A study published early this year in the February issue of Thyroid found that Hashimoto’s can cause thyroid symptoms and decrease quality of life even when TSH is normal.

Patients have been saying this all along

For years thyroid patients have desperately been trying to convince their doctors of this. It is frustrating that patients’ pleas for understanding have been dismissed with prescriptions for more drugs, such as Prozac for depression, or admonishment for “making things up.”

However it’s good news that this very important topic has finally entered the scientific arena. Normalizing TSH with thyroid hormones in no way guarantees a fix when an unmanaged autoimmune disease, Hashimoto’s, is causing symptoms—it’s an immune issue, not a thyroid issue.

I know you have already been seen by a doctor and are most likely on some form of thyroid hormone medication. What I want to know in my San Diego clinic or with you over the phone is what is driving your hypothyroidism? If you have Hashimoto’s, what is driving that? Is it hypoglycemia or insulin resistance? Are you eating gluten? What do your other hormones look like? Are you dealing with chronic inflammation?

Once we figure out what is triggering your autoimmune condition, or any other imbalance causing low thyroid function, then we can address the true cause. Many patients are then able to reduce their thyroid hormone. Some even are able to give it up completely.