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Hyperthyroid is a fast thyroid.  This is not nearly as common as the hypothyroid or slow thyroid.  Many wonder why there is a problem with a fast thyroid because you have a fast metabolism, and could eat more, have more energy, sound good, but it’s not.

Too fast can cause tremors or heart palpitations because you’re running too fast.  Think of a car in first gear.  For this, someone could take a beta-blocker to slow the heart, atenolol, metoprolol, propranolol, something like that but it won’t do anything for the thyroid, just stop some of the symptoms.

There are a couple ways to treat the thyroid itself.  You could have surgery to remove all or part of the thyroid.  Usually the surgeon will remove more than necessary and put you into hypothyroidism and you’ll have to take medication to supplement what your body cannot fully produce.

Another way is to swallow radioactive iodine.  Oooooo, sounds scary but it’s generally regarded as safe.  The reason is the thyroid takes up the iodine and the radioactive part damages of kills the thyroid cells.  The rest of the body doesn’t need the iodine so it floats around until the thyroid gets it and takes it in.  That’s when it goes to work and only kills the thyroid cells.  Same with surgery, you usually end up killing too many cells and have to be on medication.

Two medications are out there, Tapazole (methimazole) and propylthiouracil (PTU), that slow the thyroids production of hormone.  The methimazole is by far more popular than the PTU.  It takes a couple weeks but the medication is very effective in slowing down the hormone production.  I like the medication route, probably because I’m a pharmacist, and you’re not killing anything.  Also, you can adjust the dose the get the right dose for you.  Like any medication, they can cause stomach upset, rash, or fever, but they are generally pretty well tolerated.  The methimazole is filtered by the liver and there is a small, small chance of liver issues.  Liver damage generally takes a while to build up and as long as you are going to the doctor and getting your liver tested, there should be no problem.  If you notice you suddenly have a yellowish tint to your skin or the whites of your eyes turn yellow, stop it right away and call your doctor.  It’s very rare but it does happen.

Now, a couple things that you can do as far as diet is concerned, there are food that will slow the thyroid down.  They work much better when you eat them raw because cooing them breaks down some if the substances that cause the slowing of the thyroid.  If you just have to cook them, cook them as lightly as possible.  The food we are talking about are brussell sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, peas, kale, radishes, greens like turnip greens, mustard greens, collard greens, and spinach.  To a lesser extent peaches, pears, and almonds.  Soy will also slow it down a little but I don’t like soy because of the estrogen like effects.  I think you should stay away from soy.

Those are some food that you should add to your diet, they’re good for you anyway.  Hopefully you did the medication route so you still have your thyroid.  I would try incorporating these food in your diet and the next time you get your thyroid checked, you may be able to reduce your dose of the methimazole.  If you can, great, that’s less medicine.

Some food you should avoid too because they tend to stimulate the thyroid and that’s defeating the purpose of what we are trying to do.  Caffeine, sugar, red food coloring stimulates the thyroid….MSG, processed meats like hot dogs and lunch meats, artificial sweeteners, Oh, seafood that is high in iodine like shellfish and shrimp, or lobster,mmmmmm lobster.  That iodine is going to go and boost that thyroid.

I’m not saying totally eliminate these foods from your diet, just know that they are going to up the thyroid some.

It’s not too tough to treat hyperthyroid, you just have to be diligent with your diet and get the right dose of medication, if you have to take it, and you can pretty much live a normal life.

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