Stephanie’s Medication Free Hashimoto’s Remission

This success story was originally posted in May of 2015, based on personal experience provided by one of my clients, Stephanie. I have since developed new articles and resources for Hashimoto’s that might be helpful for you. For the latest information on beginning your Hashimoto’s journey, please visit the following:

• Top 10 Thyroid Tests and How to Interpret Them
• How to Lose Weight With Hashimoto’s
• Is Gluten the Root Cause of Your Thyroid Condition?
• Food Sensitivities and Hashimoto’s
• Are Your Adrenals Sabotaging Your Health?
• Which Thyroid Medication is Best?
• Strategies to Overcome Hair Loss with Hashimoto’s
• Where Do I Start with Hashimoto’s?

A Root Cause Rebel Success Story

I’m so excited to share a success story from Stephanie, a “Root Cause Rebel” and wonderful woman who was able to get her Hashimoto’s, psoriasis and Sjögren’s into remission. As of last month, she has been weaned off her thyroid medication by her endocrinologist! I hope Stephanie’s story inspires you to create your success story!!

Something Had to Change

Stephanie is vibrant and compassionate occupational therapist who was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s in 2007, after a few years of seemingly unrelated symptoms.

A year after her son’s birth, Stephanie still felt exhausted, moody and wasn’t able to fit into her pre-pregnancy clothes. She began losing her hair, and the lifelong go-getter became easily overwhelmed began to feel out of control. Like many of us, she told herself that all of her symptoms were a result of being a new mom, and she kept going until one morning she dropped to the ground because her feet and ankles hurt so badly!

Diagnosis

At that point, she knew she had to take action. Her doctor found that her TSH was elevated to 5.2, and she was started on generic levothyroxine and referred to an endocrinologist, who diagnosed her with Hashimoto’s. The endocrinologist told her that there was nothing she could do to stop the autoimmune attack on her thyroid… her body would continue to attack her thyroid until there was nothing left… and that she would be on thyroid medication for the rest of her life.

Progression to other autoimmune disorders…

Stephanie followed her doctor’s orders “like a good girl,” and felt a little better with the medications, but she was still not back to her old self.

One day, while eating lunch at work, her mouth became so dry that she nearly choked on her food. Two weeks later, she developed conjunctivitis and a stye in one of her eyes. Her joint pain became worse, and her knuckles began to swell.

She knew that something wasn’t right, so she pushed for more testing and was diagnosed with two additional autoimmune conditions: psoriasis and Sjögren’s syndrome.

She was devastated. She didn’t understand how she had gone from being a healthy young woman to someone with three different autoimmune diseases in just a few short years. Furthermore, no one in her immediate family had an autoimmune disease. She was confused as to why she had been affected. After all, she thought that she was a relatively healthy person.

Digging at the Roots

Upon learning of her new diagnosis, she made an appointment with a Sjögren’s clinic and reached out to a local Sjögren’s syndrome support group. As a result of meeting with other autoimmune patients, Stephanie received an important article that would forever change her life. The article was written by the well-respected gut expert, Dr. Alessio Fasano, and demonstrated a link between autoimmune diseases and gut dysfunction!

She was determined to get her life back and decided to make a change. She was tired of receiving diagnosis after diagnosis, and she was done with feeling ill! She made the decision to go gluten free in July 2010 and hasn’t looked back since. Her joint pains, dry mouth, and dry eyes began to subside… little by little, her symptoms began to lift…

Three months after removing gluten from her diet, Stephanie seemed to be doing much better but still decided to attend her previously scheduled appointment at the Sjögren’s syndrome clinic. After an extensive work- up (consisting of 25 vials of blood, among other things), she tested negative for both Sjögren’s Syndrome and Hashimoto’s!

She was told that she didn’t need to follow a gluten-free diet because she didn’t test positive for celiac disease, but she realized that she knew her body better than any of them! And the latest test results confirmed her knowledge.

Stephanie continued with her thyroid medications and following a gluten free diet until she was switched to Synthroid due to a shortage of Levoxyl, the medication she had been on previously.

About a month after starting the Synthroid, she was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection (she also had one at the time of Sjögren’s syndrome diagnosis) and her joints began swelling again. She researched Synthroid, and realized that there was a potential for gluten cross-contamination in the manufacturing process of Synthroid (As of May 2016, Synthroid is now gluten-free)!  She was switched to Tirosint, a T4 medication that is free of both gluten and lactose. This medication switch helped her symptoms subside again.

Synthroid is the number one prescribed medication in the United States, and yet it can trigger Hashimoto’s to worsen for some. It’s important to remember that the medication you may be taking to address hypothyroidism could be at the root of some of your symptoms!

Next Steps

While Stephanie’s Hashimoto’s appeared to be in remission, there was still evidence of hypothyroidism, given Stephanie’s need to stay on T4 medication to keep her TSH in a range that allowed her to feel well. She wondered what more she could do to feel better.

Finding my book, Hashimoto’s Root Cause, and discovering Danielle Walker’s books and blog in the fall of 2014, offered Stephanie a roadmap toward further healing (Danielle Walker is the author and photographer of the New York Times Best Selling cookbook Against all Grain.)

Reading Hashimoto’s: The Root Cause, Stephanie realized that she was likely suffering from adrenal fatigue, which is very common to see in individuals dealing with thyroid issues. She noticed that intense exercise made her sicker because her adrenals were already taxed. Her body perceived the workouts as a burden instead of a gift. She cut back and plans to mindfully reintroduce slower more gentle exercise.

Stephanie also realized that there were other dietary triggers impeding her progress. On December 2, 2014, she decided to go soy, dairy, caffeine, alcohol and 95% grain free. She also consumes minimal sugar, mostly in the form of fruit sugar.

For her, eliminating dairy seemed to be a big factor in healing. Unable to return to her “normal” weight for nine years, she dropped 20 pounds relatively quickly after cutting dairy, and now feels to be at her personal healthy weight.

Stephanie said her jaw dropped while reading my book when she got to where I talk about personal care products. She says, “I thought I was health conscious. I ate organic, but then slathered toxins on my skin.” By the end of January, she had made the switch to pure, safe personal care products, and home cleaners.

She found a new endocrinologist, one who was supportive and willing to truly see Stephanie as a partner in care. She even asked Stephanie if she could borrow my Hashimoto’s Root Cause book from her!

Weaning Off Thyroid Medications…

Stephanie’s interventions allowed her to significantly lower the amount of T4 she took. She didn’t expect that the lifestyle changes would have such a powerful effect and had to go the emergency room because of palpitations three separate times, as her thyroid function began to return, and her TSH dropped into the hyperthyroidism range!

Stephanie’s story highlights the importance of being monitored closely when undertaking major lifestyle changes. Sometimes change is gradual, and, other times, it may be quite rapid. It’s important to have your thyroid levels closely monitored to prevent the unpleasant hyperthyroid symptoms that Stephanie experienced.

In 2007, when first diagnosed, Stephanie was taking 50 mcg of T4 daily. When we spoke in April 2015, she was down to 13 mcg daily and getting ready to come off her medication entirely, under a physician’s support.  At the end of April 2015, she sent me a message letting me know that she is off thyroid medications completely.

Stephanie’s Advice to Others with Hashimoto’s

“Never underestimate your willpower. Your Hashimoto’s is not going to go away overnight. Change takes time. Your body has to adjust to detoxifying and normalizing whatever you need to normalize. When you put your mind to it and have a support system in place (family, friends, Dr. Wentz’s website and book), the impossible becomes possible.”

“Believe in yourself. Set small goals at first. You’ll have roadblocks. You’ll have a bad day, and be tempted to jump back on the gluten wagon. Stop and think about what’s more important. Momentary desire or long-term health?”

“You’re in control. You control what you put in your mouth and what you put on your body. Remembering this may be the key to unlocking your door to healing.”

“Dig deep. For those of you on medication with persistent symptoms of hypothyroidism, or other signs of immune dysfunction, it is worth taking a closer look at everything from the medication that you’re on to the beauty products you slather on the skin, to the food you put in your body. You’ll only find what you’re looking for if you’re willing to keep looking.”

“Know yourself. If you don’t feel well, be wary when a doctor tells you that your labs are normal. Find your normal. Find where you feel well. The numbers that reflect me feeling well might be very different than the numbers that reflect  someone else’s feeling well.”

“Trust results. Even some of my doctors still question my diet. They try to convince me it’s not my diet when I credit it with many of the positive shifts I’ve seen. It can be hard to stick with the changes, especially when the experts are questioning you. But, the results speak for themselves. My joint pain is gone, I feel in control of my life, I feel awake, alive, and alert. I’ve lost weight. I feel well. For me, that is evidence enough. Regardless of what some docs say.”

“Set your goals. It’s tempting when I see friends training for marathons, or signing up for CrossFit. Maybe one day that will be right for me, but not right now. My body requires long walks instead of long runs. We get better by keeping up with ourselves, not by comparing ourselves to others. ”

“Consider sharing your story. Listen when others share theirs. By trade, I’m an occupational therapist, working with older clients. When I listen to my patients closely and hear their stories, I can better support what needs to happen to get them living more independently again. Having my story heard, by my new endocrinologist, and now by Dr. Wentz, means a lot to me. Dr. Wentz’s work has helped me with my determination to get better. Those of us with Hashimoto’s, even if it’s in remission, share a common ground. We need to support each other, by speaking up, and by listening. ”

Izabella Wentz, PharmD: I’m so grateful to Stephanie for sharing her story and helpful strategies. I’m also beyond proud of Stephanie for taking charge of her health and being a “Root Cause Rebel” who continued to dig and ask questions until she got herself better! I’m honored and thankful that Hashimoto’s Root Cause is helping her find her “root causes.”

I hope her story inspires you to create your success story. If you’d like to inspire others by submitting your own Hashimoto’s Success story. It is an HIPPA-secure research portal, and I will only share the information that you give me permission to share.

Please note: you don’t have to be 100 percent well to help others; sometimes being a work in progress can inspire others as well 🙂

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