If you've been following along with the blog, then you know
I've recently been spending a lot of time writing about how important it was
for me to get a health baseline. I visited every doctor an average 25-year-old
should see and got a really good grip on my health. During all of these visits,
I found out my thyroid levels were reading low, meaning I am at risk of
hypothyroidism.
Hypothyroidism is when the thyroid gland does not produce
enough thyroid hormones to meet the needs of the body. The thyroid is
underactive. There are various medicines you can take to treat this and this
condition is not a life-threatening disease, however, it is life-altering.
The main method to maintain a healthy thyroid is by taking a
pill that will supplement the thyroid hormones your body is lacking. This
sounds pretty self-sufficient, so what's the catch? Once you start taking this
pill, you cannot stop. This pill becomes your thyroid lifeline. Your brain now
reads these synthetic hormones as your real hormones and it thinks it does not
have to produce anymore. Psh, and I was called lazy in grade school… One day
off and my brain totally gives up its responsibilities!
Anyway, I would be responsible for taking this pill every
day for the rest of my life. I'm 25 and SO not ready to commit to something
like that. Plus, as I've stated earlier, a pill for an illness is not something
I'm super fond of and conventional care is very persistent in this.
When I say "pill for an ill," I mean if something
is aching and the doctor gives you a pill to take to make it go away, this
doesn't always solve the problem. The pill just helps deal with the symptoms,
it isn’t the solution. Finding out the root cause of why you have pain will
help you identify the underlying problem and allow you to take preventative
measures.
Think of this as an allergy. If you're allergic to nuts, and
you know they make your mouth swell up, you avoid them, right? You don't just
take an allergy pill because your mouth is swelling. You know that it's because
of nuts that this happens to your body, so you just avoid nuts. Apply that
method to every aspect in your life and that is how you figure out the root cause
of your problem.
I want to know WHY my body isn't producing enough TSH. My
doctor can't tell me that right now. Through trial and error, I'll have to find
out what ingredients my life lacks or receives too much that prevents my body
from producing this hormone.
My doctor and I agreed to retake this test again in a few
months and see if anything has improved on my own. Thus begins some MAJOR
lifestyle changes.
Immediately after that doctor's appointment, I was on the
internet looking up at-home regimens, active lifestyle options, diets, and
anything I could find. My fingers hurt by the end of the day, and so did my wallet because I was determined to start this process within 24-hours of
getting my results. I re-upped my yoga membership to Bikram yoga, bought some
natural herb capsules, purchased a plethora of oils and completely redid my
grocery list.
Four months flew by and my doctor did a full thyroid blood
panel when I went back to see him. I have nothing to compare a majority of
these results to because this is the first time I've done a full thyroid panel.
However, I was able to compare my TSH levels and they did improve on their own!
Not by a lot, only by 0.5, but nevertheless I was ecstatic because my lifestyle
adjustments are working. My TSH level was 5.41. That is awesome because my last
level read 5.91. The normal range starts at 4.5, so I still have to bring my
level down at least 0.91 but overall it is improving, 4 months at a time ha-ha.
Ultimately, I did all of this because I didn't want to
subject myself to having to start this pill so early on in my life. I'm not
saying that down the road I won't start taking supplements, but for now, this
seems to be working and improving my levels bit by bit. Thyroid conditions are
genetic and sometimes that's all there is too it, but sometimes it is a result
of a condition in your body, and that is what I'm trying to find out. If
anything, I'm buying time with my body's natural state and improving healthy
habits all at once.
I talk about specifically what habits I changed and the products I bought to activate and revitalize my thyroid here!
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