I bet I’m not the only one you know that has Hashimoto’s.
1 in 5 women are diagnosed, and these rates are continuing to rise.
While the name sounds a lot like a sushi dish, it’s actually the leading cause of hypothyroidism (a form of thyroid disease) and it is silently destroying lives.
It was in the past year that I started to notice some interesting symptoms.
My hands had these strange aching pains and stiffness.
My fatigue was taking over.
My brain was foggy and my memory was pretty bad. I mean, what did I eat for dinner last night? I couldn’t even tell you!
And then my sleep started to suffer.
You might be thinking, “but Samantha, you’re a nutritionist and you eat so well. How could this be?!”
Yes, I eat well and exercise and practice what I preach, but I am also a human being that is running a business, have a crazy to-do list, deal with personal and professional stresses and have a constant monkey in my brain.
You see, stress is stress. Your body can’t differentiate between a tragic stress (ie. a death in the family) versus a “common” less-tragic stress such as a to-do list with 25 things on it.
A busy brain is a stressed brain and I’ve definitely had my fair share of overwhelm in the past year. It’s safe to say that my stress exacerbated my symptoms and affected my immune system – leading to an autoimmune condition.
Not to mention, my issues with gut health.
My digestion and gut have always been an area of weakness for me, since birth! I talked a lot about this in my Heal Your Gut program back in January. I was a C-section baby + I was formula fed.
Being a C-section baby means you don’t pass through the birth canal to pick up all that good beneficial bacteria and of course, not being breastfed fed, meant I didn’t get the essential nutrients and goodness that only breast milk provides.
Plus, over the years I was put on numerous over the counter meds and pharmaceuticals as a kid. Whether it be a cough or sniffle, my parents were quick to open the Benadryl. Now – I’m am not blaming my parents for anything here. My parents did what they knew best and they were completely unaware about naturopathic and natural medicine.
But it’s important to note how these things – which may seem minor – can have such a huge impact on your immune system, gut health and genetic expression.
{I suggest you check out my 14-Day Gut Healing Meal Plan if you are dealing with digestive and gut issues}
Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune condition that triggers hypothyroidism. In fact, Dr. Alessio Fasano, a world-renowned gastroenterologist, discovered that there are three factors that cause an autoimmune disease to manifest:
- Your genes play a huge role
- There is usually an environmental trigger
- You have intestinal permeability (ie. leaky gut)
Not to mention there is a history of autoimmunity in my family. Hashimoto’s is more an autoimmune condition than it is a thyroid condition. Like I mentioned above, it triggers hypothyroidism because your immune system attacks your thyroid.
Overall, I feel good. I definitely have some off days, but in this past year, I knew in my heart something wasn’t right.
And so, that’s why in the past few months I’ve been spending a lot of my time getting my hormones tested, which confirmed what I already knew – Hashimoto’s.
In the next few weeks I’ll be hosting a webinar all about this! I’ll be diving into Hashimoto’s and thyroid health in general, sharing all about my journey – from symptoms to testing to diagnosis, to my healing protocol and more. It will most likely be a 2 hour webinar.
I want to go deep. I want to share it all and I want to support you in uncovering some symptoms you may be feeling.
For some quick insight – I did a DUTCH test (which is a dried urine hormone test – this is available to order through me when we coach together + we design a specific nutrition and supplement protocol to support your hormone results).
{Please note – I can ship the Dutch test to Canada or the U.S. and it can simply be completed in your home}
The Dutch test assesses estrogen metabolites + progesterone + cortisol + DHEA + testosterone. It’s a great panel for gaining insight into hormonal imbalances.
As for my thyroid, I did a full thyroid panel (which I got through my ND). This panel includes testing:
Free T4
Free T3
TSH
Reverse T3
Anti TPO & TG (both are thyroid antibodies) – this is what MUST be tested in order to to check for autoimmune thyroid disease.
More on all that coming soon.
But, before I let you go, I want to share some scary statistics about toxins and hormonal health.
You see, there are different causes of Hashimoto’s, and environmental triggers are one. This includes personal care and beauty products and you know how I feel about clean beauty care!
Women apply close to 170 different chemical ingredients on their body EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. Men apply close to 90.
Women’s personal care routines is partly responsible for the disproportionate female pre-dominance of thyroid and autoimmune conditions.
Lipstick contains arsenic and lead, which are both toxic heavy metals. And our lips are a mucous membrane, meaning we are ingesting these toxins just by licking our lips!
And just because you might be buying expensive brand names like Clinique, Sephora, L’Oreal and Mac, doesn’t mean your are getting a quality product!! ALL these companies/products were found to have heavy metals.
When it comes to supporting our health and hormones, there are many areas we need to start giving our energy too – nutrition, sleep, stress management, exercise, beauty care, environment, relationships and so much more.
Having more of these health puzzle pieces in place means we will enjoy better quality of life, less disease, more vitality and better hormonal health.
Healing is a journey. And if there is ONE thing I can say to you about your health, it’s this – you need to start paying attention to the whispers. You need to listen – closely.
If you feel something is off with your body, don’t ignore it. Don’t just think your symptoms are normal because your getting older. TUNE IN.
Most women wait 20+ years before they finally decide to dive in, visit their doctor and do testing. DONT’ WAIT! The sooner you test, the sooner you seek out help, the better off you will be in being able to turn your health around and reverse your disease.
I’m looking forward to sharing more about my autoimmune journey with you in the next few weeks and I would love to hear from you in the comments below about your hormonal issues and where you need support.
Thanks for reading and sharing in this journey with me xoxo
