05/28/2026
Iron supplements were spiking my thyroid antibodies, and I had no idea why.
At the time, I thought I was doing everything right. I was seeing a functional medicine doctor who had diagnosed me with candida as the root cause of my Hashimoto's.
I was following a strict candida diet and taking strong herbal supplements to try to kill the overgrowth in my gut.
At the same time, I was told to take iron supplements because my ferritin was low and I was exhausted, losing hair, freezing cold, and struggling with anemia.
What I didn’t understand yet was that candida can actually use iron as a fuel source, and every time I added more iron into my system, I was unintentionally feeding the very thing driving inflammation in my gut and immune system.
The more inflamed my gut became, the harder it was for me to absorb and regulate iron properly.
My antibodies kept climbing because my immune system was constantly reacting to the irritation and overgrowth happening in the digestive tract. I kept chasing iron levels without realizing the real problem wasn’t simply that I “needed more iron.”
The issue was that my gut and liver were too inflamed to handle and transport minerals correctly in the first place. Looking back now, it makes complete sense why ferritin and antibodies so often rise and fall together in women with Hashimoto’s.
This is also why I stopped recommending iron supplements to my clients. Because forcing iron into the body is not always the answer, especially when the gut is inflamed, bile flow is sluggish, or microbes are overgrowing.
Ferritin is heavily tied to liver function, inflammation, and how the body manages stress and immunity. When the system feels under attack, iron handling changes dramatically.
Once I stopped focusing only on replacing iron and started supporting the gut, liver, bile flow, and immune stress underneath it all, everything finally started shifting in the right direction and my ferritin started rising on it's own.
If you would like to learn more about how the gut, liver, and bile impact iron balance, check out my new iron guide here: https://thyroidbymissy.com/ironguide