Naturally Focused Endocrinologist for Thyroid Disorders

[Anonymous]

I recently was diagnosed with Graves's Disease and hyperthyroid. I am going to an endocrinologist this week but am wondering if anyone has been to an endocrinologist that allows for natural therapies. I have been reading about following an autoimmune paleo protocol diet and taking LDN (basically a low dose of an off brand medication to help with autoimmune disorders). Anyway, has anyone worked with an endocrinologist that is open minded to these therapies? Has anyone worked with a natural doctor who is? I live in Fairfax but would be willing to travel. Has anyone been diagnosed with Grave's? I would love some support. I am a 27 year old female and thought I was in great health and have been blindsided by this diagnosis. I am wary of trying radioactive iodine treatments at this young of an age before I try other therapies. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

You need a board certified endocrinologist. Graves Disease needs to be taken very seriously...please get real here.

[Anonymous]

I would meet with an ND who works with people with thyroid disease. You should continue to meet with your endocrinologist and use both of them together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need a board certified endocrinologist. Graves Disease needs to be taken very seriously...please get real here.

agreed.

Supplements aren't clinically shown to work and aren't regulated by the FDA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would meet with an ND who works with people with thyroid disease. You should continue to meet with your endocrinologist and use both of them together.

As soon as you tell your endo what you are doing he or she might stop seeing you.

Graves has serious crazy irreversible consequences. What is your aversion to tried and true medical intervention?

[Anonymous]

How does one even even consider a Paleo diet as a possible treatment?I agree with the PP who warned that an Endocrinologist would stop seeing you. Yes you will need mainstream treatment which may or may not include radiation therapy, but medication for sure.
I'm going to eat a piece of bread now.

[Anonymous]

How severe is your hyperthyroidism? What are your TSH and T3 levels? Antibodies?

I have Graves and had sub clinical hyperthyroidism over ten years ago. Undetectable TSH but my thyroid hormone levels were in the normal range. The first endocrinologist I saw strongly recommended radioactive iodine treatment, which would have left me permanently hypothyroid. I tried a second endocrinologist who preferred a more conservative approach of monitoring, and after several months my levels returned to normal. A couple of years later I developed the same subclinical hyperthyroidism, and that time it did not go away on its own so I took meds, which resolved the problem. I am still monitored and so far so good.

I understand your concerns about radioactive iodine. I didn't want to do it either, and thus far have avoided it. But hyperthyroidism can be really dangerous if untreated, so try to keep an open mind to conventional treatments.

Happy to answer any questions you may have. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I had Graves. Don't do radioactive treatment at any cost. Go see endocrynologyst (can't recommend one since I just moved to this area and seeing only general practitioner every 3 month for blood work). and take meds until your blood test stable. I don't know if paleo is the answer. I think the answer is a balanced diet. No single processed food. No boxed cereal, coffee creamers, etc. Never. Just shop for fresh produce and fresh meat/fish without hormones. No farmed raised fish. It is not that expensive if you train yourself to eat small portions. Cut on coffee as much as you can because coffee does remove iron from your body, and people with graves have law iron due to body's inability to absorb it.

I was diagnosed at the age of 37, I am 39 now, not on medication and my blood test is fine. I was also scared to death. I stopped eating at the restaurants for almost two years because I wanted to be 100% sure that I know what is in my meal. Don't focus on treating Graves, focus on healing your body. It is not thyroid, it is your body autoimmune desease that attacking your thyroid (in other people it is RA, or something else). So thyroid problems is only the consequences of your unhealthy lifestyle, not the cause. Educate yourself. I read probably around 20 books about autoimmune disorders. I can recommend Grave's desease (I can't find it on my shelf to look up the author). Also the good one In defense of food by Michael Pollan. Learn which vegetable to avoid with hyperthyroids. Eat simple meals, something that your great grandmother would cook. Paleo excludes all grains, which I don't think very healthy. Grains has a lot of amino acids that absolutely necessary for your body and can't be received from other sources. I did cut milk from my diet because I simply didn't have a source of good unpastarized milk. I do drink plain full fat kefir or yogurt. Cut as much wheat from your diet as possible. Your goal is to heal your immune system which is in your guts. Wheat can cause a lot of irritation to your guts. I went gluten free for almost a year and now slowly re-introducing wheat into my diet (in a very limited doses). One more thing: cook stock from the bones. Get a large bone and cook it for a 5-6 hours. Bone marrow is an excellent healer for the immune disorders. You can make a pot once a week, and then make soup out of it twice (which will provide you at least 4-5 days meals). Animal's liver is a great source of iron that your body will actually absorb. Yes, it was not the food that would normally eat, but I just made myself. For me it was either this or meds for the rest of my life. I chose the diet.

I went to aueverdic specialists outside US, but I didn't do anything that they suggested until my blood tests were normal. I am taking Vitamin D twice a week now, iron every other day with vitamin C, vitamin B complex, folic asid every day. I also mix grounded ginger, turmeric, and fennucreak in an equal amount and take it one teaspoon every morning on an empty stomac. Fennucreek can affect your hormons, that is why I were hesitant to take it at the beginning.

Remove all harsh chemicals from the household. Now we doing all cleaning with basic stuff like baking soda, vinegar, rosemary oil, etc. Discard any pans with teflon in it because it does affect your immune system. No plastics container. I even avoid microwave wherever I can (yes, I warm up my cereal that I cooked day before on the stove). It will take a minute or two longer in the morning, but I am worth it.

Cut extensive exercises. Anything that bring your heart rate too high is giving your body additional stress. Do walks instead runs, low impact excercises, no heavy lifting. Try yoga, it did helped me a lot because my mind were racing like crazy when my thyroid hormones were high. I did couple yoga retreats, it really helped.

The most important thing is to believe that you can do it! If you really want to do it -- you will recover. You are very young and your body is very strong. You just need to help it to heal.

[Anonymous]

http://www.endocrinologygroup.com/

I have been seeing the ladies in this group for about 7 years. I have an inconsistent thyroid but have not yet had any medical treatment.

I really like them. Tell them that you want the fewest interventions possible and I suspect they will do their best to work wtih you.

I've seen the all but the blond. I like ;them all.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for the feedback! I have stopped running (used to run daily 4-5 miles/day) and am doing yoga and taking more walks. This has also been good for my stress.I am eating only whole foods (fruits, vegetables, and only grain-fed meat/wild fish from Whole Foods). I have cut out all caffeine and coffee. I have been drinking bone stock also. I have not been brave enough to try animal liver yet--I know I will need to after reading all of the great health benefits. I also need to cut out the palstic containers and stop using the microwave--those are next steps I need to take.

I found a natural doctor in Rockville who specializes in thyroid disorders. I emailed her yesterday and really appreciated her response and her experience with Graves. She also works dircetly with endocrinologists which is what I wanted--a natural doctor working with me, but also a traditional doctor following me as well. I will update after I start working with her.

To the skpetics out there, I understand. Part of me is a little bit skeptical. However, traditional medicine only treats the thyroid which is not the problem. The problem is the autoimmune disease which is causing the thyroid to go out of whack. Autoimmune diseases are caused by a variety of factors: leaky gut, stress, etc. I wish to address the underlying problem first. I have to say I feel GREAT on this diet and my acne has basically cleared up after a little over 2 weeks on the diet. My pulse is also running in the high 60s to mid 70s which is great for me. Prior I was running the in mid 80s. I am already seeing some very minor improvements. I am a registered dietitian trained in traditional medicine. I worked with traditional doctors daily and see the flaws in the way they practice. They treat the symptoms and provide drug therapies which do not get at the root cause and could cause other problems. I realize this approach may work for some people, but I wish to explore all other options before I ablate my thyroid.