Hi Svetla,
I just want to share with you my success story & thank you for your support & inspiration. In 2006, I was in school part-time, to be a massage therapist & worked full-time in the healthcare industry. A lot was happening at once… my uncle & a dear friend died suddenly, a significant relationship ended & a new one began… I got promoted at work and 2 other close friends got gravely ill. Needless to say, I fell apart. I finally went to a physician & she had my thyroid checked. Ultimately, I was diagnosed with Grave’s disease by January 2007. I had difficulty catching my breath, severe tremors/heart palpitations, severe anxiety/mood swings, confusion, lethargy, sensitivity to heat and sudden shifts of vision in my left eye. I went to an endocrinologist and he put me on Methimazole for a year and a half. Then, he advised me to go off and see if my thyroid levels would stay normal on their own… this was protocol. I went off cold turkey, under his direction.
Of course, I got worse and my left eye swelled up as well as everything else. I wasn’t happy. He advised the next step would be radioactive iodine and take synthroid the rest of my life. I was scared and confused. I went online & started doing research. I found your site and read your story. I purchased your book and all the bonuses that came with it. As I read through everything, I began to question my lifestyle, stress level and habits of thinking. I decided to take a break from school and reduce my work hours. I brought this to my endo and asked him to write a medical release, for my employer. He said there was no proof that stress had anything to do with my symptoms & he couldn’t support my decision. I asked about diet & if he knew anything about how it may affect my condition. He said I didn’t need to be concerned with that either. I told him I didn’t want any procedures and wanted to find another way. He said it was too dangerous to stay on medication, as it was toxic. I was scared and didn’t know where to turn. All I knew was the medication was helping me buy some time.
Anyway, I went back online and continued to research some sites you include in your book. One of them in particular by Elaine Moore. I asked her questions and received new insight into how to best approach recovery and avoid permanent, irreversible damage. I found out that it wasn’t dangerous to stay on low doses of Methimazole for long periods and that many people had done it. This was the best way to allow the body to adjust, over a long period of time. I gained confidence in my decision to go another way and shopped around for a new endo. Everyone had the same opinion, that I would have to either get radioactive iodine or my thyroid would simply “burn out” on it’s own & become hypo. Either way, it was bleak. I finally found a physician that was open-minded. She let me direct my care, the way I thought best. With her support I decided to continue taking Methimazole at low doses & continued this for 3 yrs.
I continued to try different healing modalities, but my mind was attached to being sick. Some part of me didn’t accept that healing was possible. It was almost like I didn’t want to be healed completely. It was strange to realize that. Also, my addiction to caffeine was keeping me down. I knew I had to quit that for good. It was simply going to hinder my ability to move into remission and stay there. It made me feel terrible! Finally about 4 months ago I got serious about healing, all the way. My friend, who is a Qigong instructor did a healing session with me and this removed some of the remaining symptoms, I was still experiencing. I was ready to quit caffeine for good now, so another friend hooked me up with a very gifted Chinese accupuncturist/herbalist. Gradually, things started to shift dramatically & I actually started forgetting to take my medication! My mind completely moved away from being ill. I was not identified with being sick… it was not part of my identity anymore!
To this day, I haven’t had to take any medication and experience very minor symptoms. Occasionally, I have slight tremors, but that’s it. Otherwise, I feel great! I’ve managed to stay off caffeine and I’m finally finished with massage school & am getting my license soon. I can finally cut-back at my current job and do what I love!
Again, I want to thank you for giving me hope, along with other resources that allowed me to think outside the box & pursue my own path to recovery… with organs intact!
~Myra B.