Latest / Health with Hashimoto’s - Thyroid or Immune Education for Autoimmune Thyroid Disease / 084 // How Can I Get Off Thyroid Medication Naturally?

Transcript

084 // How Can I Get Off Thyroid Medication Naturally? · Health with Hashimoto’s - Thyroid or Immune Education for Autoimmune Thyroid Disease

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Health with Hashimoto's podcast. Today, I have a question for you.
• 0:03
  And the question is this, are you using herbs and supplements as medications
• 0:08
  or in place of medications?
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  Or are you using them to support your body and to like further your wellness goals?
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  And those things might sound very similar to you.
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  So we're going to break down the difference and the mindset and then the goal,
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  at least the goal of how I see it. I am Esther.
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  I'm a registered nurse. I'm a holistic health educator.
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  I have Hashimoto's and I am the host of Health with Hashimoto's.
• 0:36
  I put out an episode of this podcast every week. And in the future,
• 0:41
  I've been thinking about doing some interviews.
• 0:44
  So if you have people that you would like me to interview, go ahead and drop
• 0:48
  me a comment. I am off of Instagram for a while.
• 0:52
  My boys are starting to have more of a screen addiction.
• 0:55
  So we're all taking a bit of time off, but I will be checking my messages so
• 0:59
  you can still message me on Instagram and get ahold of me that way.
• 1:03
  Or huge announcement, you can message me on my app.
• 1:07
  Yes, I have a free app for you. It is the Health with Hashimoto's app.
• 1:11
  And I am so excited to introduce it to you.
• 1:14
  It has a community area where you can chat with other listeners about what you
• 1:20
  heard on the podcast, about your reactions, about what you're doing. You can ask questions.
• 1:25
  You can build a community of support. And I am so excited to have this space for you.
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  So as of right now, you're going to go to the link down in the show notes,
• 1:36
  and I have a link to my site.
• 1:39
  And from there, you have instructions on how to get the app.
• 1:42
  So right now, I do not have a standalone app.
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  Like if you go to the App Store, the Google Play Store, and if you search for
• 1:49
  Health with Hashimoto's, it's not going to pop pop-up.
• 1:52
  It's like a subdomain app, but if you go to my site, it shows you exactly how to get the app.
• 1:59
  Soon, I hope to have the actual site to you.
• 2:03
  To get approved on Google, I have to have at least 20 people using the app.
• 2:10
  So the more people that download it and use it, the faster it will be a standalone app on Google.
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  But that's not all I was going to talk to you about today, even though I'm so excited about the app.
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  Let's talk about using herbs and supplements as medications versus supporting your body.
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  And I feel like this is really easy to fall into. I have done it myself.
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  It is thinking about supplements and herbs as you would medications.
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  And it is natural because we We have been programmed, we have been taught that
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  there's a pill for every ill, right?
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  That is like the philosophy of Western medicine.
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  When you have a problem, you look to a pill to solve it.
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  For quite a while, there has been building distrust of the pharmaceutical industry.
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  And then with COVID and the shenanigans that happened around that,
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  there's like a whole new level of distrust for the pharmaceutical industry and
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  for doctors and medical people in general.
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  As a result of that, people are looking outside side of the Western pharmaceutical
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  industry for solutions.
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  And so they still have the mindset of when there's something wrong, I need a pill to fix it.
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  So one example is when you get diagnosed with hypothyroid, you might immediately
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  think, okay, so my thyroid isn't producing enough thyroid hormone.
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  So obviously I need more thyroid hormone.
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  And that's exactly what traditional Western medicine doctors do.
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  They give you more thyroid hormone. They give it to you in the form of Synthroid
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  or Levothyroxine, something like that. It is thyroid hormone.
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  But if you have a mistrust of the pharmaceutical industry, maybe you think the same thing.
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  I need more thyroid hormone, but now you want a natural way to get that.
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  So you look at maybe natural desiccated thyroid, thyroid which is taken from cows.
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  It's actually the thyroid gland from cows and they like dry it,
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  grind it up, and put it into little capsules so that you get what you need.
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  And you can get, it's called NDT, natural desiccated thyroid.
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  You can get that on Fullscript. You can get that on Line. You can get it maybe
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  even from some pharmacies. I'm not sure.
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  And so those would be two different ways that you're trying to get the same outcome.
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  You're trying to increase your hormone levels through either pharmaceuticals
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  or a pharmaceutical substitute.
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  Does that make sense to you? Like you're trying to get to the same outcome,
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  just not using the pharmaceutical industry.
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  And this happens in other areas too, where you are looking for the solution
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  and you're looking for a medication replacement that is a vitamin,
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  an herb, a supplement, something like that.
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  So another example would be maybe your blood sugar is not regulated really well.
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  Maybe you have diabetes and you have heard that you need to do some stuff to
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  lower your blood sugar, especially the spikes.
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  And you know that metformin could help, but you don't want to use a pharmaceutical
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  pharmaceutical medication.
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  So you look to berberine. Now, berberine is really good.
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  And in fact, some studies show that it works better than metformin or just as
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  good as metformin for many people.
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  So you decide to try berberine. Berberine is an herb. It is safe for most people.
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  Of course, if you're going to start taking it, make sure to read more about
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  it. But it is natural versus versus metformin, which is pharmaceutical.
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  They're both going to help you obtain this same type of goal.
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  There's other things that you can use. Like if you look on Fullscript,
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  that is the, it's kind of like the Amazon of quality supplements and herbs.
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  And I'll put a link to my Fullscript.
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  Shop, I guess, down in the show notes. But if you look in full script for like
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  glucose control, you're going to find, or spike control,
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  you're going to find other supplements and herbs, natural things that help you
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  control your blood sugar.
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  So this is the mindset where you are still looking for a solution,
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  a pill for every ill, except instead of looking pharmaceutical,
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  pharmaceutical, you're looking for natural solutions.
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  You still want a capsule, you still want a tablet, a pill, whatever to solve this problem for you.
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  That is one mindset and it's so common because that is what we have been brought up to believe.
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  If you have pain, you take ibuprofen, right? It's a pill for every ill.
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  Now, if you're stepping on a tack, if you're stepping on a nail, do you need ibuprofen?
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  No. You need to step off of the nail, right?
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  If there's a fire alarm going off in your house, you don't just put on like
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  head ear protectors, right? You don't just plug your ears.
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  You find this problem.
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  You want to step off of the nail. You want to, you know, put out the fire.
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  That's the other way to look at this. And this way of thinking is what I really
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  think of when I think of holistic.
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  When I think of holistic, I think of the whole person, the whole you,
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  body, mind, spirit, diet, environment, putting all of the pieces together.
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  And when there's a symptom, when there's something going on,
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  you're like, why is that happening?
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  And how do I address it from looking at the whole?
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  How can I fix something, body, mind, spirit, diet, environment?
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  How can I change things so that the symptom responds?
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  Not how can I put a patch on it? How can I put a band-aid on it?
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  But how can I actually help?
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  That is what I see as holistic.
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  Or you can say functional medicine. Functional medicine is looking for the root cause.
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  So going back to those same two examples, the hypothyroid and the blood sugar,
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  what would you do differently?
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  So with the hypothyroid, if you find out that your thyroid is not producing
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  enough thyroid hormone, then the question you're going to ask is why?
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  Why isn't it doing it? What is going on? And how can I support my body so that it can do its job?
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  What is blocking it? Or what is preventing it? What is attacking it?
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  Why is my thyroid not doing what it's designed to do?
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  And for that answer, I have an entire workshop for you.
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  I have broken it down into small little modules that are just a couple minutes
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  so that you can go through it.
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  You know, as you have time, you can sit down and do the whole thing in one fell
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  swoop, you know, just binge it if you want, or you can do it little pieces at a time.
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  I have that for you within the app.
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  It is called Hashimoto's Decoded. And within that module, I help you discover
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  the very clear steps to regain control of your health.
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  I want you to know, you know, not only what causes thyroid problems in the first
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  place, but what is going on with you and with your health.
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  I want you to be able to figure out your next steps, not your best friend's
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  next steps, not the next steps for the general population, but what will work for you.
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  And that is free within the app because I want everybody to have access to this
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  information because you deserve it. You should not be suffering.
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  You should not be stuck, not knowing what to do, trying to put patches on it,
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  trying to fix the symptoms by just taking another pill, whether it's pharmaceutical
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  or whether it's a natural thing.
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  It's a loop. You just keep going because if you're not fixing what's causing
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  the problem, then the problem is just going to keep getting worse.
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  And instead of needing one one medication, maybe now you need two or you need to increase your dose.
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  It's not a sustainable thing of just treating the symptoms.
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  We have to look deeper. We have to look at the whole. We have to look at what's causing it.
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  So for that hypothyroid, there's a lot of things that could be causing it.
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  And I go through the top eight most common root causes of Hashimoto's hypothyroid
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  in that free course, because I want you to know, I want you to be able to figure
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  out how to, you know, address what's going on.
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  So that is like the holistic view or the functional medicine view of, you know, hypothyroid.
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  But what about the other example, blood sugar?
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  Well, blood sugar, it is one of the root causes of Hashimoto's.
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  So we want to know how to address it.
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  And, you know, taking berberine or a glucose control blend of herbs is going
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  to help because it is going to get you that solution, at least according to the research, right?
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  It's going to help you control your blood sugar. And when you control your blood
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  sugar, then that helps all the things that imbalanced blood sugar can do.
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  You know, impacts. So when your blood sugar goes really high,
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  and when it goes really low, those are both stressors, they both cause problems
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  in the body, different stressors or different problems, depending on if it's going high versus low.
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  So having a controlled blood sugar is better for you, like overall.
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  But in that first example, in the first mindset of where you're just taking
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  that berberine or the glucose control, you're not changing anything else.
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  You're not addressing, saying, well, why is my blood sugar going high? Why is it going low?
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  Is it because I ate, you know, some really fast carbs, some things that you
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  eat them and your blood sugar spikes really high, really fast.
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  And that means it also drops really precipitously. And then it goes really low.
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  I do have an episode all about blood sugar. So it is episode number 10,
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  and it's all about blood sugar and thyroid problems and why it matters that
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  you manage your blood sugar, that you help your body do what it's supposed to do.
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  And I talk about both high and low blood sugar in there. And then I help you
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  figure out, you know, how to address those.
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  And it's not necessarily about taking a pill, taking supplement.
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  Now I do follow the glucose goddess on social media, Jessie something,
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  I can't remember her last name.
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  And she has written a book about blood sugar control.
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  She's got a lot of good tips. And I do use some of her tips.
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  But I also really try to be cognizant of what I'm eating and what the food I'm
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  doing and the order that I'm eating my food,
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  what that is going to do to my blood sugar, because I know that my blood sugar
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  is responsible for, you know, my Hashimoto's for symptoms.
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  And so I want to do everything I can in order to help my body be successful in being healthy.
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  That is my main goal. Like, I want to be healthy. I'm sure that's your goal
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  too. And we all have different measurements of health.
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  But I feel like most of us, a currency of health is energy.
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  And I want to have good enough energy to live the life that I want, that I know I need.
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  As a mom of four active boys, as a wife to a very active husband,
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  like, I cannot be stuck in bed all day.
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  I still get migraines with my period. I've been working on so many different ways to help that.
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  And I tell you, the days where I am stuck in bed and I cannot keep up with my family, I feel less.
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  I just feel less. And maybe you can identify with that.
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  When you don't have the energy or when pain is stopping you from living your
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  life, maybe you also feel less.
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  That's a miserable place to be because we are designed to be valuable and and
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  to impact those around us.
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  Now, can you still have an impact even when your body is not working well?
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  Yes, you can. There is nothing that takes away your value.
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  You are valuable because you are you. You are valuable because you are made
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  in God's image and because God says you're valuable.
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  Our feelings can change. Other people can say things.
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  We can say things. We can tell lies, but God
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  tells the truth and God says you are valuable and
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  if you need like scripture references for that I have them because that's one
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  of the lies that one of my kids was believing actually a couple because when
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  you're in middle school and junior high that's just the natural stage of life
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  right even as adults we tend to hear it and believe it that we're not valuable we're not loved and.
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  And so I went through a whole bunch of Bible verses and I pulled out the ones
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  that talk about how much God loves you and how valuable that you actually are
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  so that my boys can learn them and they can write them on their hearts and,
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  you know, put them deep in their minds and hearts because it's true.
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  You are valuable. You are loved.
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  Now, what was I talking about before I got on that soapbox? Oh yeah, energy.
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  I was talking about, you know, wanting to do all I can in order to feel healthy.
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  And you probably do the same thing.
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  If you are like me, you're constantly thinking, you know, how can I feel better?
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  That is the goal. And that is why I created the Root Cause Workshop for you
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  that Hashimoto's decoded.
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  I want you to be able to figure it out. I want you to be able to look at the
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  clues to put the pieces together and say, oh, oh my goodness.
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  Yeah, yeah, this is why or this could be why I am having these problems.
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  And this is what I can do about it. It's not looking at the pill for every ill.
• 16:21
  It's looking at what are the root causes and what can you do in order to support
• 16:28
  your body in doing what it is designed to do.
• 16:31
  The mini course, the Hashimoto's Decoded, it is absolutely free.
• 16:35
  So you're going to head down to the show notes when you're done multitasking,
• 16:39
  whatever you're doing, when you're done, you're going to head down to the show
• 16:42
  notes, and you are going to click the link, it's going to take you to my website.
• 16:46
  And on that page, you are going to see the instructions for downloading the app.
• 16:51
  There's two different buttons, there's one button for Google Play,
• 16:54
  and there's one button for the Apple App Store, you're going to click on that.
• 16:58
  And it will take you obviously to the store.
• 17:01
  And it'll It'll be the passion.io app.
• 17:04
  And then when you open that, you're gonna search for Health with Hashimoto's.
• 17:09
  Eventually, I will have my own app. So if you're listening to this at a future
• 17:13
  date, then you'll click the link and it'll take you to my website and it'll
• 17:17
  take you directly to the Health with Hashimoto's app within the Google Play
• 17:21
  Store or the Apple Store.
• 17:23
  Once you are in the app, like I said, the app is free and you can create your
• 17:28
  account and then you immediately have access to the community.
• 17:32
  Now, as I record this, there's really not much chatter in there because I'm
• 17:36
  just telling you about it now.
• 17:37
  So get into the community, introduce yourself if you want, or pick a favorite
• 17:41
  episode and say, hey, episode, you know, whatever, episode 10,
• 17:45
  blood sugar, this is what I'm doing, or this is what I learned,
• 17:48
  or has anybody tried this? Start a conversation.
• 17:51
  The goal is that we build a community of people who are all striving to have
• 17:58
  better health with Hashimoto's.
• 18:00
  And I know I could put a community on Facebook. I know that groups are big.
• 18:04
  I'm in so many Facebook groups, but I wanted a place off of social media because
• 18:09
  social media is stressful and I am trying to lower your stress.
• 18:14
  I'm trying to lower my stress.
• 18:15
  That's why why I'm off all social media right now, because I'm,
• 18:19
  you know, removing it from my brain.
• 18:21
  As much as I love staying connected to everybody through social media,
• 18:25
  it can be stressful and a break is good.
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  So I wanted to build our community, this Health with Hashimoto's community off of social media.
• 18:33
  It is within our own app.
• 18:36
  It is a safe place where you can bring your story.
• 18:40
  I would would love to hear your story on that app.
• 18:43
  And of course, in addition to the community, you also have access to the totally
• 18:49
  free mini course, the Hashimoto's Decoded.
• 18:53
  That way you can figure out your own root causes and you can figure out the next step.
• 18:58
  So your next step right now, head down to the show notes and click over to my
• 19:03
  site where you will find the instructions on downloading the app.
• 19:07
  I can't wait to see you in the app. I can't wait to hear your stories.
• 19:11
  I can't wait to support you. I cannot wait to see how you support others.
• 19:17
  I know that right now I am talking to you. I am in your earbuds.
• 19:20
  You are one person. But there are so many people who listen to this podcast.
• 19:26
  If we all come together, I am so excited to dream about the ways that we we can support each other.
• 19:32
  Because having an autoimmune problem can feel lonely.
• 19:35
  Having something that is invisible, an invisible disease, an autoimmune problem,
• 19:41
  Hashimoto's, you know, whatever you want to say, it can be isolating, it can be lonely.
• 19:46
  And we can come together as a community to support each other,
• 19:50
  to lift each other up, to help others find hope and better health with Hashimoto's.
• 19:56
  I am so excited to welcome you to this dream of having being an app where we can all come together.
• 20:03
  I will see you in the app. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only.
• 20:09
  Please be sure to discuss any concerns and plans with your trusted healthcare professional.
• 20:14
  Music.