When the thyroid is stimulated by Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) from the pituitary, it produces thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) by transporting iodine into the thyroid and by stimulating Thyroid Peroxidase Activity (TPO).
TPO is involved in the formation of T4 and T3 as it catalyzes the oxidation of iodine using hydrogen peroxide.
The thyroid will produce 94% of the available T4 and 7% of the available T3.
As we know, T4 is inactive and T3 is an active thyroid hormone.
Therefore, the majority of hormone production done by the thyroid is inactive T4. Once the thyroid has produced T4, it is metabolized peripherally from the thyroid into combination T3 hormones by the enzyme 5’ deiodinase, mostly at the liver.
Under normal circumstances, about 40% of the available T4 is converted into T3, 20% is converted into reverse T3 (rT3), which is irreversibly inactive, and 20% is converted into T3 sulfate (T3S) and triiodothyroacetic acid (T3AC).
T3S and T3AC are inactive thyroid hormones until they circulate into the gastrointestinal tract and are acted upon by intestinal sulfatase into active T3. Gastrointestinal sulfatase activity is dependent upon a healthy gut microflora.
Lab Testing Ranges are EXTREMELY Broad!
Why do you still have thyroid symptoms when your lab tests are normal? Why do you have still have thyroid symptoms when your TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) is between .35 to 5.0 which is the “normal lab range?”
Most likely, your M.D. has only order one thyroid test which is TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone). If you are lucky, maybe they have ordered a couple more. From your M.D.’s perspective if your TSH level is within that very wide lab range of .35 to 5.0, you’re normal, there’s nothing wrong with you! BUT, and this is a HUGE BUT, the OPTIMAL LEVEL or “functional level” for TSH is 1.8 to 3.0. So you could still be “normal” in the medical doctor’s eyes but abnormal in the functional or optimal range.
It’s only when that range is above 5.0 that the medical doctor will put you on a pharmaceutical therapy or synthetic thyroid hormone.
BUT, as I mentioned, in a medical doctor’s eyes, if your thyroid TSH is within .35 to 5.0, YOU ARE NORMAL! There is NOTHING wrong with you. “It’s ALL in your head!” “You don’t need medication, because you don’t have a thyroid problem!” Even though you still may have all the thyroid symptoms: extreme fatigue, hair falling out, etc., you’re NORMAL! Well…you and I both know that you are not “normal”. If you were, you would not be suffering from symptoms!
Auto-Immune or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is the #1 Cause of Hypothyroid in the U.S.!
The #1 cause of low thyroid or hypothyroid in the United States is something called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis or autoimmune thyroid. It’s an autoimmune condition and it means that your immune system is attacking your thyroid.
An autoimmune condition is where your immune system is attacking a part of your body, and in your case, it is most likely, attacking your thyroid gland. Remember, your thyroid controls your body’s metabolism. ALL OF IT! Your immune system is attacking your thyroid, and it is killing it. You just don’t have a “thyroid” problem, you have an “immune system” problem! Unfortunately, thyroid hormones do nothing for this autoimmune attack. You will continue to lose more and more of your thyroid while taking the medications. It is a slow, progressive, downward slide.
So the problem isn’t just your thyroid: it is your immune system. You have an immune system problem, and you need to heal your immune system. Thyroid hormones are not going to help you heal your immune system.
There are two parts to your immune system, TH1 and TH2 and they should be in balance, kind of like a teeter-totter effect. One should not be higher than the other. If your immune system goes out of balance because of stress (physical, chemical or emotional), one system (TH1 or TH2) will become dominant and this will cause your immune system to attack your body. There are specific blood tests that can be run to determine if you are autoimmune and if one part of your immune system is dominant.
It is important to understand that autoimmune conditions don't just attack one area of your body… like your thyroid. Other areas of your body will also be under attack. It can attack your pancreas, causing diabetes or it can attack your gut, your stomach lining, causing IBS or it can attack your joints, rheumatoid arthritis. It can attack your entire body, this is why most people with an autoimmune diagnosis have many other conditions at the same time. You need to be tested to see if you are having an autoimmune response, and that’s what’s causing your thyroid condition!
There are many tests that can be run for the thyroid, but the most important step is to determine if you have an autoimmune condition. And if you’re autoimmune, you have to find out why. Remember, I said there are two parts to your immune system, TH1 and TH2. They need to work in balance. If one is dominant or working harder than the other, it’s usually because there’s something called an active antigen. And what is an active antigen? It can be a parasite. It can be a virus, bacteria, mold or fungi. It can be a food protein, such as gluten (the protein in wheat, barley or rye) or casein (milk protein).
Your immune system could become imbalanced because of dysregulation due to hormonal surges and/or extreme stress. Blood sugar problems and/or chronic inflammation and/or high cortisol levels can all cause your immune system to run amuck.
How to know if you are autoimmune!
How do you know if you’re autoimmune? How do you know if your immune system is attacking your body? Well…the reality is that most people know that they’re autoimmune just from the fact that they may already suffer from a current autoimmune disorder such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, Sjorgen’s syndrome, scleroderma, and/or lupus.
Another way that people will know if they’re autoimmune is that their symptoms may wax and wane. Symptoms that wax and wane are a sure sign that you are most likely suffering from an autoimmune condition.
The third way that they will know if a patient is autoimmune is that they will come in with a basket of supplements and medications, I mean a truck-load. I’ve had people bring in so many bottles it wasn’t funny. In many cases, the things that they are taking were actually making them worse!
Number four…their life fell apart after they got sick. That’s how they know they’re autoimmune. They’ve been to 12 or 15 or 20 different doctors and they have a stack of medical records sky high all because it’s an undiagnosed autoimmune condition.
They may develop an autoimmune condition following a pregnancy. Usually, women are TH2 dominant in the third trimester and TH1 dominant postpartum.
And finally, as I’ve mentioned, there’s positive testing via the Functional Laboratory panels. You see, your immune system is designed to protect you. When your immune system runs amuck, it starts attacking different parts of your body, and it’s important to know that once you realize you have an autoimmune condition, you need to get checked, and you need to manage that autoimmune condition.
Know the Autoimmune Triggers!
One of the most common questions I get is…”How did I develop this autoimmune condition?” Well…it’s pretty much lifestyle, genetics and the environment. It’s a matter of what came first, the chicken or the egg? We all know that genetically, you may be at risk for developing certain problems and/or conditions. If your mom had a thyroid condition, if your grandmother had a thyroid condition, you probably have a thyroid condition too, so it’s genetic.
Then there are environmental factors, one of the biggest being chemicals in our everyday products. For example, BPA. This is a very nasty chemical called bisphenol A. It’s used in a lot of plastics, and BPA is extremely bad for thyroid health, and it can trigger Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis or autoimmune thyroid.
Rocket fuel is another! You heard that correctly, I said rocket fuel! You may ask…”How am I exposed to rocket fuel?” Studies have shown that 30 to 40 percent of women in America have remnants of rocket fuel in their body. It gets into the groundwater. It stays there for a very long time.
Mitigating any further exposure to environmental toxins is key to managing autoimmune disorders!
The Dangers of IODINE!
The problem with iodine is if you walk into a health food store and you tell the manager (who usually has no medical background and they have no idea of what tests need to be run)… “I have a thyroid condition. How can I help myself?” They’ll probably give you iodine, which is one of the WORST things that you can do!
According to one of the foremost leading thyroid experts and author of the book, Why Do I Still Have My Thyroid Symptoms Even When My Lab Tests Are Normal?, Dr. Datis Kharrazian, taking iodine is like throwing gasoline on a fire. Iodine is a red hot supplement these days but it is one of the worst things that you can take, so DON’T DO IT! Check your multi-vitamin, does it contain iodine? If so, do not take it! It could make you worse!
Granted iodine is vital to thyroid function. It’s a major co-factor and stimulator for that enzyme, TPO, but for a person with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, for a person with an auto-immune thyroid, for a person where their immune system is attacking their thyroid…supplementing with iodine is literally throwing gasoline on a fire because Iodine stimulates the production of TPO. This, in turn, increases levels of TPO anti-bodies dramatically which is indicating an auto-immune flare-up. Some people develop symptoms of an overactive thyroid while others have no symptoms despite the tests and elevated levels of TPO anti-bodies, this is why you need to run the tests. I always advise anyone with an auto-immune thyroid or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis to avoid supplements containing iodine and this includes multi-vitamins.
You would be amazed at how many people walk into my door with severe thyroid conditions and they’re taking a multi-vitamin and they are taking all these other supplements thinking they’re helping themselves and they’re actually hurting themselves because they’re making their condition worse.
They’re over-stimulating or exceeding metabolic capacity of their immune system and it’s causing a “massive fire” that attacks their thyroid. Now I know this seems confusing but the reality is most people and health care providers have no idea of the testing that needs to be done to get a thorough workup completed on a Hashimoto’s thyroid patient and most patients who are suffering with chronic thyroid problems, who are taking medications and they still have symptoms, even though their lab tests are quote-unquote “normal,” they need a thorough work-up. They need the tests done.
The Dangers of TYROSINE!
Tyrosine is another very popular supplement in health food stores for people suffering with thyroid problems and, again, you walk into the health food store and you tell the manager or the person at the front desk that you have a thyroid condition and you need supplements, the first thing they’re going to reach for is iodine and the second supplement that they are going to reach for is tyrosine.
Just like iodine, tyrosine is an integral part of thyroid hormone production but supplementing with it has the potential to suppress thyroid activity. See there’s not a single study out there that shows the ability of tyrosine to increase thyroid hormones, even when they’re low.
The problem is that tyrosine will increase adrenal hormones, epinephrine and norepinephrine which will create a “wired feeling,” a high, brain foggy, I’m flying ,feeling, and this is one of the worst problems that you can do for a patient with hypothyroidism or an autoimmune thyroid. It is creating an active stress response by over-stimulating the adrenal glands.
I recommend that all patients who are on thyroid meds get tested thoroughly and DO NOT walk into some natural health food store and ask the person behind the counter, who most likely has a high school education, what they should be taking to fix their thyroid problem.
PROLACTIN
Prolactin is a hormone that’s made by your pituitary gland. High levels of prolactin suppress TSH or Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone. Prolactin is balanced by progesterone and dopamine, so when people have a dopamine or progesterone deficiency, their prolactin will increase and that will decrease the function of the pituitary’s production of thyroid-stimulating hormone.
Prolactin also suppresses luteinizing hormone, LH, in women. Prolactin excess can cause infertility. In men, excess prolactin depresses testosterone so they have low libido. High prolactin can cause tumors which are called prolactinomas. The bottom line is that excess levels of prolactin, that’s caused either by a tumor or some other problem, can suppress your thyroid function.
Anemia
I’ve mentioned that the number one cause of thyroid – autoimmune dysfunction, but what if the patient isn’t autoimmune? Since there are a small percentage of patients that are not autoimmune, what else could be causing the problem?
Anemia is the answer! Anemia in and of itself is a deal-breaker for nutritional support of any kind including thyroid support since anemia literally starves your body of oxygen.
Oxygen is very important in healing your body. Your brain and nervous system need two things to survive: fuel and activation. Fuel comes in the form of oxygen and glucose. When you are depriving your body of oxygen you are depriving your red blood cells of oxygen which is the basic function that maintains, regenerates and heals the body. The body simply cannot operate adequately if there is no oxygen for the red blood cells.
Anemia can be due to a variety of reasons and factors including pernicious anemia which is an autoimmune disease or B12 anemia. Some forms of anemia don’t seem to respond to iron supplements because the red blood cells breakdown. So when this happens supplementing won’t increase iron levels and can, in fact, make the problem much worse. Too much iron in the body is much more toxic than mercury, lead or other heavy metals. The four priorities to look into are number one, anemia; number two, blood sugar or glucose; number three, gut function/liver and number four, fatty acid metabolism. ALL of these systems need to be checked.
Brain Function
Brain function is extremely important in treating the thyroid. The brain controls every bodily function. Your pituitary drives the thyroid gland. It releases TSH. The part of your brain called the hypothalamus drives the pituitary.
Our brain needs two things to survive: fuel and activation.
Fuel is oxygen and glucose, which is why we use oxygen therapy in our office. As you age, your ability to utilize oxygen decreases by one percent per year each year after the age of 25.
If you are 50 years old, you’ve lost 25 percent of your ability to utilize oxygen in your body. It’s called oxidative phosphorylation which is a big fancy three-dollar term meaning you’re not using oxygen as well as you did when you were younger.
Secondly serotonin plays a large major factor in thyroid function. There’s a place in your brain called the hypothalamus and there’s something called the periventricular nucleus. I know these are big fancy three-dollar words but it’s critical that you know this if you’re suffering with thyroid symptoms. The hypothalamic periventricular nucleus is acted upon by serotonin in the central nervous system and what it will do is make you have low thyroid-stimulating hormone or low TSH.
Taking thyroid hormones for these problems is not going to do ANYTHING for you. It will most likely make your symptoms worse. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying to stop taking your medication. That’s called practicing medicine without a license! I am saying be aware of what’s happening to your body because once you start asking medical doctors WHY you’re taking these medications they’re going to look at you like you’re crazy since they might not have many reasons to offer.
This is why it’s important to eat healthy. Don’t skip meals. Quit eating junk food. Every time you’re eating junk food you are literally eating away at your thyroid and you’re making your problem worse.
By consuming a poor, junk-food filled diet, you will increase your thyroid symptoms such as feeling tired or sluggish, or inability to lose weight or cold hands or feet or insomnia. You will gain weight easily, you have difficult, infrequent bowel movements, you’re depressed, you have lack of motivation, and you have morning headaches that wear off later on in the day. The outer third of your eyebrow is getting thin, you have dryness of the skin or scalp, you have mental sluggishness, you’re nervous, you’re emotional and you have night sweats.
You have all of these symptoms and yet your labs are quote-unquote “normal” in the eyes of your medical doctor. Remember, those labs need to be within the optimal or functional range.
The evils of GLUTEN!
Gluten is one of the biggest culprits in causing an autoimmune thyroid that I see in my office. Therefore, it is EXTREMELY important to be tested properly for gluten sensitivity. In our office, we run Functional Laboratory tests for sensitivity to gluten, milk, soy, egg and other common food culprits.
Gluten is the protein in wheat, barley, rye and oats. The reason that so many people across the country are gluten-sensitive is that we’ve been eating genetically-engineered wheat since the late 1940’s. Our bodies were not made to eat genetically-engineered wheat. Our bodies were not made to eat chemicals and that’s exactly what we are consuming!
In order for you to be healthy, one of the best things that you can do is to avoid gluten. If you are sensitive to gluten, it will cause your immune system to attack your body whether it’s your thyroid, your joints, and your pancreas, whatever. Remember we talked about an active antigen a while back and an active antigen can be something that causes your immune system to run amuck or attack.
Your T-cells are attacking your body and the cause for your T-cell attack can be a parasite, fungi, yeast, mold, virus, bacteria, and it can also be gluten. It could also be dairy, yeast, soy and/or egg. It could also be yeast. This is not a guessing game, you need to be tested.
Usually, gluten testing with a medical office for gluten sensitivity is not done with a DNA component you really don’t know if you’re gluten-sensitive or not. There has yet to be an autoimmune Hashimoto’s thyroid patient walk in my office that is not gluten-sensitive and they could very well be sensitive to dairy, egg, soy and yeast too!
Vitamin D
You always seem to hear in the news that there’s always some new vitamin to consider or new deficiency to consider but when it comes to Hashimoto’s thyroiditis or autoimmune thyroid – it’s very important that patients are taking Vitamin D to help their immune system.
Modern diets are lacking in Vitamin D rich foods. What are Vitamin D rich foods? Liver (To be honest with you, I can’t stand liver), organ meats, lard, many forms of seafood, butter and egg yolks. Sunlight is another important factor and source of Vitamin D.
Why is Vitamin D so important? Vitamin D deficiency is associated with many, many autoimmune conditions including Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Frankly, autoimmune rates have been skyrocketing in the past 20 years which has correlated with decreased levels of Vitamin D in the general population.
Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)
Healthy hormone production including the production of thyroid hormones depends on Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s). You’ve probably heard about these nutrients; fish oil, flax-seed oil, evening primrose oil, black currant seed oil.
In our diets, EFA’s can be found in cold-water fish and in many raw, unprocessed nuts and seeds. EFA’s not only contribute nutrients for hormones but also proper cellular communication, brain function and much more.
The ideal ratio between Omega 6 and Omega 3 fats in EFA’s is estimated to be 3 to 1, to 5 to 1. In the average American diet or S.A.D. (Standard American Diet), the ratio is more like 25 to 1 thanks to diets that are heavily processed with junk food and vegetable oil. You need to take a well-rounded, fish oil based high potency EFA supplement if you intend to be healthy.
If you’re insulin-resistant, it causes a condition in which the body cannot properly metabolize the EFA’s in flax, evening primrose or black currant seed oils. This is why fish oil is the predominant recommendation. Essential fatty acid deficiencies are so common in the United States it’s estimated that up to 80 percent of the U.S. population failed to get enough essential fatty acids each day thanks to our Standard American Diet (SAD).
It’s because our diet is so filled with junk; high fat, high salt, high sugar or high refined sugar. I had a patient come in one time, she was drinking 12 cans of diet Mountain Dew a day and I told her if she wanted to become my patient she’d need to stop drinking the diet Mountain Dew immediately. She did and went through withdrawal symptoms for a week.
If you’re serious about getting healthy, if you’re serious about correcting your thyroid problem you need to change your diet, you need to eat healthy, you need to eliminate junk food, you need to be taking essential fatty acids, especially fish oil based essential fatty acids, especially high quality essential fatty acids.
PCOS—Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
There have been studies that show that PCOS, or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome can trigger Hashimoto’s Disease. PCOS is a common female hormone disorder. It affects the 5-10 percent of menstruating women. And it is one of the most common causes of infertility. PCOS systems include the inability to lose weight, hair lost, fatigue after meals, hormone imbalances, and sugar cravings. Do these symptoms sound familiar? They sound like a thyroid patient, don’t they?
On blood chemistry tests, PCOS can be identified by insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a blood glucose level from 100-126. This is a fasting blood glucose level. It’s also indicated with elevated triglycerides and cholesterol, especially IF THE TRIGLYCERIDES ARE HIGHER THAN THE CHOLESTEROL LEVELS.
Insulin resistance, which is a condition in which the cells become resistant to insulin due to a high carbohydrate diet, leads to excess testosterone production, and this leads to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. As testosterone levels rise, the cells become further resistance to insulin, and it’s a slow downward spiral.
Insulin resistance also promotes inflammation and immune system problems, which predispose the person to an autoimmune disease. You factor in all of this with Hashimoto’s, and, now, can you see why it’s important to address Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, or PCOS, when addressing thyroid conditions?
The Adrenal Glands!
Your adrenal glands sit atop your kidneys and they are your stress glands. They make a lot of hormones for your body like cortisol, androgens, and aldosterone. Your adrenal glands are vital for optimal health. When they are not working, it causes high levels of cortisol in your system, and this can be why you still have thyroid symptoms, even when your other lab tests may be normal. Cortisol is one of the main factors regulating your blood sugar level, not insulin. Everybody thinks it’s insulin, but it’s actually cortisol.
When cortisol is released by your adrenal glands, it’s accompanied by cytokines. Cytokines suppress the ability of your pituitary gland, and your hypothalamus, to make Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. Your adrenal glands make cortisol in response to stress, whether it’s physical, chemical, or emotional stress. And cortisol also promotes inflammation, which makes your adrenal glands pump out more cortisol. As cortisol is released, the cytokines come out with it and suppress your pituitary. Now there are common causes of elevated cortisol- chronic stress, posttraumatic stress disorder, or hidden gut infections like parasites. You’d be surprised how many people have parasitic infections.
So be aware, if your stress levels are high, your adrenal glands are still going to pump hard, and cortisol levels are going to increase. Cytokine levels are going to increase, and it will cause your pituitary not to function properly, and it will cause decreased amounts of thyroid-stimulating hormone. High cortisol will sabotage your attempt to combat your thyroid problem.
I need to add that if you’re suffering from adrenal fatigue, you need to avoid refined sugar, alcohol, and caffeine because these are high stressors to your immune system. And don’t think you can get away with eating aspartame or MSG because these are the worse things you could do for your adrenal glands.
Intestinal Fortitude…LITERALLY!
Gut function is extremely important, especially looking at “leaky gut syndrome”. Leaky Gut Syndrome is where the lining of your intestines have become more permeable, allowing things like food particles and large molecules to permeate into your system and create havoc with your immune system. It’s also important in gut function to be tested for parasites. Many people suffer from parasites and don’t know it.
Many people who suffer with thyroid problems also suffer from irritable bowel syndrome. They have problems with constipation or diarrhea, or both. Repairing your gut begins at the plate. You have to eat a healthy diet. You have to avoid junk food. Chronic inflammation is caused by a poor diet. When you have increased intestinal permeability, you will also have chronic inflammation because a healthy GI tract is a tightly woven mesh of tissue that does not allow the absorption of bacteria, harmful foods, or undigested particles in the bloodstream. When you’re suffering from leaky gut syndrome, this is exactly what’s happening.
Once in the blood stream, these particles are recognized as foreign invaders or antigen, in which the immune system attacks. And, unfortunately, for many people, especially those with insulin resistance, this response happens almost every time they eat resulting in chronic inflammation or IBS, irritable bowel syndrome. This sets the stage for the development of an autoimmune disease such as Hashimoto’s or some other autoimmune problem.
Don’t fall into the false belief that…”Everything has been done!”
Believing that all of the labs have been done and you are "normal" is WRONG! I can’t tell you how many times a patient walks in my office and tells me that their medical doctor told them that all their labs are normal. Yes, they may be normal in regards to lab values, but not in regards to optimal or functional values. This is a huge trap that many patients fall into and they have to avoid. They believe that all of the correct tests have been done, and that all of those tests are normal, just like their medical doctor said they were.
The truth is there is no functional testing that has been done. You need specific lab tests. You need a complete metabolic panel. You need food sensitivity testing to see if you’re sensitive to gluten, milk, soy, egg, or others. It is so important that all these tests are run. Don’t get into the false belief that everything possible has been done, then you’ve lost the point, and you will stop searching for answers and information that will help you.
Do Not Allow Your Health Condition to be Labeled and Placed in a Nice, Neat Box!
Do not accept “hypothyroid” or “Grave’s Disease” as a label for all of your symptoms. There’s no simple explanation for why you have a thyroid problem. That’s why ALL of the testing needs to be done. When you were first diagnosed with a thyroid problem, you might have been happy to finally have somebody or some doctor call it, or name it, or put it in a box.
It’s scary to have symptoms that nobody knows what’s wrong with the person. It leaves your mind to worry. But don’t accept the label for all your symptoms. If you’ve been diagnosed with a thyroid condition, hypothyroid, or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, realize that there are things that can be done to help you! There are answers out there. The key is you need to be tested thoroughly. You need to be tested and correctly treated. THAT is the only way you will achieve health!
Don’t Use Medications as a Crutch!
Are you relying solely on medication to cover your symptoms? Ask yourself if you really think all of the medications that you’re taking are actually making your body functional or really fixing your symptoms? Think about this: If you gave the medication that you’re taking to a healthy person, would they remain healthy or would they become sick? They would become sick! ALL medications have side effects
All you’re you doing with medications is covering up symptoms. You’re also creating unwanted side effects, which may in the long run make you worse. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen in their eighties that started off with one or two medications in their thirties, ended up with four or five medications in their fifties, and now in their eighties, they’re taking thirteen to fifteen medications.
Don’t think that you need medications to be healthy. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying to stop taking your medications this minute. But…as we test you and we’re treating you and we’re supporting your journey to health and wellness, you’re bound to improve, and, eventually, you can go back to your medical doctor, and you can ask him to take you off of these medications or decrease the dosage.
We want to get to the root cause of your problem and reverse it by resolving those root causes, not covering up the symptoms.
Control Your Health Destiny!
No one but you is responsible for your health! Take back control of your own healthcare! We’re trained to believe that doctors know best. And what the doctor says is the best thing for me. It’s true, doctors are doctors; they treat people, they want to help people, but the reality is just writing a script and throwing a medication at a person isn’t actually treating the patient and isn’t in the best interest of the patient.
With something as complex as hypothyroid or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis or Grave’s disease, you have to literally grab the bull by the horns and take charge. It’s your life. It’s your body. What are you going to do for the next 30-40 years? Are you going to accept the status quo and continue to push from doctor to doctor only to find out that they have no answer for you? It’s up to you. Nobody is going to care about you more than you. You need to take action. Nothing else is going to help you with your thyroid condition more than the proper testing and treatment.
TAKE ACTION NOW!
Take action! Do not think it’s going to get better on its own. Many people think that once they’re taking medication, their problem isn’t going to get any worse and this isn’t true. The reality is you’re either getting better, or you’re getting worse, you’re not saying the same.
So if you sit and wait around for it to just go away on its own, or you sit and think that you can’t do anything and that’ll you be just fine, you’re falling into a deep, dark well. Avoid this type of thinking at all costs. Remember to get tested, treated, and supported functionally or optimally. Remember that there are lab values that are extremely broad and wide. And you want lab values that are much narrower or functional levels. Once you get properly tested and treated, then, and only then, your symptoms will go away.
Support the WHOLE person!
Find a doctor who treats you as a whole person and utilizes complete functional neurological and metabolic protocols. You see, a functional problem can’t be treated like an acute situation. Medical doctors are great supporting acute health conditions: a broken bone, a heart attack, a stroke. But when it comes to chronic conditions, functional conditions, they are lost.
You need a doctor that takes a step back and looks at the big picture and does thorough testing. You need to take control of your own health. Now that I’ve given you all of this knowledge, and explained to you that we are the office that can provide you with the functional testing and treatment, neurologically and metabolically, we invite you to call our office. We are designed to avoid all these treatment traps and help patients reverse their hyperthyroidism, Grave’s disease, or Hashimoto’s.
We accept a limited number of patients into our program each month because we are so thorough, that we must ensure that each patient gets the proper attention that they require. I hope that you have enjoyed these thyroid treatment success secrets. And I look forward to hearing from you in the future.
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So I was diagnosed with M.S. in 2009. I was going down hill fast lately. Dr. Duquette and Kendra are the best giving you all the information you will need to get healthy and stay healthy. I am on the right track due to the Duquette's I give them so much love. The 2 hour drive is well worth it!
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Dr. Duquette and his amazing staff get to the root of the issues and develop a lifestyle plan that alters the course of these dreaded diseases versus just masking symptoms. I still have a ways to go in the program, but it has absolutely changed my life! I couldn't be more thankful and appreciative that our paths crossed.
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He and his staff have given me the tools to move ahead on my own, to listen to my body, and to look at health in an entirely new way. I am forever grateful and would recommend him to anyone.
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I would recommend anyone with any health problem who lives in central Illinois see Dr. Duquette before they waste their time with any other doctor.
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I feel like I have been given my life back :). My IBS symptoms are non-existent as long as I support my body with good, clean foods. I follow the tips provided in the program to focus on positive mental health, manage my stress, and have a better outlook on life. This has greatly reduced my anxiety, and I don't notice depression at all.
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Dr Duquette has helped me learn what my body needs to be healthy. I was able to learn new patterns and behaviors through his guidance. He's very kind and easily accessible...always willing to talk/call you back to discuss concerns.
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