Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune condition that affects the thyroid gland. Knowing what Hashimoto’s is and how it affects your body can help you learn how to manage it.

What is Hashimoto’s?

Hashimoto’s is a thyroid hormone disorder. An individual can have too little or two much thyroid hormone, and this results in thyroid disorders. These disorders cause different symptoms in the body. Here is a summary of the different disorders:

• Hypothyroidism is a deficiency of thyroid hormones. This has a “slowing down” effect on the body.
• Hyperthyroidism is an overabundance of thyroid hormones. This effects the body by stimulating it.
• Individuals with Hashimoto’s can fluctuate between hypo and hyperthyroidism and experience symptoms of both of them at once.

Learning about Hashimoto’s is crucial in learning how to manage it.

How Hashimoto’s Affects Your Body

Hashimoto’s can affect the body in diverse ways for different people. Sometimes, a person with Hashimoto’s will have hypothyroid symptoms, sometimes hyperthyroid symptoms, and sometimes they will have some symptoms of each of them.

• The hypothyroid symptoms could include cold intolerance or sensitivity to the cold, constipation, depression, dry skin, fatigue, forgetfulness, infertility, joint pain, loss of ambition, loss of hair, loss of the outer third of the eyebrows, menstrual irregularities, muscle cramps, stiffness, weakness, and weight gain.
• The hyperthyroid symptoms stimulate and can show up as anxiety, eye protrusion, fatigue, hair loss, heat intolerance, increased appetite, irritability, menstrual disturbances, palpitations, tremors, and weight loss.
• In a person with Hashimoto’s combined symptoms, they could live with a combination of both hypo and hyper symptoms, such as feeling cold, forgetfulness, fatigue, and thinness, anxiety, irritability, and heart palpitations. They can also experience other inflammatory symptoms like acid reflux, allergies, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), pain, and rashes.

Symptoms are no fun to live with, but they can give us clues as to what type of support is needed in the body to improve our sense of wellness.

How to Manage Hashimoto’s

There is no effortless way to manage Hashimoto’s, but we can begin learning about how to begin the process.

• Adrenal support- There are four types of stress that can cause adrenal fatigue: inadequate sleep, blood sugar imbalances, mental and emotional stress, and chronic inflammation. These are potential contributors to adrenal fatigue. There are many ways to begin managing these. Please read Blog 204 for ideas to help you manage adrenal fatigue. Read the blog here: https://lavenderpathwellness.com/2025/01/06/blog-204-signs-you-might-have-adrenal-fatigue-what-to-look-for-what-to-do-about-it/
• Liver support- People with Hashimoto’s often have a challenging time managing the plethora of toxins we are exposed to in modern life. The liver is a part of the body that participates in removing these toxins from the body. The aim of liver support is to work on balancing inflammation in your body. You might have liver dysfunction if you have digestive problems, fatigue, skin breakouts, etc. Things you can do to gently support your liver include removing triggering foods (food sensitivities like gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, sugar grains, nightshades, caffeine, nuts, seeds, alcohol), adding supportive foods (lemon juice, leafy greens, beets, lightly steamed cruciferous veggies, cilantro, fiber, turmeric, berries), reducing toxin exposure (mold in the building you live or work in, pesticides), and supporting detoxification pathways.
• Gut balance support- Leaky Gut Syndrome is intestinal permeability, which is often a factor in every case of autoimmune disease. I wrote Blog 180 “What is Leaky Gut?” to address this condition. Please read it here to find out more about it. You may read it here: https://lavenderpathwellness.com/2023/01/01/blog-180-what-is-leaky-gut/

Taking steps like the above begin journey to a better sense of wellness for a person.

Conclusion

Hashimoto’s is a complex autoimmune condition that affects the thyroid gland. A person with Hashimoto’s can experience a variety of symptoms that can be confusing for the individual and their health care practitioner.

The main action point is to be aware of what Hashimoto’s is, what the symptoms are, and beginning steps to manage the condition.

May God bless you on your wellness journey!

Joni

PS: What experience do you have with Hashimoto’s?