Reversing my Hypothyroidism

I was first diagnoses with Hypothyroidism 6 years ago (2018) while I was struggling with what I was convinced was postpartum depression and mood disturbances. I was 6 months postpartum and reaching a point where I felt I could not handle my mood swings and depression alone. I went to my Nurse Practitioner & midwife who had known me for years and she ran my lab work before putting me on the recommended anti-depressants. I was active, I ate well, I was leading a natural life in the country (this is actually relevant, believe it or not) and my symptoms were just not like me. My labs showed I was severely hypothyroid meaning my thyroid glands were not working properly and under-functioning. I was not producing enough thyroid stimulating hormone to regulate my hormones leading to all kinds of symptoms I had chalked up to postpartum hormone swings and depression.

• My hair was falling out like crazy in the shower and every time I brushed and my husband would joke that I shed more than our dogs.

• I was always anxious and overstimulated despite cutting caffeine.

• I wasn't sleeping well even when the baby was and I found myself tossing and turning at night just to wake up exhausted all day.

• I was always crying and upset and depressed.

• When I wasn't crying, I was on edge and angry and having outbursts toward my husband and family.

• I was struggling with my milk supply while breastfeeding and felt like I was always taking milk supplements and pumping/feeding for fear that I would lose my supply.

• I was having an extremely hard time losing the baby weight no matter how active I was an any further calorie restriction was hurting my milk supply.

I was put on the most natural form of thyroid hormone prescription available (non-synthetic) and every 6 months since then for the next 4 years, my dose continued to rise from 45mg daily to 120mg daily. I was switched from a single dose in the morning to a split dose in the morning and again in the afternoon. For the most part, my symptoms ceased and I went on to have our last daughter 3 years after being diagnosed (2021). I was much happier, no milk supply issues, no trouble losing the baby weight, slept better, no outbursts, and I would only start losing hair again around when I would need an adjustment to the medication. But I hated the idea that I would need to stay on a thyroid medication for the rest of my life!

In March of 2024 I started seeing a naturopathic MD who believed you could reverse thyroid disfunction even after years of high dose medication. She turned me onto a supplement (linked but if you have access to a doctor's Fullscript account that is where I order mine) that I would need to take while making some dietary changes:

1. No Alcohol (we had already cut this out for a year so this wasn't a big change for us.)

2. No dairy (I still struggle with this one because I love butter on my fresh bread and had a raw milk share at the time- and don't forget cheese!)

3. Decrease my vitamin D (shocking since I was always low before but turns out my Vitamin D labs were through the roof after changing supplements that winter, linked!)

6 months later and I just had more labs drawn showing my thyroid is now OVERactive and my meds need to be LOWERED for the first time in 6 years!

I'll make another post about my daily routines that I feel helped support my thyroid function even before taking this supplement but I do feel that the Thyroid PX supplement from Restorative Formulations was the key factor in lowering my thyroid medication prescription over the last 6 months. Needless to say I will continue to take it for the foreseeable future until (hopefully) I can wean myself off of medication altogether.

I am by no means a medical doctor or offering medical advise but I was discouraged that I was told I could never reverse my thyroid disfunction and would be on medication my whole life. With how little changes I had to make, I don't see the downside to implementing these small changes for a year and seeing what happens!