[allie]

@AlexanderDenmark 1507 wrote:

How large a percentage of people do you reckon who suffer from disorders on the depresssion and anxiety spectrum(MDD, Bipolar, OCD, GAD etc) do you reckon suffer from a low thyroid disorder? Do you reckon that the thyroid disorder is a cause in itself(genetic, sporadic inheritence) or somehow secondary and caused by the mental disorder or unhealthy lifestyle?

I’ve read as much as 50% of those diagnosed with MANY mental illness actually have thryoid and adrenal problems. What’s so sad is that Dr’s focus so much on the mental illness and write scripts only for antidepressants and antianxiety’s , only making our symptoms worse in many cases
I’m no expert by any means, I can only go by what’ I’ve researched and my own situationl

I actually feel for the first time in many many years, hope of getting well.

[allie]

@corky1121 1622 wrote:

I hear you Allie. I’m not as bad off as you seem to be. But I also have not been the same since one ovary was taken. I am functional, but in the last year, I have gained 30lbs and because of pain issues I have every day and low energy working out the way I used to is gone. I’d go to the gym and try but I’d end up in pain and leaving. I’m going to try again when school starts to see what I can manage. I am hoping that since I’m getting my iron and D up and now take T3 maybe I can manage a bit more.

Hormone craziness does awful things to some of us, not all of us, but many of us. If you have things in life, like taking care of family, and working, etc. it can wreak havoc on you.

My husband compares me to a friend of ours who is a few years older than me. She started the change and was always cold for the beginning and now has hot flashes. She didn’t want to play poker with us on the weekends, she’d stay home and read. He said she seems okay and is not looking for all these doctors and taking HC and thyroid, etc. I said, she has no children, no husband, and lives alone. Hello! Her life is not filled with the same stresses mine is. And, I have only one child. For someone with 2-3 or more, and inlaws, and illnesses, and maybe working at the same time, it’s even worse.

So we are all different and our hormones affect us differently too.

I hope you feel better soon. I’m tired of being achy and tired too. But I know I’ll get past this. I keep saying that to myself, but I’ve been saying it to myself now for 3 years or more.

HI Corky,

It sounds like you’ve got yourself on a good start to recovery. I’m glad you were able to get some T3. Where I live, it’s almost impossible to get a diagnosis for thryoid problems unless you are wayyyyy out of the “so called normal” ranges.
Anyway, I am going to be starting the T3 tomorrow. I suspect I’ve had adrenal gland problems most of my life, and thryoid for a number of years as well. I’ve read a couple of very interesting books written by Dr’s about Menopause and hormones, and it seems that the ovaries do alot more then just estrogen output. Our poor adrenals have to take over when our ovaries are no longer functioning, or in my case GONE. Some people do seem to go through menopause without a hitch. I say “Good for them”!! We don’t always know what they are taking or doing to keep themselves in that good state. Perhaps they are one of those Blessed people that have Dr’s that actually take the time and do the required tests to give them the care they need.

If you’d like the name of one book you can pm me and I’ll give you the name. I’ve read it 4 times just to make sure I’m understanding it, and now EVERYTHING that’s happening to me makes sense.

Be Blessed!~~~

[allie]

@hardasnails1973 1566 wrote:

Ferritin is involved with thyroid signaling at the tissue level. Thyroid is needed to uptake ferritin from the intestinal tract. Slow release t3 is a sham. One can use plain old t3 and to the same job. With ferritin of 14 I be concerned to reason why. Have you had an upper endoscopy done because just recently we had a person that had inflammation in his esophagus that caused his ferritin levels as well as other iron marketers to drop. Your ND doe not understand the intricate understandings of the hormone system. Your ND if he is a true ND should be ruling out why ferritin is low rather then just say “it will work it self out in the end”. IMO that is just plain laziness like most traditional Dr’s. I be looking for another ND.

ND should be asking them selves
1) why is ferritin low?
2) Is she converting properly t4 to t3 (alteration in d1 enzyme)
3) what factors are preventing this conversion from happening
4) Saliva test to rule out adrenal fatigue (if not done already)
5) check brain function so that one does cause too high norepinpherine with isocort (maybe you need cortef for a bit and not the whole extract)
6) Do they have nutritional densed and balanced diet
7) Where are vitamin d levels out
8) is there inflammation in the gut (leaky gut, celiac, gluten intolerance or sensitivity)
9) Proper sleep hygiene
10) proper digestion (pancreatic enyzme or HCL, bile acids needed)
11) methylation issues
12) estrogens/progesterone imbalances
13) Iodine deficiencies

Yes, I am waiting to have the upper GI done for celiac.
I am trying with a balanced diet / eating liver, veggies, fruits and increased red meats
Avoiding the grains as much as possible

I had heavy bleeding and had my uterus ablated in 2004 . The following day got pneumonia and nearly died. Following in Oct. 2004 had a full hysto, removing everything.
My health has gone downhill from that point. I”m on estrogel and started on progesterone.

OH and BTW, the cost of the T3 for 50 – 7.5 mg tabs – $75.00
But, you know what ? If they help, I don’t care cuz I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.

If I were to show you pictures of me before my ovaries were removed and now. You would not knwo that I am the say person. I was always at a healthy weight, Dr’s used to ask me if I was a dancer because I was in such good shape, no wrinkles. But alot of IBS and depression. Told in the 80’s i had no villa on the large intestine but never tested the small.
My gluten blood work came back normal. ( haha)
Here I sit, 5’2″ weighing 160 pounds, and used to weigh average of 125-127. Went from a B cup to a DD. My Dr’s explanation- that’s menopause!

And when you’re feeling as damn lousy as I am. It’s pretty hard to pick yourself up and try to exercise. I take my dog for walks, that’s my limit right now. Somedays it’s all I can do to force myself to get out of bed.

I wish I could find a dr but not able to find one that’s taking new patients and can’t afford to pay thousands of dollars to see a specialist.

That’s my dilemea.

[allie]

@pmgamer18 689 wrote:

I can second what Dr. M says about Remeron when I was on this before finding out I am not depressed but have low testosterone. Remeron put 50 lbs. on me and I slept like a baby. I keep telling my wife she should try this she had knee replacement sugary and now can’t sleep something changed in her she us to fall a sleep at the drop of a hat now she is up all night falls to sleep then wakes up take my Xanax a low does falls back to sleep only to wake in an hour and fall back to sleep and wake every hour on the hour. So she does not take anything tried every kind of sleep med out there and nothing works. I know if she tried Remeron she would sleep. Her Dr. tested her hormones and they are all good she did a 4x’s in day Cortisol Saliva test and this was dam good. I feel so sorry for her I know this not sleeping would drive me nuts.
Phil

Hey buddy Phil,

Awww, I’m so sorry your wifes not sleeping. My husband has the same problem. He’ll wake up up several times in the night and be bright eyed and bushy tailed. He actually went on Remeron at one time and he was like a new person. I saw signigicant changes in him. He was less sensitive to criticism, not so dingy and more able to focus. (I guess that’s what happens when you get a good nights sleep).

Our step-son ( my husbands son) was murdered in March 2002 at the age of 21. He was shot in the back. . My husband crashed big time after that. He didn’t care about anything. When I finally got him to go for counselling and a Dr started him on Remerron he did better. He decided about 2 years ago that he didn’t need this drug anymore. I disagreed.
Dog gone it, wish you wife could give it a try.

Hope you’re feeling better Phil,

[allie]

DR M,

Interesting information. I recently went off of Pristiq because it was causing me to feel very very unfocused, also it made me sweat worse then I already was.

You have indicated in a previous posting that you almost always saw children that came from extremely violent childhoods suffer from HPA Axis disregulation.( which is my history) , As most antidepressants have done nothing for me, is this a possibility for me.

I saw it do amazing things for my husband. He has low testosterone and I am convinced has ADHD. He doesn’t sleep well at night and is very sensitive to critisim. I saw a different person when he was on this drug. However, he said it did nothing for him.
My husband is 58 years old, hypothryoid, fatigued adrenals and also low testosterone. His level was 10. He is now taking 50 mg bio-identical prescription cream daily.

@DrMariano 1126 wrote:

Remeron can decrease cortisol by causing sedation. Reduction in norepinephrine signaling by blocking histamine causes a decrease in CRH production, which then results in a reduction in ACTH then cortisol.

Realize that this occurs primarily at night, when the histamine blocking effect of Remeron is the strongest in causing a person to sleep.

In the long run, through its effects on the nervous system and its reduction in norepinephrine signaling at night (in at least the low to mid-range doses), Remeron reduces the severity of depression (after all, it is an antidepressant). This results in a restoration of cortisol signaling in response to stress (i.e. an increase in cortisol signaling, or in other words, a restoration of HPA Axis regulation, which was dysregulated in depression). Then cortisol levels go up.

The articles cited are under the myth that clinical depression (e.g. major depressive disorder) has high cortisol levels as one of the causes of depression. I do not see this in real life. I measure nearly every patient’s cortisol levels – men, women, children, young, adult, and aged, everyone. And when I do, I very rarely see a high cortisol level. Nearly everyone is LOW. This includes bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD, ADHD, and even schizophrenia. When I saw this trend, I realized that the psychiatric literature on mood disorders and cortisol is simply wrong and does not correspond to real life. Also, the Hans Selye General Adaptive Syndrome curve is completely misinterpreted. Hans Selye is famous for studying stress and the adaptations to stress. From his perspective, it is only when one reaches adrenal exhaustion that one becomes ill. I totally agree. When people have high cortisol levels, they are adapting to their stress – and fairly successfully. It is when cortisol output becomes low in the face of stress does illness occur.

[allie]

@hardasnails1973 1554 wrote:

Until You get ferritin levels at optimal levels 100-120 one can not know truly how hormones are truly interacting at the tissue level. Do not try to micromanage one aspect of the puzzle you need to look over all picture this will give you more anxiety. High norephineperine could be from a bad night sleep that night or just a fluke. One can look at the interaction of all hormones and neurotransmitters still never figure out the cause due to the amount of variables in the equation. The simplest thing I tell people is to focus on what are the major imbalances rather then trying to look at the minor. Fixing the major imbalances will cause a domino effect to take help balance rest of the body provided proper lifestyle, nutrition, good sleep hygiene.

So, from the other forum board I am finding out that I won’t be able to tolerate my Thyroid meds until my ferritin levels are straightened out. My naturalpathic Dr told me to go on slow release T3 , 4 isocort and forget about the anemia , it would sort itself out after the thryoid is optimized????
I’m so confused. But it doesn’t take much with a ferritin of 14!
Ferritin is 14.

[allie]

@DrMariano 1484 wrote:

When you read David Brownstein MD’s book, Salt Your Way to Health, you will learn that he advocates an approximate dose of 10 grams a day of sea salt. This would help reduce blood pressure, for example.

Hi Dr M!

In regards to supplementing with unrefined sea salt. I tried this and felt fantastic for the first 3 days, after 3 days I began to have problems with pressure in my ears, earaches, and some weakness. It helped alot with my sweating though!

Is it true that unrefined sea salt can decrease potassium? If so, what can one do to ensure a good balance of these?

Thanks !

[allie]

Great news for you !!

I can’t take Ashwagandha as it counter-acts with other essential medications I take.

@bereal 1201 wrote:

I began taking Ashwagandha in October of ’08 at the recommendation of a local ND.
At that time I had low Free T3 with optimal Free T4 and a TSH of .8. The ND told me
that Ashwagangha could help the T4 to T3 conversion, as well as helping to give my
adrenals a boost, as I tend to have low cortisol due to long term CFS. Upon retesting
the thyroid after 6 months, my Free T3 had come up to a normal range. Good for me!
I had read some awful stories about thyroid meds, on thyroid patient forums and was
very glad to not have to go that route. 🙂

[allie]

Thanks Phil, you’re a gem!!

I’m going to be having ALOT of things shipped to my hotel in Seattle! Shipping to Canada is so expensive.
I can’t wait to get all my orders and have my “New Beginning”

Here’s an interesting article I read on Celtic Sea Salt

http://www.visualizationworks.com/featureseasalt.htm

I posted it on the other site as well. I am so thankful for these sites- I really feel like I am on the way to a new me!

@pmgamer18 1179 wrote:

It comes in 2 box’s so I do a searh when I need more and always find this to be the best price I am now on 3 pills / day this is working great for me.
http://www.amazon.com/Feosol-Ferrous-Sulfate-Supplement-Therapy/dp/B001G7QLYA/ref=pd_sbs_hpc_2

[allie]

@pmgamer18 657 wrote:

I was taking Cypress Ferrous Fumarate 324 mg, Two Tablets /day it works great I am told one needs to get 200 mgs. of mg Elemental Iron per day. I was on this about 6 months my levels come up good and I felt much better. But it was very hard on my stomach after taking it this long I started to get some bad heartburn. Because the type of Iron supplement is genital on the stomach we never figured it was the iron pills.

In trying to find out way the Heartburn we found I had 2 blockages to my heart and got Heart bypass sugary. After all the surgery’s I was told to go back on the Iron pills. I was on them not a week and the heartburn come back.

So now I take this and it cost more money but works much better and does not upset my stomach.

Feosol Carbonyl Iron Supplement 2 tables a day.
Phil

good information to have. I was on supplement and it made me sick with diarhea. I will try this.

[allie]

@pmgamer18 1163 wrote:

You don’t need a Dr. have your nat. path call Collage Pharmacy ask them what labs you need done the send them a copy of them and they will compound a cream for you that will fix what is low. I did this with one Dr. yrs. ago for Testosterone and DHEA the cream was great until my BCBS would not pay for it anymore because a patch come out.
http://www.collegepharmacy.com/menshealth/andropause.asp
You don’t need to use this pharmacy most of them will do the same thing your nat. path might be up on this all ready. I can’t get my wife to do this she thinks I play Dr. with people but I don’t she hates seeing a Dr. and taking meds so she sufferers. Read this link.
http://www.power-surge.com/educate/yourhormones.htm
My wife cousin gets pellets put in for her hormones every 4 months.
http://www.sottopelletherapy.com/

Thanks for the links.. interesting. Will take some tme to read.

I just called my pharmacy and i actually have some refills for a couple bio-idents. 😀
But I think I am going to have the salavia testing done in order to determine what’s needed.

Thanks again1

[allie]

@pmgamer18 1162 wrote:

I would check your Aldosterone and Renin levels your sodium is on the lower side with Postassium does the heat of summer bother you are you craving salt and feel dehydrated. I have this problem and was put on florinef .1mgs in the morning with 1 tsp 3x’s a day of sea salt in my water starting first thing in the morning. After this I felt great now that I had bypass sugary they took me off it. I am retesting Aldo and Renin again feel bad the way I did before taking florinef. And I am dehydrated my sinus drainage is so dam thick I can’t get it out of my throat. Here is a good link about this problem that happens from bad Adrenals or being Secondary.
http://www.tuberose.com/Adrenal_Glands.html

Heart Dr.’s have me on a low sodium diet only 1200 mgs / day I feel they are dam wrong about this.

Thanks Phil,
The Dr. never even mentioned the sodium and potassium- I asked for a photocopy of my labs. I suspected these would be in the lower range of the “normal”. So, I am going to the health food store for the sea salt. AND YES to the heat bothering me!!! It’s been hot here , it’s been 100 Degrees here and HOT, but all winter I was hot and sweating. UGH.
Yes, to the Aldosterone levels being checked. Just putting everything together.

I need to get the iron up also. This really concerns me.
I’m sorry you are having problems again. I have respect for Dr’s, but as we know they are over worked and often just don’t have the time to do the assessments. I feel my physician has tried really hard to be thorough, but is so stuck on those labs numbers.
Like my husband his testosterone levels was 10. 2 the normal range was 10-200! That’s a huge difference. He’s supplementng now.
Feel better soon !!

[allie]

My labs- Other then the ferritin being low any other things I should be concerned with?
What would be causing low Urea?

Ferritin Result 14 – Range 20-160

General Chemistry:

Sodium 139 – Range 135- 145 mmol/L
Potassium 3.9 Range 3.5-5.0 mmol/L
Urea 2.6 Range 3.0-7.5 mmol/L
Creatinine 70 Range 50-100 mmol/L
Estimated GFR 77 mL/min/1.73 sq m

Serum Proteins
1gA 1.88 Range 0.60-3.00 g/L

Immunology
tissue Transglutmase Ab igA 2 Range 0-20

Pathologist comments: 1gA tissue Tansglutaminase Ab negative. Fales negative result may be seen in the setting of IgA deficient and dietary gluten withdrawal

[allie]

@pmgamer18 951 wrote:

This is a cut and paste from College Pharmacy I use to use them for compounded Testoserone cream yrs. ago until the patch come out and my BCBS would not pay for it anymore. Is this what my wife would use. And how does it come in a cream or pills.
========================================================
Biest

Biest is a combination of two estrogens: estriol and estradiol. It is most commonly found in a ratio of 80:20, estriol to estradiol. This combination might allow for all of the protection of estriol, while potentially providing the cardiovascular and osteoporosis benefits and vasomotor symptom relief of estradiol.

Phil,
I can really empathize with your wife. When I had my ovaries removed it threw into such a mess. I now find out that the problem probably could have been dealt with in another manner. I had severe endriometriosis. All of my organs were attached into one large mass. They removed absolutely everything they could of my female organs. They told me I didn’t need hormone replacement. I was so badly suicidal I was going to jump from a building. This was when I asked my husband to take me to the hospital. I ended up being admitted in the psych ward. I convinced the psych to let me see a gynecologist that started me on estrogel pumps. Yes, I had to convince him. He told me there was no real proven evidence that not having ovaries would cause suicidal depression. we’ve since moved to a new city.

I had a wonderful Dr. here that prescribled bi-est and progesterone. He also initially started me on Thyroid meds in Oct 2007. He was so awesome, but he retired and was not able to fnd anyone that would take over what he did. He was the first Dr to diagnose me with hypothryoid. Oh , I’m getting off topic here… 😀

What I really wanted to say is that no woman should have to suffer the agony of menopause and sweating, depression and the list goes on.
These bio-identical hormones saved me. I only wish I could find a Dr. here now that prescribes them.

I hope your wife feels better soon. 🙂

[allie]

Hi Phil,
Oh, I know Dr M is amazing! Took my temp under my left armpit. Totally different temperature.
Yes, I did read how you went up on your Isocort and Westroid.
I feel that I need to give my naturopathic the benefit of the doubt. If I ‘m going to be under his care. I am going to try this and see how I feel. If it doesn’t work out, then I will have to seek out other options.
My family Dr. has been so adamant that my thyroid levels are normal, that she has me wondering. I don’t have some of the symptoms that alot of people have that are hypo, even though my last TSH was 3.1.

I’m going to talk to my naturopath about dong the salava testing. I am fearful of coming off the Isocort to do the Cortisol levels as I did try for 1.5 days and crashed. I was sweating so bad, and so unmotivated I did nothing but lay in front of a fan. (it has been hot here also), but I just can’t seem to tolerate the heat.

I really appreciate your information- you put alot of insight into my husbands problems also. thanks so much!

@pmgamer18 1121 wrote:

Wow Allie Dr. M jumped in here with both feet I can’t tell you how great he is we have been posting back and forth for some time.

One thing comes to mind that is going on Isocort needs to be started low and slow I started on 2 pills and went up 2 pills every 5 days until I was doing 4 pills in the morning and 2 at lunch and dinner time for a total of 8 pills a day. I started on Armour witch is about the same as Westtroid 1/4 Grain with the first 2 pills of Isocort. I then took my Temps after being up 3 hrs every 3 hrs. 3x’s a day then I would add them up and div. by 3 this is the avg.

If your avg. gose up or down more then 2ths your adrenals are not supported yet and going up on Thyroid meds can end up pooling in your blood and not get carried into your cells.

So this can take some time starting on meds one needs to give them time to work.

Some times peoples adreanls get supported fast and the need to go higher on your Thyroid meds makes you feel hypo again after just starting it. So I went up every 2 weeks 15mgs when my adrenals were supported. Talk with your naturopathic Dr. about this most if them are very good with this problem.

You can read how I got started at my Thyroid forum here is a link it might help you.
http://forums.realthyroidhelp.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=24
Like you I am not a Dr. just a person that has suffered in the wrong hands of some Dr.’s.

I have learned a lot from Dr. M he is great most of what he has said in the past put me on the right track in finding out what was wrong with me.

It’s a shame you can’t get to see him I am sure he is the Dr. that could help you a lot of people fly in to see him and he then can test and treat you by Email.

[Author]

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