My own thyroid story, and what it taught me

I talk with patients about thyroid and autoimmune health nearly every day. Most of them do not know that I have lived this from the patient side. I have an autoimmune thyroid condition. I want to share how it started, because the story shows how these conditions really develop, and it shaped the physician I am today.

It started with a slow leak

Years ago, the apartment next to mine had a dishwasher with a slow leak. Water dripped down into my kitchen quietly, and it took about a year before anyone identified it. By then, black mold was growing. That exposure, I believe, was one of the first real hits to my immune system. During that exposure I was dealing with brain fog and chronic fatigue.

Then came leaky gut

As I addressed the mold, I was also dealing with a condition called leaky gut, and this part deserves a plain explanation.

The lining of your gut is one cell thick. A single layer of cells stands side by side, sealed together by what we call tight junctions, forming the barrier between the contents of your digestive tract and your bloodstream. When that barrier is disrupted, things pass through that were never meant to: partially digested food, certain medicines, toxins, heavy metals, microbes, and their fragments.

Your immune system meets them on the other side, and it attacks. That is its job. The trouble begins when this goes on for a long time, and in my case it did. The immune system can start reacting to tissues in your own body that resemble those foreign invaders. That is an autoimmune reaction. The defense is real, and it is aimed at the wrong target. In my case, the target was my thyroid. I struggled with sluggish metabolic health during the peak of my autoimmune thyroid condition.

The road back ran through root cause

There was no single prescription that fixed this. The way back was finding and addressing every root cause we could identify. Clearing the mold exposure. Healing the gut lining. Restoring the nutrients my thyroid depends on. Lowering the stressors that kept my immune system on high alert.

Thyroid antibodies can be measured, followed, and improved when you work at the level of cause. And the trigger is personal. For me it was mold and a compromised gut. For someone else it may be heavy metals, an infection, or emotional stress and trauma. The principle stays the same: find what lit the fire, then put it out.

What it changed in how I practice

I would not wish illness on any physician. But when hardship arrives anyway, there is a lesson inside it if you are willing to take it. Living through this gave me a real appreciation for what patients carry. I know what it takes to follow a demanding protocol day after day. I know how it feels when a lab report says normal while your body says otherwise.

So when I sit with a patient now, that experience sits with me. You are the expert on how you feel. My job is to bring the clinical eye, the complete testing, and the persistence to find the why.

Thank you for reading

Thank you for letting me share a personal chapter of my own health. If you would like a partner for yours, it would be a privilege to help. We begin with a free 15 minute Meet and Greet, a relaxed conversation about your health and your goals.

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Watch the conversation

I tell this story in a video I recorded on thyroid and autoimmune health. If you prefer to watch, it is here.

Prefer YouTube? Watch it there.

References

1. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Hashimoto's Disease.
2. Harvard Health Publishing. Leaky Gut: What Is It, and What Does It Mean for You?
3. Fasano A. All Disease Begins in the (Leaky) Gut: Role of Zonulin-Mediated Gut Permeability in the Pathogenesis of Some Chronic Inflammatory Diseases. F1000Research, 2020.
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Mold.
5. The Institute for Functional Medicine. What Is Functional Medicine?

This article is for education only. It shares a personal experience, it is not medical advice, and it does not create a physician and patient relationship. Please talk with your own clinician before making changes to your care, and see our full medical disclaimer.