@darlia @kjo1 I also have Hashimotos and I see a functional medicine doctor for this. He is against destroying the thyroid. He prescribes desiccated pig thyroid hormones because a lot of patients cannot convert the individual hormones in the synthetic prescriptions, and he tests for all of them, T3, T4 reverse T3, etc. The natural pig version prescriptions like Armour and Nature Throid have all the components in them, and many patients only feel better taking them. I would recommend trying this first.

My doctor told me that the mercury leaching out of my old silver amalgam fillings was affecting my thyroid because it is toxic and located in close proximity to the thyroid. At that time, every time I ate, I had a sore throat later and my blood tests could not record the level of antibodies against my thyroid because it was off the charts. The action of chewing and abrasion on an old silver dental filling causes the mercury vapor to escape. I even tested that theory by using a blender and not chewing my food, and my throat didn't hurt after that. My doctor advised me to have all the fillings removed and replaced with safer alternatives and I did that with a biological dentist. Then, my levels of antibodies were low on my blood tests and I no longer got a sore throat from chewing. Since then, my thyroid has improved and I was able to lower my dose of Nature Throid. It can fluctuate. After a period of time, I had to raise the dose again, but not as high as the original dose of hormones when I started with all of this.

The glutathione that kjo1 mentioned is a master antioxidant in the body for detoxification, and it makes sense that detoxing can improve thyroid function. Magnesium and Vitamin D also help with this. Detoxing has worked for me too with removal of the mercury. I also have some old root canals in my teeth and have had some problems. That happened because of trauma when I broke my teeth as a kid. According to my dentist, the material placed in a tooth with a root canal contains cadmium, a heavy metal. The bacteria is still inside the tooth and can eventually over time be released through the root into the jaw bone. That has happened to me too, and an oral surgeon cleaned out the infection in the bone. I still have the teeth with the root canals and they are probably affecting my thyroid function too.