Links in my blog

If you look to the right, scroll down below the pics and you will find my many links to sites that are very informative and helpful. Be your own advocate; many of us have had to educate ourselves to become our own doctors because we couldn't find doctors who weren't robots for Big Pharma, who does NOT have the patients best interests at heart - they have their profits, first and foremost, at heart. Trust your own instincts on your health - it may well mean the difference between wellness and disease and can even be the difference between life and death.

Hypothryoidism and Fibromyalgia

I would like to mention in this post one very important piece of information! FMS and hypothyroidism can be intimately related! Many of us with sub clinical hypothyroidism also have symptoms of FMS, and it has been found that hypothyroidism can be one of the causes of FMS. So many have found that once their hypothyroidism was properly diagnosed and properly treated, that their FMS either went away completely, or subsided into the background. This can be crucial for so many patients, and I am one of them. Doctors need to get a clue and pay attention to sub clinical hypothyroidism as it can affect how the whole body operates. The endocrine system is not a bunch of independent organs, but a fine tuned body system that regulates metabolism among other things. If it is out of whack, then the longer it goes undetected, the more problems and the more symptoms a patient will have; physical, emotional, psychological; the list goes on and on. If you have a doctor that is clueless, and there are a LOT of doctors out there that ARE clueless, then you need to FIRE that doctor and find one who DOES have a clue - they exist, but can be difficult to find - it takes persistence but can be done. For the sake of patients, this must be a priority for those who are patient advocates for FMS and thyroid researchers and doctors who actually care about the well being and functionality of their patients. So many are either lost in the shuffle or fall between the cracks because doctors aren't willing to go the extra mile and really dig into the root cause of suffering.

T3 Therapy

I am still on T3 therapy and will be on it through December, then hopefully back to Armour. I am holding at 17.5 mgs - 22.5 mgs. of HC daily. I have done well on these, with the only setback being my severe Asthma attack one month ago. Very sick chick for a long time, but am almost back to normal, whatever that is, now. I haven't posted here for a long time because of that Asthma attack. Too much energy went into breathing for too long. Now I can get back to my regular things, like this blog, LOL.

I would also like to add that I am looking into EFT, Emotional Freedom Techniques, to add to my journey into wellness. It is a fascinating study.

My iodine experiment has ended. I have concluded that iodine is something I need in my protocol. I am now taking more than 50 mgs. of iodine per day in the form of Iodoral, a pill preparation of iodine/iodide.

I am still in the market for a doctor that will accept my insurance that is willing to think outside the box. They are few and far between. I would love to be able to work with a physician that actually thinks beyond what Big Pharma and the totally corrupt FDA says. I want a physician that doesn't condescend and doesn't have a know-it-all attitude. I wish to have a physician that is a true physcian and whose creed it "First, do no harm" and who is will to actually work WITH the patient, instead of dictating TO the patient. I do not do well with dictators. I have amassed a wealth of knowledge and wish to be the one to determine my own health destiny, with the help of a wise physician. That is the ideal relationship with a physician in my view. One who works with his/her patients for their well being, whatever it takes, whether allopathic or alternative. Both CAN mesh well together for a patients good. I have seen it, but not yet in conjunction with a knowledgeable and open-minded physician, which is a critical element. Still searching for that critical element.

Changing Course

As I mentioned in my last post, after doing much research, I have switched my therapy to T3 only, as I believe that the years of severe stress resulting in adrenal fatigue have also given me an RT3 problem, which I am attempting to reverse with a 3-5 month trial of T3 therapy, after which I will go back to Armour. It wasn't really a difficult decision, but it took a lot of research and deep thought in order to make the necessary change. I am still in my iodine experiment, but I anticipate re-introducing iodine to my regimen. I still wish I had a good doctor to help me out in this most difficult maze, but the medical profession is just not up to speed here and way too much influenced by the pharmaceutical companies and their reps. I no longer trust most doctors; I just got sicker and sicker and more and more miserable. Since I have been charting my own course I have finally started on the road to wellness. My story and the story of so many who are subclinically hypothyroid and/or have Hashi's is a condemnation of our medical system, which is woefully behind the true cutting edge of thyroid therapy and is mired in barbaric surgical practices that remove thyroid glands, when much safer alternatives exist to deal with nodules, both hot and cold. The only reason to remove a thyroid gland is cancer. Goiters and nodules can be dealt with on a much safer and far less life changing way. To remove the thyroid gland is to remove the body's thermostat and regulator of metabolism. Barbaric indeed, especially when these can be successfully dealt with WITHOUT surgery, if doctors wouldn't be in such a hurry to do the easy thing and more willing to look at other options, while taking more time, in the long run are much more successful at giving lives back. Surgery, while successful in the short term and easy for physicians and surgeons, leaves the patient with a whole new set of problems, which most doctors just do not deal with correctly. Barbaric and sad. So many lives lived in misery with their misery dismissed by their doctors. A sad commentary on our medical system.

Still in my iodine experiment and I have changed my protocol even more. I have switched from Armour to T3 only plus my HC to see if it will make any difference in how I am feeling, healthwise. I am also looking into Gilbert's Syndrome to see if this is part of my health puzzle. I am still sleeping very poorly and life is difficult, although not quite as difficult as it was two years ago. I still have a ways to go and still wanting to find a doctor that will be a partner with me in my health and won't fight me on tests that are needed. I would love to get some baselines on my female hormones now that I am post-meno, but the doc thought that since they would all be low as I am post meno it wouldn't be necessary! Gads, what is the problem with just getting a baseline to know how to proceed!?! So tired of fighting for what I need. It would be so nice to have a good doc, but they are far and few and about as scarce as hen's teeth to find one that isn't out to push drugs for every little thing! Most docs nowadays are just legal drug pushers. Yuck! Give me a good doc that will get to the bottom of an illness and treat the illness, not just a doc that wants to throw drugs at symptoms; one that is willing to look OUTSIDE the box and learn a thing or two. Patients can learn from docs, yes, but docs can sure learn a lot from patients if they would only choose to listen now and then and not dismiss symptoms.

I should mention that I am still in my iodine experiment also. Still not taking any extra iodine; whatever is in my excellent multi, but no iodoral right now. I am going to do this for at least six months and then re-assess the situation.

Because I am not progressing as I had hoped and am still dealing with a lot of fatigue and sleep issues, plus brain fog, I am going to try some T3 to see if RT3 is affecting me because of the long time I have been ill. I am my own science experiment, LOL. I do know that I am much better than I have been for many, many years, so my progress is ever upwards, although it seems to be stalled right now. I have been researching RT3 (Reverse T3) issues and feel in my gut that a temporary trial of T3 might be a good thing. Well, we will see what we will see. I look forward to this trial. I have had a lot of ups and downs, but I feel that I am on the right track. The adrenal fatigue is so much better; I am gradually ramping down on the HC and am on a much smaller dose now; close to 12-15 mgs per day, if that. Sometimes I forget a dose, which tells me that I am finally healing from the years of terrible stress. Hooray!

I am into week four of my iodine experiment. No changes that can be observed, one way or another. I will continue to omit iodine from my daily regimen for the next few months, and then re-evaluate to see if further iodine supplementation is necessary. I do wish that this wasn't so difficult and that there were doctors out there sufficiently competent and not at the beck and call of the pharmaceutical industry and whom are capable of thinking not only independently, but outside the neat little hypothyroid box so that those who are subclinically hypothyroid might get the help they desperately need. The thyroid affects the whole body in so many ways; many of them subtle. You would think a doctor with a supposedly high level of education would know more than I do about this! Instead I, and others are met with this wall of resistance and reliance on a test (TSH) that has missed so many cases of hypothryoidism! So many are miserable and don't know why, are on AD's and don't need to be; all they need is proper diagnosis and proper treatment of their hypothyroidism. It is a pathetic window on how degraded our medical system is, that so many are miserable and so many doctors don't really seem to care as long as blood tests are "normal." This notion needs to be pitched and doctors need to follow their counterparts of a century ago, who looked at the patient and listened to the patient and checked their cholesterol levels also, as this can be an indicator of hypothyroidism. Instead they put patients on dangerous cholesterol drugs they don't need. A sad commentary indeed on the state of our medical system here in the USA. It could be the best in the world, and it settles for medication over diagnosis and attention to detail; detail that could tell a story in and of itself. Get to the root cause of a problem and stop medicating symptoms! Often only one medication is needed, thyroid hormone, preferably Armour thyroid, an approved medication by the FDA, plus sometimes a little adrenal help so that it works better! You don't need a lot; often a physiological dose of cortisol can make a huge difference, but balancing things is so difficult, which is why I wish there was more competence out there, and less ignorance and reliance on drug manufacturers.

Hypothyroid Children and Infants

Parents, if you have a child that seems lethargic, with very dry skin and hair that is also very dry or sparse, if your child doesn't sleep well at night (reads in bed with a flashlight like I did because I couldn't sleep!), is too tired to play outside, has trouble concentrating, seems depressed, or has weight problems on a healthy diet, or has trouble losing weight on any diet, then have this child checked out for hypothryoidism - and have your doctor run several tests, not just the stupid TSH, which is a pituitary test; TSH stands for thyroid stimulating hormone. The tests that MUST be run at FreeT3, FreeT4 and both antibody tests, to rule out Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, which is autoimmune thyroid disease. I was suicidal in high school, lethargic, gained weight easily, insomniac, puffy, too tired to play outside, and had lots of brain fog, plus concentrating was very difficult. Now that I am being treated properly for my Hashi's and Hypothyroidism, it is much easier to concentrate and good things are starting to happen, but I am now almost 54 years old! It shouldn't take that long! Don't relegate your child to a lifetime of misery - I urge any parent with a child that answers the above description to see a GOOD doctor who is very knowledgeable on thyroid issues and don't take the word "normal" for an answer - get a copy of the test results with the lab ranges. Be proactive so that your children have a better shot at a much better future than the one I had; I wasn't really a good mom because I was sick. Even as a toddler I wasn't normal, per se; I gained weight very rapidly even though I was on 6 lbs. 3.5 ounces at birth, by the time I was 3 months I was larger than I should have been and puffy looking. As my problems weren't caught and diagnosed until well into adulthood, I feel it is critical for parents not to be complacent; I was nagged by both my mom and the doctor about my weight, but if my hypothyroid problems had been addressed I wouldn't have had such a big problem with it. Don't let your child's childhood be miserable as mine was; be watchful and be proactive!

Iodine Experimentation

I am experimenting with my iodine. I have eliminated the iodine for now to see if it is inhibiting my Armour. I am at 6 grains and still raising, but am puzzled because most patients can reduce their Armour dose once on iodine and that hasn't been the case for me; I keep raising because I am still hypo.

I am eating more sprouts and finding that not only are they good tasting and are nutrition powerhouses, but they are doing for me what nothing else has ever done outside of OTC meds, and that is regulate my bowels. I am regular for the first time in my entire life with no constipation while eating sprouts; the IBS is not an issue for the first time in a LONG time. Sorry if this is TMI, but someone reading this may need this information, and the purpose of this blog is so that my story may help someone else to avoid the costly mistakes that doctors have made my entire life; also mistakes I have made in diet, etc. so that my readers can profit from my history and hopefully make better choices both in choice of physician and choice of dietary lifestyle changes in order to avoid my lost years.

I have added a new project to my blog! I am showing my projects (although this is NOT all of them, LOL. I am showing the ones I am excited about recently. It was fun taking a tote someone had given me and personalizing it with embroidery designs from my extensive collection of designs! Hmmmm......I think my stash, er resource center, of designs, has finally exceeded my stash, er resource center of fabric! Hehehehe. I can shop in my my own private home store; already paid for, so no more money changing hands here!

As I continue on my journey I am playing with my iodine dosage, as I am wondering if my iodine intake is interfering with my Armour. I have reduced from 50 mgs. per day to 25 mgs. per day. I try to change only one thing at a time to see what is working for me.

I need to find a new doctor; my good doc isn't on my plan, which means I can't afford him:( so I am on the hunt for a D.O. that will be in my plan and will work with me without dictating to me. I am doing well so far on my Armour, iodine, HC and supplements, plus adding in the essential oils is going well; an ongoing process as I work up a protocol that works for me.

I constantly learn new things about Hashi's. I have had problems with hoarseness for many years without any illness present; doctors could find nothing wrong - how wrong they were! I recently discovered that the hoarseness can be one of the symptoms of a Hashi's attack! It explained so much for me. When will doctors stop masking symptoms with drugs and start doing tests, such as FreeT3 and FreeT4, plus both antibody tests? Hashi's should be tested for using both tests so that it can be at least ruled out! FreeT3 & 4 are much better indicators of thyroid function than the TSH, also.

As I continue on my journey, I am finding that the weight is finally starting to budge. That in itself is wonderful; I have tried so many diets; WW 3 times, Atkins, Blood Type, Low Carb, and some I can't remember! None worked for very long because of my under-diagnosed and severely under-treated hypothyroidism, which is now also Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. When will doctors get it? What is needed is a radical change in how hypothryoidism is looked at, diagnosed, and treated. I, and so many others, didn't and don't need to suffer with this. Children in particular don't need to suffer with this. There are so many things that can affect the thyroid and adrenals also. Soda is terrible for anyone, never mind the weight gain; it is nutritionally devoid and has other things in it. Coffee can hold you up for a while, but if you are not treated you WILL crash eventually. We need to radically change what we eat and eat to live, rather than live to eat. Fluorides, Chlorine, bromides and others in this family of poisons replace iodine in your body, which it needs to live. Fluorides are poison; they are NOT good for teeth. These substances will replace the iodine your body needs, especially for thyroid function, leaving you deficient in iodine.

We also need a change at the governmental level. The FDA is basically a facist organization powered by the Pharmaceutical Companies, who push their drugs on the citizens of this country without regards and not caring for the harm they are doing; profit is the important thing, not people. I am so tired of the grip the Pharmaceutical Companies have in this country. And the politicians from BOTH parties should be ashamed of themselves for the blood money they take from these companies, who put profit above health and whose greed is well on its way to ruining the health of many. Both Democrats and Republicans take money from these companies. Check the websites that track this sort of thing and you will be in for a shocker. Americans need to wake up. Drugs and more drugs are not the answer. They mask symptoms while leaving the root cause untreated in so many cases. Hypothyroidism being a case in point. If you are untreated hypothyroid, you may have depression, you may also have elevated blood pressure, in addition to digestive and bowel problems such as consitpation; very dry skin, hair loss, menstrual problems for women, even an inability to conceive and carry a baby. Getting the proper treatment for this one big problem can alleviate all the above by treating the root cause: hypothyroidism. You need to have blood tests for not just the TSH, but also for FreeT3 and FreeT4 as they are much more indicative of thyroid function than TSH, which is a pituitary hormone that tells the thyroid to make more thyroid hormones. What is also needed is both tests for Hashi's to eliminate it, plus a 24 hour saliva test from a reputable lab to check for adreanl function. No one deserves to spend their entire life sick. It is not in our heads; it is in our thyroids and needs attention before things get out of hand. There ARE good doctors out there; they are hard to find, but they are well worth the search.

I just found out some symptoms of Hypothyroidism in children: Eczema, leg pain, foot pain, dandruff, stomach aches, dry and coarse hair, slow growing hair, feeling cold, feeling tired, insomnia and chronic illnesses and ear infections are some other things to look for in addition to low body temperature. I had all those plus constipation; I was more than just tired - I was quite fatigued. Why don't parents realize that the above symptoms are NOT normal for ANY child and find a good doctor! I hope so much that anyone reading this will consider family history (of course, unless you are adopted, like myself, and you are a second class citizen with no access to family history) and take a good hard look at a child that seems to be too tired to play, can't sleep well, has tons of allergies; please save your child a lifetime of misery like mine and insist on getting tests for them - not just TSH, but FreeT3, FreeT4, the TWO antibody tests, plus get their iron checked, a full panel, including their storage iron, ferritan. Don't just give them a multi vitamin from the grocery store, read the labels and make that the ingredients are bio-available. Please give your child a fighting chance at a normal life! Don't assume, like my parents did, that your childs problems are unique to your child. Chances are that they are NOT.

As I continue on my journey towards wellness, I am finding new things, such as candida, that complicate my recovery. My doctor ordered tests for candida antibodies, but I haven't had the energy to go in and get them done. I am also looking into gluten intolerance, as opposed to Celiac, which I don't believe I have. I do know that I feel better and have less brain fog when wheat is not in my system. Also, at long last, the weight is just starting to budge. I have tried WW 3 times, with limited success, Atkins, again, with limited success, plus others I won't even name here. Over the years I have had little succes in losing weight, while no matter what I did the pounds piled on. I am now finding my own way to avoid the cravings, which turn out to be adrenally related. I am eating vastly different than what I grew up with. I am now eating sprouts we grow ourselves, much more raw foods than I would have dreamed several years ago. I am reading about enzymes - see the following website, which has given me a lot of info: http://thedoctorwithin.com/index_fr.php?page=articles/enzymes_longevity.php - after reading this I am determined to become a healthy person by getting the enzymes I need from my foods, which means more fresh foods. I still eat meat; I like it and don't want to live without it. That may change as times goes on. I am making changes a little at a time, so that I know what is working and what is not. If I change too many things at once I have no idea what is wrong if things are not working, so I take changes slowly. It took more than 50 years to get the way I am; things are not going to change overnight.

As I continue this journey, I continue to become more and more disillusioned with doctors and our medical system. I self treated until I could find a doctor I could work with and who would work with me. Self treating takes a lot courage and you must educate yourself even more than most physicians on the thyroid and the treatments available. I wouldn't trust an endocrinologist as far as I could throw him/her! I no longer trust most M.D.'s. I got tired of being told my symptoms had nothing to do with my thyroid, when a look at any medical textbook made that a lie! I have come to the conclusion, sadly, that most doctors are nothing but dressed up and legal drug pushers, at the beck and call of the pharmaceutical industry. I have left the medical system. The FDA is a joke, as is the AMA. They are supposed to be watchdogs for patients and citizens, and they are nothing but watchdogs for Big Pharma. It makes me both sad and angry. I write letters; I protest what is happening. Both political parties pander to Big Pharma and none of them can be trusted to look out for us anymore. We have to look out for ourselves and be proactive for our own health. Today's medical system can and will kill you. Look at actual statistics and you will find out that is true. Educate yourselves; your health depends on it!

To continue, I am still taking iodine daily; I even give Lugols to my dog, whom I suspect is also hypo. I put it in her food; and she is getting a raw kibble with brown rice and veggies mixed in and I am making her chews out of sweet potatoes, which she loves! I take 5.5 grains of Armour and 17.5 mgs. of hydrocortisone. I am feeling better than I have in years, but am still contending somewhat with insomnia. The oils have helped, as has a mental exercise I am doing. Speaking of essential oils, they are amazing! Our dog tore her ACL and the vet said she needed expensive surgery. We had another vet look at it, and while she agreed about the injury, she recommended hydrotherapy and other things. We were introduced to someone who used essential oils on animals and went to a session to find out. We started using them on Onyx's knee and now, months later, she is walking normally and the look of pain and confusion is gone from her eyes. She is a happy dog again. We had been talking about putting her down; no more. We are happy campers. The oils work miracles as far as I am concerned.

As I said earlier, my journey begins with my birth to a woman who was in a hopeless situation, abandoned by the father of her child. I believe now that her situation affected me even before birth. She reluctantly relinquished me to adoption. As a child I was lethargic, fatigued, puffy, had food cravings, bowel disturbances such as constipation and occasional loose stools. I had insomnia even as a very young child; my mother told me that I never napped as a toddler; I just lay there. I had a very active imagination, which I employed during these times, and reading in bed with a flashlight helped night after night as I lay awake, unable to go to sleep. Why did no one test me or at least wonder why I had these problems; why I would rather read a book than go out to play, why I had suicidal thoughts as a teenager, brain fog, memory problems, weight gain; the list goes on and on! My adrenal problems started young and just got worse. I have fought weight gain my entire life; my husband once commented that I ate less than most other people he knew, yet I still continued to gain weight. It wan't until my 40's that I was finally diagnosed, then put on synthroid, which did nothing for me. No symptom alleviation at all. I felt just as bad, but back then I just accepted that I would have a life that was low key; no energy, constant fatigue and sleeplessness, trying to fight food cravings, puffiness that has been with me life long. I grew more and more discouraged, but the only thing that was offered to me was anti depressants, which messed with me even as they somewhat helped, but more just masked my main problem: hypothyroidism that became Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. I was ill and no longer had any energy. I saw doctors, but they didn't help. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia also. I had kidney stones (horrible pain) and was diagnosed with Medullary Sponge Kidney. I am asthmatic also. I was at one of the lowest points in my life; I didn't have a life - I was too tired.

The most recent part of my journey starts one year ago, when, in desperation, I did a search on Yahoo for groups related to hypothyroidism and found a gold mine. I also found http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com, which would open a whole new world to me! I started a new protocol including iodine in the form of iodoral, 50 mgs. per day, but first I started myself on Isocort, a mild adrenal supplement. Then I added in Armour thyroid, which most docs had told me was junk, unreliable, not regulated, etc., all false. It is so much better for me than synthroid, which just kept me sick and unable to function as a normal person. I no longer take a doctors word about anything. I do my own research and come to my own conclusions and talk to my doctor about what else I might need and ask for his suggestions and input. I am also using essential oils from http://youngliving.com/, which my husband researched and found to be the best company out there for essential oils. My journey has come a long way in a year and I am finding light at the end of my very long tunnel.

This is my journy to wellness from hypo hell. I hope that whoever reads this will learn from my story, my history, my mistakes. It has been a long journey, encompassing my whole life; 53 years. It started before my birth, and I am, in the last year, coming out of my lifelong hypo hell. "Modern" medicine was no help. They tell you that you are "normal" and send you on your way unsatisfied, or they tell you that it is all in your head (will slug next doc who says THAT) and that you need an AD, or they might say your thyroid output is low, so now you need synthroid - Synthcrap is a better name for it. Doctors also don't acknowledge adrenal problems unless you have Addison's or Cushings. Personally, I would rather see doctors acknowledge and treat BEFORE you get to the point of Addisons or Cushings. Their approach lacks common sense. Anyway, I now have a good doctor who is working with me, rather than dictating to me, and I am on my way to wellness. As I have more info I will post more on my personal journey in hopes that it will save someone out there from the lost years I have.