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?!?!?

Merry... err... Happy Holidays

Sorry I haven't been posting much.  Lots of experimentation, questioning and thinking.

I'm feeling pretty darn good.  The only SIBOesque symptom I have on a regular basis is bloating, although that could be related to the permeability that's still lingering or the H. Pylori (if that's still there) or my inability to digest protein well coupled with my lack of digestive support due to H. Pylori protocol.  I've had constipation a few times in the last month but not horrible.

Feeling much better after working on the adrenals.  I have been using the adrenal glandulars, DHEA and licorice root.  I've worked up to one drop (1.2mg) of DHEA with breakfast and one drop with lunch.  That was ROUGH.  For the first 3-4 days I was sooooo irritable, angry and just climbing out of my skin.  I don't know how bodybuilders ever survive actual hardcore steriods.  Phew!  If you recall my ND recommended I work up to 3 drops, 3 times a day and honestly I don't know that that kind of dose is warranted.  Less is more!  I've been using a couple of drops of licorice with lunch to help extend my cortisol since afternoons are my biggest drop in energy.  I have not added in the Pregnenolone yet.

I ordered some mushrooms from Four Sigma Foods after listening to this podcast from Ben Greenfield.  He can be a little out there but I believe he is smart and does his research on things that he himself uses.  Like me he is also interested in a lot of self experimentation.  So while mushrooms themselves are a big NO NO for SIBO I decided I'd give them a whirl since they can be so supportive of the other issues I am dealing with (thyroid, adrenal).  And my husband LOVES mushrooms so if I don't like them I'm sure he will.  I ordered the Lion's Mane, Reishi, Cordyceps and Chaga bundle since they were on sale plus there was a coupon for an additional 15%.  It's still listed on their site but I'm not sure it's still active.  I wanted to try the hot chocolate blends but they have nightshades and I'm avoiding those for now.

After finishing the digestion portion of my nutrition certification class and learning a lot about the structure of the intestinal lining I decided to try coconut elimination for a while.  I cannot put coconut on my skin or lips without them getting super chapped.  It takes about 3 days and then the skin feels like it's going to be peel from my body.  It's weird.  The intestinal lining is made of epithelial cells, obviously different from the skin, but seemingly a lot more delicate.  As I've restricted my diet more and more I've added in more coconut oil and more coconut milk.  Given the response of my skin I thought it would be good to take a break and see what happens.  Oh and I was negative on the Array 10 which is part of why I kept ignoring my external reaction.

After listening to Dr. Keller on the Phoenix Helix podcast and her extreme caution about probiotics I cut back on them for a while.  I don't know why.  I was a patient of hers and didn't find her methods super effective.  It only took a few days for me to realize I feel so much better when I take a ton of various probiotics.  I resisted listening to the podcast for a long time and now I know why.  Of course Dr. Ruscio came out with his own video and said if you tolerate things there is no reason to get rid of them.  That speaks to me a lot more than possible unnecessary restriction.

I got my UBiome results back.  I haven't had a time to really dive into them but I can tell you the reporting is so much faster and more detailed and easier to understand than The American Gut Project that I did before.  And UBiome often runs smoking deals where you can get 3 kits and run time lapse self experiments on your gut biome to see how much of an impact your treatment or diet or exercise or whatever impacts your bacteria.  Fascinating!

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday season whatever they celebrate!  Remember to take time to take care of yourself.  You deserve it!

Current Protocol

Adrenals:

• Adrenal Glandular - 100mg breakfast and lunch
• Licorice Root - a few drops with lunch (helps extend life of cortisol)
• Cordycepts - one tablet with breakfast
• DHEA sublingual - up to 4 drops with meals (haven't added this yet)
•  Pregnenolone sublingual - up to 4 drops with meals (haven't added this yet)

Thyroid

• Zinc - breakfast and dinner
• Wobenzyme-N - 5-10 caps, 3 times a day on an empty stomach.  WOW!  Just looked through my notes and found that.  Wonder if she meant 5-10 separated into 3 doses or up to 30 a day!  That's a ton of pills!

SIBO/Gut Support

• Digestive enzymes with meals
• Lion's Mane at bedtime*
• Acetyl L-Carnitine at bedtime*
• L-Glutamine between meals and at bedtime
• Zinc L-Carnosine between meals and at bedtime
• Iberogast before meals
• Megaspore - 2 caps with lunch
• Orthobiotic/PrescriptAssist/Primal Defense (rotating) - between meals

H. Pylori

• Mastic Gum - 2 caps with meals
• NAC - 1 cap with meals
• Biocidin - before meals (both kills and provides biofilm disruption, contemplating switching to Interfase Plus and Allimax)

*Lion's mane and Acetyl L-Carnitine are thought to help with nerve regeneration in the small intestine.  Even though I've had lifelong motility issues I don't recall having the bloating or other issues until after the two food poisoning incidents 6 years ago.  I'm running off the assumption that they were the tipping point.  Although to be honest I don't remember a heck off a lot about my health from the first couple of years of my son's life.  My adrenals just tanked after my pregnancy and it's all a blur.

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.

I eat dead food...

according to Ayurveda, the sister science to yoga.  Ayruveda says food should be prepared fresh and eaten right away. Leftovers, items that have been frozen or canned are apparently dead and do not feed the body.  I can only seem to chew veggies if I cook the bejeezus out of them so I'm sure there is not much nutrition left to them at all.  Is it worth eating them at all??  A friend posted this on her fb group a while back but I promptly ignored it.  There's   I'm eating too much, not taking my time and chewing enough (hard with all the orthodontia) and just feeling overly full most of the day.  I am off all ox bile and HCL while I treat the H. Pylori and that's not helping at all.  I read today that the itch can come from H. Pylori (my friend always suggests histamines, which I DO NOT want to hear!).  I'm banking on the pylori (and lactase) for now since it's primarily after meals and all freaking night after my Resolor. Need to do something about that.

And I was reminded of this today which has a lot of similarities but with actual science behind it.

As I mentioned before if I eat the same thing every day my digestion stays spot on but I am really feeling the need to shake up my diet.  I feel swollen and kind of gross.  I'm eating waaaaaay too much chocolate.  I keep threatening elemental (which would not be good for my adrenals or thyroid) or just scrapping the whole lot which wouldn't been good for my SIBO.  I need to come up with a reasonable middle ground.  I just can't imagine not reaching for my frozen jars of (dead) soup.  I did drag out the dehydrator today and dehydrated some kale.  I pulled out a raw bread recipe book in hopes of making some raw wraps out of greens and herbs.  We'll see how well I tolerate them.  I really don't want to pull out my juicer, it's just a beast and I hate cleaning it.

I do know I need to make the time to do my daily yoga practice, meditate 12 minutes a day (that's the minimum necessary for positive brain benefits) and take time to read.

Alright, enough bitching and moaning for now :)  Everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving!

DUTCH

First of all, the timing is hilarious.  Mike Mutzel interviewed the Medical Director of Precision Analytical the company that makes the DUTCH test.  They talked in a secret geek code for snippets of time which made to hard to follow, enough to make me listen 3 times trying to get it all. I loved her statement that we need to stop saying adrenal fatigue (or burnout) because the adrenals don't stop making their hormones, the whole hormone system is off from repeated stressors.  In our case a big part of the problem is SIBO and the amount of nutrients the bacteria steal from us.  I think it has a big impact on our ability to make neurotransmitters and to properly synthesize all these hormones correctly and man we feel it! In a weird coincidence I got my DUTCH results the same day I listened to the podcast.  I watched a lot of Precision Analytical videos but they seem to be on an older report so it didn't match up well.  

I have an appointment tomorrow evening to go over the results with Dr. Pomeroy (the medical director of my nutrition certification program).  It will be good to make heads or tails out of all this.  

So what do I think so far???  My thyroid may be playing a big part.  I've wanted to think I can get off my thyroid medications (S-R T-3) but all these hormones have such an interplay that I may have to just suck it up and realize I just may never convert T-4 to T-3 effectively. Dr. Keller believed I wouldn't kick SIBO until I straightened out my thyroid, maybe she had a point.  So on to the results.  I stopped using any adrenal support 2-3 weeks prior to testing and immediately started feeling better.  If you remember from my previous post supplementing caused my cortisol to plummet.  Off supplements my cortisol bounced back and boy could I feel it.  Not like I was ready to conquer the world but I enjoyed physical activity again, it didn't feel so hard.  So it appears my body makes a decent amount of cortisol but shunts much of it to cortisone, the unusable form.  It can synthesize it back and forth in various parts of the body.  My sex hormones are all low and it looks like I have issues with hormone methylation.  My cortisol metabolites were all low which means while I am making plenty of cortisol my body just isn't processing it, my actual metabolized cortisol was really low.

The program I am in likes to supplement hormones (DHEA and Pregenolone) to get the body back on tract but I'm not sure it's necessary, especially when you do a more indepth test like this and find out it's not about the actual production of the hormone itself but more the body's ability to process those hormones into usable forms.  How do I support that other than the obvious, heal the gut?  Not sure.  Stay tuned.

Starting Matula tomorrow

My stomach has been feeling pretty normal since getting rid of the Betaine HCL and the bitters.  I think I was just burning the crap out of my vulnerable stomach lining.  I haven't changed my diet at all yet.  I just finished up my 50 hr Yin Yoga teacher training today and didn't want to upset the apple cart too much until that was done.

I started the Mastic Gum and NAC last week and tomorrow I will add in the Matula tea (upon rising and at bedtime) and add in the DGL prior to meals.  Not sure about this.  My itching has been coming and going.  Seems more related to FODMAPs than anything else.  I still worry about my inability to chew/digest protein without the support.  It would be so much easier without worrying about the SIBO so much.  

My BM still often feel incomplete (since stopping ox bile).  TMI, I know but at least things are still moving.  I worked up to 1/2 of a 1mg tablet of Resolor by accident really.  One night I was distracted and took a half pill instead of a quarter and did okay so I have stayed there.  

I tried to go down to 7.5mcg of my SR T-3 but started to feel cold, tired and my digestion a little more sluggish so I bumped back up to 15mcg.  Maybe that's my sweet spot for now.  r really should test my overall thyroid function again but in order for it to be submitted for coverage by my insurance it has to be ordered by a doctor and I don't want to schedule an appointment just to get a lab req.

My DUTCH test results should come back this week and I'll be able to meet with the medical director via phone to go over them.  Hopefully will provide some insight into what is going on with my hormone conversion.

Results finally - Breath Test #8

Results from May 2015. Breath test number 7.

Results from this month after gacking down guar gum with my herbal kill supplements.  

Not really what I was expecting given that my C and bloating have pretty much resolved. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.  And it's not negative (like it says) because any methane at or above 3 is positive and really you shouldn't have any methane at all. And if there were no methanogens to eat the hydrogen gas, the hydrogen numbers would be higher. That said, I'm not having any real SIBO symptoms, maybe a little mild bloating throughout the day but not enough to change what I wear (I'm really self conscious when I have a gut and great at hiding it).  I am having D which is a super nice change.  Those with C understand :)

AND notice the date tested is 10/17, a full 10 days ago.  I sent an email questioning why I didn't get the results sooner, especially since I called on the 21st and was told they weren't ready.  Their response:

Hi Shari,

Our turn around time for sending results to the ordering provider for tests taken with kits at home is no later than 2 weeks from the date the completed kit is received in the lab. After samples are tested, they also must be interpreted and the results finalized before we release the results. This depends on how many other kits we received ahead of your kit.

We also do not release results directly to patients unless/until we receive a signed release of information form.

For SIBO tests taken here at the clinic, the turn around time for results is faster, either same day or next day.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Best,

Audra
--
Audra Lee, M.S.
NCNM SIBO Lab
P 503-552-1931
F 503-444-6709

My response was along the lines of "the numbers are the numbers", it's not like they add any sort of interpretation or add a narrative or really anything.  I also may have said I recommend to others in the SIBO community that they find another lab with a reasonable turnaround time :)

Okay, enough ranting!!  

I'm good where I am so I'm just going to sit on it for awhile, continue with the MegaSpore and hope that the hype is right and it does contain the number one strain used in Europe to treat SIBO.  Although I've never seen anyone from Europe actually talk about MegaSpore or using probiotics in the forums (I guess if their SIBO is gone they wouldn't need to be there too!).  I'll stick with low FODMAPs for at least 6 weeks and decide what to do then.  Until then I'll focus on getting my adrenals and thyroid noodled out.  My worry is until this infecton is gone nothing else will heal.  Guess time will tell!

Waiting on results....

It's been a week since my last antimicrobials and will be a week tomorrow since my breath test.  Since then I've just been sticking to a strict low FODMAP, mostly AIP diet.  The AIP part is only because so many of those foods showed up on my Array 10.

My belly still seems pretty big.  Inflammation?  Bloat?  I don't know but it seems to be slowly getting smaller.  My weight is slowly coming down.  My BM's have been spot on which is amazing since I'm not taking Magnesium at bedtime.

So what am I doing these days?

• Glutamine 2-3 times a day
• Zinc L-Carnosine 2-3 times a day
• Iberogast before meals
• Ox Bile with meals
• OrthoBiotic with breakfast
• Primal Defense between breakfast and lunch
• MegaSpore Biotic with lunch
• LDN at bedtime (will be switching to Resolor in a few days)

While waiting for the DUTCH test to arrive I have slowly (purposely) run out of all the adrenal support I was taking.  The only thing I am taking is Gaia Adrenal Health, it doesn't have additional DHEA or pregnenolone or adrenal gland, it's just herbs and I actually feel better.  It's also just so nice to be taking less supplements.

Other news...... we got a new car and a rooster.  The car is a used Toyota Highlander Hybrid, great gas mileage and will be good for camping.  Car shopping sucks and it's nice to have it done with.  The rooster was offered up on our neighborhood buy nothing fb group.  I was planning on eating him (she knew that when she gave it to me), but he's so pretty and funny and isn't crowing, so he's sticking around. Roosters are not allowed in the city, as long as he keeps his beak shut he's good :)  

R&R

I had a 2 hour Results and Recommendations appointment with my mentor yesterday.  We went over the results of my adrenal tests and she has concerns over my patterns and the fact that with supplementation my DHEA has gone through the roof and my cortisol into the toilet, my sex hormones aren't where they should be given the supplementation as well. There seems to be some conversion issues that the DUTCH test can help clarify.  If you have been here a while you will remember back in February when I got my first adrenal test that this was the one I wanted but didn't do because of the expense.  Now I've paid for 2 adrenal tests and still need the DUTCH test.  Pretty annoying.  Sometimes we should just listen to our gut!!!  LOL!

So, it's pretty much stick with adrenal support and work on stress reduction, light exercise until I have the test done and we can see what's going on.  She recommended UltraLife Mucosa Max but I explained to her that these types of products often feed the SIBO and she thanked me for the information.  She admitted that she doesn't know a heck of a lot about SIBO and that given that I have gone through it I probably know much more than her.  To me this is an indication of a good practitioner, someone willing to admit their lack of knowledge and either listen to information you've gathered or refer you to someone with more expertise.  She doesn't like that I am taking Betaine HCL given that my last H. Pylori test was a little over a year ago.  I'm not that concerned but she wants me to test.  With all the crap I swallow I don't see how I could have acquired H. Pylori!

The other advice she gave which was surprisingly similar to an exercise my yoga teacher wants us to do is make a list of things that essentially take away your power/energy, make you feel stressed, etc. and do what you can to reduce those things.  There are going to be things of course that you can't get rid of (my biggest stressors are physical -  SIBO and my orthodontics) so for those you need to see if there is a way you can better deal with those stressors, deep belly breaths if you are stuck at your desk, meditation, EFT or something else when you are home and have make the time.  My yoga teacher also had us make a list of those things that feed us, give us energy and try to make time for more of those things.

So today I start:

• 1 tsp guar gum in 8 oz of water
• 20 drops Biocidin
• 2 capsules Olivirex
• 2 tablets Candibactin-BR
• Oregano essential oil in a capsule
• 2 capsules allicin

I'm doing it on an empty stomach this time after breakfast, after lunch and after dinner.

Oh, and my belly pain seems to be gone for the most part. Yay!  Love my visceral manipulation.

I'm like, almost dead or something

As part of the nutrition certification program I am doing we had to run a Biohealth 205 (adrenal hormone test) on ourselves.  I'm feeling pretty okay most of the time these days but when I spit in my tubes for the 205 I was in a pretty good low, feeling really incredibly beat.  My assumption was it would impact the results.  I  received them via email this morning and it basically said I have barely enough cortisol to keep me upright.  I exaggerate of course but it was shockingly low (morning, noon and afternoon) and that's after months and months of supplementing and taking it easy.  WTF!  I have a 2 hour meeting with my mentor on Friday to go over a plan but she already emailed me a draft and it's everything I'm already doing and to be honest she knows nothing about SIBO so not sure how beneficial it will be.  One recommendation was BioMatrix Support Mucosa, no way in hell I'm taking anything that is going to increase mucus production until my bugs are long gone.  We ran the Biohealth 101 as well which looks at Urinary Indican and a couple of liver measures.  My Indican was positive, don't need a test to tell you that would be the case, since positive = gut dysfunction.  My Urinary Bile Acid sulfates were elevated.  Again, duh, gut dysfunction + 18 months of on and off (mostly on) various kill protocols.  Poor liver just can't keep up.  Recommend testing for intestinal permeability.  Ya, no thanks, I can tell you my gut is permeable without testing based on multiple food reactions and occasional itchiness still if I get into something I shouldn't.  She is also recommending another stool test and breath test.  Um, had 2 stool tests, last one clean so I'm not sure that's necessary and as for the breath test I'm trying to get my hands on one.  I think it may be pricier to do it through my nutrition program because I have to go through the medical director and I don't think they use Quintron which is what all my other tests have been through.

Oh, and my husband's vehicle was stolen from the front of our house Sunday night.  Interesting to wake up to a missing car on Monday morning.  What a way to start the week!  We had to laugh because really what else can you do, and it was just a falling apart 20 year old vehicle.  Everyone in the neighborhood have been really apologetic.  I'm thinking, jeez it's not like we were carjacked.  That would be terrible and scary.  But to sleep peacefully through a crime.  That's a blessing really.  Truly bad things happen to truly good people all the time, just tune into the world news.  This was nothing in comparison to what others are going through.

All this typing to avoid taking my guar and bedtime supps.  I increased again, so I'm now at 3/4 tsp in 8 oz of water.  It's really going to be hard to get down.  A straw makes it easier but damn it's thick.  I thought for the morning I would mix it in my hot chocolate but I think it would be pretty undrinkable at the thickness it would make it.  Still might give it a try.  Haven't noticed any bloating or other SIBO weirdness yet.

Fits and Spurts

Sometimes I guess I just don't have much to say.  The suddenly I'll think of 10 things and write a bunch of posts.  Anyway!  I signed up for Wanderlust months ago.  Wanderlust is a big yoga festival that travels all over.  I am in the midst of it now.  In preparation I cut out lunch.  Seems odd, I know, but my Wanderlust schedule has me in classes from 8am to 3:30pm and so I wanted to acclimate my body to that before diving in.  I guess I didn't cut out lunch competely, I eat a packet of almond butter and have jasmine tea (not really what anyone in their right mind would consider a meal!).

And of course the festival doesn't come to my hometown so I had to pack up a CRAPTON of food to bring with me.  Today I didn't have leftovers in the refrigerator when I got back so I whipped up a smoothie.  I haven't tried one in a loooooong time.  I kept it low FODMAP (coconut milk, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, carrot and spinach).  It immediately made me feel sick, thank goodness my body throws up major warning signals to keep me from downing the whole thing and suffering for it..  My body just isn't ready to handle the raw stuff yet.  I recently ate a banana successfully so I don't think it's the fructose.  All I can say is thank goodness for hot dogs :)

My first class tomorrow is a meditation class so I'll be able to eat a HUGE breakfast to sustain me better and I have all the veggies ready to be sauteed up when I get home.  This morning all I could choke down was an offal muffin and a hot chocolate.

While I am here I do plan on eating out and drinking a glass of wine here or there so I am taking all my Biocidin, Olivirex, Red Yeast Rice with Garlic, SerraGold and Oreganol for 10 days.  I took a break just before I came but wanted to be a little more lax with my diet (french fries) while here so decided to do another round.

Other than that, life has been same old thing.  Sticking with the diet (for the most part) and treating off and on.  Trying to get my hands on a breath test to see if this latest protocol has made a difference at all.

Oh, and after all the yoga craziness is done I will be adding back lunch again.  With my adrenals as taxed as they are it's not good to deprive your body of meals (and drink caffeine instead).

Where have I been???

I started my new protocol a few days ago.  This is not to say that you should try this and especially at these amounts.  I am fairly tolerant of all the protocols I have tried, have never experienced anything I would call die off and I think my bacterial levels are now pretty low so I had no concerns of a reaction.  That said, I have been more tired now that I have all the supplements on board.

Before meals:

1. Biocidin - 10 drops
2. Gi Microbex - 2 capsules
3. Allimed - 2 capsules

With lunch:

1. Megaspore Biotic - 1 capsule

Bedtime:

1. LDN - 5mg
2. Mag Citrate - as needed 

I'm taking resveratrol and fermented cod liver oil with breakfast and lunch, turmeric with all meals for inflammation and Endozin on days when I have some belly itch.  If you don't recall Endozin has zinc carnosine in it, this supplement helps to support tight junctions in the digestive tract.  I also put doTERRA DigestZen on my belly when it itches.

I'm taking Restorative Formulas Adrenal PX Balance and Adrenal PX DHEA to help support my adrenals and hopefully restore normal pathways.  I am also taking Restorative Formulas Thyrocare in hopes of stimulating my body to start converting T4>T3 more efficiently.

Over the next week I plan to start adding fermented veggies back into my diet.  The only reason I stopped is because I was having trouble chewing them (braces/open bite) and I don't really need to add any fuel to the fire.

I've been working with my ND and toying with my T3 medication.  I'm trying to see how low I can get it and still keep my temperature stable.  I wish I didn't need it but I crashed when I stopped.

Still haven't done my Cyrex tests.  My son is having them done too and we are waiting on his serum kit so we can do them together.  He's 9 and more than a little frightened about having a needle put in his arm but his sigmoid colon was swollen and the doctor is concerned if we aren't better about his diet (no gluten/diary) then he's going to develop problems.  Thought best to check for immune response to foods before we eliminate them.

So that's prettty much where I've been and what I am up to.  Things are going good, plugging right along.

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.

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.