Yesterday I went back to the doctor for my final test, and just as I had hoped, my thyroid is normal and I no longer need medicine for it.
How did this happen?
In January of 2018 I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism during a routine exam. I was amazed by this since I didn’t seem to have any symptoms. Nonetheless, a second blood test confirmed an abnormally high level of TSH in my blood.
So like a good patient, I faithfully began to take 100Mcg of Synthroid daily.
However, earlier this year I came across a study:
THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SUGAR SUBSTITUTES AND HASHIMOTO THYROIDITIS (HT)Sachmechi I., Kim P.Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Jamaica, NY
The study focused on the correlation between artificial sweeteners and Hashimoto Thyroiditis (HT) but given that this was a form of Hypothyroidism, it started me thinking.
Full disclosure here: I was drinking upwards of 15 cans of Coke Zero a day plus two cups of coffee with Splenda in them. And of course, I know/knew that this could not be healthy.
Giving up saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, acesulphame K, and neotame
So this year, for lent, I gave up Coke Zeros (as well as all other forms of artificial sweetener). I still drank my coffee in the mornings but I used real sugar – the rest of the day I drank water.
I also made an appointment to have my TSH level checked and found it was in normal range, controlled by my thyroid medicine. So that was my starting point.
At the end of lent, I went back to my doctor and told her what I had been doing and that I would like to get off of my thyroid medication. At first she scoffed but after I explained that I had been drinking 15 Coke Zeros a day, she agreed to give it a try and took me off the medication.
Yesterday, June 3, 2019, I went back to the doctor and after taking a few tests, was found to have a perfectly functioning thyroid.
My doctor said she didn’t think it was anything that I had done and that it was possibly a coincidence. I like my doctor but she is incurably hardheaded.
The fact is that I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism for 15 months. After deliberately giving up artificial sweeteners for three months, I no longer have Hypothyroidism.
I am not stubborn and will follow up with my doctor every six months to be sure… but for now,
I am cured.
Here is another website with more information on the study I read:
Autoimmune Thyroiditis with Hypothyroidism Induced by Sugar Substitutes
Honey Homestead 