Graves Disease Cured with Homeopathic Treatment!
Lori was middle-aged, around 50. She appeared thin, haggard, nervous and so restless, she could not sit still for even a moment. She would fidget constantly. Her arms and legs were twitching and jerking. She would jump up suddenly, pace back and forth and then sit back down again.
“My heart races, my blood pressure is high. I have tried to stay away from blood pressure medication. Instead, I take bugleweed tincture for it. It brings it down some, but not enough. The problem is my thyroid; I have been diagnosed with Graves’ disease (an autoimmune form of hyperthyroidism). At first they had me taking beta blockers for the high blood pressure, but I did not like the drugs. Actually, they did not like me! I got worse headaches from them, and was even more tired. So, I weaned myself off the medication, and now I am taking the bugleweed. I am feeling better but still have a lot of problems. I am depressed and tired. My eyes are irritated. I get headaches every day. I have heart palpitations. I am always too hot. I’m nervous, anxious, even panicky, and I have lost weight as you can see (showing me the waist band of her pants), even though I have a very good appetite. I hope you can help me.” I assured her we’d give it a good try before I gave up on the case.
Grave’s Disease is the most common of thyroid disorders. It is diagnosed eight times more often in women than in men. It is named after Sir Robert Graves of Ireland, who first described the disorder around 1835. In central Europe the condition is known as Basedow Disease, after a German physician who identified the syndrome triad of tachycardia, goiter and exophthalmos. Its symptoms also include cardiac arrhythmia, increased pulse rate, weight loss with increased appetite, intolerance of heat, elevated basal metabolism rate, apprehension, weakness, elevated protein-bound iodine levels, diarrhea, headache, vomiting, eye-lid retraction, and stare. The condition is an auto-immune disorder of the endocrine system caused by antibodies that attack the thyroid and over-stimulate its action.
Conventional Treatment
According to the Mayo Clinic’s website, “the treatment goals for Graves’ disease are to inhibit the production of thyroid hormones and to block the effect of the hormones on the body” using radioiodine treatment[1] – oral administration of radioactive iodine-131. This treatment kills off the cells that produce thyroid hormone. Possible long term side effects include, dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, changes in your taste, inflammation of the salivary glands or mouth, decreased fertility (and increased risk of birth defects if you conceive within 6 months or more), lung problems like “radiation fibrosis”, lowered immunity, lowered bone marrow production of red or white blood cells and secondary cancers[2]. In addition, this barbaric treatment usually leads to hypothyroidism (and sometimes even hyperthyroidism!), requiring life-long monitoring & treatment with a synthetic thyroid hormone medication.
Lori’s Symptoms
Lori exhibited quite a few of the symptoms of the disorder, but not all. At the time of our consultation her blood pressure was 200/125 despite the bugleweed. Her pulse was rapid, 130 beats per minute. Her endocrinologist had recommended radioiodine treatment, but she steadfastly refused. Her thyroid felt enlarged to the touch. Her eyelids were retracted slightly and her eyes were somewhat bloodshot. She was in early menopause with her periods having stopped two years ago. There was a history of severe tooth decay, many dental amalgam fillings (those silver ones) & several root canals, asthma, and acid stomach. She was currently off all conventional medications, just the bugleweed tincture several times a day. She was also on a diet low in salt and refraining from spicy foods.
Her medical & family history included:
- Discontinuing Atenolol three months ago
- Decongestants and Albuterol for asthma last year
- Many antibiotics over the years for multiple infections
- Surgery for bunions the year prior
- Many x-rays
- Anesthetics for dental work
- Polyps of colon removed in ‘94
- History of cocaine and hashish use, as well as of diet pills (amphetamines)
- Many painkillers over the years
- Ibuprofen almost daily during her menstrual cycle for cramping. Her severe menstrual cramps had been there since puberty, and she’d taken several years of contraceptive pills to try to help them
- The usual childhood vaccines
Lori was always a sensitive child. She had a family history of goiter; multiple cases of cancer and depression; emphysema, heart disease, hypertension, alcoholism, kidney disease, stroke, asthma, and psoriasis.
A more extensive health history revealed that the thyroid condition may have already been present more than ten years ago. She had developed panic attacks somewhere in her late 30’s to early 40’s, with intense heart palpitations, tachycardia, and recurrent anxiety attacks. She recalled already as a teenager having severe panic after smoking marijuana, with a fear of being alone. She “worked on herself” with counseling and mindfulness, and finally got past these panic attacks.
“I am always hot, worse by the ocean, worse evening, excited, or nervous before thunderstorms. I love to write, walking outdoors, exercise, and I love animals. I love sweets, chocolate, pizza; hate brussels sprouts, garlic, hot foods, acidic foods, slimy foods. I am worse from acidic foods, spicy foods. Overall I have a good appetite, but gradually I’ve been losing weight for past the several years.”
Lori’s daily headaches were worse at work. She had irritated, red eyes; tension in the neck muscles; nasal allergies. The burning in her stomach was made worse form acid foods and garlic, so she would eat only bland foods. She complained of nausea and pain in stomach, with reflux, gas, belching, recurrent hemorrhoids and life-long constipation. However, the constipation was better since keeping on her current diet. Lori had frequency of urine, which would wake her up several times a night to relieve herself. She also complained of urinary incontinence, worse from coughing. Lori’s heart palpitations, rapid pulse, and pounding heart came with the anxiety, as well as occasional fluttering sensations, but more often pounding, with sensation of internal heat. She liked to be fanned, and felt best in cool room. She had occasional wheezing from dust, etc. She had low back pain, with left-sided sciatica. Her insomnia would wake her several times every night, most often at 3-4 AM. Mentally, Lori was high-strung, anxious, and tired. She suffered from many fears, including fears of the dark & flying, claustrophobia, and a tendency to panic easily. She didn’t trust people, and would panic while driving on the highway.
Homeopathic Analysis and Homeopathic Antidotes
The homeopathic remedy Iodum was an obvious remedy choice for Lori, covering all of her thyroid symptoms. In my analysis, many of her other symptoms were actually iatrogenically induced, that is “induced by medical treatment.” The symptoms were clearly the residual effects of past medical and dental treatments, treatments that most everyone has on a normal basis!
These symptoms could be addressed by using Reverse Chronological Tautopathy (RCT), a systematic method I have developed over the past 20-some years. By potentizing the drug or other offending substance, you not only turn it into a homeopathic remedy, but also a homeopathic antidote or “clearing remedy” as we call them in our practice. Armed with a chronological list of your past medications, surgeries, vaccines, OTC drugs, recreational drugs, pesticide exposure, environmental pollutants, X-rays, MRIs and more, we can effectively begin to “undo” the drug diseases and suppressions, allowing the body to overcome the induced symptoms and make way for a deeper healing. This is just one aspect of the special way we practice homeopathy, what my students have come to call The Mueller Method™.
To learn more about RCT go here, visit this link if you are a homeopath, or visit here if you are a consumer.
But I digresss…Lori also had an inherited complex constitutional disorder… more on that later.
The Mercury Factor
From an etiological point of view there was also the obvious presence of mercury in Lori’s system to consider. In one study, 97% of patients who have amalgam fillings had measurable toxic levels of mercury in their bodies. Mercury has been linked to multiple thyroid disorders, including to Graves Disease. Dental amalgam fillings contain 50% mercury, which evaporates daily in the mouth at the level of .33mcg per filling, more than 30 times the maximum OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Agency) exposure limit. The OSHA permissible exposure limit (PEL) for mercury is a ceiling limit of 0.1 milligrams per cubic meter of air (mg/m³), which is currently enforced as an 8-hour time-weighted average[3]. Lori had also had a full set of childhood vaccines, some of which contained thimerosol, a mercury-based preservative. To thoroughly treat her disorder, her amalgam fillings would need to be replaced with non-mercury composite (or similar) ones using specific safety protocols detailed by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT)[4], and a thorough mercury detoxification program would need to be implemented. But ultimately, I viewed her amalgam fillings as a sustaining cause and urged her to have them replaced with safer dental materials such as composite or zirconium fillings.
In our clinic, we prefer to use an gentle oral detoxification program mitigated with homeopathic remedies specific to the client’s individual symptoms. You can learn more about our oral chelation methods here for practitioners and here for consumers. Over the next several years, this protocol, along with thorough homeopathic treatment, could remove this common cause of Graves Disease and simultaneously, improve Lori’s overall state of health.
The Predisposition to Cancer
Moreover, Lori had an inherited cancer diathesis, as evident from her general symptoms and characteristics. She was exited during thunderstorms, aggravated by the seashore, craved sweets and chocolate, averse to slimy foods and aggravated by spicy foods. Her personality characteristics, the fears of enclosed spaces, fears in airplanes & cars and distrust of people, her love of animals, her waking at 3 AM, etc were confirmed as an inherited cancer diathesis, by her family history of multiple cases of cancer (especially with both parents having had cancer), diabetes, depression, asthma and allergies. I talk extensively through my tutorials and other writings about this predisposition to cancer. You can read this free article or look at these tutorials to learn more.
Homeopathic Treatment
Lori began her treatment November 1999. Over the next year she took daily doses of Iodum and Carcinosinum, in alternation, in ascending Q (LM) potencies. We never use dry doses in our clinic (except for an emergency) and for all of Lori’s remedies, we dissolved a pellet in a water/alcohol mixture in a 1/2oz dropper bottle. Her dose was 5 drops for each remedy. In addition, at intervals during the day, she also took clearing remedies or homeopathic antidotes (beginning with the most recent), for all previous drugs, including recreational & OTC, as well as other harmful exposures. Three months later, the “pre-treatment” was completed and many of her symptoms had already improved.
By March 2000, her headaches were completely gone. The stomach symptoms were much improved. The constipation was gone. Lori had even gained some weight back. The anxiety was much improved and she no longer felt panicky. Even her fears had improved. By May that same year, her blood pressure was down to an average of 145/86 and she had discontinued her regular doses of bugleweed tincture. But now, sometimes Lori actually felt chilly! This was a new symptom, and a good sign of improvement, because it is a known part of Grave’s disease to be constantly hot. Her frequency of urine was reduced and the incontinence was gone. Lori reported no more wheezing episodes and no more low back pain. I was understandably pleased with the progress.
A Relapse
However, in August 2000, the hyperthyroid symptoms were worse again and so were many of Lori’s other symptoms. She thought this was because she had slacked on her diet, i.e. refraining from salt. Though her blood pressure was still mostly normal, her heart rate was up again, around 100 bpm. Lori was experiencing pounding in her heart, which was worse after eating. In addition, her voice sounded nervous again. She reported some wheezing on windy days as well as back pain was back that was, however milder than before homeopathic treatment began.
As I was pondering her current symptoms and their possible causes, Lori lit up like a Christmas tree. “Do you think this relapse had anything to do with the dental work I had done a few weeks ago? I had a new cavity drilled and filled with a composite filling. I did avoid placing an amalgam filling…,” she trailed off.
“Absolutely”, I said. The high speed vibrations of dental drilling have the capacity to antidote the action of homeopathic remedies in the organism. I have seen this happen again and again from airplane flights, ultrasonic toothbrushes, ultrasonic (sonogram) imaging and more. In addition to recommending they stay away from dental procedures until they reach a certain level of stability of symptoms, I always caution my clients who are suffering autoimmune diseases, such as Graves, about the potential harm from root canals.
“As far back 1908, microbiology researchers from Mayo’s Clinic and from the dental association at the time found that bacteria and their toxins from root canals could enter the blood stream and travel to any point in the body, and generate disease to that tissue or organ”[5]. In addition, root canals are potential causes of autoimmune reactions, as antibodies can develop against the tooth – the body’s own DNA – and to any area of the body, including the thyroid. A great article to read is Dr. Hal Huggins article “How a Root Canal Can Affect Your Health” available on Dr. Joseph Mercola’s website www.mercola.com. At this point, Lori still had several amalgam fillings and at least one root canal. I had not yet urged her to have the fillings replaced with composite ones or her root canal excised.
We antidoted the dental anesthetics, including the epinephrine and by October 2000, Lori was again doing better. Her blood pressure had again normalized and the heart palpitations were better, although she did notice some wheezing while cleaning out her dusty closets. She reported no incidences of back pain nor urinary incontinence. And there were no more headaches, except once when she was congested from autumn allergies. Lori proudly showed me that her eyes were no longer irritated, yet she lamented that she still craved sweets. We discussed having her amalgam fillings replaced. I stated that the mercury from the amalgam fillings and the possible autoimmune reaction from the root canals could eventually represent an obstacle to cure once her body could not longer tolerate the toxic burden of their presence. Lori decided she could not afford removal of either at this point.
Addressing Older Disorders
Over the next year, Lori continued to improve under this comprehensive homeopathic treatment. By then we had added Natrum muriaticum and Lycopodium to the Iodum and Carcinosinum, all in alternating daily doses to address some of her older health problems which had become more prominent since the Graves disease had begun to recede. Gradually all her symptoms disappeared, and not just the hyperthyroid symptoms. By August 2002, she had been symptom free for six months and we discontinued the Iodum. I recommended that she see her endocrinologist again for testing. Thyroid panels were conducted and her iodine levels, thyroid function, metabolism, and immune function were all shown to be normal – much to the chagrin of her doctor who’d told her this condition was incurable… In October 2002, our last consultation, again, she had no symptoms to report and again I discussed with her the possibility of replacing her dental fillings and having the root canal excised. She promised she would consider it.
Graves Disease Cured!
Now, nearly 15 years later, I still have occasional consultations with two of her sisters. They still agree that one of biggest successes of all four sisters (I worked with all of them at some point over the past 18 years), was Lori’s recovery from her Grave’s Disease. Of course, they never mentioned to me if she had those amalgam fillings or root canals removed…
References
[2] http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/thyroid-cancer/treatment/radiotherapy/radioactive-iodine-treatment/after-radioactive-iodine-treatment
[3] https://www.osha.gov/Publications/mercuryexposure_fluorescentbulbs_factsheet.html
[5] https://www.hugginsappliedhealing.com/root-canals-toxic.php
