Acupuncture for Hyperthyroidism Simplified

No one had ever known someone who was having these issues. My body was staring to break down and I was desperate. I could barely function, my thinking was cloudy, I had welts and sores all over. Food had a different taste and I forced myself to eat just to get the calories in. I went from lbs to lbs. I had no facial expressions and a hard time processing simple instructions and conversations. I was no longer able to sleep or take care of the smallest of tasks. I went from an active, successful business woman and Mom to the shell of the person I was.

I searched out Acupuncture and Thyroid and your post came up. It was truly amazing as I am in California and this website is in the UK. I went to see Dr. Huang - Agape clinic, and he started treating me. After 6 months of hell, within 3 sessions, I started my way back to myself. I continued for 9 months of treatment, 3x a week, took the herbs he suggested and avoided the foods he said. It took the 9 months to feel back to myself. Within a month of seeing him I was able to tolerate the thyroid meds. I am still feeling good am in the normal range and my endocrinologist is shocked.

I will continue to take the meds and supplement with acupuncture. Dr believes that I will be able to one day get rid of the meds if I follow his protocol.

Patient Knowledge is the Key to a Pro-Active Approach

I am just thankful and grateful I saw this post. Through your referral and his treatment, I am back to feeling great. I had very, very similar situation. After reading your review I went to the same clinic. I've been for 5 weeks for 3 sessions per week with little improvement. I haven't been taking the herbs as prescribed because they make some of my symptoms worse such as foggy head, short of breath, fatigue and palpitations.

Dr Huang told me this was a healing phase I'd need to push thru but it's pretty crappy. Did your symptoms get worse before better on the herbs?

If so how long did that phase last? I was referred by my excellent acupuncturist I have known her for almost 30 years and she is like a miracle worker to a gentleman who is both a qualified gp and Chinese practitioner. My tsh had been 30ish at dx and went down to 5ish, but this can and does happen periodically without any treatment at all, so I would not rush to attribute it to the acupuncture.

I didn't feel better energy-wise and in fact I became so ill that it felt impossible to make decisions so I delayed my levo treatment for too long. All my own decisions I hasten to add. It was my own experiment and it didn't work out. If I had it to do all over again I would give it a solid six months and no more.

I would recommend in a similar case to mine that one makes and sticks to a timetable and when the trial period is over if no improvement is seen then proceed to meds. I understand not everyone is in that same situation some are already on meds and some people might find it more helpful than I did. Hello Marina, I am very interested to hear more about your success with Acupuncture for Hypothyroidism.

My mom is struggling with the disease as she cannot tolerate Levo. What kind of acupuncture? Where did you do it? How many times, how often? Which I really don't want as I'm convinced that adjustments in my diet can help me. And if yes, did it have any effect? Reply Like 0 Follow post. Hi, 15 years ago my daughter tried acupuncture. None of it has cured her thyroid problem. The cause of that is now being treated.

My best wishes to your daughter. Thank you very much for your response. Kitten-whiskers in reply to marina2.

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Hello Marina2, I am glad to hear you are med free, can I ask how often you had acupuncture and how long for? Kitten-whiskers in reply to shemeshka. Shemeska, Has your mum tried other Thyroid medication? Hope she gets on well, its horrible not being able to tolerate the meds. Shaynahope in reply to Shellzzzz. Erin90 in reply to Shaynahope.

Shaynahope I had very, very similar situation. You may also like Has anyone tried improving liver function to aid T4-T3 conversion?

Has anyone with Beta Thalassemia improved their thyroid function and anemia the natural way without going on medication. Membership of the BAcC guarantees excellence in training, safe practice and professional conduct. To find a qualified traditional acupuncturist, contact the BAcC on or visit www.

Xia Y et al. Zhongguo Zhen Jiu ; 32 2: A randomised controlled trial that looked at the effects of aconite cake-separated moxibustion plus levothyroxine on thyroid function in 85 patients of Hashimoto's compared with levothyroxine alone. The clinical total effective rate and effective rate of thyroid function in moxibustion group were Serum supersensitive thyrotropin S-TSH was lower in the moxibustion group than in the levothyroxine group.

There was no significant difference in serum FT4 and free tri-iodothyronine FT3 between the moxibustion group and the levothyroxine group. The researchers concluded that aconite cake-separated moxibustion added to levothyroxine can improve clinical symptoms and thyroid function in patients of Hashimoto's thyroiditis compared with levothyroxine alone. Xu WM et al. Efficacy observation on infiltrative exophthalmos treated with acupuncture and acupoint massage [Article in Chinese]. A randomised controlled trial that looked at the clinical efficacy of acupuncture combined with acupressure on infiltrative exophthalmos in hyperthyroidism.

Forty five patients with infiltrative exophthalmos allocated to acupuncture plus acupressure or medicine dexamethasone, methotrexate and prednisone. The exophthalmos extents were The total effective rate with acupuncture plus acupressure The researchers concluded that acupuncture combined with acupressure is effective for treating infiltrative exophthalmos, and more effective than medication. Therapeutic effect and side effect of treatment on hyperthyroid exophthalmos with the combination of acupuncture and medication [Article in Chinese].

Zhongguo Zhen Jiu ; 30 A randomised controlled trial that compared the effects and side effects of acupuncture plus medication thiamazole and levothyroxine with medication only in 52 patients with hyperthyroid exophthalmos. In the medication alone group, 4 patients had hypoleucocytosis, 3 developed a rash and 3 had aggravated symptoms of exophthalmos, while no such side effects were seen in the acupuncture and medication group.

However, 8 cases of haemorrhage and 8 of hematoma were seen in the acupuncture plus medication group. The researchers concluded that the addition of acupuncture to medication for hyperthyroid exophthalmos may not only enhance the therapeutic effects of medication, but also reduce the side effects. Li GL et al.

Observation on therapeutic effect of pricking therapy on Graves' disease [Article in Chinese]. Zhongguo Zhen Jiu ; 26 A randomised controlled trial that looked at the therapeutic effect of pricking therapy on Graves' disease and its effects on thyroid function. Sixty patients were allocated to either pricking therapy or medication tapazole. The total effective rate was The researchers concluded that pricking therapy has a definite therapeutic effect on Graves' disease, via regulation of thyroid function. The influence of acupuncture on the quality of life and the level of thyroid-stimulating hormone in patients presenting with subclinical hypothyroidism [Article in Russian].

An observational study including 27 female patients with subclinical hypothyroidism i. The treatment resulted in a significant decrease in the number and severity of the initial clinical symptoms; thyroid-stimulating hormone levels fell to the physiological values and quality of life became comparable with those of healthy women. The researchers concluded that acupuncture may be an alternative to treatment with levothyroxine for subclinical hypothyroidism.

Hu G et al. A study on the clinical effect and immunological mechanism in the treatment of Hashimoto's thyroiditis by moxibustion. J Tradit Chin Med ; 13 1: An observational study in which 71 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis were treated with moxibustion and their immune function and thyroid function assessed. Moxibustion reduced thyroid antibodies in the blood of patients with hypothyroidism leading to improved thyroid function. It also lowered thyroid antibody secretory levels and the antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity activities of lymphocytes.

In addition, the action of moxibustion in reducing the secretion of thyroid antibodies was found to be related to its action of regulating the proportions of T lymphocyte subsets. The researchers concluded that their results indicate that the treatment of Hashimoto's thyroiditis by moxibustion is probably accomplished through its effect on the regulation of the relationship among the T lymphocyte subsets. Possible mechanisms of acupuncture. Goldman N et al. Adenosine A1 receptors mediate local anti-nociceptive effects of acupuncture. Nat Neurosci ; May A study showing that the neuromodulator adenosine, which has anti-nociceptive properties, was released during acupuncture in mice, and that its anti-nociceptive actions required adenosine A1 receptor expression.

Direct injection of an adenosine A1 receptor agonist replicated the analgesic effect of acupuncture. Inhibition of enzymes involved in adenosine degradation potentiated the acupuncture-elicited increase in adenosine, as well as its anti-nociceptive effect. The researchers concluded that their observations indicate that adenosine mediates the effects of acupuncture and that interfering with adenosine metabolism may prolong the clinical benefit of acupuncture. Hui KK et al. Acupuncture, the limbic system, and the anticorrelated networks of the brain. Auton Neurosci ; Studies have shown that acupuncture stimulation, when associated with sensations comprising deqi, evokes deactivation of a limbic-paralimbic-neocortical network, as well as activation of somatosensory brain regions.

These networks closely match the default mode network and the anti-correlated task-positive network. The effect of acupuncture on the brain is integrated at multiple levels, down to the brainstem and cerebellum and appears to go beyond either simple placebo or somatosensory needling effects. Needling needs to be done carefully, as very strong or painful sensations can attenuate or even reverse the desired effects. Their results suggest that acupuncture mobilises the functionally anti-correlated networks of the brain to mediate its actions, and that the effect is dependent on the psychophysical response.

They discuss potential clinical application to disease states including chronic pain, major depression, schizophrenia, autism, and Alzheimer's disease. Hao C et al. Effects of Fire-needle on thyroid pathomorphology of rats with hypothyroidism. An animal study that looked at the effects of warming and tonifying with fire needles on a rat model of the hypothyroidism. After 4 weeks of treatment, the free thyroxine FT4 and free tri-iodothyronine FT3 levels were increased. The salient characteristics of the central effects of acupuncture needling: Human Brain Mapping ; This study assessed the results of fMRI on 10 healthy adults during manual acupuncture at 3 acupuncture points and a sham point on the dorsum of the foot.

Although certain differences were seen between real and sham points, the hemodynamic and psychophysical responses were generally similar for all 4 points. Acupuncture produced extensive deactivation of the limbic-paralimbic-neocortical system. Clusters of deactivated regions were seen in the medial prefrontal cortex, the temporal lobe and the posterior medial cortex. The sensorimotor cortices, thalamus and occasional paralimbic structures such as the insula and anterior middle cingulate cortex showed activation. The researchers concluded that their results provided additional evidence that acupuncture modulates the limbic-paralimbic-neocortical network.

They hypothesised that acupuncture may mediate its analgesic, anti-anxiety, and other therapeutic effects via this intrinsic neural circuit that plays a central role in the affective and cognitive dimensions of pain. Komori M et al. Microcirculatory responses to acupuncture stimulation and phototherapy. Anesth Analg ; Experimental study on rabbits in which acupuncture stimulation was directly observed to increase diameter and blood flow velocity of peripheral arterioles, enhancing local microcirculation.

Kavoussi B, Ross BE. The neuroimmune basis of anti-inflammatory acupuncture. Integr Cancer Ther ; 6: Review article that suggests the anti-inflammatory actions of traditional and electro-acupuncture are mediated by efferent vagus nerve activation and inflammatory macrophage deactivation. Terms and conditions The use of this fact sheet is for the use of British Acupuncture Council members and is subject to the strict conditions imposed by the British Acupuncture Council details of which can be found in the members area of its website www.

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