Home » » Holistic Therapy » Hypothyroidism and Its Pals

Hypothyroidism and Its Pals

© T. Darlene Cheek

I thought I was going to just completely fall apart after I hit 30 years. I was tired all the time, my entire body ached almost every day, my hair fell out by handfuls, my fingernails became thin and brittle, my skin seemed to dry out, my stomach was a constant wreck, I was often depressed, I always had a headache, my weight became harder to control, and my hands and feet were freezing! Was all of this just what happens when you get older? NO. I tried and tried to brush it off as just a symptom here and there.

A couple of months ago, I ended up in the emergency room with overwhelming cramps in my stomach. Everyone in the ER panicked, immediately thinking I was having an appendicitis attack. They ran all the tests on my internal organs that could be run, including ultrasounds, bloodtests, and endless poking. There was nothing wrong with me. Well, except that I was still in a great deal of pain.

A fourth year medical student brought in a little notebook and started asking questions about my nails, my hair, how I felt on a daily basis. The next thing I knew, everyone was feeling my neck. I was just a tiny bit irritated that my stomach hurt, and everyone was so interested in my neck. I just couldn't see the connection. Of course, I'm not a doctor. Within a few minutes, I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism.

Just about every person that I've told the above story to has asked what to do about it. It seems that a lot of Fibromyalgia patients suffer from Hypothyroidism, and a lot of Hypothyroid patients suffer from a series of other related illnesses: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Chronic Fatigue, Depression, Fibrocystic Breast Disease, headaches, and fears. I'll cover some natural complementary remedies that will help with some of these extra symptoms, but it is very important that, if you have any of these symptoms, you go to your doctor!

Hypothyroidism doesn't go away. The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine says "Since the hormones of the thyroid gland regulate metabolism in every cell of the body, a deficiency of thyroid hormones can affect virtually all body functions." The severity of hypothyroidism varies with each individual, and it also increases steadily with age. The treatment for Hypothyroidism is usually a prescription for thyroid replacement tablets. The reason that I say go to your doctor instead of purchasing something like this at your health food store is that you have to have the right balance of the hormone, which means that you have to be monitored by someone who knows exactly what they are doing. Now let's look at the things you can do to help yourself:

The copyright of the article Hypothyroidism and Its Pals in Holistic Therapy is owned by T. Darlene Cheek. Permission to republish Hypothyroidism and Its Pals in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.