An honest conversation about having Hashimoto's with two dietitians.

Welcome back to the Period Chats podcast! My friend Katie Bressack joins me today to chat about Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. 

Katie coaches and empowers women to eat for their hormones, support healthy energy levels, and boost moods.

We’re both dietitians with Hashimoto’s diagnoses, and some of the symptoms that we both remember experiencing are: being chronically cold, low basal body temp, dry and thinning hair, brain fog, substantial energy dips, body fatigue, gut issues, food intolerances like gluten and dairy, and joint pain.

Personally, my doctor estimates that I probably had it for three years before receiving the diagnosis earlier this year. 

Katie shares how the experience of several pregnancies effected her thyroid-related blood panel tests, and interacted with a range of symptoms over the years.

She also gives a great tip for anyone that might be preparing to try and get pregnant: if you have any of the symptoms mentioned above and you’ve never had a full thyroid panel done, make sure you request a FULL thyroid bloodwork panel from your doctor (as opposed to just TSH). If you suspect any kind of thyroid issue, you’ll want to look at TSH, T3 and T4, and thyroid antibodies at a minimum. 

Katie and I talk about how stressful seasons of life often precede and even trigger the onset of auto-immune pathology, even if symptoms may have been developing sub-clinically prior to that. 

We’ve both opted for desiccated thyroid instead of synthetic thyroid, Katie’s reason being that she didn’t do well on Synthroid. 

Common foods that can make Hashimoto’s flair up are: gluten, dairy, soy, and too much salt. It’s also important to discover any other possible intolerances and keep track of your own trigger foods, because each one of our immune systems is different and unique.

Many dietitians believe that animal protein is important for your thyroid, and every professional will agree that getting plenty of protein from varied sources is a must.

I asked Katie, how does someone with a food intolerance balance avoiding unhelpful ingredients and being overly restrictive? She shares the mentality and language she uses to avoid both gutters in her approach, as she eats in the way that her body needs right now.

Lastly, we discuss finding a great doctor, self-advocacy in restaurants, remembering to drink enough water, and in general how to care well for ourselves and support our own health journeys, because it’s worth it!

Visit Katie’s website: www.KatieBressack.com

Follow her on Insta: @KatieBressack