People Have Asked..

About one of my  previous post on copper and zinc and how they are extremely important in helping your body convert T4 and T3 to the unbound forms FreeT4 and Free T3, these are the forms of the hormone your body actually uses and your body reports back to your pituitary gland that you are receiving enough. If you are not converting T4 and T3 properly  then your TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) will continue to be high even if your thyroid is working! The liver converts the thyroid hormone thyroxin (T4) into its more active form tri-iodothyronine (T3). Thyroid hormones act as the body's thermostat, regulating the rate at which virtually all biochemical reactions occur in the body. Inadequate conversion of T4 to T3 by the liver may lead energy-depleting hypothyroidism, leading to chronic fatigue, weight gain, poor memory and a host of other problems.
Zinc and Copper helps your liver convert these vital hormones.  Here is a link to a great article that explains why it is important to take the correct amounts of zinc to copper. http://www.livestrong.com/article/511087-how-to-take-copper-with-zinc/

Side Note:

The process of saving my thyroid took me 5 years! I'm not saying that what I've done will work for everyone! I do know that you have to take control of your own health. It was a huge process of elimination for me. I put the hard work in and though sometimes I felt like giving up because I was getting nowhere, I stuck it out and was able to get to the bottom of what was causing my Hashimoto's disease. It could be different things  for different people. Please! Don't give up hope! I know that most people will be able to feel better by taking the correct supplements and eliminating things from your diet that may be upsetting your system. It is hard work but believe me when I say it is more than worth it to not be on synthroid for the rest of your life and to be able to feel as well as I do! :)

Ode to Joy!

Finally got a minute to sit down and update this blog. If you've read my previous post you will see that in April of 2011 after a 4 year battle with Hashimoto's disease I was able to rid myself of my TPO antibodies and bring my thyroid back from the grave naturally! I had my thyroid monitored for the next 5 months and when all my labs kept coming back in the perfect ranges, I decided it was time to get pregnant! To me and my husbands surprise I was pregnant at the end of August 2011! I immediately got in to see an OBGYN so I could continue to be monitored through my pregnancy. I had my TSH, FT3 and FT4 checked every 6 weeks. I had your normal morning sickness through the first trimester but luckily had the glorious drug ZOFRAN to get me through! I continued to take the vitamins and minerals that I have listed on my blog in the same doses that I took before I got pregnant. I wasn't the best at taking them everyday. If you've been pregnant you know that it's not always pleasant to take pills. Every time I was checked my TSH was always in the 1.0 - 2.0 range and my FT3 and FT4 were always in the upper 1/3 of the range.  I actually LOVED being pregnant! I felt pretty amazing through the whole thing! I had a very healthy, uneventful pregnancy, labor and delivery. Our little girl is perfect, healthy and very bright! If I do say so myself! :)  I was very nervous that my thyroid would crash after the pregnancy.I had my thyroid checked at 11 weeks postpartum and all my results were great! I even ate dairy in moderation and my TPO antibodies are still gone and I'm feeling wonderful! It was worth it for me to deal with my Hashimoto's disease naturally before trying to conceive. I did not want to be on medication during my pregnancy and have to constantly be upping my dose. If you are planning on becoming pregnant I would suggest trying to overcome the disease if you can before you conceive. If you are already pregnant and on medication I would NOT recommend stopping your medication. I would stick to what your doctor is telling you. I hope this gives some of you women out there with this horrible disease some hope that you can overcome it and go on to have a normal pregnancy!

Yes! I'm still here!

First off..SORRY! I've been totally rubbish at keeping this post updated and answering people's questions! I've been so busy taking care of my 3 month old daughter. I haven't had much extra time to blog. I will get to all your questions and post a blog about my pregnancy and current health as soon as possible. :)

I Have A Good Reason!...

So sorry I have not been able to keep up better with my blog! I do have a good reason though as I've been busy with another little creation these past 9 months! On May 15th I gave birth to our first child! I will try and answer questions as soon as possible and will also write a post about the pregnancy and how my health is doing! :)

Friends!!

Just writing a quick note to let everyone know that I've received their messages and questions. I've been super busy recently and haven't been able to get back to everyone as fast as I'd like to. I will try and answer every ones messages as soon as I can. I know when you have hashimoto's you want to figure out what can help you as fast as you can so you don't have to keep suffering. Thanks so much for writing to me. Crystal :)

Copper to Zinc ratio

In an earlier post I noted that I was taking 37mg of zinc and 1mg of copper. For every 15mg of zinc you should take 1mg of copper so I just bought THIS supplement to add some extra copper so my ratio is better. I'm now taking 37mg of zinc and 3mg of copper. The early doses helped me raise my Free T3 from 2.2 to 3.5 the normal range for Free T3 being (2.2-4.2)
It is best to be as close to 4.2 as possible so we shall see if adding this extra copper will do the trick! All in all I still feel really good with my Free T3 at 3.5 . I was feeling horrible and still had major hypothyroid symptoms when my Free T3 was at 2.2 even though my TSH was 2.3
Most doctors will tell you you are fine if your TSH is below 3.0 I can not stress enough how important it is to have your Free T3 tested and get it up to at least 3.5

Hypothyroid without Hashimoto's

I've had a lot of people ask if taking selenium mineral and vitamin E will help them if they are just hypothyroid but do not have hashimoto's disease.

Regarding the thyroid, selenium is a component of the enzyme that helps
convert T4 to T3 peripherally, so deficiencies of selenium may impair
thyroid function and promote hypothyroidism. According to the New England
Journal, "selenium deficiency can result in thyroid injury and decreased
extrathyroidal triiodothyronine production" (reduced peripheral T3
production.) Some experts believe that low T3 levels may be characteristic
in areas with insufficient selenium.

The mineral selenium also proves itself as a powerful anti-cancer medicine. THIS is a very interesting article on the benefits of taking selenium. I think it is definitely worth taking as a supplement.