My Current Health Status: Good News.

p014zwk0It’s the 9th November 2013. I’m in Scotland for the weekend with my family seeing our good friends Margaret, Trevor and Maya. It’s time for an update on the current status of my health. I am Good, Bad or Ugly?

It’s important to set down markers, to see where I’m at, to see where I’ve been. My writing is full of problems and the solutions I try to remedy those troubles. Is it worth all the effort and energy? Because yes, I do make a lot of effort to be healthy. Do my efforts work? Am I getting healthier? Am I making progress? Or just treading water?

I am still in the same zone as I have been for the last seven years. I am still always doing something to help myself. Always. Right now I am focusing on my liver. I have just started another set of liver herbs and I am liver flushing every 3-4 weeks too. Always something – is it worth my time and energy?

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Dear Dr Peatfield – Temperature!

16430If you are taking your temperature to monitor your adrenal and thyroid situation – then I guess you should take five minutes out of your life and read this blog entry. Might save you some hassle. I have had a very surprising situation arise. I guess many people make the mistake I just made, so I guess it’s kinda important. So if you take your temps…you should read this one.

I am having discussions with Dr Peatfield about my adrenal and thyroid status. He is a major metabolic health guru over here in England. Written a really helpful book and treated many people successfully. He is kinda like the Culter of the thyroid world.

My correspondence with him is via the post. I have to write him letters. He is major league old skool and does not handle emails too well: so letter it is! He is very booked up so appointments are months apart.

Dear Dr Peatfield

Interesting things and odd discoveries have been going on over here. Let me explain:

As we discussed, and for the third time this year, I tried to support my adrenal glands, again with adrenal cortex. Now that the heart palpitations have stopped due to me giving up wheat, I tried again with Thorne brand Adrenal Cortex 50mg dose.

After 5 days on a very small quantity of adrenal cortex, just 25mg(1/2 a cap), a whole heap of nasty symptoms bombarded me and I had to stop supplementation on day seven. Toughing it out was not an option. Another adrenal experiment that failed.

Next I let side-effects dissipate and decided to get some lab tests done. You said I should get T3 and T4 tested, but I got a few other ones as well, as well my 4 x a day saliva cortisol saliva test. They are attached to this letter.

I read up and saw I need to go ‘no adrenal supplement’ on the adrenal stuff for two weeks in preparation for the tests, so I had two weeks off all adrenal support…not that I could take any anyways. I was also on zero thyroid support. Last time I tried I got a load of horrid symptoms.

Two weeks after the previous adrenal experiment, I got the tests done and awaited their results.

Next: You suggested switching adrenal brands on my next experiment, so I got some Nutri-Med Adrenal concentrate 100mg caps and tried that to see if a different brand/bigger quantity made a difference. This is the forth adrenal support attempt this year. I started and had a few bad days that week: rough but manageable. But I also had some good days too. Proper good days. Days that said “this is working”. Good news.

After 7 days I raised the dose to 2 caps a day: 200mg adrenal. Again some good days, but also a few bad days, but overall an improvement. Fatigue is probably 15pct less. I am not freezing cold anymore, but it is the hottest summer for 25 years, so not sure what to make of that yet. Libido came back as well…which is good, but the biggest problem is the fatigue and that is still very much there. I would call it chronic fatigue. I am tired all the time and only have two gears. First and second. Third, fourth and fifth are nowhere even close. I am still able to work in my office job without any problems. I cannot do any exercise whatsoever. I cannot drink any booze without feeling terrible the next day. Even a sip of beer makes for a bad next day.

Next: Thyroid Lab results came back – as attached this letter:

My comments:

1) I seem to have enough FT3 and FT4. Odd. Why am I so tired? Why am I so cold? Both in-range with high FT3. I seem to have enough hormones in me.

2) My Reverse T3 (RT3) is high (but in–range). Does this mean I have an RT3 problem? (People on-line thought I did have this problem.)

3) My Antibodies are in range…does that mean I don’t have an autoimmune condition like hashi’s?

(At this point I would like to remind you that I have had problems adding Multi B’s and B12 supplements. They have given weird side-effects and I have had to stop them. Is this a RT3 problem signal?)

Next: 4 x a day Saliva Cortisol test.

Three out of four samples are in-range. But the second sample is high and out of range. Says in the lab report that I have: ‘Resistance Stage 3 – Maladaptation: Pre-exhaustion or pre-adrenal fatigue’.

I did some research, and found some help on-line. Those people read the tests and explained that the early morning result was in fact 50pct lower than it should be, and that the rest of the days samples were too high as my body tried to compensate for the lack of cortisol in the night/morning.

I will let you decide what you think about my test results, but to summarise:

1) adrenal test shows: Resistance Stage 3 – Maladaptation: Pre-exhaustion or pre-adrenal fatigue’.

2) thyroid tests show: RT3 problem??????????

3) FT3 and FT4 both seem to show plenty of hormones…(which seems odd to me).

All through these adrenal support experiments, and breaks between-experiments, I have been religiously taking my temperature. 3 per day. 3,6,9 hours after waking. Taking the average of the three. They have all been low and unstable: which I know means adrenals struggling and thyroid fatigued. This is basically how it has been since I started taking my temps 5-6 months ago. Temps mostly between 35.4 to 35.8 deg’s c. (Using electric thermometer).

But another ‘something’ has happened: in speaking with the people on-line, they gave me loads of pointers and suggestions. One of them was to make sure I was using the correct thermometer because most/some of those electric ones are rubbish. I thought they might be a little off, and it was only a guide, so I have been using the hassle-free, 20 second electric thermometer.

I have been using that electric one for 3 years and decide to test it against one that they recommended. A Geratherm mercury free thermometer. I already had one but didn’t use it because it is a real bitch to shake down. (I have really thrash it down to get it to zero and it hurts my arm). In-mouth for 10 minutes to get an accurate reading.

And I can’t believe my bloody eyes!
What the hell is this?
Holy $hit!
Excuse my bloody language but, but, but….$%£**&*!

Results with Geratherm thermometer:
Day 1: 36.8, 36.35, 37.2 = average 36.78 deg C
Day 2: 36.5, 36.4, 37.0   = average 36.63 deg C (in the air conditioned office)
Day 3: 36.5, 36.35, 37.3 = average 36.71 deg C (in the air conditioned office)
Day 4: 36.7, 36.9, 36.7   = average 36.76 deg C (slept badly. Felt rough in day)
Day 5: 36.7, 36.4, 37.0   = average 36.70 deg C (in the air conditioned office)

Oh boy…this is a massive surprise! Huge! Super large capital letter SURPRISE!

My temps are normal! I can’t believe it.
My temps are very close to each other, i.e they are stable!

For the last six months that I have been taking my temps daily with the electric thermometer: temps have been unstable and below 36.0 – every single day!

I know the current weather is very hot for England, 25-30 deg’s C everyday…but this is a massive difference from my electric thermometer. But I don’t feel any better in this heat, and my temps are normal, and it still feel pretty rough. I have been working on a different assumption all this year!

I have had some benefits from the adrenal support: libido, I seem less cold and I have a little more energy…but I don’t know what my correct temperatures where before I started adrenal support. They may have been as above??? Not sure? Any point in stopping adrenal support to see what the temps do?

Anyways…that’s where I am at. I am not going to increase the adrenal support anymore. I don’t seem to need it. Stay at 200mg Adrenal concentrate with Nutri-Med.

What does this all mean? I am gigantically surprised about the temps. I am still very tired and fatigued…and yet have normal and stable temps? Whats going on?

What do my lab results mean when my temps are normal? My temps may have been wrong all this time, but the lab tests still show things are broken. This has not all sunk in yet.

I understand the temps have been wrong. Now it looks like my temps are stable and at the right level. Yet I still feel very fatigued. And my lab tests came in showing some things are broken:

1) 4 x a day Saliva adrenal test shows: Resistance Stage 3 – Maladaptation: Pre-exhaustion or pre-adrenal fatigue’. No enough cortisol in the morning, too much in the day.

2) Thyroid tests show: FT3 and FT4 both seem to show plenty of hormones. But high RT3 – shows I have an RT3 problem.

I’m just trying to my head around this: My temps normal. My temps stable. Yet I still have no energy. Lab tests show adrenal issues and RT3 issues.

I don’t even know if I should be happy or sad?

I guess my question is, is this normal? I mean is it normal to have normal temps, stable temps…and yet still feel so greatly lacking in energy. Is this what having an RT3 problem is like?

Your advice, help and wisdom are greatly required here. Do you want me to come down and see you? Or should we stick to the letters? Phone call?

Best regards
Sunshine

So there we have it. What fun eh! Those thermometers that do actually work correctly cost peanuts too: less than £5, or USD7.07. Available @ all Amazon websites around the world. You want a Geratherm mercury free thermometer.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Medicalises-Geratherm-Thermometer-Mercury-Free-Oral/dp/B0013NE0RC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375452490&sr=8-2&keywords=Geratherm+mercury+free+thermometer

In other news I am currently on holiday camping in the Loire valley in France. Weather is amazing. Super hot: 37 deg’s yesterday and 27 deg’s today. Spending much time at the pool topping up the tan! I wish every day could be a holiday!!

That’s all folks!
Sunshine.

Limboland

LimbolandFor the third time this year I tried to support my adrenal glands, again with adrenal cortex. Now that the heart palpitations have stopped due to me giving up wheat, I thought I try again, just to be sure. And after 5 days on a very small quantity of adrenal cortex, just 25mg, a whole heap of nasty symptoms bombarded me and I had to stop supplementation on day seven. Another experiment that failed. So odd! I really need to figure this out! What does it all mean?

I can’t support my thyroid’s because my adrenals are shot.
I can’t support my adrenals because…not sure why the adrenal support is not working, but I’m down a cul-de-sac. I know my adrenals are fatigued, but I can’t figure out how to support them; bugger!

Maybe I need to change my dosing style? Maybe I need to dose higher to start with because the adrenal cortex is doing something odd, like suppressing something? Not sure…but that will be my next experiment! I will switch brands to Nutri Adrenal, and start at 100mg and see what happens. Dr Peatfield said that’s my next step, so that’s plan Batman.

If that does not work, I will speak with Dr P and see what he says. I have also found a website that says adrenal cortex can be multi-dosed, four times a day, starting at 4 x 80mg per day. I guess that will be my next try, if the previous try does not work out. http://www.nutri-meds.com/category_s/84.htm

If that doesn’t work, I guess it will be hydrocortisone (HC) for me. I hope not. Really really I hope not. I really want to avoid HC if I can. But something is wrong with my adrenals, I have tried many other things this last 18 months, and I’m 98pct sure it’s adrenals that’s holding me up, and that’s my focus. I must support my adrenals.

But before I do anything else it’s time to get some lab work done: I have ordered: 4 a day adrenal saliva stress profile, DHEA, Secretory IgA(SIgA), TSH, TT4, FT4, FT3, RT3, TPOAb, TgAb and Ferritin. Hopefully that will show me whats wrong. I have just read the Stop the Thyroid Madness book and that tells me how to read those results. I will also ask on a couple of forums, see if anyone can figure out how I can support my adrenals.

Just a quick thanks to “Thyroid UK” for setting things up with Genova Diagnostics so that people like me can get these blood tests done without a doctor’s prescription. I have to pay for them, but ce la vie. http://www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testing/private_tests.html

For the saliva adrenal test I need to be off all adrenal supplements, which is fine because they all do weird $hit to me anyway, but I have two weeks in limboland where I am just treading water, waiting to get the tests done on Sunday. Will go for the next higher dosing adrenal support next week once the tests are done.

That’s all folks! Not much exciting going on really. Life continues otherwise unchanged.I work. I chill out. Gardens looking amazing!
Sunshine

The Mistakes We Make…

mistakesI’m the boss. When I get fresh-out-of-school trainees in my office, one of the first things I say to them is they are allowed to make as many mistakes as they like. Feel free to try loads of different things and not to be shy in getting anything wrong; it’s ok. Obviously try to avoid mistakes if they can, and certainly avoid any big ones, but it you do cock-up, ok then, it’s cool. It is fine to get things wrong. It’s part of life.

Why? Because when we get things wrong, we learn. We learn big time. We learn big lessons in life. Basically when we make mistakes; it’s one of the few times we are forced to sit up and, look, listen and learn.

“Oppps, better not do that again!”

The next thing I tell them is they are only allowed to the same mistake once! That I expect them to learn from their mistakes. If they cannot learn from their mistakes, if they keep on repeating the same old blunders again and again, then they must be retards and will quickly find life in the office difficult and most likely short. Such is life in the city!!

The same applies to our health. In our quest to be healthy we are forced to try heaps of different things to help our multiple problems. When we research an idea, it usually comes from someone who swears blind;

“This is the answer to everything. All your problems will vanish instantaneously, almost like magic. In fact, why haven’t you tried it yet? Are you are retard?”

So we sift through all the ideas, we try a few things.
Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose.
Sometimes it’s a small mistake and it’s no big deal.
Sometimes it’s a biggie.
Sometimes the mistakes we make hurt hard.

And what we usually do is learn from our errors. I am big on this concept. I expect the people who work for me to learn from their mistakes. And I expect myself to learn from my own mistakes too.

Well, I have to admit I screwed up again. A biggie too. A proper cock-up. One that hurt. Not wildly hard, but hard enough to make the last 12 months pretty difficult. A repeated mistake no less. What a sin! And one I should have known better. What a retard I am. I of all people should have known better!

In my defence, there are plenty of reasons for the repeated mistake. Pain, fear and dread being fairly high up on the list. But we don’t get many second chances in life and it’s important to be honest with oneself: I made a repeated mistake, again.

What did I do?

I trusted my doctors, again.

What a dick!

Me? Trusting a doctor? What was I thinking? I can hardly believe myself. But yeah, I trusted a bunch of doctors and they led me astray. Again. Offfffff!
I am humiliated. What a complete fucking dick!
Ok, here are the gory details, I will keep ‘em brief:

July 2011 Chelation round damages me. I am tired and drained of energy; life gets difficult all over again. Temps are all low and I am clearly adrenal and thyroid fatigued. I start adrenal and thyroid support.

Jan 2012: All hell breaks loose and I have a major heart issue. Heart is stuck on bonkers, beating like a runaway train. This is mega serious and regular doctors are called in urgently. My general practitioner, my heart doctor, and a new specialist thyroid doctor all tell me it is my self medication of thyroid support that has caused all this hassle.

Feb-Dec 2012: Lots of herbal cleanses and a change in diet in 2012 sort out the heart problem. All doctors I see (except Dr P) say I have no thyroid problem.

Feb 2013 I re-start chelation. This again damages me and I restart thyroid investigations. Again I see another doctor, and again he says no thyroid problem. But from my temps and symptoms I can clearly tell my adrenals and thyroid are busted.

May-June 2013 I still have to figure out a correct treatment plan, but it is now blindingly obvious I have an adrenal and a thyroid problem.

So there we have it. What a dick. I did have a heart problem. In that the docs were correct, but they missed the thyroid and adrenal signals and put me off the scent so that I did not treat myself for those problems. I have to admit I was scared of the thyroid and adrenal pills because of the way they interacted with the heart issue…but still, I have had thyroid issues all along. The doctors distracted me from what I should have known was true. I had a heart problem, but I ALSO had a thyroid problem and an adrenal problem too.

What I should have done is started thyroid support last year. That way I could have been feeling better now. But such is life. At least I figured it out now. Most people go through life never understanding or being able to help themselves like I can.

I don’t blame the doctors. I blame myself. I am the Boss. My health is my responsibly. I should not have delegated it to others. Yet another lesson for me. I should trust myself. Most of the doctors out there don’t know there arse from their elbow.

That’s all folks!
Sunshine

PS.I re-started adrenal support today. 25mg Adrenal cortex extract. Wish me luck!!

Dear Sunshine…From Dr Peatfield

Following letter received from Dr Peatfield in reply to my letter of a couple of weeks ago. This is all to do with my thyroid and adrenal glands.

b_peatfield_largestDear Sunshine

Thank you for your letter, as we’ve said before, I am sure you have adrenal insufficiency, which comes and goes in the less organized times. If you are having thyroid support, and THEN have adrenal support, you’ll get all kinds of symptoms. You start with adrenals, after 2 to 3 weeks, add in thyroid support. If you do it the other way round, you run into big trouble. I don’t think your blood pressure or pulse can say anything about your adrenals.

Anyways, you’re on thyroid support and feeling better.

In answer to your questions:

1) Do I have thyroid fatigue?Well yes.

2) What are my adrenals doing? Sound a bit low to me.

3) What’s the burning feet thing? – Don’t know, likely a thyroid thing.

4) Adrenaline surges? Is that what I had? – It was. You should stop thyroid support before you have adrenal support.

5) What to do about these things? – Could do more tests.

6) I have read that calcium can interfere with the thyroid glandulars. Should I take the calcium at a different time? – Yes, take calcium at different times from thyroid.

7) Supplements? Anything else? B’s????? – B’s, Selenium, Tyrosine etc…

8) I swallow the Nutri-Thyroid pills. Should I take them sublingually? – I swallow mine.

9) How often do I raise the Nutri-Thyroid dose? Every 7-10 days? – Give it a bit longer between doses.

10) I guess no upper limit like last time. Just keep gradually raise until temps rise? – Raise until you feel better.

11) Should I switch to Armour at some point? Or just go with the Nutri-thyroid for now and see what happens? The reason I ask this is because in my experience both Nutri-thyroid and Armour take a LONG time to gradually raise the dose: 4-9 months each. I need to chelate my mercury out and for that I need strong thyroid support. Last time Armour was required for chelation as the glandular was not strong enough. – I take Armour.

All the best,

Barry
(Dr Peatfield to you!)

So there we have it: wise words for the main man on my thyroids and adrenals. Confirmed adrenal and thyroid fatigue, which I already knew, but great to have it confirmed by a professional. Now I gotta figure out how to support them both without getting those crazy adrenaline rushes.

In the mean time I tried thyroid support. Initially I felt better, but after 7 days things started going pear-shaped and I got a load of horrid symptoms. That means my adrenals are not strong enough to handle the thyroid support. It means I must support my adrenals first, before the thyroids. All of which I knew and know. And all of which I have tried before. Twice last year and twice this year. Each time adrenal support gave me a load of symptoms and side effects.

Frustrating eh! I can’t take thyroid support because my adrenals are too weak. And I can’t take adrenal support for some odd reason. I think the adrenal support is causing adrenaline rushes. I think I am getting the adrenaline rushes because the adrenal support hormones are causing the thyroid hormones to pool in my blood; which causes chaos. Or something like that.

I think the way around this problem is to dose the adrenal support differently. I think rather than starting on a low dose of adrenal cortex extract and building gradually up, I think I have to start dosage at a fairly high level. I think, but I’m not sure….for that I need Dr Peatfield again. So I am booked in for a telephone chat on Friday. Hopefully he will be able to shed some light on how to avoid the adrenaline rushes, and also how to handle them if and when they happen. Are they something to power through? Is that possible? Will the hassle last a few days then go away?? I don’t know…so I have to ask Dr P.

My Temp chart remains unchanged: unstable and low low low!

That’s all folks!
Sunshine

Dear Dr Peatfield…

Below is the letter I sent to Dr Peatfield today. Dr Barry Durrant-Peatfield is a major guru & living legend over here in the UK. He specialises in Adrenal and Thyroid support. He is the author of “Your Thyroid and How to Keep it Healthy: The Great Thyroid Scandal and How to Survive it.” His book has been super-helpful these last 6 years. All my appointments and telephone conversations have been awesome. I base all my metabolic support on his work. He is one of the few Doctors I like and trust. Not many of them about!!!!

Looks like thyroids is my Big thing at the moment.

Dear Dr Peatfield

Hi there, we spoke on the phone about five weeks ago and you asked me to try some Nutri-thyroid at very low dose to see what might happen. I have now tried it and results are as detailed below. I will also add some history, comments and some other investigations in order to make things as clear as possible.

History: Trouble re-started in Feb 2013 after one small, low dose round of mercury chelation under the Cutler protocol. The chelation round was fine, but after five days I became super tired, massively lacking in energy and freezing cold all the time. Obvious thyroid, and possibly adrenal, issues. So I started a temperature graph to see what was happening.

IMG_0436You can see from my temp graph the temps are all low which indicates thyroid troubles. I would also have said ‘possible adrenal problems’ because the temps are not totally stable, but they are not that unstable and I am not totally methodical when it comes to always taking 3 temps a day and averaging them. You can see from the graph that I often only do one or two temps and that I know affects the ‘average daily temp’. But it is equally clear they are always low and a little up and down. As far as I can tell, I definitely have thyroid issues, and I might have adrenal issues.

The temp graph is as per Dr Rind: three temperature readings per day, which are averaged and plotted on the graph. The reason I do this is because every morning I awake to a very furry and gunky mouth and I believe that can affect the temp. I have taken my morning basal temp these last few days and you can see them on the graph. Interesting to see them above my daily average temp!!!

FYG I have been having episodes of mega-hot, mega-sweating during the night. It comes and goes but I occasionally awake at 3am drenched head to foot in sweat. I am not always aware of this and my wife told me the other day that i was mega sweaty one night, but I didn’t wake up and wasn’t aware, so I am not sure if this is every night or not. I don’t think it’s every night. Mornings when I awake I am always feeling ‘warm-and-toasty’. In the day time I generally feel ‘cold’ and always wear extra layers to keep warm.

Before we go on, I have made an important discovery. I have been getting horrible heart palpitations and high blood pressure (BP) issues. The high BP seemed to come and go at odd, different times of the day. It’s been stressing me out. It gets me down.

I generally eat bread in moderation only, trying to have just one meal a day with bread, but 2-3 weeks ago I had bread at breakfast and lunch and I felt TERRIBLE in the evening. So as an experiment I stopped the bread, and from that day onwards it’s made a world of difference: no more heart palpitations, no more raised blood pressure. I feel grounded and secure at last; everything feels stable and level. This is a big deal. Cool news and happy dayz! Note: I do not feel/get digestive issues with the bread. It feels like something deeper than just digestive troubles the bread causes. Note: I am fine with potatoes and fine with brown rice too, (even in large portions.)

I have included my notes that detail my temps, symptoms and comments from day to day. Also included are my blood pressure readings, which as you will see have all calmed hugely down since I stopped eating bread.

Eight weeks ago when I tried the Adrenal Cortex, 1 cap, 50mgs, it was my BP that went crazy, along with the crazy heart palpitations. I am not sure what would happen now, now that the removal of bread from my diet has calmed things down?

And another thing, I am currently reading ‘Stop the Thyroid Madness’ book and it talks about ‘adrenaline surges’ when stating adrenal support. I have never heard of Adrenaline Surges before, but they sound exactly what I had when I took the adrenal cortex recently…and the same as 15 months ago when the adrenal and thyroid support kicked off all the major trouble with my heart. I have included a highlighted page from the book which very well describes what happened to me. Is that what happened to me?

Note of my current major symptoms: greatly lacking in energy, cannot exercise at all, cold and I have burning hot feet. Without shoes the heat dissipates away, but with any shoes and walking around for 30-60 minutes; the heat builds up to unbearable levels. This has been like this for about 7-8 months. It comes and goes. Sometimes very mild, sometimes a real hassle. No idea what it means when my feet are boiling hot, and the rest of my body is cold to the bone. Comical! Is this just one of the joys of thyroid fatigue? Or another problem to figure out?

So…I started on half dose of Nutri thyroid, 70mgs, felt nothing for 4 days but on the fifth day things got better. My notes from the day read:

“Feeling good!!!!!!!!! 7pm BP 129/80 p50, Yes felling better. More stable. Still lacking in energy but defo better. Dreams have returned with a vengeance.”

As the days progressed things remained the same, i.e. a general feeling of a little progress at long last. Importantly no wildness, no raised blood pressure and no heart palpitations.

After nine days I have raise the dose again, to one capsule, 140mgs Nutri-Thyroid. Two days in and no real change. Temps slightly up, but nothing certain yet.

Since I have been on Nutri-Thyroid: very hungry all the time, gained 1-2 KG in much-needed weight. I am now having two bowel movements a day, (instead of one). I occasionally get very low levels of depression, just feeling a little down after all the troubles I have…but feel much more buoyant and happy now I’m on thyroid support. And libido seems to be making a come back! Nice! Always a good sign!!

Other signals and signals:

1) Adrenal test. I did the blood pressure lying down and then standing up thing to test the status of the adrenals: done 11am20th May 2013:
Lying down after 5 minutes: 134/69, pulse 49
Standing up: 146/57, pulse 59
Hooary! I think that means my adrenals are ok????
Please confirm that’s the case.

2) Torch pupil test for the adrenals/aldoeterone: Mildly positive for this test. My pupil did fluctuate back and forth after 1 minute, but I must say it was mild. I have done this test before and on previous occasions the flutter back and forth was strong. On this occasion it was however pretty weak and mild.

3) I started selenium supplementation a couple of months back: noticed no difference.

4) I have added a chart of my current symptoms from ‘Stop The Thyroid Madness’ book.

Note: my current supplements:
Milk Thistle (for liver)
Hawthorn berry (for heart)
Mukta vati (for blood pressure)
Zinc
Magnesium
Calcium
Chromium Vit C
Selenium
Vit D3
1 cap Nutri Thyroid.

Conclusions and summery of questions:
1) Do I have thyroid fatigue?
2) What are my adrenals doing?
3) What’s the burning feet thing?
4) Adrenaline surges? Is that what I had?
5) What to do about these things?
6) I have read that calcium can interfere with the thyroid glandulars. Should I take the calcium at a different time?
7) Supplements? Anything else? B’s?????
8) I swallow the Nutri-Thyroid pills. Should I take them sublingually?
9) How often do I raise the Nutri-Thyroid dose? Every 7-10 days?
10) I guess no upper limit like last time. Just keep gradually raise until temps rise?
11) Should I switch to Armour at some point? Or just go with the Nutri-thyroid for now and see what happens? The reason I ask this is because in my experience both Nutri-thyroid and Armour take a LONG time to gradually raise the dose: 4-9 months each. I need to chelate my mercury out and for that I need strong thyroid support. Last time Armour was required for chelation as the glandular was not strong enough.

That’s probably enough. After I have sent this letter to you I will call and arrange another telephone conversation with you.

Thanks for the help Dr P. You da man!

Best regards
Sunshine

Note: Nutri-thyroid is thyroid glandular. That mean it is crushed up cow thyroid glands. Yummy!

Good news!

Doctor Joke (1)I have good news! Great news! It’s a miracle. Thank you. Thank you o great doctor! What would I do without you guys?

I have been feelin’ rough recently. Something has gone wrong with my hormones. Adrenals and thyroids is buggered up somehow. Three weeks ago I went to see my GP, my General Practitioner, my regular NHS doc, my hero. I explained that I was freezing cold all the time, had heart palpitations and no energy. In his wisdom he decided I was worthy of some blood tests: Kidney, liver, thyroid, full blood count.

The tests come back last Thursday and I dashed in to see him:
“Hi!”
“…and how can I help you sir?”
“My tests? Did my tests come in?”
“Tests?
“Yes, my blood tests.”
“Oh yes, I remember, yes yes, your tests. I remember now, yes. I have good news.”
“…what do they show?”
“Everythings fine. You’re OK.”
“Oh goody”
“Yes, look here: Liver, all in range. That’s good news. Kidneys too. All in range. No blood in your urine either.”
“But what about my thyroid? I am still freezing cold all the time. What does that test show?”
“TSH, in-range. Free T4, in-range”
“Oh”
“Yes. You are fine.”
“Ok. I understand those tests are in-range, however my symptoms remain. I remain freezing cold. I remain tired. I cannot do any exercise. Heart feels odd. What do we do now? What do we test next? I’m still very much ill.”
“You are fine.”
“I’m still ill.”
“You are fine.”

***

…and I knew I’d come to the end of this avenue of exploration. I tested fine. There was nothing further to do or say. This doctor could not help me. I explained I was still ill – but, my tests showed I was all right, in his eyes, and nothing further I said or did would make any difference. I was ‘healthy’. In his eyes I was okay. Not sure how he did not hear my words when I told him I was not fine, but, but, well yeah, whatever…

I knew this would happen. I knew the tests would show up fine. It’s happened before and I must say I am pretty proud of myself. I didn’t get angry, or annoyed, or frustrated, or anything bad. Its’ happened before, I was just doing due diligence, going to the doc first, rather than last.

Fucking dick.

It still amazes me in this day and age. Amazes me that he sent me away after I told him I felt really bad. What a Dick with a capital D. Anyway, this time I didn’t let it get to me. C’est la vie. Now it’s time to get on with the job of finding out what’s really wrong. Back to plan A.

***

And on that note, I do actually have some proper good news. Last 3 days I have actually started to feel a bit better. Only thing I have added is the 200mcg of selenium so I put it down to that. I have not been miracle-cured, but I am less cold, I have more energy and temps are just starting to rise a little. Just. It’s early days, but I am very happy with this success of the selenium. I also need less sleep, which is an intriguing signal for me: feels like I am returning to a more even keel. I am craving some less-than-health-freak food and beer too. Always a good sign for me;-))!!!

I will increase the selenium dose in the next few days, see what that does. Seems the selenium is helping me convert my T4 to T3, if that what it’s doing.

The selenium advice came from the Muscle Tester Lady. She has got some things wrong, but this success makes up for those wrongs. Sometimes you need to persevere with these people, keep explaining things to them, keep forcing them to listen, forcing them to keep searching.

I consider the muscle testers advise about a million miles better that my traditional western allopathic doc. I consider myself lucky to have found a practitioner that knew to look at my deficiencies, knew to look for that needle in that haystack, to find that I was deficient in selenium. Amazing actually that I found someone, that found a problem. Almost a miracle compared to the crap advice from my regular doc.

I am also going to arrange an appointment with Dr Peatfield (adrenal and thyroid specialist) and get all the proper adrenal and thyroid tests does. See what a professional thinks of my situation. No doubt that appointment is months await….he is a busy and booked-up chap.

***

In other news: I finished the juice fast. Did 4.5 days in total. It was hard. Didn’t really agree with my blood sugar levels. Lost 3kg’s in those 4.5 days, but I know it will all go back on in the next week. My body is hungry and is eating like a horse, replenishing me, rebuilding me. Feels good to be so hungry.

In other other news: still freezing in olde Blighty! Holy cow, been snowing again today. Most unusual. I long for spring to arrive!!!!! I need to warm up!

I bought two tons of horse manure a couple of months ago. Yesterday I finished shovelling the $hit. Now every bed is covered. That’s my good deed for the winter. My garden should now grow like crazy. If it ever warms up that is!!!!!

That’s all folks!
Happy Easter everyone!
Sunshine

Juice Fasting: Day 4, and Poor conversion of Thyroxine to T3

I am investigating my adrenal and thyroids. The adrenal crash, I think that’s what it was, remains. I am cold, tired and lacking in energy. Everything is a bit of a struggle. My temps are still low which indicates thyroid fatigue. The temps are also unstable which means adrenals buggered up too.

As everyone knows, adrenals get treated first when it comes to adrenal and thyroid glands. I had my Adrenal Cortex Extract (ACE) muscle tested by a professional muscle tester ten days ago. Showed fine, showed I needed it. So I started low, just 50mg’s of ACE to support my adrenals. That’s a really low dosage, but within five days my blood pressure shot up to ‘bananas’ levels: 156/84. I awoke in the middle of the night to a hammering heartbeat that did not go away. Sleep was impossible. This is the same issue I had a year ago when I had the major heart crisis. It was horrid, but I immediately stopped the ACE and things calmed down within a couple of days. Thank goodness I only took 50mgs ACE. I then upped my Mutka Vata intake to the max, 4 caps a day and that helped calm my heart down. This is the stuff that’s GREAT for calming and healing the heart. I can highly recommend it for heart issues.

I then went back to the muscle tester lady and explained what had happened. She retested the ACE and my body still liked it, which is extremely odd as the racing heart was unpleasant to put it mildly.

So….
What does that mean?
It means muscle testing is a guide; and I need to constantly remember that.
It also means something is broken and I need to figure out what.

Muscle tester lady did more testing and said it looks like I am ‘high in thyroxine (T4)’, and ‘low in T3’. Which means I have a poor conversion of thyroxine to T3. T3 is what the body actually uses and it needs to be converted to T3. I then got out ‘Amalgam Illness’ by Andy Cutler and had a good read. He said this exact issue is common in mercury toxic people.

So now I need to investigate this fully. This is exactly the same as what happened last year and it’s a serious bloody problem. I can’t take adrenal supplements and thyroid supplements don’t help either, even though I show adrenal and thyroid fatigue. Both, likely, I think, flip me to hyper, ie to too many hormones. Seems I am low and high in adrenal and thyroid reserves, but I am unable to treat them in the ways that I know about: ACE for adrenals, thyroid glandular’s for the Thyroid glands. Odd. I don’t even know if this has an official name or something. If anyone knows….do email me.

And I need a real and serious diagnosis on this one. Muscle testing got it wrong this time, so I think I need to search out an adrenal and thyroid specialist, again. Dr Peatfield will be the first port of call, if he hasn’t retired yet. No doubt his next appointment available will be 6-8 weeks minimum. And I need to somehow get all my thyroid lab tests done too. Not sure how I’m gonna do that yet.

Anyway…specialists are needed. I need a diagnosis. Serious, if anyone knows what this is called, please let me know: ‘High in thyroxine (T4)’, and ‘Low in T3’: Poor conversion rate.

Muscle tester lady said I badly needed selenium and that this will help with the conversion. I took 200mcg yesterday…and everything was cool. Lets see what selenium does to me. With my hand on my heart, I can’t believe that simple selenium will solve this major problem…..but I will be overjoyed if it does!!! LOL. Certainly worth a shot.

I researched Selenium and it seems pretty cool stuff. Cutler is ok with it too, as long and it’s not taken at too higher doses. If anyone’s interested in selenium, these make very interesting reading:

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/selenium/
http://www.wellnessresources.com/health/articles/seleniums_vital_role_in_thyroid_hormone_function/

juice_fastNext: I am currently on day four of a juice fast: veggies and some fruit. Powerful stuff juice fasting and something is detoxing in me…and I know about it! Not sure what part of me is detoxing, but I am a little itchy, jittery, have a furry mouth, have the $hits along with blood sugar issues that make me have lots of juices. All signals of major detox action. Water and herbal tea intake is very high to keep the hassle at bay. I will do one or two more days. I have a big lunch on Wednesday with work and I need to be back on the grub, or at least semi solids! And it’s bank holiday weekend coming up and my parents are over.

At this moment I am drinking fennel tea, which is supposed to suppress the appetite. It’s not really working!!! I have a list of the foods I’m gonna eat when I break my fast.

1) Mulligatawny soup: home-made Jaime Oliver style. Not sure why, but I crave it.

2) A raclette. Melted Swiss cheese over potatoes. You know I just love cheese!!

3) I fancy a decent curry too. I found a great one on Shaftesbury Avenue three weeks ago. Seriously one of the best (regular) curries I have ever had, and I’ve eaten a lot of curries!

4) Eat some of my homemade chocolate: Food of the gods that stuff!

5) Have a meal at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant. He makes great zingy food and that’s just what I need. There is one in St Alban’s which is close.

When I get the hunger pangs … I add to my list and imagine how much I’m gonna enjoy it!

Anyway, that’s about all for now, take care everyone.
Sunshine

“The best thing about mercury poisoning is…”

Ok ladies and gentlemen in the house, we have a guest blogger tonight. My friend Tara Armstrong from her MercOver blog has very kindly agreed to write a few words of wisdom for us all. I suggested the title and just let Tara do the talking: “The best thing about mercury poisoning is…”

d06sgod1yll7gsddHello folks!  Danny has so kindly asked me to share a few fun words with all you mercury crazed readers out there, and I couldn’t be happier to do so!  Mercury makes one hot mess of our lives, in so many ways, but it’s important to take a minute every so often, to slow your chelation drive, to quiet the ruckus of all those symptom zappers, and to clear  your precious little brain-fogged mind for a much needed detour…  To give yourself a few minutes to take a nice, deep breath, to connect with those with whom we share this journey, and to find plentiful gratitude for the gas in our tanks, the precious fuel that’s pushing us forward, the stuff that’s really working in helping us to heal!

Allow me to share of few of the favorites I like to use to fill my tank…  First and foremost, Alpha Lipoic Acid gets shotgun!   ALA is #1, seated right by my side, the one I want and need with me for the long haul.  This road trip wouldn’t be, without it.  Plain and simple.  ALA’s my buddy gettin’ the mercury out, makin’ me feel good, the real gas for this trip.  You’ll need it for yours as well!

In the backseat, I have to put my other best friends, my adrenal and thyroid support.  Adrenal Cortex Extract has taken me to the best cities on this drive.  It’s stabilizing my moods and my temperatures, and it’s feeling just plain amazing to have unlocked this door of my healing.  Thyroid hormone, it’s dear companion, is next in necessity and sequence, and I think it a fare assumption few will be able to chelate without it (at least without miserable side effects along the way).  I’m almost to the town of adding it in, and with icicles in my bones, bloated weight gain, and ugly hair loss joining me on my chelation ride, my detour to pick up Mr. Thyroid couldn’t have afforded one more layover.  Not even for the night.

Zeolite, or Zetox, is my extra special buddy in the back.  Zetox works similarly to chelators, though maybe not crossing the blood brain barrier, but I love using it daily to mop up both redistribution and metals as they’re chelated outta my body.  Since letting this clown into my car, I’ve been able to tolerate higher doses of ALA, my head is clearer, and I have a tank full of fuel to keep me going (Zetox is also packed with B12)!

In my trunk I’ve got my roadside emergency kit, filled with the stuff I pull out when symptoms knock me down hard and fast.  Fix-a-Flat kind of stuff.  In it, I’ve got loads of Vitamin C, Epsom Salts (for drink and baths), apple cider vinegar (usually taken as a good, strong shot — almost instantly cures many of my headaches!), gallons and gallons of water (a tool highly underrated and underused — when at a loss — drink more of it!), and a ticket to the sauna (helps lessen my explosive chemical reactions, and helps with redistribution and further chelating too).  For my chemical sensitivity, I also throw in Niacinamide and Oregenol (oregano oil), which help big time pre and post exposure.

So there ya have it folks.  My best buddies, the clowns in my car, the gas in my tank, and my convenience store snacks of choice for one fine road trip to Healing.  Could I make the trip without them?  All but ALA, maybe.  Would it be as pleasant a ride?  Definitely not!

Happy detours and sincere healing to those of you I share this road with.  May Road Trip 2013 be the best one yet!

Namaste.
Tara Armstrong
MercOver @ http://mercover.wordpress.com/

Lovely Tara, thanks very much. Good work.
Cool eh! If anyone else feels the urge to unleash some words, or share their wisdom, then drop me a line.

That’s all folks! Take care. 
Sunshine