Izabella Wentz PharmDHashimoto's Protocol: A 90-Day Plan for Reversing Thyroid Symptoms and Getting Your Life Back

HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book! I have been reading it and the way she words things really helps it click. It's better than just hearing "do this and this and that". She goes through step by step and explains in detail WHY! Also has recipes and examples of good routines. Honestly - life changing. From food to make up, soaps, etc all of it. A lot of great information in this book! Just from following this for a short time I am starting to feel better!

I've read pretty much everything out there on the subject of Hashimoto's, and I can honestly say without a doubt that this is the #1 resource in existence on the subject.Dr. Wentz has been leading thinker on Hashimoto's for years, and though her book Root Cause was excellent, this book takes things to a whole other level. It's not only much easier to navigate, but also lays out the path to recovery so simply and clearly.The unfortunate reality of our world today is that we are suffering from massive information overload. And there are few places where this is more true than on the subject of hypothyroidism. On the one hand, we have many mainstream conventional physicians who believe that little to nothing can be done for Hashimoto's except to give a prescription for thyroid hormones (which will require ever-increasing dosages as the thyroid gland is progressively destroyed). On the other hand, we have a mess of various people suggesting all sorts of lifestyle and diet interventions that are often not supported by science (for example, one notable thyroid guru who has a large following of people advises to consume large amounts of orange juice, milk, refined sugar, and to avoid omega-3s and green vegetables at all costs. I'm not making this up.)In short, we have a mess of information that has the potential to easily lead people down paths that are ultimately likely to either leave people feeling like there is nothing they can do except pop thyroid pills, or alternatively, sort through a mess of information to figure out how to implement diet and lifestyle changes to benefit their thyroid health.Dr. Wentz has done all the hard work of sifting through this mess of information, and through the scientific research itself. She has also hugely advanced the entire paradigm of how we think about hypothyroidism with her "Safety Theory" -- which by the way, is genius.This book is not just about covering up symptoms -- it's about getting at the root cause of the problem. And Izabella guides step-by-step on exactly how to correct each of the root causes, from her slow and gentle liver support and detox approach, to fixing your adrenals, to healing your gut. It's all laid out in easy-to-follow steps.To sum up: If you have Hashimoto's, get this book right now. It lays out the exact steps you need to take to reverse your symptoms and get your health back. Make it your health bible -- study it and implement it, and you'll be on the path to recovery.-Ari Whitten

Doctor Izabella Wentz is one of the primary and best researchers and resources for people that suffer with Hashimoto's disease. I drew on her research and benefited greatly from her books and her website as I achieved remission from Hashimoto's disease.. After achieving remission and shrinking my thyroid nodules, I wrote my book, "Conquer Hashimoto's". I continue to refer to Dr Wentz's resources and I have purchased and studied her course. She is the best!

A summary of the book:It is a supplement-heavy, lifestyle modification and diet-based hormone re-balancing program that starts with a 2-wk Liver Cleanse, followed by a 4-wk Adrenal Rejuvenation Program, and ends with a 6-wk Gut Cleanse. If you still experience GI issues or hypothyroid symptoms after the Gut Cleanse then you are directed to continue to the Advanced Protocols at the end of the book. I finished reading the book and have only just begun the protocol today so my review is only regarding my experience so far (which isn't much!). Apparently she also has an interactive program sold on her website that helps you find the root cause of your thyroid issue, tells you which labs to order, how to interpret them and which Supplements to take. I believe this book is a distillation of the most common issues her clients must overcome before obtaining remission (liver = detox, Adrenal = stress response, gut = immune system).Comparisons: I have read the following adrenal/thyroid books and Hasimoto's Protocol is the only one that offers a clear-cut program that is well laid-out for you.1. Adrenal Reset Diet by Dr Alan Christianson2. Why Do I Still have Thyroid Symptoms When my Lab Tests are Normal? by Dr Datis Kharrazian3. The Hormone Cure by Dr Sara GottfriedHow this book fits into my life:Gut overgrowth-I completed The Whole Journey's Gut Thrive in 5 (for SIBO) and Candida Cleanse protocols a year ago so I haven't decided if I'm going to do the Gut cleanse protocol in this book. I think I'll wait till after the Adrenal program and evaluate my symptoms at that point. My GI is 100% better since last year but I did mark 3 symptoms on the book's GI Assessment, which is a Green light for doing the Gut Cleanse. Maybe once my adrenals are better, I'll have better digestion though.Adrenal Fatigue-The Whole Journey's programs are good for GI but not so much for adrenal health. In fact they warn that they can make adrenal fatigue worse, which they did in my case. Granted, I didn't know that I had adrenal fatigue until 6 months ago so I didn't follow any of their warnings about needing to take adrenal support supplements and abstain from the heavy-duty detox protocols included in their programs. So even though I got rid of gut overgrowth from SIBO and Candida, I am left with adrenal fatigue, which resulted in hypothyroidism and low progesterone. I actually think the adrenal fatigue preceded the gut overgrowth but has definitely gotten worse after it. My naturopath tried putting me on Adaptogen herbs but they caused insomnia: I would wake up every day at 3am with a pounding heart and anxiety and couldn't get back to sleep. In The Hormone Cure book (above) I read that it could be low progesterone, which matched some other symptoms I had. So my naturopath put me on progesterone, which did help with sleep. I also started taking melatonin 1-3 mg before bed also.Weight loss resistance-My first complaint to my naturopath was my inability to lose weight with calorie restriction and increased exercise. I am 5'7" and 150#, which a normal weight but I recently lost about 20# while treating SIBO and liked being that weight but cannot get back down to it. This book does say that if you lose weight by following a paleo diet, which I started following when I got diagnosed with SIBO 2 yr ago, then you either have nutrient-absorption issues or gut overgrowth. So maybe now that my gut overgrowth is cured, I'm getting back to my normal 'healthy' weight (according to my body). Dr Westin Childs from RestartMed listed some hormonal obstacles for weight loss, including leptin- and insulin-resistance and body "set point", which is a weight that your body always goes back to after losing weight. The set point is a new theory and no info exists as to how to overcome it. I only eat 1,200 kcal/day and did High Intensity Interval Training (HITT) x 1 month and saw no results. I also tried weight-lifting 3x/wk and walking x 30min/day x 2 months and saw no results. I was worried I now had Leptin- or Insulin-resistance according to an article I read on RestartMed. I just got my leptin results back and normal at 2.6 (normal is <4). I didn't get my insulin tested but I've been testing glucose levels, which are fine. I get light-headed if I skip or delay meals but I think it's actually an adrenal fatigue symptom instead of low blood sugar issue (this book confirmed that).Hypothyroid-My reverse T3 (can cause weight loss resistance) was kinda high at 13.2 (normal is <15) and my TSH was 2.4. After complaining to my naturopath about weight loss resistance, she started me on thyroid hormones. She believes my hypothyroidism is caused by adrenal fatigue due to gut overgrowth and has had many patients in my position that only go on thyroid hormones for a year or two at a low dose then they are able to stop taking them since the body had a chance to recover. She said it's mainly due to nutritional imbalances since gut overgrowth results in impaired digestion and absorption. She keeps testing my AM Cortisol level with blood draw but it's been normal since I went on Adaptogens. I never did an Adrenal Saliva Index, as recommended in the book if Adrenal Fatigue continues after the fundamental protocols. It's cheaper to order it myself without seeing the naturopath actually. So far I have not had success on thyroid hormones. After starting NaturThroid 32mg daily, I got terribly exhausted and read that feeling worse on thyroid hormones could be due to adrenal fatigue. So I restarted my Adaptogen herbs but the insomnia came back so I asked to have my progesterone dose increased. After taking NaturThroid x 1 month, my Reverse T3 climbed up to 17 and I didn't feel any better. At that point my Naturopath switched me to Cytomel 5mcg twice daily x 1 month. My Reverse T3 only came down to 16. The author does not recommend stopping thyroid hormones but since I haven't yet titrated up to the correct dose and don't feel any better while on the hormones, my plan is to wean myself off of the Cytomel during the program and then get my thyroid levels checked again after a few months. The thyroid hormones were getting really expensive: $400/mo, including labs, doctor visits and drugs (granted my high-deductible insurances doesn't cover any of them). You'll pay a lot for the supplements in this book (probably $1,000) but hopefully you won't need thyroid hormones afterwards. The author mentions that up to 50% of people with Hashimoto's will test negative for the antibodies since they're only high enough to be detected in advanced disease. My thyroid labs have been 'borderline' hypothyroid for at least 2 yr now (granted I didn't see the doctor till gut overgrowth was in full swing 2 yr ago so who knows how the thyroid was doing before that). So far my antibodies have been negative so I'm hoping that my thyroid will recover completely once my adrenal glands recover. I find it interesting that the author never recommends anything to directly cure the thyroid, likely because it relies on other systems (liver, adrenal, gut) in order to do its job.Small ComplaintsDon't bother with the Audible Audiobook since the narrator does not read any tables aloud so you won't have access to the Assessments, Supplement charts, nor recipes. The narrator directs you to the 'enhancement' for these, which is supposedly an audiobook PDF companion with charts and recipes that I've yet to find anywhere on the web. I've contacted Thyroid Pharmacist website and the publisher to no avail.It would be nice if there was a summary for each protocol regarding diet and lifestyle modifications. I created my own document with this info.The supplement charts are quite a mess in the Kindle Version since there are no lines separating the 'boxes' in the charts. I don't believe the print edition is any better though since it looks like the Gut supplement chart was simply copied (likely from the print edition) and pasted onto the Kindle version and is very low resolution (barely readable). I decided to make my own charts that list the total quantity needed of each supplement so I can purchase the correct amount. The Whole Journey programs (above) were so convenient because the creator assembled the supplement protocol for you and sold it as one big package. That's convenient but not cheap so there are pros and cons either way.I just started the protocol today and noticed some discrepancies in the supplement charts:1. In the Liver Detox chart it says to take Amino-D-Tox 6 cap daily and continue during the gut detox. However, the gut detox supplement chart does not list Amino-D-Tox. Also, Amino-D-Tox is contained in the PaleoCleanse kit if you buy the 14-day kit with individually wrapped sachets of powder as opposed to just the container of powder. So you don't need to buy extra for liver detox if you purchase that kit. I notice the same company also makes a VegeCleanse powder with pea protein that seems to be replacing the PaleoCleanse, according to manufacturer website.2.The PaleoCleanse kit isn't explained in the book but it is actually a protein powder (18gm beef hydrosylate) that is supposed to be taken twice daily x 14 days in place of 2 meals. It also contains a lot of herbs and vitamins. The only directions the book offers is that it should be added to smoothies but it doesn't say how many smoothies one should eat every day (her sample daily menu only lists 1 smoothie per day). I think I'll try replacing 2 meals/day with the PaleoCleanse powder.3. The Homocysteine-Lowering B supplement (the first supplement listed on the Liver Detox supplement chart) says it should be continued indefinitely if you have the MTHFR gene. However, the Adrenal supplement chart instead lists a different B vitamin complex and I would not recommend taking both at the same time since unpleasant side effects can occur with too high of doses of Methylated B Vitamins, especially if you have gut microbe imbalance, which will not be addressed until after the adrenal program. Therefore I am going to stop taking the homocysteine-lowering B supplement during adrenal program and resume it during gut cleanse.4. NAC on the Liver supplement chart says to continue x 3-6 months yet it is lacking on the adrenal supplement chart. (FYI It is included on the gut cleanse chart). I plan on taking it without stopping during the entire program.I think the Hasimoto's Protocol is designed somewhat loosely but it's much better than the protocols in the other books I've read (see above). If you're someone like me who believes every rule needs to be followed to the letter in order to achieve success then this may frustrate you. These are minor gripes considering the success of the program (according to other reviewers) but it was a bit of a challenge to sort out and could be easily improved upon with the next edition.All in all I am very optimistic that this program will bring to balance my hormones. I will report back at the end of the program. Good luck!

Arrived on time and well packaged! I purchased for a family member recently diagnosed with thyroiditis and having a bit more information is key and important to understand apart from basic medical report. Since is a being gifted needed to remove from Amazon box to repackage it, and decided to peek through few pages. Wow... very nice table of contents and letter to the reader! 😃 Extra special because oftentimes doctors can give the impression that all illnesses are self-caused due to negligence and ignorance. So this will relieve the fear there as well.*Part I: Getting to Know Hashimoto's and the Root Cause Approach 👏 Yes this, will definitely help!! Thank you 😊