Okay, so that may seem like a strange pairing. One that I certainly would not have made, had it not been for all of the research I have been conducting on auto immune diseases lately. I suffer from both Lupus and Hashimotos Thyroiditis. Over the past year, my symptoms have continued to worsen, and I find myself in pain on a daily basis.
I just turned 38 years old. I have three small children. Living in chronic pain is not an option. I want to enjoy life and feel good. I want to have energy again. I want to be able to walk and run and dance without having to take an anti-inflammatory pain medication before, during, or after. I need to get my auto immune diseases under control.
Since this summer I have had some pretty bad flare ups. I have also gained over 30 pounds. This only compounds the issue. I am inactive and miserable. None of my clothes fit. I’d rather stay home where I can wear my sweatpants and a huge t-shirt than try to find something that looks halfway decent.
And I feel. like. crap.
I happened to be scrolling through Facebook one day when I saw a suggested post. It was about an upcoming Auto Immune Summit. A week long program of daily presentations and interviews with some of the leading doctors on all things related to auto immune diseases. So I signed up. It was free, but the catch was you could only see those presentations on the specific day each one was offered. After that, you had to pay for them.
As this is a topic that I am very interested in, I decided to pay for the summit. I got all of the videos, audio, and transcripts. It was a fantastic investment. I have listened and re-listened to some of these presentations and plan on writing a lot on this topic this year.
The presentation I have gotten the most out of so far is the one on Hashimotos thyroid disease. In particular the question WHY, if I am on medication to regulate my thyroid, and my thyroid panels are testing “normal” do I still feel like crap? Why can’t I lose weight? Why does my hair continue to thin out and my skin continue to dry out and crack, and why am I so lethargic? Why is my brain so foggy? The doctor interviewed is Kr. Datis Kharrazian, the author of Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms When My Labs Are Normal, which is an incredible book. He’s also written, Why Isn’t My Brain Working?
He provided some incredible information about thyroid disease. I listened to his information and it really made me question the link between my physical environment and my thyroid.
So how did I get to the determination that I needed to change my shower head? The answer is really WHY you should filter your water. All of your water. Including your shower water. Especially if you have a thyroid condition.
Turns out, chlorine and other toxins in our water are really, really bad for people with thyroid disease. It’s bad for all of us, but double whammy if you have Hashimotos or Graves disease.
Dr. Stuart Nunnally, DDS, was interviewed for the summit about infections in the mouth and how they impact auto immunity, but at a certain point in this interview in the auto immune summit he discussed iodine and fluoride in the water and how they affect the thyroid. This is what he had to say:
Fluoride is never something we were supposed to dab on our teeth. Fluoride, of course, is the most active element of all of the elements on the periodic table. It’s extremely competitive with other halides; in other words, it competes with iodine, and our thyroid loves iodine, and when you have fluoride or iodine there, it’s easy for the thyroid to take fluoride instead of the iodine, and I think it’s one of the reason why we see so much Hashimoto’s, so much Graves’ diseases because the thyroid, there’s a competition there, and often times, the fluoride or the chlorine ends up winning instead of the iodine. You would certainly not find any atoms of fluoride in our office. I think it’s wrong to fluoridate teeth, and there are much better ways to help prevent decay than to use fluoride. The worst thing is putting fluoride in the public water supply. There’s not a single peer-reviewed journal in the world that has ever been published that that’s been efficient. And we know that fluoride has these other deleterious effects on our systemic health. Why on Earth we would do that, is another mystery.
When you are showering, not only do you often get water in your mouth, but your skin is your largest organ! The warm water opens your pores and your skin absorbs all of the chemicals that are in the water supply. And sadly, there are many. So, it’s recommended to filter your shower.
Personally, I don’t like the idea of my body absorbing a bunch of extra crap. Especially when I can do something quickly and easily about it. So I bought a shower filter. Actually I bought two of them. The first one did not work really well on my particular shower, but the second one is a real winner.
It’s this one (and yes, this is an affiliate link but that will never change your price.)
WaterChef® SF-7C Premium Shower Filter System (White)
- Housing: High Impact ABS with Metal Fittings & Stainless Steel Flex-Hose
- Powerful 2-Stage System with ThermalGuard™ for Superior Chlorine Reduction
- NSF® Tested & Certified (NSF/ANSI Standard 177 for Chlorine Reduction)
- Deluxe Shower Wand with 5 Adjustable Spray Patterns (including Pulsating Massage)
- Anti-Clog Rubber Spray Nozzles & 60″ Stainless Steel Flex-Hose (PVC-Free & Odorless!)
- Quick & Easy Install (No tools!) – Includes Pre-Installed Cartridge & 3 YEAR Warranty!
It was super easy to install and I like it far more than my old shower head.
I can’t say that my life has changed drastically since filtering my shower water, because that is obviously only one piece of the puzzle. However, I will tell you that I’ve noticed two things. The first is that my skin is FAR less dry than it normally is in the winter. My skin usually gets so dry that it cracks and even bleeds. I have not been using any extra lotion or anything else other than filtering my water.
Secondly, there is far less nastiness in the shower. Pre-filter, our shower would turn orange and funky after about one week. I’m conducting an experiment to see how long it takes, and I can tell you it’s been two months since I installed the filter. The shower is just now starting to get grimy like it did after just one or two weeks without the filter.
If you have a thyroid disease or are just otherwise concerned about toxins, I highly urge you to filter your bath and shower water. My girls take a bath every day. I hate the thought of them just sitting there and absorbing those toxins. And I don’t like it in my body either!
You can get a home water test kit if you want to know what’s in your water.
Click here for more info on the First Alert water test.
This post contains affiliate links for Amazon. While your price will never be affected, Amazon will give me a little “thank you” for sending business their way. Thanks!
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tammigirl says
February 17, 2015 at 12:10 pmI had never thought of the possibility. We drink filtered water, but I’m not even meticulous about that since I sometimes draw right from the tap for making tea or cooking water.
Maybe a whole house water filter isn’t overkill after all?
With all the different fixtures in the house it would probably make the most sense.
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katbiggie says
February 17, 2015 at 12:58 pmReally that makes the most sense. I need to look into that as well. Because you consider all of the hand washing and teeth brushing and other stuff that goes on from day to day, and we still get exposed. I use tap water for cooking and tea and coffee too, but I hope the boiling removes some of the problems? I will have to look into it further.
Chris Carter says
February 17, 2015 at 2:18 pmOh gosh, I’m freaking out about this now! Alexa, do you know of any way we can actually test our water in our house? I wonder how much of these toxins are infiltrating my own family and I through our shower head and even tap water. I’m glad you went to that summit and learned so much… I’ll be anxious to read more information as you write more about it.
I’m so sorry you have been feeling so crappy! I have too… maybe differently, but I swear either I’m getting old and pathetic, or I just ache and always have some kind of pain- usually headaches, body aches, and definite fatigue…
I understand. I do hope this helps you!!
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katbiggie says
February 17, 2015 at 2:49 pmIt is kinda freaky Chris. And yes, I’m glad you asked… I updated the post with a simple test you can purchase to test your own water. Or you can google it and get some other options. There’s a good chance you are suffering from leaky gut too Chris. More on that in upcoming posts! 🙂
Janine Huldie says
February 17, 2015 at 2:43 pmI never truly thought of this before. I admit I know about filtering drinking water, but never connected it to water in our showers, but does make perfect sense. Now, you totally have me wanting to look into this further as I hate the thought of these types of toxins entering our body when we are trying to just clean ourselves in the shower daily. So, I really do appreciate you sharing this with us.
katbiggie says
February 17, 2015 at 2:49 pmAny time Janine! It’s really kind of scary when you start to do the research.
Molli says
February 18, 2015 at 2:44 pmI just got a whole house treatment system and love the way the water tastes and feels. It’s the rainsoft system which is pretty expensive. I do however get referrals and if you are considering it, please email me (please reply and let me know if it is ok to put my email in the comments) so I can get you in contact with them (and get the credit of the referral 🙂 After so many referrals, you can actually get enough credit to pay for your system. I told my sister about it and she said maybe. I told her when she comes to visit and takes a shower, she will buy it!! It is that great and don’t get me started on my first bath in that luxurious water 🙂
katbiggie says
February 18, 2015 at 9:24 pmI’ll have to think about that. It makes sense to do the whole house… If I decide to go that way, I will certainly use you as a referral!
Molli says
February 19, 2015 at 11:59 pmI forgot to mention with the whole house treatment, it is supposed to extend the life of your appliances too (i.e. Dishwasher, washing machine, water heater, etc.) in fact, they recommend turning the temp down on your water heater. And you don’t need to replace filters in your fridge anymore. It’s also supposed to reverse damage to pipes. That takes a while…if you have 20 year old pipes, you will need another 20 years to remove build up. Just some of the things we were told.
Tamara says
February 18, 2015 at 9:06 pmI appreciate the test kit there! The town next to mine just got a #1 score from a national water taste test, but that’s TASTE. Not cleanliness. And oh yeah, it’s the town next to mine. Not mine.
I’m so sorry for the pain and feeling like crap. I’ve never had pain before – except for the kind that ends (postpartum contractions and tooth/jaw stuff) and I would be searching for answers too.
I hope your sister’s oils help too! I know they’re not necessarily miracles but sometimes they’re worth a shot.
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katbiggie says
February 18, 2015 at 9:26 pmSo right, it’s the town NEXT to you! 🙂 Well I’ve been dealing with chronic pain for years and years… really the first time I can remember the awful stomach cramps and issues with digestion started with I was younger than 10. I just didn’t know that not everyone lives in pain. But now it’s worse, and if there is a way I can fix it, it’s worth the shot. Even if I do have to say good bye to cakes and cookies and breads and beer. BOO.
Joy says
January 18, 2016 at 5:51 amGreat Post !