[Harpy]

in reply to: Vitamin D and remission rates #1178922

I read about this stuff a few years ago, but it was more in the hypothetical realm, more a what if, but it seems research has moved on and Sunlight exposure may well be essential to good health outside of just getting a dose of Vitamin D.

This particular study is related to the effect of UV rays on skin that stimulate the conversion of Nitrate stores in the skin and release nitric oxide into the circulatory system, this has the effect of relaxing arteries and reducing blood pressure, there may be a whole lot of other wide ranging ramifications too.

There is a long established blood pressure and CVD association with both lattitude as well as seasonal variations, i.e blood pressures tend to be lower in summer than in winter.

I wonder what else goes on in the skin, looks like we actually do quite a bit of Photosynthesis in different forms?

I’ve inserted the article from newspaper, couldn’t find original study, but did locate a couple of other studies discussing the actual mechanism involved, at bottom for those interested:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2321023/Want-cut-blood-pressure-Sit-sun-Exposure-rays-just-20-minutes-reduce-risk-heart-attacks-strokes.html#ixzz2Sp2WFNIE

Quote:

Want to cut your blood pressure? Sit in the sun: Exposure to rays for just 20 minutes can reduce risk of heart attacks and strokes

• Scientists argue health benefits of sun outweigh risks from skin cancer
• Edinburgh University researchers found exposure can cut blood pressure
• Scientists point out strokes and heart attacks kill more than skin cancer

By Sophie Borland
PUBLISHED:23:47 GMT, 7 May 2013| UPDATED:23:47 GMT, 7 May 2013

Sunlight could lower blood pressure and help stop heart attacks and strokes, scientists claim.
They argue the health benefits of the sun’s rays outweigh the risks from skin cancer.
Edinburgh University researchers found when skin is exposed to sunlight for just 20 minutes, blood vessels release an important chemical called nitric oxide.
This acts to lower blood pressure, reducing the risk of heart attacks, strokes or blood clots.
Dr Richard Weller, a senior lecturer in dermatology, pointed out that strokes and heart attacks cause many times more deaths than skin cancer.
Around 159,000 Britons a year die from the circulatory illnesses, while skin cancer kills 2,750.
His team monitored the blood pressure of 24 volunteers who sat under tanning lamps for two sessions of 20 minutes each.
In the first session volunteers were exposed to both UV rays and heat. But for the second session researchers blocked the UV rays, exposing them to heat alone.
The volunteers’ blood pressure dropped significantly after the first session, but not the second. This implies it is UV radiation, not heat, which is responsible for the beneficial effects.
The researchers believe sunlight unlocks nitric oxide stored in skin and widens arteries. Both effects lower blood pressure.
Dr Weller will present his findings on Friday at the International Investigative Dermatology conference in Edinburgh. He said: ‘We suspect the benefits to heart health of sunlight will outweigh the risk of skin cancer.’
He said scientists have known for years peoples’ blood pressure is lower in summer than winter.
Additionally, research shows populations of countries far from the equator, with less sunlight, have higher blood pressure.
Dr Weller said it was not a ‘cure’ and it was ‘too early to say’ if people should go in the sun more.
While the preliminary research involved only a few people, it will fuel the debate over whether sun exposure is good or bad.

http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org/content/31/9/1041.full

http://www.vitamindwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Beneficial+effects+of+UV+radiation+other+than+via+vitamin+D+production+%E2%80%93+June+2012

[Harpy]

in reply to: First blood work since diagnoses #1178802

With your FT4 at the bottom of it’s range, it really can’t afford to go any lower.

Regarding TSH it all varies, some have had it return to normal in as little as three months, some like my partner didn’t have it return for a full 5 years, she was a stubborn one.
Her symptoms stabilised within 6 months and then it was just a waiting game, the endo said her TSH would not return after the first 18 months, well the Endo was wrong, her TSH, FT3 & FT4 have all been normal for over 12 months now and she is weaning down meds to go into remission soon.
The antibodies are a more important predictor for when TSH will return to normal and one is approaching remission.

It is important to not go into Hypo range, there is nothing to be gained by aggravating your symptoms, the important thing is it can’t be forced, as with with Emmtee’s example, you can force it up with excessive medication, but it will not stay there when you reduce the meds.

[Harpy]

in reply to: adrenal thyroid connection #1178976

vanillasky wrote:

I wake up 90 percent of the time with a hot flash. Sometimes it’s within a second, other times it takes a few minutes. I was told that adrenaline wakes up the body and that’s what causes the hot flash. Don’t know if this is true or not

the gynecologist I went to yesterday told me my hormones are definitely out of balance and that’s why estrogen supplementation does not work. But no one cares to figure out what to do to balance them. They are afraid of the cancer risk so they let me suffer. Especially now since I have postmenopausal bleeding and need surgery, they don’t want me on any hormones at all.

I also have nightmares and wake up shaking sometimes. then I find myself very hot as well. Sometimes I wake up with tremors. As the day goes on, I find myself relaxed more and more but the best time is at night when I actually feel “normal” as that can be. stressors don’t seem to exist at night but the mornings are Hell on wheels.

You really are having a rough trot there,
From what I’ve read, your hormones are probably out of balance, particularly with regard to timing, and your recent elevated stress levels would push the cortisol to a higher baseline as well.

So if you can manage the stress a bit better, and I know that’s not easy with GD front & center, so like others have suggested in your thread, try distractions, or do more of those things you like doing, do the best you can.

With regard to the hormone timing, there are two main factors which govern this, ignoring menstral cycle and hormones for this case
The first is the 24 hour cycle which is reset with our sleep and wake times.
The other is the light dark cycle of day and night.
Some are influenced more by the 24hr clock, others more by the light dark cycles.
We perform best when these two timings coincide, i.e. when we wake with daybreak and go to sleep in the evening.
Shift workers have these two cycles out of phase and also have higher rates of certain diseases.
There are also other issues which disturb these cycles, like household lighting and late night TV, bright blue light, like that from TV screens, just go out in the evening and see all the blue flashes coming from the different houses. This confuses the body’s light/dark cycle evening lighting should be in the softer amber tones, like that from candle light or incandescent globes. The other issue with late night TV is the excitement, suspense & drama, these things all serve to ramp up cortisol as we live vicariously through the big screen, evenings should be a quiet time to wind down, read a book have a conversation with family etc.
Maintaining a regular routine, particularly in the evening before bed, alerts the body and allows it to prepare for sleep, some daily exercise also burns of a bit of cortisol as well, keeping the bedroom quiet, peaceful and dark for sleep also helps to reinforce the light/dark phases.
I wouldn’t expect instant changes, but within a week of just having more quiet evenings and a routine, should improve sleep and this will have a flow on effect to your ability to cope daily, the hormones may improve, but it would take a bit longer for them to reset.
Do hope you can find some peace soon.

[Harpy]

in reply to: adrenal thyroid connection #1178975

Raspberry wrote:

Thank you all for your replies and links, interesting stuff! I’m having a Graves-brain day so I can’t craft much of a response, but I am convinced to bring this issue up again if I can find a doc open to it.

Sorry you’re having a bad day,
I don’t know if Adrenal Fatigue is legitimate or not, but there certainly seems to be a lot of individuals out there dissatisfied with their health situation to be zeroing in on it as a possibility.

When we got into our process and realised the complexity of what was being discussed and all the contradictory information, we went back to basics.
I got into the habit of looking at the negative impacts and potential side effects first and if these were reasonable, then I looked at potential benefits, if I thought it may be worth a try, then ran it past our naturopath, if that checked out then discussed with my partner and she made the final decision.

Some people don’t want to make sacrifices unless they can get some guarantee, we didn’t look at it that way, we simply looked at anything that could be having a negative impact and ways that it could be reduced, this included diet, household chemicals, personal care products, environmental toxins, lifestyle, behaviour, circadian rhythms anything we could think of, if there was a good chance it could be an issue we looked at ways to minimise it’s impact. The way we looked at it was these things may be contributing minor irritations, static so to speak, by removing these then any true symptoms would be much clearer and easier to manage.

But the big proviso is to keep it realistic, sure we rationalised things, but only to the point before it became stressfull to exist, so making a lot of small, but positive and permanent changes.

IMO stress and diet play a big role in aggravating symptoms of GD

[Harpy]

in reply to: How do you stay calm? #1178953

Kimberly wrote:

My mind often grabs on to negative thoughts and churns them around like the spin cycle on my washing machine.

Also known as “Getting on the train to nowhere” after work we get in the car and reflect on the day, then we attach to a particular event, usually bad, then we cycle it around, “next time he says that, I’ll say this, do this, ah yes, then see the look on his face, yes, then he’ll know how it really is, oh how good that will be” and we go over and over it, perfecting every detail until suddenly we’re at home.
Well we just lost 1/2 an hour of our present moment’s and the sad reality is this orchastrated response, carefully choreographed will likely never come to pass.

It is not just the negative elements that create issues, even the seemingly positive ones can create expectations that may be impossible for us to achieve.
In the scenario above, we might find the opportunity to confront them and enact our screenplay, they look at you strangely, shrug their shoulders, say “you’re weird”, turn around and walk away.
All those expectations of pleasure at seeing this person squirm turn on us as feelings of disappointment, then it starts again, “I’m so useless, I didn’t say it properly, next time I’ll get it right, I’ll do it like this, blah, blah, blah and so on”
This person in question probably has no idea where you’re coming from, too wrapped up in their own miseries of past and future most likely.

The present moment is all around us, it is the only moment you’ll ever experience, you can dwell on the past and hope for the future, but you can never experience them.

It’s in a heartfelt moment with someone close to us, the laughter of children playing, being engrossed in a novel, the texture of cool grass under our bare feet, the smell of a rose, the empathy you feel when you see someone less fortunate than you, the cloud shapes overhead, the taste of an apple freshly picked, the crashing of waves on a shoreline etc.

Allow your senses to do what they were designed to do, touch, see, hear, smell, taste, the present moment is always ready to recieve us, we just need to let go of the past and the future to realise this.

As Kimberly indicated, not always that easy, we need to contend with the fickle mind, always chattering, the petulant narcissistic ego seeking retribution, they will always try to invade the present moment.
When you find yourself in the wind up, take a breath, don’t reprimand yourself for failing, that just creates an attachment to negativity, simply let it go, feel the breath as it enters your body, how your chest expands, what can you feel, if you feel a pain, fine, observe the sensation, is it sharp or is it dull, is it broad, composed of different sensations, is there a cool breeze, is your nose chilly, can you feel your hair brushing at your ears.

The body is the present moment, the psyche is the past & future, the more time you can spend in the present moment, the more your body will appreciate it.

How’s that for “Out There” Kimberly?, eh

For those that aren’t that “out there” understand that there is a very strong hormonal connection to the present moment, every time we let our emotions run wild with fears, regrets, anticipation, so do our hormones, so it might be time to look “out there” and see if you can find the present moment.

[Harpy]

in reply to: adrenal thyroid connection #1178972

With hormones, many of them follow circadian cycles and cortisol normally peaks between 6-8am, this is the kick start to wake up, but there are other hormones which balance your response, if there is a mistiming with some of these, then you may well notice more anxiety, and morning anxiety is quite common, just have a search around.

I noticed this statement and haven’t posted the link and can’t vouch for it’s validity and haven’t specifically looked at the claims made about high cortisol, just something to consider when you start looking a bit deeper into these questions.
Hormone supplimentation can be a bit haphazard, although initial benefits may be seen, often these fade with time and result in a worse situation, so a bit of dedication is required to get down to the core issues.

Quote:

When cortisol is high the brain also is less sensitive to estrogens. That’s why you can have a postmenopausal woman with reasonable amounts of estrogen, but when you put her under a stressor and her cortisol rises, she’ll get hot flashes, which are a symptom of estrogen deficiency. She really doesn’t have an estrogen deficiency, the brain sensors have just been altered. If you then drive the estrogen levels up with supplementation to treat the hot flashes, she’ll start getting symptoms of estrogen dominance like weight gain in the hips, water retention, and moodiness. And the hot flashes usually don’t go away.

This is why you often can’t effectively treat someone with hormonal imbalance symptoms such as hot flashes by simply adding what seems to be the missing hormone, be it thyroid, progesterone, estrogen or testosterone. If your cortisol is chronically high you’ll have overall resistance to your hormones.

[Harpy]

in reply to: adrenal thyroid connection #1178970

Throughout our entire history the medical and scientific establishment of the time has been proven wrong, that is a simple process of aquiring knowledge.

“Absence of evidence does not mean evidence of Absence”

Think about the round earth theory people were persecuted and killed for that.
What about leeches in medicine, used in the dark ages through to 1800’s, then laughed off for the last 200 years, guess what, they’ve started using them again in specific areas.
What about the progression of Gluten in disease, Coeliac disease is a classic example, partial damage of GI villi, no not coeliac, significant damage, no not coeliac, complete destruction of villi in your GI tract, yes that’s better we can conclusively say you now have coeliac disease.
Non Coeliac gluten sensitivity was also dismissed for many years before it was finally recognised that not all individuals have to have complete atrophy of their villi to have an adverse reaction to gluten.
Now we have non Gliadin Gluten/wheat sensitivity, they are only just starting to accept that there is a vast number of different proteins in wheat, not just Gliadin, that our bodies produce antibodies towards and in some individuals they do have negative consequences.
Then there is the thyroid stuff,
The addition of T3 hormone to thyroxine for improved outcomes in some cases.
Testing for FT3 in treatment protocols.
Antibody testing as a milestone for the remission process.
All these are slowly filtering into the medical establishment because of external pressure.

We only see what we test for, there is a vast amount of activities and antibodies floating around in our bodies that the medical profession is unaware of, just because we aren’t aware of them and don’t test for them doesn’t mean they aren’t there and having an effect, maybe good, maybe bad.

Having said that there is the consideration of processing evidence, yes scientific evidence has a much greater weighting as there has been significant work done to conclusively show some effect or outcome, but that does not mean that we do not give any weighting to other types of evidence.
If the circumstantial evidence is weak, ie an isolated group of limited number of individuals, then yes discount it, but if it is strong and widespread then you need to at the very least consider there may be something to it, judge with a critical eye, it’s not conclusive proof, it’s still suspicion.
Then there is the evidence of experience and history as I outlined first, our experience shows that the establishment can be wrong and has been wrong very often, then there is a possibility that they may well be wrong about Adrenal Fatigue as well, only time will tell.

I’d venture a guess that not one of those doctors who dismisses Adrenal Fatigue or any other naturopathic suggestion has tried to do any research on the topic and come to an informed decision, their assumption is simply that they and their profession know all there is to know about the Human Body and everything else is irrelevant.

I’ve always wanted to ask what other functions TSH plays in the body as there are TSH receptors scattered throughout the body in tissues and organs, yet have seen little research determining it’s functions outside of the thyroid, but alas I don’t think that question would be well recieved.

[Harpy]

in reply to: Anti-Oxidants in treatment of Graves Disease & TED #1178932

This one is similar, but focuses more on Selenium in studies
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jtr/2012/736161/

[Harpy]

in reply to: Vitamin D and remission rates #1178921

From the same people, showing Vitamin D levels are also low at diagnosis.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12020-012-9679-y/fulltext.html

Quote:

In conclusion, vitamin D levels in female patients with newly onset GD are decreased and significantly associated with thyroid volume. It is noted, however, this study is cross-sectional survey with a small number of subjects, and limited in its ability to conclude that vitamin D status is directly related to the pathogenesis of GD. Therefore, the direct role of vitamin D in patients with GD should be examined by further prospective clinical studies by the treatment of vitamin D and experimental studies.

[Harpy]

in reply to: Question on Cytomel dose added to levo #1178867

Found this study today, indicates improved mental function, but obviously as indicated above tread with care.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1385%2FENDO%3A18%3A2%3A129

Quote:

Abstract
It was recently demonstrated that treatment with levorotatory thyroxine (T4) plus triodotthyronine (T3) compared with treatment with T4 alone improves psychologic functioning in hypothyroid patients with thyroid cancer or autoimmune thyroiditis. In the present double-blind crossover study, we again compared the effects of combined thyroid replacement vs monotherapy on psychologic function, endocrine function, cardiovascular function, and body composition. The patients were women who were hypothyroid after thyroidectomy for Graves’ disease. The substitution of 10 µg of T3 for 50 µg of T4 caused a statistically significant decrease in free T4 concentration but no significant change in T3 or thyroid-stimulating hormone concentration. Symptoms of hypothyroidism and of hyperthyroidism tended to decrease on a standard symptom scale after combined treatment. With combined hormone replacement, mental state tended to improve on some mood scales but not on cognitive tests. We found alterations in left ventricular diastolic function but no change in body composition after the combined treatment regimen. These preliminary findings in a small group of patients with Graves’ disease are consistent with earlier findings that thyroid replacement with T4-T3 combination improves mental functioning.

[Harpy]

in reply to: Anti inflammatory diet #1178786

I’ll second Ski’s interpretation of seafood and iodine risks, I do think some of these things get blown out of proportion.

As for the “Anti Inflamatory diet” they are generally a healthier diet alternative, but they can vary quite a bit in mix depending on the authors interpretation of what are Inflamatory foods, there isn’t a clear consensus on this.
In addition there is the issue of balancing nutrition and quality of life issues, if you can determine specific sensitivities, like Gluten or Nightshade Lectins, then great you can specifically eliminate these foods, but in most cases if you simply eliminate or minimise as much as possible processed foods and increase whole foods ie – definition = something that looks like it’s been picked, plucked, dug up or butchered, then you’re on the right track and well into the ballpark.
The problem with processed foods is there are all sorts of additives and flavour enhancers that manufacturers specifically use misleading terms for eg.
Vegetable protein added could be anything gluten to Soy meal extract.
Or with Trans fats, if there is less than 0.5g/serving, then they can quote that as 0 Transfat’s, if you look at a lot of packaged foods the suggested serving sizes have gone down to ridiculous levels, you may find some wafer crackers with 2 crackers as a serving size, who eats only two.
Suppose it’s more just going back to what your grandmother used to do, buy whole food and cook wholesome meals.

[Harpy]

in reply to: Soy and your Thyroid #1178863

Not a big fan of Soy for a variety of reasons, outside the goitrogens, phytoestrogens & phytate content you’re probably consuming much more of it than you think.
Try reading all the food ingredients on what you buy, see how often Soy, Isolate Protein pop up in various combinations, it may also just be described as vegetable protein which could be Soy, Gluten or any number of things, Likewise with Vegetable oil which could be Soy, Corn, Canola or others. It is a very cheap product used in many different processed foods.

[Harpy]

in reply to: Cleveland Clinic’s Integrative Medicine (entertaining read) #1178770

Sounds like a woefull experience, seen a few of those too.
Problem is just like conventional medicine they get tied up in their philosophy and can’t look outside the square.
But there is something in the alternative aspect, they only exist because there is a demand and this is a failing that the conventional system fails to recognise, they provide a substandard service and denigrate any other practitioners outside their realm of knowledge, how can they know if it works or not when they know nothing about it.
Some of the points mentioned did have merit, even the fecal analysis, but I dare say if they were giving you a Dr Oz book, then they probably wouldn’t know what to look for.
I don’t think I’ve seen James Randi debunk Accupuncture, it’s pretty much accepted by the bulk of the establishment as being very effective in particular areas.
Hope you find some resolution to the issues that are troubling you.

[Harpy]

in reply to: T4 to T3 conversion #1178648

Sorry about the Hijack WWWI2
The conversion of T4 to T3 mostly occurs in specialised cells in Liver, Kidney & Gut, there are certain nutrients that support improved conversion like selenium and zinc, but there is a lot of questions with regard to supplimentation as there is often opposing nutrients that need to be balanced eg Zinc with Copper, Calcium with Magnesium, so more often than not it is better support overall nutrition through diet and improve broad based nutrition through increased food variety, so if you want to boost selenium a bit, then a brazil nut per day may be a good measure to ensure you get some daily.

When conversion rate is improved, we do not know whether this just means more T3 or whether it also means a corresponding reduction in rT3, either way it would mean less reliance on T3 supplimentation.

You may be interested in the study below looking at the circadian rhythems of thyroid hormones, T3 peaks at around 4am, this would send you into a bit of a hyper buzz during the day, but because melatonin, sleep hormone, also peaks at around 4am the T3 effect is balanced.
There is some T3 dosing protocols that try to mimic these rhythems, some individuals set an alarm for early morning, take a dose and roll over and go back to sleep, you’d need to look at it a bit deeper and consider whether it has any value for you.

http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/93/6/2300.full.pdf

[Harpy]

in reply to: Thyroid disease and diabetes links. #1178667

Ellen_B wrote:

Thank you, Harpy, for sharing this article. I have always wanted to know more details on the subject. The article confirms what I have heard that patients that are both diabetic and either hyperthyroid or hypothyroid have a much greater difficulty controlling their diabetes. Many diabetics mentioned that once their thyroid hormone levels were properly regulated the treatment of their diabetes improved.

Ellen

I think it may also work the other way to, by managing glucose better may well also help with managing thyroid.

beach45 wrote:

Thank you for sharing that article Harpy!

My endocrinologist told me post RAI there is a greater chance of developing diabetes. He did not say whether if levels are controlled perfectly with thyroid hormone if that would still be the case. Yet I agree that would make a difference!

This too is a very involved subject especially since thryoid hormones have a role in insulin resistance. For me I was told to try to keep FT4 and FT3 levels at least at mid range as diabetes does run in my family. Definitely diet has a big role too in keeping things under control as you say.

Beach

As far as ranges go, you have to tune for your own body as you go, many seem to find their “sweet” spot slightly above mid range, but I think it is important to also track your symptoms and subtle changes, that “sweet” spot may shift over time as other parts of your body heal, ie Insulin & Leptin functionality, weight loss etc.

[Author]

Posts