Alternative Treatments for Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa), Gotu kola (Centella asiatica), Oatstraw (Avena sativa) and Equisetum arvense. What are these herbs and why do I keep finding them as “alternative treatments” for Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis? When I researched the herbs, some of them actually stimulate the thyroid gland, which may be a bad thing, depending on the advancement of your Hashi’s.
For me, I am early in my illness. Although I think my symptoms started about 18 months ago, it had been so gradual. It was my heart palpitations that drove me to my doctor’s office, and I just happened to have a really great doctor. He ordered the right tests that diagnosed my Hashi’s. It wasn’t until the month following the initial diagnosis that I really started to have problems. It makes sense though. I was having major heart palpitations each and every night, so my thyroid gland was being attacked each and every night. After about 6 weeks of this, it was reasonable that I would have moments of being very hypothyroid. But as most Hashimoto’s patients can tell you, even when it is obvious that your body is hypothyroid, you can be having a few hyperthyroid symptoms. How is that possible? With Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, your body is constantly swinging between being hypo and hyper-thyroid.
This is an autoimmune disorder, so although part of the treatment is to take thyroid medicine to suppress our pituitary gland (thus suppressing our TSH, which in turn suppresses our thyroid), we aren’t really being advised to treat our immune system. How do you treat the immune system?
As Hashi’s patients, we need to be careful. We don’t want to over stimulate our immune system, as our immune systems are already hyperactive enough. Gotu kola is the only herb in the above list that may help a Hashi’s patient, although I haven’t personally tried it yet. Here is a good article that describes the uses of Gotu kola, and if you see yourself with any of the symptoms mentioned, then it might be worth a try.
Is anyone taking “Thyroid Assist” for their Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis? If so, please leave comments as to your experiences with it. As I read about this product, I don’t see that it helps with our autoimmune disorder, but only with hypothyroid symptoms.
I need to research the ingredients in Zrii to see which one may be having the positive effect on my Hashi’s symptoms. The main herbal ingredients in Zrii are: Amalaki (Emblica officinalis), Ginger (Zingiber officinalis), Turmeric (Curcuma ionga), Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum), Schizandra (Schizandra chinensis), Jujube (Ziziphus zizyphus), and Haritaki (Terminalia chebula). If you have any personal experience with any of these herbs in the treatment of your Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, please leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.
