I actually have hashimotos thyroiditis too! I was diagnosed with it before I discovered the hCG program, in 2010 about 9 years ago. So I did my entire hCG journey with this disease successfully.
I’ll share my experience in case it helps you.
I have had a lot of ups and downs over the years, and I have other chronic health issues besides the thyroid issue including Lyme disease, which complicates matters. Here’s a breakdown of my experience wit hCG – I don’t know if any of it relates to the hashimotos + hCG together or not, but for what it’s worth:
- Did 5 rounds of hCG total – some rounds I felt great, some rounds I felt awful.
- After 1 round of hCG, while being treated with a naturopathic doctor at the same time, I had a complete remission of ALL my chronic health symptoms and was off all medication entirely – this lasted about 9 months.
- Before starting the hCG diet, I was on 87.5 mcg of T3 medication – this is active thyroid hormone and is a different thyroid med than most women are put on by their doctors – it is said to be much more effective – if you are unfamiliar with it, you can find out more at these sources:
Stop the Thyroid Madness – About T3
Why Many People Don’t Feel Better on T4 Only Thyroid Meds (like Synthroid)
- I did continue my thyroid medication while on the diet, and a couple of rounds I was also taking small physiological doses of cortisol for my adrenal fatigue (for me this was 15-20mg of hydrocortisone tablets, spread throughout the day into 3 doses – morning, 1pm, 5pm)- this greatly helped my energy and coping on the diet at those point. Many people with hashi’s and other chronic illnesses have adrenal fatigue too and you can’t successfully treat one condition without treating the other because thyroid hormone and cortisol hormone interact with one another.
- As a result, I did have the benefit of doing the hCG diet with effective thyroid medication in my system, which I assume probably helped my weight loss along.
- Since being off hCG since 2012, I have been on a much lower dosing of t3 medication than prior to hCG – it has varied between 12.5-37.5mcg of t3 (vs the original 87.5). That said, I continue to deal with chronic health issues. But having the complications of adrenal fatigue and lyme make it difficult to know what causes what symptoms.
Having a chronic illness and doing this diet I have a few pointers for you if you choose to proceed:
- Arrange your life to be EASY while on the diet. DO NOT try to continue doing lots of things that you already find challenging now while on the diet. Being a person who deals with a LOT of fatigue on an almost daily basis, I can’t reiterate this enough. You will likely need to really lay low while on the diet as it can make you even more tired. I set my mind to that fact that my at-the-time 2-3 year old son would be watching more cartoons and eating more granola bars than usual for 6 weeks.
- Don’t exercise – just please, don’t. It’s all too much for people like us on this diet – I have an article on this: Exercise and hCG
- Load for the hCG Diet CLEAN– this will greatly help in preventing strong cravings during the diet.
- Take long breaks between rounds – this is a taxing protocol – if you try to shorten your breaks, you will likely find yourself feeling REALLY crappy on Phase 2, and you may even not lose weight because your body is just too taxed to handle it all. I have seen this happen.
- Stick to the allotted cycle lengths allowed – 3-6 week rounds – do not go beyond this, for the same reasons as taking the long breaks.
I discuss what my health symptoms look like in more detail here:
What my Thyroid and Adrenal Symptoms Are Like
I also have another hCG Interview Success Story you might find helpful too:
Episode 55 – Michelle – lost 50 lbs with hCG and has Hashimotos, Fibromyalgia, HPT, and celiac disease.
So can you do hCG if you have this condition? I did – this does not mean you should, but at least you can see one example of a person who successfully got through it despite having lots of symptoms at various times.
