When I first came to Dr. Aieta, I had been to various specialists trying to get my thyroid under control. I had been placed on the thyroid medicine, Synthroid a few years back but still seemed to be suffering from symptoms of low thyroid. My symptoms included extreme fatigue, water retention and an inability to lose weight despite intense daily exercise and following a strict diet. Every doctor I would go to would look at my blood work and tell me that my thyroid was working properly and there was nothing more they could do. They would tell me I should just stay on the Synthroid because there were no other options. After meeting with Dr. Aieta he explained to me that some patients just didn't respond well to Synthroid and that there were indeed other options. The first thing Dr. Aieta did was run some more blood work to check for something called free T3. Apparently this is the more active of the 2 types of thyroid hormones and that Synthoid was just T4, the less active one. He explained how the body needs to convert Synthroid or T4 over to the more active T3 hormone. He said that some people had a harder time doing this and despite being on thyroid medicine they still would have symptoms of a slow thyroid.
When we got my results back, my T3 levels were indeed very low. Dr. Aieta had me switch over to a natural thyroid medicine that had both T3 and T4 in it. He also put me on a natural adrenal supplement because he said I had very low cortisol and a hormone called DHEA, and he said that these needed to be corrected in conjunction with treating the thyroid.
It was amazing, after only a few days of being on the new thyroid medicine and adrenal supplement I felt so much better. Once I started feeling better, Dr. Aieta said we should investigate a little further to determine why my thyroid was not functioning properly. He explained to me that in order for the thyroid to make thyroid hormone it needed the mineral Iodine in adequate amounts as well as other minerals like selenium and zinc. He had me do a specialized test to check my iodine levels through a urine sample. He had me take a specific dose of iodine then collect my urine for 24 hours, then send a sample to the lab. Dr. Aieta explained that if I had enough iodine in my body then I would eliminate majority of the dosage through the urine but if I was deficient I would retain it.
When we got the results back, Dr. Aieta was very shocked by the results. I apparently only eliminated about 20% of the iodine I took in, indicating a severe iodine deficiency. I began taking iodine on daily basis and an amazing thing happened after only 3 months, I was actually able to get off of the thyroid medication because my thyroid was now working again on its own because it had enough Iodine now to make thyroid hormone. I can truly say that I have never felt better in my life and it’s all because Dr. Aieta actually uncovered the root cause of my problem and addressed it.
