Videos Archives - Hashimoto's Thyroiditis

The Thyroid Secret: Unknown Thyroid Therapies

“Unknown Thyroid Therapies” was the episode that really started to dive deep into the details of what can help heal your thyroid disease. I got a lot out of this episode and am planning on implementing many of the treatments suggested, provided I can get my doctor on board for some of them.

Dr. Wentz has done a lot of research on sites such as PubMed and has discussed innovative treatments with experts in various medical fields. A lot of this research is not publicized and as the name of the documentary alludes, it remains a secret to those who need it the most. She reveals many of them in this episode.

Most doctors simply prescribe Synthroid or Levothyroxine to treat Hashimoto’s. And that may help many people with Hashimoto’s. But many people continue to have annoying symptoms even on thyroid replacement. For those people, it would be beneficial to determine if they have trouble converting T4 to T3. If they do have trouble, the addition of T3 (Cytomel, etc) may improve Hashimoto’s symptoms.

One of the most interesting unknown thyroid therapies that is currently being studied is low dose naltrexone (LDN). Low dose Naltrexone helps to balance the immune system, reduce inflammation, and promote healing in the gut. It essentially turns off the cells that cause autoimmunity. The great thing is that there are very few side effects to this treatment. Dr. Wentz goes into great detail about how it works. This treatment, of course, requires a prescription from your doctor. This is one I’m going to explore with my endocrinologist! If you want to try it, you’ll have to coordinate closely with your doctor as well. As you heal, your regular dosage of thyroid hormone may cause you to go hyperthyroid, so you’ll need dosage adjustments.

Dr. Wentz is a big proponent of Functional Medicine.Throughout the documentary, Dr. Wentz interviewed many practitioners of Functional Medicine. It is a medical discipline that addresses the underlying causes of disease instead of just treating the symptoms. It involves treating the real causes instead of putting band aids on the problem. If your current doctor is not helping you to treat the root cause of your disease, a doctor that practices functional medicine may be a good option.

Other briefly discussed topics in this episode include stem cell research and low level laser therapy. This episode alone made watching the documentary worth it. I now have a plan of attack to get my Hashimoto’s into remission and I’ll be referring back to this episode often.

We hope this summary has helped you and given you some information to use on your own journey to remission.

If you have found the information in this post helpful, please share it and spread the word!

The Thyroid Secret: Thyroid Misinformation & Misdiagnosis Machine

The second episode of The Thyroid Secret is titled “Thyroid Misinformation and Misdiagnosis Machine”. In it, they discuss the myths and misdiagnoses that surround Hashimoto’s and thyroid disorders in general. I’ll try my best to summarize it below.

Dr. Wentz identifies five stages to autoimmune thyroid disease:

Genetic predisposition. You don’t have the disease, but are predisposed to developing it.
Development of autoimmune reactivity to our own thyroid gland. Our thyroid begins to be attacked by our immune system and we start to develop symptoms.
Subclinical changes. We start to see changes to lab markers and more symptoms.
Overt hypothyroid symptoms.
Progression to other autoimmune conditions.

Most people with Hashimoto’s aren’t diagnosed until they’re in the fourth or fifth stage, when symptoms are really evident. So, they usually don’t even start treatment until then as well. And, of course, conventional medicine only treats the symptoms and doesn’t prevent progression of the disease to the fifth stage. Hardly anyone questions why conventional medicine is quick to destroy or remove the thyroid as part of treatment instead of treating the root cause. Many patients are not told about the autoimmune factors of their disease either.

Many of you know from personal experience that when your Hashimoto’s flares up (when the body is attacking itself), things go haywire. You’re suddenly “allergic” to many different things you didn’t have a reaction to before. The problem is, if you don’t treat the root cause of your disease, you can’t promote true healing. The attack against your body will continue. This can lead to other conditions including vision problems, balance problems, alopecia, psoriasis, eczema, Crohn’s, etc.

Throughout this episode, patients discuss their symptoms and struggles, from fatigue to depression. Many of them were misdiagnosed and prescribed anti-depressants or other medications that didn’t help their condition. They were told it was all in their heads. They were told their lab results were “normal”. Well, you can have normal TSH and still not have your hormones be normal. Doctors should running labs for not just TSH, but for Free T3, Free T4, and Reverse T3 to get a whole picture of what’s going on.

It can be devastating when thyroid misinformation and misdiagnosis keep patients suffering instead of healing. Nearly 80% of people diagnosed as bipolar have Hashimoto’s and when properly treated, symptoms go away. It’s tragic how many issues related to mental health could be prevented when the cause is hypothyroidism. Personally, my doctor told me he suspected I was bipolar. I told him I never had manic episodes. I insisted it was my thyroid. He gave me medication that not only didn’t work, but compounded my problems. When he finally properly treated my thyroid, my issues went away.

The antithyroid antibodies implicated in Hashimoto’s are as follows:

Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPO Ab)
Thyroglobulin Antibodies (Tg Ab)

Near the end of the episode, there was a discussion on how a change in diet can help with Hashimoto’s issues. Grass fed red meat can help with anxiety. Protein for breakfast can help sugar levels. Getting off gluten, as well as taking Zinc, can help with anxiety too.

The episode ended by discussing how Hashimoto’s antibodies can be found in the brain. They can cause ataxia and Hashimoto’s Encephalopathy, a rare neurological condition associated with Hashimoto’s. Again, changing your diet can help with this as well as treating the root cause.

I really related to the patient interviews in “Thyroid Misinformation and Misdiagnosis” and I’m sure you will too. I really got a lot of good information out of this episode.

The Thyroid Secret: Thyroid Disease Revealed

The first episode of The Thyroid Secret is titled “Thyroid Disease Revealed”. In it, Dr. Izabella Wentz begins by discussing how she didn’t get the answers she needed from her doctors to properly treat and reverse her condition. She talks about her struggles with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. She discusses the pain, confusion, and hopelessness of being stuck with a disease that seemingly would never get better. The Thyroid Secret documentary is a result of her digging for the information she couldn’t get from her doctors. It’s the information she used, and that you need, to improve your thyroid condition.

In “Thyroid Disease Revealed”, Dr. Wentz describes what the thyroid gland is and what it does. She talks to experts about the various different thyroid diseases, their various symptoms, and the treatments that most of us will encounter in conventional medicine. She then goes on to talk about so many things that your doctor never told you.

For example, she mentions that most thyroid patients are never told the cause of their illness, just that their thyroid isn’t working right. That was my experience. I didn’t even KNOW what a thyroid was and what it did when I was diagnosed. I didn’t know why I got Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. All I knew was that I had to take a pill every day for the rest of my life to survive. Dr. Wentz describes many patient experiences similar to my own in this episode. It really illustrates that we’re not alone in fighting this disease.

Dr. Wentz also talks to several thyroid patients, some with Hashimoto’s, some with Graves’ or other diseases. Their experiences are so relatable, I almost cried. Dr. Wentz really hit home when she said “It feels like your freedom is taken away.” I personally have experienced that feeling and I think many of you have, too. But, with the information she has uncovered by using herself as a guinea pig, she has helped so many to improve their lives, mine included, with her interventions.

She states that you have to be your own advocate. You have to take control of your health because doctors will often shut you down, simply because they don’t know what you’re going through. Most doctors treat the symptoms, not the root cause. This cookie cutter approach doesn’t work for most of us.

Root causes of thyroid problems, including nutrient deficiencies, food allergies, inability to handle stress, inability to handle environmental toxins, leaky gut, and chronic infections are also discussed. Dr. Wentz touches on the three main factors why Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and thyroid problems in general are on the rise: genetic susceptibility, toxic foreign substances, and immune stressors.

She ends “Thyroid Disease Revealed” by stressing that the drive to heal must come from you. No one, except another thyroid patient, will know exactly what you’re going through. Your loved ones may not want to or know how to support you. So, you have to take the reins yourself.

The Thyroid Secret Documentary is Live!

I have been watching The Thyroid Secret documentary by Dr. Izabella Wentz. She has gathered many experts to discuss the many thyroid disorders and diseases, symptoms, patient struggles, and treatments. She opens up about her own experience, from being undiagnosed for over 10 years to her frustrating attempts to develop treatments and go back into remission. Many of you, and myself included, can certainly relate to her experiences.

She discusses how conventional medicine seems to know so very little about thyroid disorders. In addition, conventional treatments focus on just treating the symptoms rather than identifying and treating the root cause. Without treating the root cause, patients have a rough road trying to get back into remission.

The Thyroid Secret Documentary

The Thyroid Secret is in 9 parts, each part focusing on a different aspect of thyroid disease.

Thyroid Disease Revealed – Dr. Wentz discusses her own personal experience with Hashimoto’s and talks to other thyroid patients. She discusses what these diseases are with several experts and reveals how they affect the body.

The Thyroid Misinformation and Misdiagnosis Machine – Dr. Wentz discusses myths and mystery surrounding Hashimoto’s, Graves’, and other thyroid disorders. She fills in the missing pieces of what your doctors rarely tell you about these diseases (mainly because they don’t know!).

Unknown Thyroid Therapies – Conventional medicine relies on thyroid hormone replacement and sometimes destructive, thyroid killing “treatments”. Dr. Wentz discusses other little known treatments to reduce inflammation, support your thyroid, and get you into remission.

The Truth About Toxins – We come in contact with toxins every day. This episode discusses how a toxic environment can affect our thyroid gland.

Healing Thyroid Disease With Food – Food can exacerbate your inflammation or help heal it. Learn how you can use food to help heal your thyroid disease.

The Stress Sickness – Learn how stress can keep you ill and how your adrenals factor in to your thyroid disease.

Motherhood Interrupted – Thyroid disease can often cause infertility or problems with pregnancy. This episode discusses hope for women with thyroid disease who want children.

Healing From Within – Learn how to discover the trigger to your thyroid disease and reverse the disease.

The Thyroid Success Stories – Dr. Wentz presents several patients who have successfully reclaimed their health.