If you found your way here, chances are you're not feeling well and you're trying to find answers. I've been exactly where you are. You can read my full story, symptoms, and diagnosis [HERE].
Quick note before we dive in: I'm not a doctor. This is my personal experience and what I've learned along the way, not medical advice. Please work with a doctor you trust on anything health related. Okay, let's talk.
What is Hashimoto's?
A funny name for something not so funny. (It took me about three weeks to even remember it lol)
Hashimoto's thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease where your immune system attacks and destroys your own thyroid gland.
It's really a case of mistaken identity. In a healthy immune system, antibodies are your friends. They're your army against invaders like bacteria and viruses. But with an autoimmune disease like Hashimoto's, your army gets confused and starts attacking your thyroid like it's the enemy.
Here's the wild part: Hashimoto's is considered the leading cause of hypothyroidism, and yet most people have never heard of it. I certainly hadn't. And when people do get diagnosed, they're often told there's nothing they can do. I don't believe that, and I'll share what's made a real difference for me later in this post.
Why so many of us go years without answers
This is the part I wish someone had explained to me sooner.
With Hashimoto's, your immune system destroys your thyroid piece by piece, slowly, over years. While that's happening, you feel it. The fatigue. The brain fog. The dry skin, the weight that won't budge, the cycles that make no sense, getting sick constantly.
So you go to your doctor. They run a thyroid test. And it comes back "normal."
You sigh in relief for about five seconds. And then you realize you still have zero answers and you still feel awful. Rinse Repeat...
Here's why that happens. Most doctors use one blood test, TSH, to diagnose thyroid problems. But TSH often doesn't budge until your thyroid is already significantly damaged. So in the early and middle stages of Hashimoto's, you can be under full attack, feeling miserable, and your TSH looks perfectly fine on paper.
Your labs say you're okay. Your body says otherwise. And you start to wonder if it's all in your head.
It's not.
The tests that finally gave me answers
There are two antibody tests that can reveal Hashimoto's even when TSH looks normal:
- Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPOAb)
- Thyroglobulin Antibodies (TgAb)
Many doctors don't run these unless you ask. So ask. This is where you have to become your own biggest advocate. And unfortantly you either have to be persistent or seek out a new opinion if your doctor doesn't agree. This is why I sought out a functional practitioner who looks for the root cause. It is an out of pocketexpense usually but well worth it in my opinion.
For context, here were my labs at diagnosis:
- T3: 2.4 (normal range 1.8 to 4.6)
- T4: 0.86 (normal range 0.9 to 1.7)
Low, but close enough to "normal" that nobody was concerned. Then came the antibodies:
- Thyroid Peroxidase: over 600 (normal is less than 35)
- Thyroglobulin: 475.6 (normal is less than 115)
My immune system was attacking my thyroid at full force, and a standard thyroid panel would never have caught it.
One caveat: there's no one size fits all test. Some people with Hashimoto's show normal antibodies. If your labs look fine but you feel terrible, keep pushing for answers.
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| My personal test results from time of diagnosis |
Hashimoto's is more than a thyroid problem
This was the biggest mindset shift for me: Hashimoto's isn't just a thyroid condition. It's an autoimmune condition. The thyroid is the victim, not the cause.
That matters for two reasons.
First, thyroid medication alone doesn't address the immune attack. It replaces hormones your damaged thyroid can't make, which is important, but it doesn't ask why your immune system went rogue in the first place. This is where a lot of us feel stuck. You're told your labs are fine, or you're on medication and still exhausted, and the underlying autoimmune piece never gets discussed.
Second, autoimmune conditions like to travel in packs. Once your immune system has learned to attack one part of your body, your risk of developing other autoimmune conditions goes up. Which is a big reason I didn't want to just take a pill and hope for the best.
From what I've learned, a mix of genetics and triggers seems to flip the autoimmune switch. Some of the commonly discussed triggers include:
- Gluten sensitivity
- Gut issues (like leaky gut)
- Chronic stress and adrenal dysfunction
- Viral infections
- Blood sugar imbalances
- Nutrient deficiencies (especially vitamin D and selenium)
Finding a doctor who's willing to look at the whole picture, not just your TSH, changes everything. They're out there. It might take a few tries.
What's actually helped me
The single biggest thing for me? Going 100% gluten free.
I want to be honest with you: the research on gluten and Hashimoto's is still evolving, and it doesn't work the same for everyone. But for me, it was night and day. The brain fog lifted. My energy came back. I finally felt like myself again. If you're curious, I'm writing a whole post on how I made the switch (and how I survived it as a mom who loves bread).
If you take one thing from this post
If you're sitting there exhausted, foggy, and dismissed, here's what I'd tell you if we were having coffee:
- You are not crazy, and you are not lazy. Your symptoms are real.
- Ask for the antibody tests. TPOAb and TgAb, by name. Write them down.
- If your doctor won't run them or won't listen, find one who will. You're allowed to get a second opinion. Or a third.
You know your body better than any lab result does. Keep advocating for yourself.
Resources for finding a doctor
- ThyroidChange patient-recommended doctor list
- Institute for Functional Medicine practitioner finder
If you are in Florida, I have to HIGHLY recommend https://teleioswellness.com/
You can do a discovery call with Heather. LIFE CHANGING
Have you been through the "your labs are normal" runaround? Tell me in the comments. I read every single one.
