5 Most Common Mistakes Being Made When it Comes to Thyroid Treatment Part II.

Naperville, IL NeuroMetabolic Solutions PART II

Here is part II of our series titled ” My Top 5 Countdown to the 5 most common mistakes being made when it comes to Hashimotos and Hypothyroid Treatment.” If you missed part I you can click here

3. You Have Graves’ Disease/Hyperthyroidism and Need Radioactive Iodine (RAI) Treatment.

Hashimoto’s auto immune Thyroid is much more common than Graves Disease and it has caused many women to undergo unnecessary RAI treatment. Radioactive Iodine Treatment is used to kill the overactive Thyroid.

What many doctors fail to realize is that in the early stages of Hashimoto’s disease the thyroid is in the process of being destroyed by the immune system. This destruction to the Thyroid Gland causes a “spill over” of Thyroid hormone that cause a hyperthyroid state. I am always suspicious when a patient comes to our office and after reviewing their history of hormones, we see a TSH and thyroid hormones that rollercoaster. Sometimes, it’s the temporary hyperthyroidism symptoms — anxiety, heart palpitations, fast pulse, weight loss, diarrhea, insomnia — that first bring a Hashimoto’s patient to the doctor.

Unfortunately for many thyroid sufferers, most  doctors run just the thyroid screening blood work. This includes a TSH and a total T4. For these thyroid sufferers the low TSH that is characteristic of hyperthyroidism, will often prompt radioactive iodine treatment —  this  treatment  permanently disables the thyroid, and renders the patient hypothyroid for life. The problem is, the patient doesn’t suffer from Graves’ disease and the hyperthyroidism is just temporary “Hashitoxicosis” — and the patient is ultimately on his or her way to becoming hypothyroid.

In some cases, then, unless the hyperthyroidism was life-threatening and uncontrollable using drugs, the expensive radiation treatment — whose side effects are still being debated — is needless https://drhagmeyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/pexels-karolina-grabowska-5904094-1.pngistered.

If you are told that you have Graves’ Disease or hyperthyroidism, and are rushed to have RAI, insist on blood tests for various antibodies, as well as imaging tests, to demonstrate that you do indeed have Graves’/hyperthyroidism, and are not just experiencing temporary Hashitoxicosis.

2. Basal Body Temperature Can Diagnose Hypothyroidism

Here is a situation where a clinical sign — low body temperature, has been turned into a “one size fits all” diagnostic tool that simply doesn’t work. It’s medically known that thyroid hormones have a direct effect on the basal, or resting, metabolic rate. And while hypothermia, or lowered body temperature, is a known and medically accepted symptom of hypothyroidism, some practitioners believe that body temperature is an infallible diagnostic tool. The late Broda Barnes, M.D., made the public more widely aware of the use of axillary (underarm) basal body temperature (BBT) as a symptom and diagnostic tool for hypothyroidism. It is a diagnostic and monitoring method still used by some complementary and alternative practitioners.  Again here there are many conditions that can cause low basal temperature and trying to fit everyone into a hypothyroid mold because of a low body temperature is flat out wrong!

1. The Only way to Treat Hypothyroidism Is With Synthroid.

Perhaps one of the most common fallacies doctors regularly repeat is that Synthroid is the only treatment for hypothyroidism. Actually, Synthroid is a brand name for the drug “levothyroxine” — a synthetic form of the thyroid hormone thyroxine, also known as T4. Synthroid happens to be the top-selling levothyroxine drug — primarily due to its marketing influence on physicians and their organizations, as well as relationships with distributors and insurers.

Synthroid, however, is almost always the most expensive levothyroxine. Other brands, considered equally effective by many practitioners, and almost always less expensive, include Levoxyl, Levothroid, and Unithroid.

In addition to the levothyroxine drugs, there is also liotrix, the generic name for the brand name drug Thyrolar. Thyrolar is levothyroxine and liothyronine (the synthetic form of the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine, or T3).

Finally, there is the category of prescription drugs known as natural thyroid. Don’t mistake these with over-the-counter glandular thyroid supplements — they are not the same.

Prescription natural desiccated thyroid — the primary brand being Armour Thyroid, but also available are Biotech and Nature-throid — is made from the dried thyroid gland of pigs. It includes natural T4 and T3, plus other less understood thyroid hormones including T2, T1.

Some practitioners, and in particular holistic, integrative and natural health experts, find that natural thyroid is optimal for some patients. Some Natural health practitioners (DC, ND, DO, MD) who don’t truly understand thyroid function are often quick to tell patients that you need iodine” or iodine-containing herbs or supplements, such as kelp, bladderwrack and bugleweed.

If you are truly iodine deficient, iodine may be able to help your thyroid. One study done in 1998 found that over the past twenty years, the percentage of Americans with low intake of iodine has more than quadrupled. Currently about 12 percent of the U.S. population is iodine deficient, up from less than 3 percent in the early 1970s. So, for some people, iodine deficiency may be a factor in their thyroid problem.

For majority people, iodine or iodine-containing products will increase the symptoms of low thyroid and increase the immune systems attack on the Thyroid, both Hashimoto’s and Graves’ disease, and cause enlargement of the thyroid (goiter).

Before you start iodine, you will need to have the antibodies run for both Hashimoto’s and Graves. Even then I am still careful about the use of Iodine.Natural Thyroid Treatment Offers Real Hope and Real Solutions To Those Men and women who fail to respond to Synthroid, Levoxyl and other medications.

Most patients who continue to suffer with Thyroid problems will greatly benefit from Natural Thyroid Treatment. Natural Thyroid treatment is a distinct departure from conventional treatment in that it will utilize some of the most advanced tests available.

FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE seeks to identify and address the root causes of disease, and views the body as one integrated system not a collection of independent organs divided up by medical specialties. Everything is interwoven and interconnected.

At the Naperville Institute For NeuroMetabolic Solutions we call this the “BIG Picture”

Some of Root Causes of Thyroid disease has it’s roots in metabolic disturbances.

Some of these include;

1. Proper Neurological function (Brain Body Connection),
2. Environmental factors (toxins),
3. Nutritional imbalances (poor diet), (Food Intolerances and sensitivities),
4. Hormonal imbalances (too much insulin, low blood sugar, a low thyroid or adrenal exhaustion, male and female sex hormone imbalances
5. Inflammation (swelling),
6. Impaired metabolism (any breakdown in the way our bodies make and runs the energy pathways)
7. Oxidative stress (the “rusting,” broadly speaking, of our own tissues),
8. Impaired detoxification (any inability to rid our bodies of toxins), and the damage that comes from high levels of stress, brain body connection (where theres a breakdown in the lines of communication between the the nerve system and the body)

The functional medicine approach can help find a solution to problems that other doctors either cannot figure out, or are simply prescribing medications to treat the symptoms.

Call 630-718-0555 and find out if your a good candidate for Natural Thryoid Treatment.
The Naperville Institute For Neuro Metabolic Solutions is passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Hypothyroidism, Hyperthyroidism and Hashimoto’s Disease. If you have been told your Thyroid is “Normal” but you don’t feel Right. Your Doctors are missing something. Call us at 630-718-0555 and Find out what tests you need to have done in order to get well.

Call Today and start your road to recovery.