stepping back to write THE INTRO to the intro to hypothyroidism

What i planned to write next was a list of the nutrients we hypos need, but which we either aren't getting or aren't absorbing even from a theoretically-good diet.  This is trickier than it sounds, as i found in the past, when troubleshooting my problems.  There are COUNTLESS sites full of advice and information for the "thyroid sufferer" but unfortunately, almost all of them include something which i know from sad personal experience to be DEAD WRONG.  A gazillion nutrients ARE important for proper function, but some of them are pro and some anti, and some websites get the two lists hopelessly confused.

If you're new to the hypothyroid label, you have my very deepest sympathy, because OH BOY do you have a lot of learning and experimenting to do before you can feel normal again.  Don't believe ANYBODY all the time, because your situation is absolutely positively unique.  Take everything you hear with a grain of salt, especially information from a card-carrying endocrinology-specializing doctor, because he THINKS he knows it all ... but he doesn't know YOU.  No matter what the lab test reports, if you don't feel right over the long term, your medication is wrong.

But getting back to the nutritional aspect....  One big problem in hypothyroidism is that once the imbalance is in place, it's self-perpetuating.  Iron makes for the perfect example:  you need iron to make thyroid hormones, but if you're low on either one, your digestion won't be up-to-snuff, so you'll absorb less iron, and you'll make less thyroid, and you'll have worse digestion, so you'll absorb less iron, so you'll make less thyroid ... ad infinitum.  Some people will cut to the chase and supplement thyroid hormones, and they'll feel better for awhile, but then another imbalance will make itself known.  This is the fast-lane to spending half your life waiting in doctors' offices and getting blood tests, and frankly, i have much better things to do with mine!

I'm taking the slower route to optimizing my health, BUT I DON'T RECOMMEND MY WAY TO OTHERS.  That would be utterly irresponsible of me.  Unless you're a stubbornly-self-governing, long-experienced old fanatic like me, what you need to spend your energy on is finding a competent, progressive, open-minded doctor who knows how to listen.  There have got to be some out there!  ...At least ONE?  ;-)

But nutrition is profoundly important.  Now that i've got all this off my chest, i'll go back to work trying to make some sense out of it.