hello hashimoto’s

hello hashimoto's

You aren’t just what you eat.

You are what your body can do with what you eat.

Written by Andrea Nakayama

What’s Hashimoto’s?

You may think you know the answer.

Yet I can guarantee you that it’s different for you than it is for me.

Last year I got a good taste of why babies scream inconsolably. (At least the babies who have ear infections.)

While on vacation with my son in Hawaii, I contracted an ear infection that made the sides of my head hot, swollen and pierced with excruciating pain; pain that reverberated from deep within my inner ear canal to my dangling lobe and kept me up through the night, wanting to wail at the top of my lungs like a crying baby.

My ears were crying tears of their own, (but I’ll spare you those details). By the time the Kauai roosters crowed with the early morning sun, my jaw was clenched tight. I’d barely slept a wink.

(Yes) Hello Hashimoto’s.

There’s no need to feel sorry for me.

I was, after all, in Hawaii with my boy Gilbert. We make the trek to the island yearly to reconvene with the sand, sun, sometimes storms, and mostly to honor one of my late husband’s favorite places on earth.

And the good news is that through years of learning to tame my Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis I’ve also become accustomed to navigating and mitigating myriad symptoms, even when new to me. I can now add ear infection to the growing list (though itching ears is something I’m quite familiar with).

Hashimoto’s is not merely a thyroid disorder.

Instead it’s a summons to engage in a delicate dance, one that ultimately comes down to how we claim knowledge, awareness and care to manage our symptoms, sometimes varied and perplexing.

Hashimoto’s is a condition I’ve personally been wrestling with for years. In fact, I was attempting to untangle seemingly unrelated manifestations before I even knew I had it ~ held hostage in the confusion of the symptoms that seemed to plague me without rhyme or reason.

And I’m not alone.

Many people with Hashimoto’s are either diagnosed as hypothyroid or suspect they have a thyroid imbalance and yet their doctor tells them otherwise. It’s a crime, really. A loophole in our medical system in both the realms of diagnostics and treatment.

It took me years of probing, digging through books, literature and lectures, trialing different diets, nutrient protocols and medical theories, testing one “tried-and-true” method after another, seeing a number of doctors and naturopaths, to even determine the diagnosis that would explain what was happening to and with my body. And I’m a health practitioner myself!

It was like my body was a defiant child, acting of its own accord, disregarding all my efforts and intentions.

My next step was and is a continual journey to learn to regulate some level of healthy balance, one that can be made unstable with poor (for me) food choices, air travel or too much stress, (or apparently crowded bodies of water teaming with teenagers on the heels of a big canoe race after the tiniest exposure to a food sensitivity).

Hashimoto’s is not merely a thyroid disorder. Instead it’s a condition where the immune system is out of control, attacking itself instead of a foreigner.

Hashimoto’s is just the expression of the condition, not the root cause. The roots of Hashimoto’s can be linked back to your digestive function, your adrenal reserves, your genetic propensity and more.

The truth is that you can learn to manage your symptoms just as I have, waltzing with the seeming lack of logic as it arises, with a greater wealth of knowledge, awareness and care held right in your back pocket.

While the answers to your woes may not come from your doctor or your thyroid hormone, you can still liberate yourself from the confines of standard prescriptions and regain influence on your Hashimoto’s health care just as I have.

As a functional nutritionist, I’m not only committed to addressing unique root causes through diet, lifestyle and nutrition, but also, and perhaps most critically, committed to giving you back the keys to the ignition, so that the quest for health is not a perpetual pursuit for the right pill, protocol, or practitioner.

Hashimoto’s is not merely a thyroid disorder. It’s your health. Your care.

Though the ear infection made me cry like a baby, it did not consume my travels or my memories. I returned from that trip savoring the enchantment of our mother-son bond and the allure of the tropical islands.

I’d like to invite you to learn to manage your Hashimoto’s (or health woes) so they do not consume you. It’s an art, really. And I trust that you have the creativity and passion to take that step forward for yourself.

Andrea Nakayama

Andrea is a functional nutritionist and the founder of fxnutrition.com. Based on her personal experience with Hashimoto’s, she helps women manage the ill effects of Hashimoto’s through a deeper understanding of their physiology and a strong commitment to self-care.

READ NEXT: HASHIMOTO’S & CHRONIC INFECTIONS

About Dana Trentini

Dana Trentini founded Hypothyroid Mom October 2012 in memory of the unborn baby she lost to hypothyroidism. Hypothyroid Mom LLC is for informational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for consulting your physician regarding medical advice pertaining to your health. To keep the website up and running, Hypothyroid Mom LLC includes sponsored guest posts and affiliate links including the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and Get Healthy by Healthy Life Enterprises, Inc. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.

Comments

  1. I am seeing a doctor of integrative medicine since being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s. Even though she listens to my symptoms and tries to help, I think I learn more from reading information Zi can find on my own. I have continual pain up the left side of my neck for months now and have just developed a terrible earache in my left ear today. It’s so frustrating to feel like I am over reacting to the changes occurring in me, but I know they are related to Hashimoto’s. I appreciate any good sources of information related to dealing with this disease.

  2. I have a clicky jaw and at times, pain in the jaw bones where upper and lower are joined. Every so often I go through a phase where its really bad- laying on my side, gives me pain in my face and head and laying on my back is also painful. Have been hypothyroid for 13 years ( more than likely longer) and Hashis 3 years or longer. I get a lot of neck and shoulder pain and headaches, including migraines. I have had TMJ once which was very painful.

  3. blank MARIA VALDEZ says

    I HAVE BEEN SUFFERING WITH FIRST HAIR LOSS, THEN CAME JOINT PAIN AND THEN BRAIN FOG. TEST AFTER TEST DR. KEPT TELLING ME I WAS HEALTHY WOMEN AND LOOKED AT ME LIKE I WAS MAKING THIS UP. I WOULD TELL THE DR. I FEEL AS IF MY BODY IS ATTACKING ITSELF. FINNALY TWO MONTHS AGO DR RAN TPO TEST MY LEVELS WERE AT 729.3 IU/ML AND MY DR SAID I HAD HASHIMOTOS AND ALL THEY COULD DO IS HAVE ME RETEST EVERY SIX MONTHS AND NO MEDICATION. HELP WHAT SHOULD I DO. I KNOW THAT SOME FOODS CAUSE INFLAMMATION THAT WHEN MY FACE TURNS RED, STOMACH SWELLS AND KNEES START POPPING AND MY HAIR STARTS JUST COMING OUT. HELP NEED SOME GUIDANCE

    • blank Amber Madmoni says

      You’re certainly not alone! Hang it there and keep searching for the right doctor/s that will listen to your symotoms. I believe that we can get through this, try to stay positive as hard ad it is and rest often.

    • blank Djelena Blair says

      Try to google autoimmune protocol and find ways to eat that will help you! Also get another doctor. If your levels are that high you should get medication

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