It was a strange and beautiful feeling when the individual pieces of my life began to fall into place. Suddenly, things that had once felt random began to make sense, and I could see my story with hypothyroidism as one larger, more complete picture.
Before I begin, I want to say clearly that this is my personal story of hypothyroidism and healing, not medical advice. Every body, diagnosis, and treatment path is different. I am sharing what helped me in the hope that it may encourage someone to ask questions, listen to their body, and seek professional guidance that feels right for them.
My Diagnosis and the Search for Answers
When I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, a thyroid disorder, a few months after my first birth, I followed the doctors’ advice without much thought and started taking L-Thyroxine. At the time, I understood hypothyroidism as a condition that usually requires lifelong treatment. Several years later, I came across information that encouraged me to look at the body more holistically and to ask what might be contributing to the imbalance. Conventional Western medicine and functional medicine approach this differently, and I slowly became curious about whether there was more for me to understand. Despite the amount of information I managed to gather, I was afraid to embark on the path of self-healing. After all, I am a mother of three children, a wife, and I have only one body and one health. What if something went wrong? So, I started looking for a functional doctor in Slovakia. I found exactly one, and I am grateful for her every single day, because she changed my life much more than she can imagine.
When I found her website, I had to fill out a detailed intake form. You would never imagine how many seemingly trivial things and habits can affect your overall health. There was certainly a little skepticism in me, but I told myself that nothing could really go wrong here. She offered me a path toward healing, while not promoting any special supplements of her own. The worst that could happen was that I would switch to a healthier lifestyle, lose the cost of the consultation, and continue taking my medication as before. But the opposite happened. It was the best investment I could have made for myself.
Of course, I am not a doctor or an expert, and I would never want anyone to copy my path without professional guidance. Not every diagnosis is the same, and what helped me may not be appropriate for someone else. I was taking very low doses of thyroxine, which may also be why the healing process was relatively simple in my case.
Understanding What My Blood Tests Revealed
The first thing was that I had to have my blood tested for thyroid hormones (TSH, fT4, fT3, and a-TPO). I specifically went to Medirex, where they offer both a basic and an extended package for this testing. It turned out that although my TSH and fT4 were within the normal range thanks to the artificial hormones that were masking reality, the level of antibodies against the thyroid gland was high.
The Beginning of My Cleansing Journey
And so began a cleansing journey that focused on several areas: what I put on my skin, what I used in my home, what I ate, how I moved, how I slept, and how I handled stress.
This post is really just the short version of my story. There is so much more I could say about each part of this journey, and I definitely plan to come back to these topics in future blog posts. I want to share more about what I changed, what was hard, what surprised me, and what actually helped me along the way.
Skincare
I was supposed to replace all cosmetics and cleaning products with more natural alternatives. Let me tell you, it was quite a demanding process after years of finally finding products for every part of my body that suited me perfectly 😊. It took a while, but eventually I found new alternatives that suit me much better than the previous ones, and many of them are easy to find at reasonable prices. My complexion is smoother, more youthful, and more even. The skin on my body dries out much less than it did after conventional shower gels. My hair is also thick and healthy, even though I am already over 40. I even found a fairly decent deodorant that keeps me smelling nice all day. It did take a few weeks for my body to get used to the new ingredients, but it was worth it.
Cleaning products
Here I must admit that I did not manage to switch all of my cleaning products to natural ones, except for the kitchen counter cleaner, which I use several times a day. For cleaning the bathroom of a five-member family, I still rely on the old, classic, tried-and-tested products. At the same time, I try to protect myself by wearing a respirator and rubber gloves so that I do not inhale harmful substances or absorb them through my skin.
Diet
In addition to household and personal-care products, I was also supposed to switch to a cleaner diet. Giving up sugar, chips, and processed foods goes without saying. The goal was to eat more simple, single-ingredient foods and to avoid gluten and dairy products. I should not starve myself, but I should not overeat either. It was important to maintain stable blood sugar levels and to learn how to nourish my body instead of constantly fighting with it.
In addition to chemical cleansing, I was also supposed to focus on regular movement and high-quality, sufficiently long sleep.
Mental Health
The hardest part of the entire healing plan, however, was avoiding stress, whether physical or psychological. Honestly, I am still struggling with this part, but with the help of a psychologist I am doing better. One thing is work, family, and household responsibilities; another is childhood trauma that affects my reactions even in adulthood. I am learning that healing is not only about what I eat or what I put on my skin. It is also about noticing what my body has been carrying for years and slowly learning to live in a way that does not put so much strain on it.
The Results After One Year
I was supposed to follow this plan for six months to a year. It was not meant to be a temporary treatment plan, but a healthier way of living that I would need to carry with me. When I went for blood tests after a year, the antibodies against my thyroid gland had dropped radically, and I was able to start gradually weaning my body off thyroxine under guidance. It was roughly a month-long process before I could finally get up without my first trip in the morning leading to the medicine cabinet. It took another two months for my body to fully clear itself of L-Thyroxine and more or less establish its natural production of thyroid hormones. After half a year, I went for blood tests again, and imagine this: all levels were within the normal range, and the antibodies were at a lower level than when I was taking medication.
Healing as a Way of Living
It will soon be two years since I have considered myself healed, although I know I will still have to pay attention to my lifestyle so that hypothyroidism does not return. But I am immensely happy about the whole thing, and I feel great. The brain fog typical of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis has disappeared, and I also have plenty of energy. I simply feel healthy, like never before. More than anything, I feel grateful: grateful that I listened to my body, grateful that I found the right guidance, and grateful that healing became not just a result, but a way of living more gently with myself.