Today I’d like to share with you a case study about a young patient with an over active thyroid gland caused by Graves’ disease.  Graves’ disease is the most common cause of an over active thyroid in young people and I’m seeing it more and more among my patients.

Samantha was a 25 year old lady who had read my book called Your Thyroid Problems Solved but wanted some personalized help for her thyroid gland.  She had traveled three hours to see me and was very eager to get some help.

Samantha had been diagnosed with Graves’ disease two and a half years ago.  This made her thyroid over active and she developed symptoms including fatigue, diarrhea, restlessness and insomnia.  She was very sensitive to the heat and broke out in a sweat at the slightest exertion.  These are classic symptoms of hyperthyroidism.  Samantha was a healthy weight for her height but joked that she would have liked to lose some weight due to her thyroid condition.  The majority of people with an over active thyroid do lose weight, but certainly not all of them.

Samantha’s doctor had placed her on carbimazole (brand name Neomercazole) in order to bring her thyroid hormones back down into the normal range.  Carbimazole inhibits thyroid hormone production, therefore it’s usually the first line of treatment for hyperthyroidism.  Samantha had been taking carbimazole for two and a half years and it did control her hormone levels.  The problem was, Samantha still felt unwell; she was very tired most of the time, she felt anxious and still had poor quality sleep.  Every time she tried to cut down her dose of carbimazole, her thyroid would become hyperthyroid again.  Samantha also understood that Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disease and she was not comfortable with the fact that her own doctor was not addressing this crucial aspect of her illness.

What I did for my patient

Samantha came to me with results of some basic blood tests.  Graves’ disease was confirmed by the presence of TSH receptor antibodies.  Test results also confirmed that Samantha had Epstein Barr virus (glandular fever) in the past, and she said she never felt well after that.  Viral infections are a common trigger of autoimmune disease. I have written about this, as well as other triggers of autoimmune disease in my book called Healing Autoimmune Disease: A plan to help your immune system and reduce inflammation.

I ordered a blood test for vitamin D, and as I suspected, Samantha was deficient.  Her blood level was only 17 ng/mL (43 nmol/L), whereas ideally it should be between 40 and 60 ng/mL (100 and 150 nmol/L).  Therefore I asked Samantha to take 5000 IU of vitamin D3 per day.  Selenium is excellent for autoimmune disease because it can halt the production of auto-antibodies.  This means the autoimmune disease will no longer be active.  I asked Samantha to take 200 mcg of selenium per day.  I also gave her an omega 3 fish oil supplement because it is anti-inflammatory and the antibodies her immune cells were making were causing a great deal of inflammation in her thyroid gland.

To help her sleep and to reduce anxiety, I recommended a magnesium supplement.  I call magnesium “The Great Relaxer” because it really does help people feel much calmer.

It was essential for Samantha to follow a gluten and dairy free diet, as this greatly reduces inflammation and can stop the autoimmune process.  She used the guidelines in my book Healing Autoimmune Disease: A plan to help your immune system and reduce inflammation to help her follow this diet.

Two months later

I saw Samantha again eight weeks later, to check how she was feeling and make sure she had no difficulties sticking to the diet.  She noticed a huge improvement in her sleep, and anxiety was no longer an issue for her.  Her energy level had picked up immensely and she no longer felt bloated after eating.  Samantha was very pleased to have lost an inch from her waist, as her clothes now fit better.

I received an email from Samantha five months after our first consultation.  She was ecstatic to hear that she no longer had Graves’ disease.  Her endocrinologist had taken her off carbimazole and her thyroid hormone levels remained stable.  Her TSH antibody levels also went down to normal, meaning she no longer had Graves’ disease.  Samantha was so relieved to hear this news, because her specialist had hinted at surgically removing her thyroid gland in the next couple of years as an alternative to continually taking carbimazole tablets.

Graves’ disease is usually extremely responsive to diet changes and nutritional supplements.  It is a tragedy that so many people have their thyroid gland removed, or receive radioactive iodine treatment when safer alternatives exist in many instances.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.