Three Strategies To Feeling Better With Hashimoto’s

Living with Hashimoto’s can feel like a never-ending chase to feel “normal.” 

I use to suffer from many symptoms, that you can read about in my previous posts. 

These symptoms made my life miserable! 

So I began to search high and low for information on how to heal. 

Problem is, there is so much to sort through! 

This is why I wanted to save you time and thinking by telling you about three strategies to feeling better with Hashimoto’s!

  1. Change your diet
  2. Rest!
  3. Have a positive outlook 

By no means am I “cured” of Hashimoto’s, this will be a lifelong journey. 

But I did start to feel so much better after honing in on these three strategies.  

DIET

I changed my diet. 

Seems basic, but changing what I ate was the number one thing I did to improve my symptoms. 

So, what did I change about the diet that helped me feel so much better?  

The particular plan I used was the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) diet.  

A  high-level overview of the AIP diet is to eliminate inflammatory foods from your diet for some time to heal your gut/immune system.

There is quite a bit of food you will have to say goodbye to during the elimination period. 

I won’t get into the nitty-gritty of this lifestyle plan in this post, but you can read the basics of how the AIP diet works here:

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO THE AIP DIET– https://unboundwellness.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-the-aip-diet/

5 STEPS TO PERSONALIZING YOUR AUTOIMMUNE PALEO PROTOCOL– https://chriskresser.com/5-steps-to-personalizing-your-autoimmune-paleo-protocol/

Over time, you reintroduce foods back into your diet and find out which ones cause an immune reaction. 

Now, let me say that adhering to the AIP protocol does take some work…

You do need to cook most of your meals and if you venture out to eat, it can be a challenge.

The good news about an elimination diet

  1. The restrictive phase is temporary
  2. You will probably lose some weight (I lost 40 pounds within 9 months!!!)
  3. Quality of life will improve! ( I’d say I feel about 70% better than I did before)
  4. You will gain first-hand knowledge about which foods cause reactions to your body
  5. There are so many delicious recipes on the AIP diet, you will not feel restricted

I stayed on the strict elimination stage of the AIP diet for 7 months. 

The amount of time you spend on the elimination phase is highly personalized and depends on how fast your symptoms clear up. 

My definite allergies

Once I reintroduced foods back into my diet,  I discovered that I’m allergic to:

My intolerances

I have a slight intolerance to:

Figuring out which foods cause issues for you can be a very beneficial tool in your health arsenal. 

If you can pinpoint which foods cause symptoms then you are getting ahead of the game.

For example, migraines use to be a weekly ordeal for me, now they are a rare occurrence! 

This is huge because I often spent those days in bed not living life, and now I have that back! ( Thank God!)

If this wasn’t enough to convince you, there have been several studies on the effects of the AIP diet on autoimmune diseases. You can read all about there here:

EFFICACY OF THE AUTOIMMUNE PROTOCOL DIET — https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6592837/

AIP HASHIMOTO’S MEDICAL STUDY RESULTS– https://autoimmunewellness.com/aip-hashimotos-medical-study-results/

Although I am a HUGE advocate of the AIP diet, it’s your choice and your health ultimately 🙂

But if you have tried everything else except taking a look at your diet, I would highly recommend you begin here first.

Rest

I use to think resting was for the weak.

But when I finally started following the advice I was reading about in my research, I began to feel more like my old self again.

I tackled the rest with a three-pronged approach. 

  1. I made getting enough sleep a priority;
  2. I stopped over-exercising and;
  3. I worked on balancing my “full plate”

Sleep

Before I would only sleep between 6-7 hours and I thought this was plenty.

But I often experienced:

Getting in enough sleep is the foundation for making good decisions. 

After all, a well-rested self can be fully present the next day. 

So now I make it a priority to get between 7-8.5  hours of sleep a night.   

Since getting in more zzz’s, I’ve noticed that: 

I still have dizziness, this has been one thing I haven’t received a clear answer on from my doctors. It’s a bit frustrating, but I’m so happy with the progress in my health overall. 
Even so, there is always room for improvement and I’m slowly incorporating better sleep hygiene principles.

Also, I’d like to add one more sleep tip of my own.  

I like to pray before bed and read a verse or two of Bible scripture and/or uplifting Christian reading of some sort.  

I find this helps set the tone for my mind as I’m about to set sail into slumber 🙂

Exercise

1 Timothy 4:8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.

At the time of my diagnosis, I was taking Crossfit classes 3-5 times a week.  

I felt horrible but kept pushing myself to the limit.  

As time progressed instead of feeling stronger and leaner, I was feeling weaker and the weight wasn’t budging. 

I would feel wired and tired and would have sleep disturbances.

Usually, the day after working out I would feel as if I was coming down with the flu.

My muscles would feel very weak,  and I would feel faint and shaky. 

The cause of this was/is exercise intolerance which is a common but overlooked symptom of Hashimoto’s.

Although it sounds very counterintuitive the best thing that you can do to heal your body and to lose weight is to go easy on exercise.

Instead, opt for exercises that are calming and soothing on your body such as long walks or swimming. 

From 2016 through 2019 I did not set foot in a gym. 

As of today, I’m working my way up slowly to weightlifting and interval jogging/walking.

Rhythm of Life

I use to say yes to almost every opportunity to hang out or help out at my church. 

I had no clue that living at such a high pace could wreak havoc on my health.   

It’s not that I didn’t know how to say no, but it was that I liked living at full capacity. 

It gave me a rush.

Around the time of my diagnosis, I was also experiencing many symptoms of adrenal fatigue although I hadn’t even heard of such a term. 

Some of my symptoms were feeling wired and tired.

I would have bursts of energy, then crash quickly.

And crash for days….

And when this happened I would almost go catatonic. As soon as I would get home from work I would lay on my couch staring at the wall or the tv. 

It felt as if my body was in shock. 

Simply talking felt like a chore. 

My arms and legs felt like dead weight. It was hard to even lift a hand sometimes. 

But I wrote it off every time as just being a tired and busy adult. 

Oh and not to mention, I would have panic attacks almost daily! 

My anxiety was always through the roof. 

I felt overwhelmed quite easily. 

And sadly, I believed the christian lie that I was experiencing anxiety because I didn’t trust God enough.  

No one told me this, it was just a thought that I was imposing on myself. 

I wish I would’ve known back then that there was a legitimate health reason for the anxiety and panic attacks.

Have you experienced symptoms of adrenal fatigue? 

If you have, here are some resources to check out:

WHAT IS ADRENAL FATIGUE– https://www.thepaleomom.com/adrenal-fatigue-pt-1/

THREE STEPS TO HEAL ADRENAL FATIGUE– https://draxe.com/health/3-steps-to-heal-adrenal-fatigue/

ADRENAL 1O1 MYTHS…– https://www.drchristianson.com/adrenal-101-the-myths-and-the-science-behind-adrenal-stress-fatigue/

7 CAUSES OF ADRENAL STRESS…– https://www.drchristianson.com/the-7-causes-of-adrenal-stress-and-how-you-can-end-them-today/

ADRENAL THYROID CONNECTION– https://www.amymyersmd.com/article/adrenal-thyroid-connection/

Positive Outlook

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

Having a positive outlook is not in my nature.  

I’m a realist, a cup-half empty gal. 

My faith In Jesus Christ has brought me a long way in transforming my mindset. 

It took me a while to see that having a merry heart does good, and that yes! It does apply to my situation in healing. 

Once I recognized this truth and that I was in pity party mode, it shifted everything in my life for the better! 

Choosing to make the best of a sucky situation led to one good decision after another. 

It had a snowball effect. 

I gradually stopped complaining about my situation. 

Which led to gratefulness. 

Gratefulness led to hope. 

Hope led to seeing others again (because I had been so inward-focused up until this point). 

Seeing others led to bringing joy and laughter back into my life.  

Joy and laughter led to “feeling more like myself” again.  

After all “A merry heart does good like medicine.”

I know that when you’re not feeling well because of your health problems, it can be hard to change your mindset. 

But we are making a choice at all times.

We can choose to stay stuck.

Or we can choose to see the silver lining in ALL things. 

Even the sucky things.

With God’s help through prayer and reading the word, you can transform your mind. 

One thought at a time.

Our job is to draw near to Him. 

Conclusion

Diet is the foundational cornerstone to improving your health!

Even if you can’t commit now to a full on elimination diet, start somewhere. 

Perhaps removing gluten and dairy first. 

Then adding more foods to eliminate from there. 

Rest is also super important.  

Think of it as a 3 prong approach.  

Sleeping more, slowing down your schedule, not pushing yourself too much with exercise and having a positive outlook brings hope and will also have a positive effect on your physical health. 

AND Perhaps this blog post will save you money and time from: 

No, but really! My mission is to save others time and dear energy needed to battle this lifelong chronic disease.

Final Tidbits

If you’re a Christian,  you know that we are not guaranteed our best lives on this earth.

 But we are promised that:

“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”

Phil 1:6

PS- If you are reading this post and you are not a Christian… Read this!

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