What is Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis?

The American Thyroid Association define the autoimmune Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis as follows:

“Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis or autoimmune thyroiditis. It is an autoimmune disorder. This means you develop antibodies [thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and/or thyroglobulin (Tg) antibodies] that damage your thyroid gland. These antibodies cause inflammation in your thyroid gland.” [1]

What this means is that your immune system is slowly destroying your thyroid gland and over time, that will lead to you experiencing an underactive thyroid.

During this time, you may experience bouts of symptoms of an overactive thyroid, followed by symptoms of an underactive thyroid.

This is why it can be so difficult to get a Hashimoto’s diagnosis.

The crux is this: there is inflammation in your thyroid gland. And you must take action to reduce the inflammation before your entire thyroid gland is destroyed by your immune system.