Alternative Approach to Graves, just diagnosed - Question and Answer Forum - Elaine Moore Graves' Disease and Autoimmune Disease Education

Web Site Search

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

..:: Q & A ::..

THE Q & A

Welcome to The Q&A with Elaine Moore. Registered members are invited to ask any question of Elaine Moore on autoimmune diseases, Graves' disease, other thyroid diseases and subconditions, laboratory work, traditional and complementary medicine, triggers and environmental influences, thyroid and immune disorders in pets and animals, and other relevant areas of inquiry.

Each thread represents one question with one answer and will only appear at the time it is answered. Once answered, further replies cannot be made to the same thread since each thread represents only one question. A new thread will need to be started for additional questions.

Questions are answered solely by Elaine Moore, a medical writer and clinical laboratory scientist, MT, CLS, with more than 30 years of experience in immunology. Moore has also authored and edited over a dozen books in the area of health sciences and is an editor for McFarland Publisher's Health Topics Series.

Copying of any posts is prohibited without permissions.

The Q & A with Elaine Moore

Notice: No notices today.

Forum

Discussions

Question and An...

Alternative Approach to Graves, just diagnosed

3/1/2009 12:31 PM

Tonia

Joined: 3/1/2009

Posts: 1

Alternative Approach to Graves, just diagnosed

I was diagnosed with Graves’ Disease last week. My family Doctor detected Hyperthyroid in a routine well check, blood work. To date I honestly have none of the symptoms associated with the disease. I do have elevated blood pressure but I am not aware of this and I do not have an elevated pulse. I have an appointment with an Endocrinologist on the 26^th of March. Between now and then, I plan to take an Herbal called Thyroid II by Wise Woman Herbs; which was suggested to me by my Naturopath. I have read a few books on Thyroidism and Graves Disease (I am on the waiting list for many others at the library). My question whether I am understanding the nutritional and supplementary needs as they relate to an alternative approach to Graves’. Below are my labs and the dietary/supplemental regime I plan to follow. Thanks for any insight that can be provided. –Tonia

Thyroid-II: Ingredients: Fresh Lycopus (bugleweed) Fresh Leonurus (motherwort) Fresh Melisa (lemon balm) Fresh Passiflora (passion flower) Fresh Selenicereus (cactus) Lavender essential oil

Diet: Eliminate Diary, Eliminate Gluten, Eliminate artificial sweetener, Limit Iodine to under 150 mg/day; limit green leafy vegetables containing Cadmium. Add as many Goitrogens as possible. Drink 90+ml of water daily.

Supplements: Copper starting at 2-3 mg per day increasing to 6 mg. Calcium 400 mg, Magnesium 400 mg, Selenium, B-Complex, Carnitine 500 mg (3x daily) and Quercetin.

Labs To Date:

12/08/08 TSH 3rd Generation: 0.02

01/12/09 TSH 3rd Generation 0.01

01/12/09 T-4 FREE 2.4

02/10/09 T-4 FREE 2.5

02/10/09 T3 Uptake: 38

02/10/09 Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody 29 –Normal

02/10/09 Thyroglobulin Antibody: Over 20 -Normal

02/18/09 Radio Active Iodine Uptake Test & Scan: No Hot or Cold Nodes

& Elevated Thyroid @ 4 & 24 Hours35% at 4 Hours & 63% at 24 Hours.

02/18/09 TSH 3RD Generation <0.02

02/18/09 TSI 134

3/1/2009 10:20 PM

Elaine

Joined: 8/1/2008

Posts: 3174

Re: Alternative Approach to Graves, just diagnosed,

Hi Tonia,

Your labs suggest mild Graves' disease. For you alternative medicine may be enough to help you achieve remission. if your FT4 falls back into range with your program, you'd be considered to have subclinical hyperthyroidism, a disorder that's usually watched but not treated. The exception would be beta blockers to reduce any cardiac symptoms such as elevated blood pressure.

I haven't heard of Thyroid II but the ingredients are a good combination of herbs known to lower thyroid hormone levels. It sounds like someone came up with a winning combination here.

With diet, the minimum requirement for iodine is 75-150 mcg rather than mg. The average American diet provides 300-700 mcg iodine daily and diets high in fast/processed foods provide well over 1,000 mcg. Adding goitrogens, foods that reduce iodine absorption, such as raw almonds, peanuts, broccoli, squash, etc., can help if you're taking in too much iodine.

Let us know what change you see in your labs after 6-8 weeks of following this program. Once your FT4 is back within range, you want to stop the copper to keep from upsetting your natural copper/zinc balance. The amounts in a multivitamin, which represent the natural ratio of 8:1 for zinc:copper should then be followed. Best, Elaine

Page 1 of 1

Forum

Discussions

Question and An...

Alternative Approach to Graves, just diagnosed

TO USERS: Q&A posts are visible to all readers. Users can delete their own threads at any time. Users must provide information which is true and correct to the best of their knowledge as well as provide sources or references to any health / medical information if not taken from personal experience. All users including the moderator must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Advertising and self-promotion is not allowed. The moderator or site administrator has the right to ban users with or without warning for not following the basic rules of this site. All posts by default are not to be considered that of medical professionals unless otherwise indicated. As sole moderator, Moore has no conflicts of interest in the sponsorship of this forum.

HOME | ARTICLES | BOOKS | BLOG | Q&A | RESOURCES | ABOUT | CONTACT | SUPPORT

ELAINE-MOORE.COM
Elaine Moore Graves’ Disease and Autoimmune Disease Education
Copyright © 2008-2011 by Elaine Moore. All Rights Reserved.
These pages and their content, including all articles and images are not to be copied, reproduced or printed without written permission. All articles are copyrighted. All images are copyrighted or licensed to use.

SITE LAST UPDATED 23 JAN 2011

ABOUT THIS SITE
This site is self-funded exclusively by Elaine Moore. Moore has no other external sources of funds and receives no monies from government agencies, pharmaceutical companies, Amazon, or other commercial entities to operate this site. There are no conflicts of interest in the operation of this site.
This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here.

DISCLAIMER
The information at this site is true and correct to the extent that all information contained herein about the benefits or performance of any diagnostic or treatment are backed up with scientific evidence such as medical journals, reports, articles, and other relevant materials.The educational information provided within is designed to help users better understand the nature of disease and the solutions available. Nothing contained on this website should be construed as or is intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment. Under no circumstances is a particular treatment recommended and in all cases it is recommended that a physician be consulted for any treatments. Reference to any specific commercial or noncommercial products, services, processes, companies or trademarks does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation. Elaine Moore does not host any form of commercial advertisement, does not sponsor or endorse any products or services that may have been mentioned at the site. This excludes mention of her own copyrighted materials, articles, and books. The opinions, views and recommendations of individual registered members of this website, specifically as it pertains to personal inquiries at the Q&A forum or comments made to blogs, are their own and do not necessarily represent those of Elaine Moore.