[Kimberly]

#1062644

Hello – Trying to find ways to take care of our minds and bodies through good nutrition, minimizing stress, positive thoughts, and whatever spiritual practice you embrace is always a good idea.

However, keep in mind that forgoing conventional medical treatment for hyperthyroidism can have serious, even fatal consequences.

Obviously, you can’t tell someone else what treatment path to select, but you *can* provide them with information that is backed by solid research. The "publications" section of our web site has many free bulletins on Graves’ Disease. Other credible resources include the Mayo Clinic, the American Thyroid Association, the Hormone Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.

[HonestBabe]

#1062645

For Angelace:

Yes, I can say that the acupuncture/Chinese herbs had some positive effects for a period of time for me and I was encouraged. But down the road, my TSH numbers dropped again and I could not get them back up. Possibly what happened was my body responded initially to healing but the thyroid disease seemed to be more powerful. So, now, I decided to go for the RAI treatment for a cure and I am 3 weeks post RAI as I write this. The treatment went very well; other than a mild headache and a little fatigue, no real side effects to complain about. I’m seeing my Endo next week to review blood test results so I’m don’t know the full results yet and might not for several weeks. But, your comments about positive thinking is critical to any type of healing; and I do believe that prayer is powerful. I chose RAI because, as scary as ingesting radioactivity is, radio iodine is uranium salts. And didn’t God make uranium too when he formed the earth? And yes, it’s toxic at certain levels, but medical science has been able to learn how to use it with minimum risks and just a capsule can and does produce healing. I would say to your sister, to consider alternative medicine but to also consider what medical science has to offer as well. Best of health to all. HonestBabe

[takita123]

#1062646

Just an update on my condition. It’s been 1 year since I was able to discontinue treatment with western or chinese medicine. My eyes are normal now, no visible bulging. I continue to get bloodwork every 6months. My FT4 1.2 which is within normal range (0.8-1., TSH is 0.75 (0.4-4.5), and TSI is below 100%. Physically I feel great and able to resume work and school. So I am considered in remission.

[HelenYH]

#1062647

I tried acupuncture and Chinese herbs with a very qualified Chinese medicine doctor. I tried that for about a months soon after my Graves Disease diagnosis, without Methimazole. I continued to get worse while on the Chinese treatment. The acupuncture did not help my eyes nor my thyroid.

After about a month, I gave up on the Chinese herbs and acupuncture. I found a homeopath who gave me a remedy – cactus grandiflora. I used this remedy instead of Methimazole for about 6 weeks. My TSH went up slightly, and T3/T4 went down slight. My endo was not happy with the rate at which the remedy was working and insisted I started Methimazole. So, I ended up taking bot Methimazole and the remedy. I must say that the remedy did not produce the results I wanted to see in the end. I suspect that soy was making my goitre worse. I read that the goitre can make the thyroid issue worse because of the increased blood flow to the thyroid, and hence increased iodine transport to the thyroid. This would then increase the T3/T4 levels more than if the goitre was less severe. I have read many articlea that say that soy is a goitrogen, along with cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, kohlrabi, turnip, watercress, etc.

[HelenYH]

#1062648

takita, can you please share if your Graves Disease went away by itself? Did you do anything different/special to make this happen? Thanks.

[catstuart7]

#1062649

I tried a course of acupuncture recently and here’s what I found… It is best suited to help with the symptoms one might be having at the time and general strengthening and helping anxiety but for me it did not impact the actual labs. Another caution is that many acupuncture techniques work to stimulate the immune system (which we sure do not want with Graves) and my acupuncturist had to come up with a custom plan to avoid points they would normally use. So if you get it make sure you see someone who understands not to stimulate the immune system. So would I do it again, maybe, but I don’t see it as curative more of a supportive therapy one can do in addition to other efforts.

[HelenYH]

#1062650

catstuart7 wrote:

I tried a course of acupuncture recently and here’s what I found… It is best suited to help with the symptoms one might be having at the time and general strengthening and helping anxiety but for me it did not impact the actual labs. Another caution is that many acupuncture techniques work to stimulate the immune system (which we sure do not want with Graves) and my acupuncturist had to come up with a custom plan to avoid points they would normally use. So if you get it make sure you see someone who understands not to stimulate the immune system. So would I do it again, maybe, but I don’t see it as curative more of a supportive therapy one can do in addition to other efforts.

Thanks for the cautionary note. Good to keep in mind.

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