Hashimotos: Thyroid Dysfunction

In todays blogpost & podcast episode Lisa a member from the community will share her story dealing with the thyroid dysfunction Hashimotos.

If you want to listen to the podcast episode with Lisa you can find it here:

In 2021 I was diagnosed with Hashimotos, an autoimmune condition that affects the thyroid. The thyroid is a gland located in the front of your neck that produces hormones that are vital for our metabolism, energy levels, temperature regulation, reproduction etc. When you get Hashimotos, your immune system starts attacking the thyroid gland, mistaking it for an intruder. It produces antibodies against the thyroid which leads to inflammation and a reduced ability to produce hormones. These thyroid-hormones effects all systems of the body and are crucial for our wellbeing. 

My health journey has been a bumpy road to say the least. But one thing I’ve learned is how clever our bodies are and how much we actually can do by ourselves, alongside medication, to support and provide conditions for healing. 

I will share a little bit about my journey and things I’ve done to improve my well-being with Hashimotos. 

Follow Lisa on Instagram she is today working as a Holistic Health Coach for women and coaching women about their female biology.

Usually autoimmunity like Hashimotos often creeps up on you slowly, starting with diffuse symptoms that get worse and worse until it’s not so discrete anymore. 

For me, my first sign of something being off was not having my period for three years. I had been feeling sluggish for a while, when one weekend my thyroid got swollen and tender, and I was hit with an extreme fatigue. I’ve spent an insane amount of time and energy trying to get help from many different doctors, until I finally found one that actually took me seriously. At this point I was feeling fatigued, low-spirited, frozen, brain-fogged and both my thyroid and the rest of my body got swollen. My levels of iron, B12 and d-vitamin was incredibly low and my period was missing. During this time I was in the midst of training to become a professional dancer, which added to the challenge. 

I got prescripted medication, but soon I realized that the health care system lack knowledge about the thyroid and I weren’t able to get the help that I needed. I knew that there must be more ways to feel better than just medicine. I started to investigate what could be the cause of this, and how I could help myself heal and feel better, and learned that autoimmun disorders often get trigged by trauma and stress, which contributes to the inflammation. So what could I do to reduce stress and inflammation?

I started making a few changes in my lifestyle and slowly started to feel better.

First things first. The most important thing with dealing with thyroid-disorders is to reduce stress and to prioritize time and energy into your health. If you don’t do that, the smaller changes won’t matter as much. 

AND everything is individual. What helped me, might not help others. It’s all about finding out what makes YOU feel better, and to find a balance between taking care of yourself but also being able to enjoy your life.

Here is a list of things that I’m focusing on in my life with Hashimotos:

• Prioritizing rest and recovery to be able to handle stress better.

• Moving my body in ways that my body wants to (for example yoga, somatic practices, strength training)

• Identify my stressors and dealing with my emotions

• Finding moments of stillness to regulate my nervous system

• Switch coffee and alkohol to ex chicory coffee, matcha, herbal teas and kombucha. 

• Eliminate gluten and soy from my diet

• Reduce my intake of sugar and milk

• Focusing on mostly eating organic whole foods and avoid processed foods

• Increasing my protein-intake

• Use food supplements to heal my iron and B12-deficency 

• Infra-red light 

• Mostly using organic non-toxic products on my hair and skin

• Boosting the lymphatic system 

• Purify my water to detox from heavy metals

Unfortunately, many doctors and nurses lack knowledge about thyroid health and they usually don’t do anything else but prescribing medication. BUT! Don’t give up. 

Keep reaching out for help and support, not only from healthcare, but from people around you and maybe find someone on social media that’s educated and experienced on the subject. Find your support system, because it’s so easy to feel alone on this kind of journey. My parents, and especially my mom has been (and still are) such an important part of my healing process. The amount of time that my mom has put into researching about Hashimotos and helping me get the right healthcare is crazy. I’m so thankful for having her and dad by my side.

Today, I’m feeling so much better. 

I feel energized, comfortable in my own body, my hormone levels are higher and I’m not as deficient in nutrients anymore. Thanks to medication, food supplements and lifestyle changes. But I’m still on my health journey and there are days where my Hashimotos still effects my everyday life, but there is SUCH a big difference since I started investing in myself and my health.

I hope this can help or inspire someone who is in a similar position as I was, or know someone that is. And remember that even though thyroid issues is common and “easily treated” according to doctors (it’s not), doesn’t mean that you should settle for feeling fine. We should be THRIVING.

Hugs, Lisa