[obnursenh]

#1060662

Almost 2 years post diagnosis, I am nearing the decision to have thyroidectomy, but need to wait until after 1/1 for insurance purposes; additionally I am in the running for a promotion at work and would need to wait until that has been decided and things settle down there too. Looking at, probably, spring in all reality before I could have the surgery. But I would like to feel better in the interim. (Aside: radioactive iodine is out of the question as I have TED now too).

Per my endocrinologist, my labs show as normal but I still feel crappy a lot of the time. My TED seems to be getting worse, as I know it tends to for a time before stabilizing. And I do understand that TT will not eliminate TED but the TED is another factor in my decision to move toward TT. Since meds (methimazole, propranalol) are only helping minimally and since surgery is so far off, I’m hoping for a quicker fix to get me over the hump.

Just wondering if anyone has had any success in alleviating symptoms or seeing improvement in disease state with making dietary changes. Given that Graves is autoimmune in nature, I am specifically curious about diets such as Whole30 or Paleo

Thanks.

[Kimberly]

#1183967

Hello – Hopefully others will chime in with their experiences. Personally, I did a fairly strict diet for the first year after I was diagnosed that was supposed to target food sensitivities – no gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, or a number of other foods. I didn’t notice a difference in how I felt, but I can tell you that my stress level went through the roof trying to prepare meals and especially dealing with dining out or parties.

But with that said, I do have a few food-related triggers that seem to make my TED swelling worse: alcohol, MSG, and sodium.

[snelsen]

#1183968

My experience is that diet should be what you like to eat, as long as you are already eating a healthy diet. I don’t think any “special” diet is related to impacting Graves’ one way or the other.
The only thing to mention is the foods containing high amounts of iodine, such as the wrap on sushi, (seaweed, kelp)

If you think that you want to try different diets, go for it. But I imagine you will reach the same conclusion Kimberly reached. And with all the other stuff we have to deal with when having Graves’, we might as well enjoy our food and eat what we like and what is a healthy diet. My two cents!
(:
shirley

[terppsi]

#1183969

Just wanted to snelsen’s post, I asked my endo and apart from the seaweed, she aso told me to avoid seafood like shrimp, mussels, crayfish, lobster… but I am allowed to have fish 4 times a week.
Apart from that, she had no special recommendation.

Virginia

[scanders]

#1183970

I’ve read posts where people swear that dietary changes made the difference in managing their disease and even reaching remission. Early on in this journey I thought that sounded very promising, and I was hopeful for some non-pharmacological intervention, so I made some big diet changes. (I even gave up my favorite diet soda.) My endo said she had no evidence that diet made a difference, but there was certainly no harm in trying. Lo and behold, my levels dropped. It worked so well, I became clinically hypo. Then I became hyper, without changing anything, figured “oh, well” and added my diet soda back, aspartame and all. My levels came back down in spite of that. So, for me, diet didn’t make much of a difference. Not that I don’t try to eat healthy, and I do pretty well. But for me, the diet didn’t seem to make a difference. (It’s all about the antibodies, and apparently I haven’t figured out yet just what makes mine tick.) For others, however, diet may help. It might even be that a different diet can improve health in general, and thus one feels better even with graves? Or feel better equipped to cope with it? Best of luck!

[hoffbri]

#1183971

I was diagnosed with Graves’ disease back in April of 2015. I started anti-thyroid medication at that time.

I went on a gluten free diet and was able to get off medication in September of 2015.

There’s a lot of evidence that autoimmune disease is caused by a “leaky gut” and if you can heal your leaky gut you may be able to get into remission. Though the thyroid part of my disease seems to be under control, I have developed thyroid eye disease which I understand is not uncommon even after you have your thyroid under control.

I am now trying to remove foods I am sensitive to from my diet and also heal my gut. I’m using a book called the Immune System Recovery Plan and I am on steroids. I hope to use dietary changes to calm my immune system and heal my gut so I can get through the eye disease without permanent damage.

I am particularly inspired to do this because my mother was able to drive her autoimmune disease into remission through dietary changes.

I know these changes are not easy and it’s not for everyone. But for me, I’d rather change my diet than be on medication the rest of my life.
Good luck to you!

[Kimberly]

#1183972

@hoffbri – Thanks for sharing your story. Hopefully, you are still under the care of a doctor who is checking levels periodically.

[PatriciaGF]

#1183973

I do strongly believe that diet change for some people can have a huge effect on thyroid health. It did for me.

In 2012 Hashimoto’s and Thyroid Eye Disease were added to the list I’d accumulated of other autoimmune diagnosis, all with inflammation attacking various bits and places of me. My endocrinologist said I needed to think of radiation or removal of the thyroid as my left eye was rapidly bulging, my right already protruded.

I was miserable, in pain, unable to sleep or move well. Ready to try ANYTHING I found an acupuncturist who wanted me to try an elimination diet to tease out what foods, if any, could possibly be problematic or adding the the inflammation of my body. I already knew that I had a problem with nightshades, and that they seemed to make symptoms worse. I was willing to see if there were other things I’d become sensitive to. For every person, it could be quite different, but for me the culprits turned out to be mainly:
CORN, Wheat, and Soy and nightshades. I don’t know when these first 3 foods became problems for me, but when I eliminated them miracles happened.
Really. Miracles.
Within two weeks, inflammation left my body and I was able to avoid carpal tunnel surgery, I was able to sleep again, my knees could bend, my blood pressure returned to normal, my gut didn’t hurt, and my thyroid shrank down to normal which was not only visibly obvious, but the numbers went to normal. The protrusion of my left eye stopped progressing. Thankfully, I was able to have bi-lateral orbital decompression surgery (done beautifully) in August 2013.
I have had a stable and NORMAL thyroid ever since (4 years and going) which is repeatedly evidenced by my labs. Whoohooo!!! Not to mention not having fibromyalgia or restless leg or carpal tunnel anymore! When I maintain a clean diet, I feel so NORMAL. When I travel for weeks and eat out, I do experience a return of some symptoms for a time, but am getting more and more able to handle it.

Living wheat, corn, and soy free is not easy, but I would rather avoid some foods than live without a thyroid and be dependent on medication and still be suffering and unable to sleep or move well. There is much more to this story, and I have learned some techniques in regards to learning to tolerate exposure to these things and also as to how/why it all happened in the first place. But that’d be for another forum. What I would like to relate here is that diet change (different for each individual) CAN have a dramatic effect on thyroid health at least for some people able to go through with the process. It was the ONLY thing I changed. You’d have to be willing to be very honest with yourself to figure out your own diet. It will look completely different for each individual though corn and wheat seem to play a large role for many people with autoimmune disorders.

I have learned to cook and bake and shop with these limitations and would far far rather avoid some foods than live how I was living in disease and pain.

[MommaKatMont]

#1183974

Good Morning – This is my first post here – so glad to have found you. I was just diagnosed with early Graves Disease and am going to see the doctor today to talk about treatment options. Upon hearing the diagnosis, I immediately thought about how I could possibly control this with diet. Reading the posts here, I think that leaky gut could be a contributing factor. I am also going through menopause, so it has been super hard for me to figure out what symptoms are Graves, and what are my insane hormones. Graves was the last thing on my mind – I went to the doctor because I suffer from excruciating lower back pain. Nothing has helped – acupuncture, chiro, shots in my back – and there is no disc damage according to the MRI. Just inflammation apparently. Nothing helps – not even meds (which I hate to take). She did a whole host of blood work on me, and then saw my thyroid levels were crazy. Does anyone else suffer from terrible pain with Graves, or is this a separate thing? Not asking for a dignosis, just wondering if anyone else has these issues. I’m sorry if I sound like an idiot, I really don’t know anything about this. The pain is not letting me sleep, which makes me anxious and depressed. It just pretty much sucks. I have never had a “thing” before. I am 51 and feel like I am falling apart. Anyone have any advice? Thanks much.

Kat

[Kimberly]

#1183975

Hello and welcome – I have definitely heard of muscle/joint pain happening with hyperthyroidism, but hopefully, others will chime in with their experiences. You might also post a brand new thread with that in the subject line to get some additional feedback. I am working a conference today, but will come back and post the link with instructions for starting a new thread as soon as I can.

[Author]

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