I never imagined I would become a go-to Hashimoto’s Dietitian. Health and nutrition has always been much more to me than calories in and calories out. I value low stress, happiness, exercise, being outdoors, hydration, sleep, vitamin/mineral status all as important parts of acheiving the best health possible. I suppose you can say I have always been a little bit of a health “nut” even since I was a little girl and my Mom fed me cucumber sandwiches. Funny thing is I hated hotdogs and soda as well.
Teen and College Years
Fast forward to my teen and college years. I lost a lot of weight which I can attribute to stress, not knowing how to properly eat, and likely the onset of Hashimoto’s. I became more interested in balanced eating, and began to work towards my Bachelor’s degree in Dietetics. I wanted to become a Registered Dietitian. I had the fierce desire to make sure as many people I knew would be able to live the healthiest, happiest lives without letting poor nutrition get in their way. Others picked on me for my low weight, and I started to understand that eating more balanced was helping me to feel better. I now realize I was having issues with low blood sugar, likely some nutrient deficiencies, and food sensitivities. I didn’t want others to feel the same way I had.
Working as a Hashimoto’s Dietitian
Fast forward to my early working years as a Registered Dietitian. I still had no idea that I had Hashimoto’s. Fatigue, missed periods, blood sugar swings, sore throats, and other symptoms seemed normal. I was “sick and tired of feeling tired”, so what does a Dietitian do? Get an iron (ferritin) test of course. Low iron must be the issue, right? Yes, and no. Luckily, I was working with a well-informed Physician’s Assistant at the time and she knew me well enough to order a full thyroid panel. And there you have it: a Hashimoto’s diagnosis.
I was confused since my weight was normal, and I did not have some of the typical Hashimoto’s symptoms. I did not know what to do about the diagnosis. No idea. So, I researched, and researched, and spoke with some fellow Registered Dietitians and healthcare professionals I knew. I became a Certified LEAP Therapist so that I could address my food sensitivities, leaky gut, and help correct my immune system. I began a regimen of supplements to see how that would improve my symptoms and thyroid levels. Eventually, I started on Nature-Throid which helped to correct that last bit of symptoms I still felt.
I had already been knee-deep working on my private practice and taking on clients. Once I worked to improve my own thyroid dysfunction and symptoms, I was excited to help others do the same! Who knew that the “normal” symptoms I had could be corrected?
More years of continuing education and self nutrition treatment has empowered me to work with thyroid conditions. It is was I know, and can relate to.
About a year ago, I gave birth to a sweet little girl. Years before I thought my irregular cycles would prevent me from having children. I thought my thyroid health would get in the way. Boy, was I wrong! I had already done a lot of self-healing before I got pregnant. This is likely what helped me to have a pretty easy, healthy pregnancy, delivery, and baby! Everything went much more smoothly than I thought. I attribute much of this to proper nutrition.
Post-Baby Life
Post-baby, I still felt great until about 6 to 12 months postpartum when some symptoms returned. I worked to get to the root cause of a few lingering symptoms. I attribute a lot of my more “down” moments to stressing times in my life. Stress seems to play a big role in flare-ups of any symptoms for me. These days, I am traveling the country and seeking adventures with my loves (one way I am tackling some stress).
We go on walks every day, and are soaking up more sunshine. More vitamin D!
I am now happy to report (2 years postpartum as well) that my lab tests are much more optimal, and I am feeling great!
Yes, It Can be a Roller Coaster, But I’m Here to Help!
Hashimoto’s will always be a roller coaster of a health condition no matter how much you work on healing. Sure, the better you take care of yourself, the better you will feel. But, there will always be a few dips in the roller coaster, and of course many healthy, happy times as well. I suppose the best we can do is to optimize the symptom-free moments! Now… how to do that?? That is a whole other story, and I am here to make it my mission to help others understand how to be their most optimal self!
To be continued…
Hi, my name is Julio Marrero, I suffer from hypothyroiam because of a pituitary tumor I had when I was 19 years old, I am now 53 years old and am having some challenges with my thyroid. In the last three years it seems like. My thyroid gland is changing and I’m being affected by these changes, less sleep, increasing fatigue, of course low energy. My diet was not bad, no processed foods lots of fruits and veggies, eating mostly chicken and only some red meat. I have always had low energy sports and trouble sleeping but around three years ago it started to get worse . My endocrinologist is only pushing my medication and doesn’t believe in a diet that can increase my thyroid health. On my own I’ve done some research on a healthier thyroid diet and changed a few things in my diet, no bread, increased fruits and vegetables, adding Brazil nuts to my trail mix, replaced oatmeal for organic yogurt and blueberries for breakfast, eating salmon twice a week and added liver to my diet. I started feeling great all around and after two months one Sunday in church I started to feel dizzy and endded up passing out, I was taken to the hospital where after numerous test they concluded that it was high level of sinthroid(levothyroxine). I felt that the changes I made in my diet caused improvemeby in my thyroid and that made the dosage to high. My endocrinologist decreased the dosage after blood test revealed it was to high and I continued on the same diet for a few months until the old symptoms started to resurface and now, on the advice of my brother I’m looking for a nutritionist for some help.
Hi Julio,
Thank you for sharing your story. This is wonderful to hear that you feel your diet and lifestyle changes have helped you. You may feel free to contact me via e-mail at: [email protected] Thank you again for sharing!
My question is this: I have Hashimoto’s and had MRT/LEAP testing done 5 years ago. I began the program and my eczema disappeared within 3 days! However, I soon developed generalized granuloma annular on the program. So, I stopped.
I now believe it was from all the high oxalate foods that tested low reactive, but I could not handle. I would like to try it again (the granuloma went away slowly over two years time….Are my test results from five years ago still valid, or would I need to re-test (the price has doubled!). Thank-you for answering.
Hi Lori, that’s so great you did MRT LEAP! A similar issue happened with me: over time, I became reactive to sunflower which was one of my lower reactive foods and I ate more frequently at the time and now I can not handle! Same with quinoa for me. Anyway, yes, results can change, but more likely over the years and not so much the first year or two after testing. The immune system changes more within a 5 to 10 year span and that is when we can expect to benefit the most from retesting, so I often recommend it then or when symptoms change like this. Hope that helps! Reach out if you need testing assistance: [email protected]