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In my clinical practice at Aku Energija, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is a very common thyroid disease I treat. Interestingly, my Hashimoto patients are very much alike: women, capable personality, management level at work, busy mother.
Indeed, there are two main factors attributing to most thyroid problems:
Over stress
Over work
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis can be a complex and chronic lifelong autoimmune disease, as well as one of the more frequently seen forms of hypothyroidism. It is a typical example of how burnout could hurt our body in a long term. Over stress and overwork people are indeed burning their energy storage to keep up with their busy lifestyle. It is like burning candles from 2 ends.
So for Hashimoto patients they also have the autoimmune condition which in the view of TCM is too much Fire energy in the body. In the Yin-Yang theory of TCM, the 2 opposing energy are somehow interdependent. The Yang energy (Fire, power, excitement, spirit) needs the Yin energy (Water, control, calmness, material resources) for support. When a candle is burnt too intensively, the wax is burnt out and there will be no more fire. [Read more: Jing, Qi & Shen: The Three Treasures in Traditional Chinese Medicine]
Fortunately, Chinese herbs and acupuncture can help in the management of this condition. Once strength and vitality start to improve, a patient may regenerate the broken system and reduce the dependence on Thyroxine.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis?
excessive sleepiness
dry coarse hair
The impact of Over Stress
All kind of intensive emotions like angry, anxiety, worries, fear, can impair the function of our Liver Qi flow. These emotions make a vicious cycle, inhibiting the proper flow of our liver Qi and resulting in Qi stagnation. Qi stagnation causes an accumulation of body fluids manifesting as dead water. This in turn, affects our thyroid gland in the front of our neck. [Read more: Qi deficiency: What is it and how do you manage it?]
Over Work: Deficiency and Depletion of Vital Energy
Ever since the industrial age has begun, human beings are more or less turned into a small unit in a gigantic machine that needs to run all the time. But unlike your car which you can easily replace parts or even the whole car, our body is very difficult to regenerate once our system are broken apart.
In my clinical experience, Kidney and Stomach weakness are the most common condition. These are the two main energy sources. Kidney is like a saving account that stores congenital energy while Stomach is both a current account and a working unit that constantly generate energy. However, over working could affect our eating routines and when our body do not generate energy in time, we shift into using the storage energy. In some point, this is like borrowing energy from our own body. Sooner or later, even the storage energy will run low and the patient will then have to pay it back, with interests.
Will I Be Able to Stop taking my medication?
Well, this is a tricky question. First of all, when someone is sick, he or she must look into the problem and look for a solution. In some way, conventional medication is controlling and regulating the situation. Despite the possible side effects, taking medicine is a necessary measure.
Synthetic thyroid hormone is prescribed for hypothyroidism caused by Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. It is a thyroid hormone replacement therapy, needs to be taken for life. Stopping the medication can result in a recurrence of the symptoms.
Traditional Chinese Medicine offers a perspective that is missing or overlooked in conventional medicine and therefore offers something extra and complementary. The use of Chinese herbs and acupuncture helps to:
Harmonise
Nourish
Strengthen and boost the body
TCM helps the body’s system to repair and recharge when depleted and exhausted. In the combination of appropriate lifestyle and diet changes, it may effectively restore the system's basic functions. By that time, adjusting the dosage of medication (under straight and careful monitoring!!) is an end result but not a primary target. [Read more: Your Body as a Garden]
What to Expect with a Disease That Has ‘No Cure’?
Traditional Chinese medicine is as logical and systematic as Conventional Western medicine and is based on a different understanding of reality. TCM is a recognized formal medicine in many countries as well as the WHO.
If there is “no cure” in one place, it only means that one has not found it yet. Fortunately, TCM has found the measures to help with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. [Read more: Balancing the Thyroid with TCM] [Read more: 8 Healthy Tips for Thyroid]
In general, it will take weekly treatments over three months to reduce the symptoms and even longer to extensively rebuild foundation and strengthen the body. The good thing is, most of our patient come back with good blood test result in their routine check ups and this will help with boosting morale and confidence to continue with our treatment.
If you are suffering from Hashimoto thyroiditis please contact us for more information.
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