[PatriciaGF]

in reply to: Success with diet changes? #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.

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