This patient came into the Heimlich Institute seeking some relief for back and neck pain and left with new hope. She had been to 5 specialists who failed to help her and we were the first ones to “put all the pieces together” for her.
GMO – One Thing Every Thyroid Patient Should Avoid
Dr. Chris Heimlich, DC, DACNB, Phoenix Doctor Comments:
In March, Hungary introduced a new regulation that states seeds must be checked for GMO before they are introduced into the market. As a result, almost 1,000 acres of maize found to have been grown with genetically modified seeds have been destroyed throughout Hungary. They ploughed it under and made sure the pollen has not spread from the maize.
The United States, meanwhile, is beginning to see the consequences of widely planted GMOs. In the mid-’90s, Monsanto introduced seeds genetically engineered to withstand its Roundup brand of herbicide. Today, these “Roundup Ready” crops are planted all across the U.S. — 94 percent of soybeans and more than 70 percent of corn and cotton contain the Roundup-resistant gene.
Here is why this should matter to you?
Several U.S. farmers reported sterility or fertility problems among pigs and cow fed on GM corn varieties.
Investigators in India have documented fertility problems, abortions, premature births, and other serious health issues, including deaths, among buffaloes fed GM cottonseed products.
GM peas caused lung damage in mice.
Bacteria in your gut can take up DNA from GM food.
Although it is important for everyone, it is critical for people suffering with Chronic Fatigue, Low Thyroid Symptoms, Hashimoto’s, and Fibromyalgia to only put the best food into their bodies. One good way to eat healthier is to join an organic co-op or shop at your local farmers market.
Why does your thyroid gland stop working?
Dr. Chris Heimlich, DC, DACNB Comments:
Lisen To The Audio:
Why Does Your Thyroid Gland Stop Working?
Should you be taking vitamin D if you have Hashimoto’s?
New patients to our office frequently asked if they should be taking vitamin D for their low thyroid symptoms like fatigue, insomnia, hair loss, weight gain, depression, cold hands and feet, anxiety and all the other symptoms that go along with having low thyroid function. Here are better question to ask:
How do I determine if I need it?
How much should I take?
How do I monitor the vitamin D I am taking to make sure I get enough, and not too much?
Something you should know is that vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, it acts like a hormone. That means if you take too much of it, you do not get it out of your system as quickly as you would a water soluble. Take vitamin C for example, it is water soluble. If you take too much of it, your body will quickly and efficiently get it out of your system.
We have several patients that come in every week that have had their vitamin D checked in the past by their doctor and were told that there are levels were low and to just start taking some vitamin D.
This is a big mistake. Vitamin D levels need to be rechecked to make sure that the dosages right.
Here is an all too common scenario. The patient gets their vitamin D checked by their thyroid doctor. The test comes back and shows that they have low vitamin D levels. The patient is then told to take 50,000 units one time per week, usually on a Monday. I’ve even had patients that were put on dosages as high as hundred and 150,000 units to be taken one time per week.
Does this make any sense to you? Is taking one large dose of anything one time per week the best way to increase your levels? Let’s use an analogy. Let’s say that instead of your doctor checking you for vitamin D, you were checked to see if you had a deficiency of apples. The doctor runs the tests and finds that yes you do have a deficiency of apples. Would it make sense to eat 50 apples at one time every Monday?
Or do you think it would be easier for your body to absorb the nutritional value of those apples by eating seven apples throughout the day, seven days a week? Of course the answer is to take smaller dosages more frequently. The same holds true for vitamin D.
If you have been checked for vitamin D deficiency, you probably only been checked to see what you’re circulating vitamin D levels are and not your stored vitamin D levels. You want to make sure that you have both the circulating as well as the stored vitamin D levels checked at the same time. In the past five years, I’ve only had one new patient come in and that has had both her circulating and stored vitamin D levels tested.
I average about one person per week that comes in to our office that will have a low circulating vitamin D level, but there stored levels will be high. It is common to see this type of pattern in patients that have an autoimmune thyroid condition called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.
If you are thinking about taking vitamin D or you are on vitamin D, make sure you find a doctor that knows what we have just talked about. Find a doctor that will check your circulating and stored levels before you start taking vitamin D and after you’ve been on it for 2 to 3 months to make sure that the dosage is right for you.
Making Sense Of Your Thyroid Lab Values
Dr. Chris Heimlich DC, DACNB, Arizona Thyroid Doctor, Helps Make Sense of Your Blood Test Results:
Low Thyroid and Celiac Disease – Is There Really A Connection?
Scottsdale Thyroid Dr. Chris Heimlich DC, DACNB Comments On This Controversial Topic:
Thyroid Symptoms and Diabetes – What Tests Should I Run?
Chris Heimlich DC, DACNB, Founder of the Heimlich Institute, Discusses The First Steps Patients Should Take:
Listen To The Audio:
What Tests Should I Run?
Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Treatment Options
Dr. Chris Heimlich DC, DACNB, Discusses Natural Hashimoto’s Treatment Options
Don’t Self Medicate Your Thyroid Hormones: Natural, Synthetic, or Bio-Identical
Scottsdale Thyroid Doctor Explains:
I wanted to share a recent experience I had in the office with a patient that was trying to self regulate her thyroid medication. A woman brought her mother into the office with complaints of brain fog, constipation, hair falling out fatigue, depression, and insomnia. The daughter had also been diagnosed with low thyroid and was on Natur-Throid, the mother was on Synthroid. Since the daughter was on a different medication and felt a little better than the mom did, the mom decided to just start taking some of her daughter’s medication. It was a bad idea.
It is always a bad idea to take someone else’s medication.
As you can imagine, she felt even worse. I think it is a bad idea for anyone to self dose medications. If you feel the medication is not working, consult the prescribing physician. If they change dosages and just can’t find the dosage that alleviates the low thyroid symptoms-like hair loss, fatigue, weight gain, mental fogginess, constipation…… then maybe it is time to take a different look at your low thyroid condition.
The research shows the number one reason people have low thyroid symptoms in the United States is due to an auto immune condition called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. An auto immune condition means that the body has lost its ability for self tolerance. Meaning, the body cannot tell the difference between its own tissue and foreign invaders. The body actually attacks itself. In the case of Hashimoto’, it attacks the thyroid. It also has a propensity to attack the brain, pancreas, and gut in Hashimoto’s.
Taking thyroid hormones only replaces the hormones that are not being produced due to the destruction of the thyroid gland. It does nothing to stop the attack of the immune system on the body. It also does nothing to reduce the cytokines that block the thyroid receptor sites. When the immune system attacks the body cytokines are released and they block the thyroid receptors.
Here is something to remember:
Every cell in the body has a thyroid receptor site.
Can you see why you can feel so crummy when you are not receiving the proper management of your thyroid?
So now you know why it is important that you don’t self dose your thyroid medication, even if it is natural or bio-identical hormone replacement. Talk with your doctor before changing dosages. If you have tried this and you are still suffering with low thyroid symptoms, find a doctor that understands what we just talked about and get the help you need.
Don’t Self Medicate Your Thyroid Hormones: Natural, Synthetic, or Bio-Identical
Dr. Chris Heimlich DC, DACNB, Arizona Thyroid Doctor Comments:
I wanted to share a recent experience I had in the office with a patient that was trying to self regulate her thyroid medication. A woman brought her mother into the office with complaints of brain fog, constipation, hair falling out fatigue, depression, and insomnia. The daughter had also been diagnosed with low thyroid and was on Natur-Throid, the mother was on Synthroid.
Since the daughter was on a different medication and felt a little better than the mom did, the mom decided to just start taking some of her daughter’s medication.
It was a bad idea!
It is always a bad idea to take someone else’s medication.
As you can imagine, she felt even worse. I think it is a bad idea for anyone to self dose medications. If you feel the medication is not working, consult the prescribing physician. If they change dosages and just can’t find the dosage that alleviates the low thyroid symptoms-like hair loss, fatigue, weight gain, mental fogginess, constipation…… then maybe it is time to take a different look at your low thyroid condition.
The research shows the number one reason people have low thyroid symptoms in the United States is due to an auto immune condition called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. An auto immune condition means that the body has lost its ability for self tolerance. Meaning, the body cannot tell the difference between its own tissue and foreign invaders. The body actually attacks itself. In the case of Hashimoto’, it attacks the thyroid. It also has a propensity to attack the brain, pancreas, and gut in Hashimoto’s.
Taking thyroid hormones only replaces the hormones that are not being produced due to the destruction of the thyroid gland. It does nothing to stop the attack of the immune system on the body. It also does nothing to reduce the cytokines that block the thyroid receptor sites. When the immune system attacks the body cytokines are released and they block the thyroid receptors.
Here is something to remember: Every cell in the body has a thyroid receptor site. Can you see why you can feel so crummy when you are not receiving the proper management of your thyroid?
So now you know why it is important that you don’t self dose your thyroid medication, even if it is natural or bio-identical hormone replacement. Talk with your doctor before changing dosages. If you have tried this and you are still suffering with low thyroid symptoms, find a doctor that understands what we just talked about and get the help you need.
If you haven’t requested a copy of our Thyroid Recovery Report that reveals the pieces of the thyroid treatment puzzle that nearly every doctor fails to recognize or acknowledge then simply fill out the form to your right.