Such a viscous cycle...

I've been exhausted and pretty miserable.  My thyroid tests came back and while my TPO antibodies have dropped to the low 100's, my hormones still remain on the low side of the lab's range of normal.  It's frustrating because I look at them from a Functional Medicine ideal standpoint and my ARNP looks at the lab norms.  I think if it were just my thyroid I wouldn't be in such rough shape but since it's the whole thyroid-adrenal-gut thing it's been tough.  Freezing (low body temp), hair falling out, exhausted, not feeling rested, water retention, weight gain, loads of freaking fun, just ask my husband.  Thankfully my motility seems to be staying out of the game although I am still doing Iberogast before each meal, ginger between breakfast and lunch and again at bedtime and Vit C and Magnesium with every meal.  Vit C is supportive to the adrenals and my body just doesn't seem to ever get enough magnesium.  I'm trying to do ConcenTrace Minerals in water when I can remember but they are gross :)  I am great at remembering pills because I can organize those in individual containers.  The tinctures not so much, even though they are right next to where I hang out the most.

Update:
My ARNP finally called in a prescription for T3 2.5mcg in the morning and at bedtime.  I wanted to try a T3/T4 combo since my T4 is borderline low but there just don't seem to be many good options out there and she wouldn't prescribe.  So I did what I always do and went rouge.  I went back through all my notes and found that you can get one product that may be beneficial without a doctor and that is Thyro-Gold.  The ND of my nutrition program had recommended it but didn't clue me in that it was not prescription.  I went ahead and ordered a bottle since I had instructions on how to take it and I wasn't sure 2.5mcg BID was going to cut it (I was on 15 mcg BID before I stopped meds and crashed).  I have to say I have felt a bit better this week (after starting meds on Monday), but not stellar and I am still really tired.  The Thyro-Gold just arrived so I think I may start it tonight in place of the nightly T3 and see how it goes.  I react poorly to Adrenal glandulars (they make me beyond exhausted) so I may have to contact the ARNP to increase the dose if I react to thyroid glandular as well.  It's a bit tricky given that sometimes the antibodies can get riled up when you add in more thyroid gland.  We'll see.

This week I've been reading:
The Prime - which I love and find really fascinating.  It's written by a neurologist who is also trained in Ayurveda so she uses lots of herbs for healing and health.
Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms and Root Cause - just gathering information on how to best support my body and what my options are.  It's good to be educated!
Thank goodness I have so many great libraries in such close proximity to my house.  I can't imagine the cost of buying all the books I want to flip through and then where the heck would I store them?!?!?

testing, testing

H. Pylori retest came back negative today.  So happy for that.  I dreaded another round of treatment so it's nice to hear it's gone and I can move on.

I saw my primary care provider today to review thyroid labs from late November.  Since going off my T3 supplement I have been slowly crashing.  My antibodies were in the mid 200's (likely due to the H. Pylori) so she wants to do a retest to see where my hormone levels and antibodies are now. It would be nice if everything came back stellar but I know I need a little supplementation in the form of hormones to boost me back up and support motility and healing.  Results should be back in a couple of days.

SIBOwise things have been pretty calm.  I'm sure there are some little bugs in there but they seem to be held at bay for the moment.  

My ARNP kind of scolded me for not keeping up on the bone broth.  I made excuses but I know better so I came home and put some stew meat and marrow bones in the hot pot and started a batch of soup.  It's much easier on digestion and I need to keep that in mind.  I'd much rather sit with a jar of nuts, kale chips and chocolate :)

If you haven't been watching/listening to the Fat Summit you may want to check it out.  It's been pretty good so far.

Has it really been that long...

I would blame it on the holidays but I really don't get all up in arms about it.  We don't make many obligations and we don't buy gifts.  What did happen is I got a whopper of a cold from my son just after Thanksgiving.  I even ended up taking Mucinex D several days.  For him it landed in his chest for me it socked into my sinuses.  I really didn't feel that bad but ended up draining out a lot of bloody mucus and my massage therapist said my sinuses felt really puffy.  The draining was almost worse than when it was stuck.

Oh and I had another screw put in my jaw just as I was getting sick. That helped a lot!  And another screw came out yesterday (meaning I took it out).  They wanted to cut my gums and screw into my cheekbone but I said no. (Um, no way in hell!).  It makes sense to pull on the jaw if you are trying to intrude the teeth but to pull on the cheekbone to push up into the jaw just seems like you are asking for trouble.  

I finally finished up my Matula tea treatment for the H. Pylori.  I have another month of the biofilm buster (biocidin), Mastic gum and licorice root and then I retest.  I can't wait to be able to take Betaine and/or Ox Bile again.  I just feel like I am not breaking things down and my digestion feels more sluggish.  I do not like it.

I've been taking adrenal glandular support and licorice root when I remember to help prolong the life of the cortisol circulating.  I need to add in DHEA and Pregnenolone although I am toying with adding Cordycepts first.  My mentor is against this, she feels that formulas provide a better synergistic effect.  

I went over my thyroid tests with the ND on Monday and my thyroid hormones were borderline so no need to supplement, Yay!  But my TPO antibodies were in the high 200's. She thinks it's due to the H. Pylori treatment.  I'm hoping so!  She recommended Wobenzyme-N to help bring the antibodies down by reducing inflammation.  I've heard great things about proteolytic enzymes.  Livestrong calls bullshit on them but they help the body break down protein so if I don't feel like they are having a benefit outside of meals I can take them with meals since I can't break down protein completely by myself.

Oh and no more itching!  Ha!  Stupid ass lactase!  In light of the Hashimoto's confirmation it's back to LDN.

New Supplements for the HPA axis crapola

These came via UPS today (like that matters).  

The Adrenal PX is a crap-ton of Vitamin B5 with some calcium, magnesium, DHEA, Pregnenalone and Ashwagandha root.

The ThyroCare is iodine (which I eat fairly regularly), selenium (which I was taking and just stopped), Bladderwrack, Blue Iris, Myrrh, Nettle, Ashwagandha root, Triphala, Ginger root, and 3,5 Diiodotyrosine.  This one should stimulate motility a bit too with the Triphala and ginger, we'll see!

Just when I was getting away with taking less pills!!!  I've added 4 Adrenatone with breakfast and now 1 of each of these both morning and night.  Dr. Keller is going to send a new T3 kit too and that will add 2 more.  So that's 8 more a day.

ASI Update and more supplements (of course!)

Finally made time to talk with Dr. Keller about my ASI results.  It's quite evident that I need a bit of support which is not surprising to me.  I worked a high stress/long hours job for quite a while and didn't take care of myself, up too late, drank waaaaaay too much and ate like crap.  I exercised occasionally but probably in a way that creates more stress than relieves it.  So I'm adding the following to my supplements:

• Arenomend - 2 a day with a meal, after a week or two, increase to 4
• Adrenal PX - one in the morning and one at bedtime

Arenomend is an herbal support blend and I thought she said Adrenal PX is a pharmaceutical, it contains DHEA (mine is depressed), Pregnenalone (which is a hormone your body steals away to make more Cortisol), and Ashwaganda.

My Insulin both fasting and non-fasting was low.  My non-fasting insulin was no higher than my fasting insulin.  What??  I'm doing a low carb/high fat thing but nothing drastic and I certainly don't think I'm in ketosis. So we're going to give jasmine rice a try.  Wish me luck!!! My digestion has been great, I just want to keep it that way.

My Secretory IgA (sIgA) was borderline low.  Not good! "Secretory IgA (SIgA) serves as the first line of defense in protecting the intestinal epithelium from enteric toxins and pathogenic microorganisms.", from this article on Nature.com.  Definitely need more of that!  Ha!  Thankfully all it takes is another quick search and I found ways to increase it naturally here.  Unfortunately I am already doing most all of them.  I could incorporate more bone broth I guess but I already have soup every day.  I just upped my doseage of fish oil so that should help too.  It's always something!

In good news, it looks like the T3 taper may have helped kick my body in gear.  In a couple of days I will be done with the taper and if my temperature stays up then I don't have to add T3 back in.  Dr. Keller does want me to add:

• Thyrocare - one in the morning and one at bedtime.

This will help support my body's conversion of T4 to T3.  Just when I had finally decreased the number of pills I am taking she adds 3 more :)

I asked her about digestive enzymes and betaine hcl because I will be out in a day and she recommended Klaire Labs Vitalzymes and Designs for Health Digestzymes.

Off to enjoy the sunshine, in other words feed the chickens, gather eggs and pick up dog poop before my son comes home and runs around the yard.

J..J..J...Jittery!

I've been on this T3 taper, increasing my dose of T3 every 3 days.  You go up and then come back down to see when you feel the best and your temperature regulates.  It's been hard getting my temp, this time of year I always drink hot liquids making oral temps out and I always wear a hat making temporal temps difficult too.  Plus I forget :)

Cut to Tuesday of this week when I went up to 60mcg.  Holy moly!  I became jittery and almost manic.  It was like I had chugged a 2 liter of Coke.  I don't drink much caffiene, the occasional Jasmine tea, because I don't tolerate it well.  So I skipped my nighttime dose and the next day woke up and quickly became jittery again.  I skipped the morning dose and luckily was able to skype with Dr. Keller.  She said, "wow!  I can see it and feel it".  It didn't help that I was also easily distracted and the chickens were raising a ruckus outside the open door.  She had me take T4, and restart up my T3 that night, try to stay on it the next day, using T4 to level me out and then taper back down the day after.  Thank goodness my body adjusted, I just couldn't imagine being that hyped up.  Whew!

She says that I should only need to take T3 for a short period of time while we work on my conversion because I am making enough TSH and T4, just not converting it to the usuable Free T3. 

LDN

I've been on low dose Naltrexone (LDN) for several days now.  I started out at 1.5mg and have been tapering up, currently at 3mg at bedtime.  I was expecting difficulty sleeping and vivid dreams but have not experienced anything different than normal.  That's probably a good thing!  I've taken the low dose erythromycin (LDE) out of my nighttime routine.  My motility remains top notch.  I think (for me) the high fat, low carb diet definitely helps.  My gut  seems really happy as of late.  

Now if only I could figure out why I am running so darned hot.  My ND requested I start taking my temperature before I started my thyroid medicine and it's been in the high 99's to low 100's for probably 2 weeks.  Normally I run in the mid 97 range.  Not sure what the heck is going on unless it's my diet.  I started the thyroid meds a week ago and it hasn't really changed my body temp so not sure what to think.  I swear you could spend all day every day just trying to figure out what's going on with your body.  That's not really living however.

At least my gut is happy!

No Regrets!

Oh man am I suffering.  I could barely move today after stressing my body all weekend in that 10hr yoga workshop.  I just started on my thyroid medication so my T3 is still really low. I knew it would tax me but man today was rough.  Unbelievable fatigue!  And I did the EXACT thing you shouldn't do in this circumstance, I drank green tea.

Tonight I went through my old journals and my medical file to clean out the things I no longer need.  Holy mackeral I ate like crap when I started this journey!!  In the beginning I made a lot of breads out of nuts and then spread more nut butter on top of them and made and consumed shortbread cookies of some kind daily.  I was such a sugar addict (although I cut out cane sugar back in 2011, not that it mattered because there are so many substitutes!).  No wonder it's taken me so long to get to this point!  Wouldn't it be nice to be able to travel back and kick yourself in the butt :)

So Dr. Keller wants to test my adrenals through a saliva test but I heard on this podcast that the saliva test only tests for free cortisol which only accounts for 1% of the total cortisol in your body AND hypothyroidism causes poor clearance of free cortisol so the results will likely show more than is actually there.  Chris Kresser recommends DUTCH (dry urine testing comprehensive hormone) testing through Precision Analytical which is of course more than twice as expensive.  Do I get the less expensive test even though it could be inaccurate or do I go for the accurate test or the 3rd option do I just scrap it and take supplements to support my adrenals?  I'm seriously just considering the latter.  All this lab work reallys adds up!

Day One of The Healthy Gut Summit was kind of a bust.  Looking forward to Dr. Knight tomorrow and his American Gut Project talk and also interested to see what Dr. Axe has to say.  I always find it interesting when chiropractors get into functional medicine.  I imagine for most it's a personal journal struggling with their own issues that leads them on a different path after chiropractic school.

Oops I did it again!

So I finished my Herbal Biotic and added in the essential oil Melaleuca pretty much at the same time.  My motility has been waaaaaay too good, if you know what I mean.  My ND in Seattle loves the Herbal Biotic which is an Heron Botanical kitchen sink formula that is full of garlic.  

When I broke down and added it back in my belly itched for days.  I associate the itchiness with leaky gut (I got the same way when I drank beer and ate out at a restaurant), although I have no way of knowing for sure.  But I stuck with it for 3 months anyway.  I didn't keep a food journal or diary of any kind so don't know if I felt crappier during those 3 months but it seems that way now.  I picked up a couple of notebooks on the way home today and I think I'm going to start journaling for a few minutes each night to keep better track of how I am feeling.  I use the mySymptoms app to track my food, supplements and general reactions to food.

So I can't decide if I want to test before I change course.  I hate the thought of feeding those bugs in my gut, even though it's just once.  I know I still have SIBO, so do I really need to have the number before changing gears?  I think yes, then I think no. *sigh*

Talked to the pharmacist today who was filling my thyroid medication and LDN prescriptions.  He was fascinated by them for some reason but restrained himself from asking me about them.  He just kept calling them "interesting" and asking if she went over all the specifics about how/when to take them.

This posted today.  It's also in iTunes.  I have it downloaded and ready to go!  I love Sean Croxton, his interviews are always so good.

Results

My thyroid antibodies went from 36 to 44 after my little cheating binge.  Having results like this will definitely keep me on the straight and narrow diet wise - no more beer, no more rice or rice protein powder (can cross react with wheat) and no more eating out and thinking a little bit of gluten isn't going to hurt me.

Just checking

After I had my thyroid tested I went on that binge and ate a bunch of stuff I usually don't (including Thai food which let's face it has a wheat in the sauce).  So I decided to test my thyroid antibodies again before I went whole hog into the medication and full on AIP diet route.  My ARNP, as much as I love her, is a pain to see because you always end up waiting so I really didn't want to go see her just to get a lab slip.  Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this AND they are having January specials on all their thyroid panels.  Meant to be I tell ya!  I paid my $49 for a thyroid antibodies test, printed it this morning and drove to a lab that about 5 minutes from my house.  It was so easy.  Can't wait to see what's on special next month ;)

I found these articles too about Hashimoto's and SIBO.  The health of the gut is connected to so much.  It can be mind boggling and quite scary.  I've had such trouble getting rid of my SIBO and I have been really worried that it would trigger something else.  But really in the end I could have had Hashi's first and that opened the door for SIBO.  There is no use trying to figure out what came first, as much as I'd love to know!

Hello Hashimoto's

You know how you go to one doctor and they give you an opinion and then you relay that opinion to another doctor and they don't openly disagree or contradict they just kind of politely nod.  That did NOT happen today.  When skype clicked on today Dr. Keller was ready to go.  When I said that my other ND blew off the thyroid stuff and said it was nothing to worry about she threw her arms up and made a WTF face :)  I love her.  I loved the honesty.  She has tiptoed around his recommendations in the past but this she could not leave alone.  So she is setting me up with a thyroid medication that I need to taper up and then back down over the course of 60 days and then we'll test again to see how my thyroid responded.  I also need to take my temperature several times a day.  You'd think there would be a device I could wear that would do this for me, but apparently not.

I have not been sticking to the AIP protocol but in light of recent information I think I need to give it another try.  She mentioned cross reactivity with millet, sorghum and rice so I guess those are out for the foreseeable future in addition to wheat.  Nuts and eggs are just so hard for me to give up.  And the spices :(   I never thought I could miss cumin or chili powder so much.

She is also setting me up with a ASI kit so I can test my adrenals.  I would love to do the carb challenge to see what happens with my insulin but I can't see any realistic way of eating 75 grams of carbs with lunch!  

She also agrees that I should switch from LDE to LDN in light of my thyroid stuff.  She doesn't think I'll have a problem with it since I sleep like a rock but she stills want me to taper up from 1.5mg to 3mg then to 4.5mg over the course of a week and a half.

On the bright side my Wellness Meats order showed up.  Who knew a bison liver was so tiny.  The beef livers I get are HUGE.  The bison liver fits in the palm of my hand.  It's got to be just a piece of the beef liver.  Can't wait for the weekend when we'll crack open the beef bacon, slice it up and fry it.  I don't eat pigs.  I had a pet pig who slept with me.  I just can't eat them.  I am most excited about the liverwurst.  It's full of offal which is supposed to be uber healthy and a really big part of healing your gut and nourishing your body.  Someday I might get up enough courage to make these but for now, I'll stick with my liverwurst.