Anyway, he made no mention of my recent labs. Free T3 measured in at a whopping 1.5. When I had it tested 18 months ago it was at 2.8. My microsomal AB (antithyroid antibodies) came in high at 36.5. Not way above the acceptable 35, but still of concern to me. When I said, Hey wait, what about my thyroid tests, he said there was nothing to worry about. He was more concerned that my Vit D was at 52, I usually keep it in the 80's. He said not to worry about the thyroid, things would get better when my SIBO was gone. He gave me NADH to help with my muscle stiffness and soreness. Not sure I like that. I want to know why I am crashing. So I did some research when I got home and found this on Chris Kresser's site. Gut issues lead to thyroid issues and the gut cannot heal when there are thyroid issues. Great! And then there's this all about low T3 and how it's caused by inflammation (check!), not eating enough carbs (check! that actually may have been from a separate article), and physiological distress (check!). "In emotional, psychological or physiological stress, the body will convert excess T4 to reverse T3 (rT3) as a means of conserving energy for healing and repair." - from the Low T3 article. And of course, I have lots of reverse T3. Ugh! Supplementing with T3 doesn't seem to be a solution but he did mention LDN (low dose Naltrexone) would be beneficial. 2 birds, one stone - a prokinetic and thyroid support all in one. So I emailed my ND and he called me in a script. I had been taking LDE (low dose Erythromycin) but never really liked the idea of a low dose antibiotic. Can't remember why I was taking LDE and not LDN but it really seems like I screwed myself there!
Oh, AND when I was rooting through my labs I came across my Urine Organix test that recommend I take more selenium, which I overlooked somehow, probably because I have had umpteen millions tests. Selenium is necessary for the body to convert T4 into T3. See here.
I also scheduled an appointment with Dr. Keller on Tuesday to skype from NCNM SIBO Center. I have lots of questions that my ND doesn't seem able to answer.
Then today I went in to get the results of my chiropractic reexam. My heart rate variability score was pathetic and my chiropractor is worried about my adrenals. A low HRV indicates dominance of the sympathetic response, the fight or flight side of the nervous system associated with stress, overtraining, and inflammation. - From Mark's Daily Apple. She said it's an indication that cortisol is just coursing through my system. Again, good explanation for not recovering from my workouts and feeling generally rundown. She wants me to talk to my ND about getting this test. It's all so overwhelming and I feel like I need to study in order to put it all together.
In the end I really have no complaints. When my family talked about what we were grateful for at dinner the first thing I always say is "my health". Because even though I have all this nasty crap in my gut, I am still a productive functioning human who can pretty much do anything I want. It seems like so many people who have SIBO don't have access to good doctors who understand the proper treatment protocols, struggle with how they are going to pay for the doctors who don't take insurance, the herbals which aren't covered by insurance, they have many symptoms most of which are far worse than mine and they also have other autoimmune or yeast or whatever issues that make the treatment of their SIBO even more difficult. I'm a lucky girl, that's for sure.
Oh and I had Brazilian Fish Stew from The Zenbelly Cookbook for dinner. Yep, life is good :)
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