They assume that natural treatment methods offer only a temporary solution, and this is true for those who aren’t willing to maintain a healthy state. But for those who are willing to take responsibility for their health, they will reap the benefits of a natural treatment protocol for many years to come.