[HelenYH]

in reply to: Acupuncture/Chinese Herbs #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.

[HelenYH]

in reply to: Acupuncture/Chinese Herbs #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.

[HelenYH]

in reply to: Acupuncture/Chinese Herbs #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]

in reply to: Diet & Graves Disease #1175362

cmac, Perhaps cutting out protein wasn’t a good idea? We all need protein to build our immune system. I learned tha hard way. i was on a Pritikin diet many years ago and then got diagnosed with cancer about 8-10 years after I stopped. The Pritikin diet was a mainly carbohydrate diet allowing only 10% fat and 10% protein. I am convinced that my body lacked the protein and hence the ability to build up my immune system to fight cancerous cells.

I think we still need to eat healthy yet providing our body with good fats and protein.

[HelenYH]

in reply to: Diet & Graves Disease #1175361

Bobbi, Thank you! In my case, I have been on Methimazole since December 2011. After coming back from Africa where I had been for 2 weeks, my TSH, T3 & T4 levels went down even though my dosage had been reduced by 25%. However. 1 month later, my dosage had to be increased, and then a few months later, again. Perhaps a coincidence. However, I am cutting out ally soy that I can from my diet, to see if that makes any difference. I can then say that I have tried to do all that I can for my Graves Disease.

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