Patience, Young One

I know all my Facebook friends have just been dying (DYING!) to learn about how my appointment with Cool Acupuncture Guy went, right?! The short version is that it was good! The long version is as follows. :) 

Learning To Be Patient-I told CAG that I had reduced my Thyroxal dose by one pill, so I take five Thyroxal pills a day instead of six. It's only been two weeks since I started doing that. I feel mostly fine, but I have noticed that I have a tad bit more arthritis symptoms, but they usually go away.

For me, two weeks should be long enough for my thyroid to do it's dumb (or, awesomely important) job. But my DH and CAG tell me that these things can take a long time.

In telling me to get over myself and be more patient, CAG compared my body to Germany after World War II. He said it took 30 years for people to want to go there to visit again. So, the lesson for me is two-fold, be patient and racism is bad. 

Weaning Myself Off Of Thyroxal-CAG said to stick with five pills a day and then get my thyroid hormone levels checked again in two months. That's much longer than I would have waited on my own devices. It's nice to have a number to put on that, a deadline.

I asked whether he would ever give up and just tell me to take Levothyroxine. He basically said, "Hell no!" When pressed (I have been confused on this point), he said that he would rather I keep taking Thyroxal, with the herbal support, than the Western drug from the pharmacy.

I was assuming that if my thyroid didn't start working, I'd have to take Levo anyway sometime. Guess he sees it differently. The problem I see here is money. Thyroxal (all total) is about $70 a month. Levo is $4. Wish my insurance would cover herbal medicine.


Pregnancy-Here's where my mind was really blown today. I'm going to type up a not-at-all-accurate transcript.

Me: "Part of the reason I'm really impatient with all this is because I'd like to have another baby someday and I want to get my thyroid figured out first."

CAG: "What do you mean?"

Me: "Well, I want to get weaned off of Thyroxal, I'm not sure I want to take Thyroxal while I'm pregnant?"

CAG: "Why not?!"

Me: "...I just thought it wouldn't be safe."

CAG: "Nicky, people do crack and have babies."

Me: "----"

CAG: "I mean, people smoke, drink, do drugs and have babies. And you're worried about a thyroid supplement."

Now, I'm not going to say that I shouldn't worry about herbal supplements and pregnancy, but the man does have a good point. And, as my DH pointed out later, if my thyroid hasn't magically recovered I was totally planning on taking Levo during a pregnancy. If I am still on something (whether it be Thyroxal or Levo) and I do get pregnant, then I guess I'll stay on it or increase the dose, as is often needed during pregnancy.

In my Dream World, I will be totally successful in weaning myself off of Thyroxal and my thyroid will pick up the slack before we have another kiddo. From my lips to God's ears.


Maintaining My Current Diet-I didn't tell CAG that I had tried Imodium out of desperation. I did tell him that these are the things I have been doing that have helped me stay healthy for the past few weeks:

• Drinking Peppermint Tea & Sometimes Taking Fennel Seeds
• Avoiding Foods that Are "Trigger" Foods, like Milk & Wheat
• Juicing Veggies Every Day
• Taking Probiotics

I asked for some direction and he said that if it was working, keep doing it! Gotta love that. DH says he has known many doctors who just want to 'do something', even at the expense of the patient, so it's nice to have a relaxed perspective...


Gui Pi Wan Teapills-When I asked CAG if he wanted me to take some more herbal stuff, he said he was afraid to mess with a good thing. He checked my pulse, my tongue, and then asked lots of personal questions about my period. So after all that, he recommended some teeny little herbal pill that is supposed 'strengthen my blood'. Will let you know about that.

 Next week I go to the D.O. to have my blood drawn. Then, two month-ish from now, I go to see some more midwife-type-people (okay, okay, Nurse Midwives) to talk about thyroid stuff. More to come...

For good measure on how I am doing today, here's a photo of my viral rash. You heard me.

I don't think you can really see it, but bunches of tiny red dots are there that aren't normally there. DD and DS have a viral infection of some sort and they passed it to me and, though I'm getting better, it has manifested itself like this. Ugh.

Butt First Babies and Your Thyroid

I don't know how much credence there is to the idea that being hypothyroid during pregnancy can affect the baby's position, but it's important to me for obvious reasons. During some other Internet wanderings I saw it mentioned and so now I'm going to look into it a teeny bit more.

This Perfect Health Diet site has a well-written page about it. Apparently some Dutch study showed a correlation between breech babies and hypothyroidism. Here is their rundown:

• "Pregnant women with a TSH of 0.5 or less had NO breech births at all, and those between 0.51 and 0.71 had only a 1% chance of a breech birth.
• Pregnant women with a TSH between 0.71 and 2.49 had about a 5% chance of breech birth.
• Pregnant women with TSH of 2.50 to 2.89 had an 11% chance of breech birth, while those with TSH above 2.89 had a 14% chance of breech birth."

Here is more information about that Dutch study from Endocrine Today. Given the importance of thyroid health in pregnancy, it's odd to me that a thyroid panel isn't routine for pre-natal appointments! I never had my thyroid levels checked at my OB, and I desperately wish they would have checked. Maybe I could have avoided a c-section.

iVillage has an article about the SAME study, but a good quote from theirs follows: "The link between thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy and difficulties during labor is well established," the lead author of the new study, Victor Pop, a research professor at the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands, said in a news release from the Society for Endocrinology. "However, to our knowledge, this is the first study to show an association between maternal thyroid hormone concentration during late gestation and fetal head position in healthy pregnant women with normal thyroid function." 

 Links to Related Studies:

Low Concentrations of Maternal Thyroxin During Early Gestation: A Risk Factor of Breech Presentation?

Maternal Thyroid Function at During Gestation Is Related to Breech Presentation At Term

Maternal Thyroid Function and the Outcome of External Cephalic Version
*I included this one because when we found out Lainey was still breech we tried this, which is basically the OB manhandling the baby THROUGH your tummy and trying to turn the baby. Apparently if your TSH is high (which I'm guessing mine was), the version is less successful. Interesting.

Which of These Things Is Not Like The Other?

I think I mentioned yesterday that I haven't had the Big D in about five days, which is record-breaking for me.

In this time of Intestinal Peace (later to be referred to as The Great Peace of 2012), I have realized that when I eat insoluble fiber things go South quickly. Forgive the pun. Now, I asked my DH what insoluble fiber is and it's basically fiber that our bodies can't digest very well that helps 'move things along'. It's what people with constipation are supposed to get more of.

For DH, eating things with lots of insoluble fiber is good. For me, it's bad.

What makes this all the more interesting to me is that in the past, things with lots of insoluble fiber (strawberries, popcorn, corn, beans, nuts...) have not fared well in my tummy and I thought it was because of an intolerance or allergy. Now I'm wondering if it's just too much insoluble fiber at one time. I would assume that eating popcorn and an apple together is healthy, and it is, but it still gives me Big D because it's just TOO MUCH FIBER.

This is hilarious. Really? Fiber? That's what's been aggravating my tummy issues?

Here is a list of foods from this wonderful site called Help for IBS. There is a page on this site all about how insoluble fiber can exacerbate IBS.

The author of this site says that "Insoluble fiber, like fat, is a very powerful GI tract stimulant, and for those of us with Irritable Bowel Syndrome this can spell big trouble."

Here is a list of foods high in insoluble fiber:

Whole wheat flour, whole wheat bread, whole wheat cereal
Wheat bran
Whole grains, whole grain breads, whole grain cereals
Granola
Meusli
Seeds
Nuts
Popcorn
Beans and lentils (mashed or pureed they're much safer)
Berries (blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, cranberries, etc.)
Grapes and raisins
Cherries
Pineapple
Peaches, nectarines, apricots, and pears with skins (peeled they're much safer)
Apples (peeled they're safe)
Rhubarb
Melons
Oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes
Dates and prunes
Greens (spinach, lettuce, kale, mesclun, collards, arugala, watercress, etc.)
Whole peas, snow peas, snap peas, pea pods
Green beans
Kernel corn
Bell peppers (roasted and peeled they're safer)
Eggplant (peeled and seeded it's much safer)
Celery
Onions, shallots, leeks, scallions, garlic
Cabbage, bok choy, Brussels sprouts
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Tomatoes (peeled and seeded, especially raw, they're much safer)
Cucumbers (again, peel and seed them and they're much safer)
Sprouts (alfalfa, sunflower, radish, etc.)
Fresh herbs

The site also says not to eat any of these foods alone, which is a further revelation for me since I've had bad (sometimes horrible) reactions after eating nuts, strawberries, popcorn, etc. etc. all alone. Makes sense why that would upset my tummy now. More advice on insoluble fiber--eat it with something soluble (like a banana). I'm not clear on which other foods have lots of soluble fiber so I need to go read up on that. So far all that comes to mind are apples and bananas.

This is also the site that recommended trying peppermint oil to calm down the intestine and Boy-Howdee has that worked for me. :) Peppermint Tea is a daily staple now.

My DH asked me today if I buy into the IBS diagnosis after seeing some of the IBS Puzzle Pieces fall into place for me. I guess...a little more so. If the things that help IBS-D (that's Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Diarrhea, for the intestinal-acronym challenged) also help me, then that is freaking wonderful. I still think it's a vague diagnosis and a catch-all term for things that docs don't quite understand. I didn't have crazy sensitive bowels before abdominal surgery, but I do now, so it's IBS.

This site does provide some answers on this front as well (loving this web site!) on this page: Gastrocolic Reflex and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The page basically says that normally your intestine moves in a normal, regular pattern. In people with IBS, it can either be spastic (diarrhea) or hardly move at all (constipation). So, this normal reflex just plain isn't working as it should.

These are pics from the Help for IBS site:

HA! Anal verge. I don't know what that means, but it sounds a little like a rock band. Anyway, maybe there is something to this 'IBS' thing and maybe I will have to do more research. Sigh.

Plants & Good Ol' Pharmaceuticals, Part 2

My gross, personal update, part 529.

I haven't had the Big D in about five or six days. Since I took Imodium (sorry, all you queasy people) and since I've been avoiding every little thing on the IgG list that is remotely inflammatory. I have to say, it's been working. I am taking pro-biotics (Floratsor and something called 'medical food', VSL#3) and my Thyroxal, but other than Fish oil and Vitamin D that's it. Ooo, I have been drinking peppermint tea every day and some water with peppermint oil in it--supposed to calm the tummy down. I have even reduced my Thyroxal dose by one pill to see if my body can pick up the slack--jury is still out. I have some arthritis that bothers me, but otherwise...?

I can hardly believe that I haven't had any problems for almost a week. I am afraid writing about it will jinx whatever progress I've made. :/ I have noticed that insoluble fiber (like chia seeds, corn, nuts...) really makes things worse. This is interesting to me because it supports the theory that I just have IBS (which I still think is kind of a crap diagnosis) and because lots of things that are insoluble are things that have either made me sick in the past or are on the IgG list. Interesting.

Now for the plants part!

 

All I want to say in this post is that plants and herbs can be medicinal, and it seems to me that they don't screw up bodies as much as laboratory-created drugs, but that could just be because there's not as much research into them.

This link is from the American Society for Microbiology: Clinical Immunology and Traditional Herbal Medications. This article defines herbal medicines as "complex mixtures of minimally processed medicinal plants (e.g., plant parts that are boiled to make a tea). In conjunction with other components of traditional healing philosophies, such as acupuncture or massage, herbal medicines are used to treat a large range of symptoms and ailments, including liver disease, asthma, and other immune problems, menstrual problems, colds, headaches, and various cancers."

They go on to explain why there might be a resurgence in interest in herbal medicines: "Many herbal preparations alter immune function and have had an amazing array of immunomodulatory effects attributed to them...In both mouse and in vitro studies, herbal medicines reportedly affect cytokine secretion, histamine release, immunoglobulin secretion and class switching, cellular coreceptor expression, lymphocyte proliferation, and cytotoxic activity, to name but a few examples."

They go on further to cite examples where traditional Chinese herbs have slowed or stopped cancer growth and how Chinese herbs can help eliminate asthma symptoms.  

From the International Journal of Food Microbiology, we have The In Vitro Antibacterial Activity of Dietary Spice and Medicinal Herb Extracts. This is a really long study where a bunch of herbs were put in with different bacteria to see what the effect would be. The idea is that plant phenols in herbs and spice extracts could help kill food borne pathogens. The article is interesting because it pinpoints which herbs were most anti-biotic and which bacteria (E.Coli) were the least sensitive to herbs. They list thyme, oregano, clove, and cinnamon as having antimicrobial compounds in them. Thyme (thymol) is what is in a lot of Method cleaning products because it kills lots of germies!

There is an excerpt of the book The Scientific Validation of Herbal Medicine online. It's a cool book because it is organized by ailments (i.e. Arthritis) and then what sorts of herbs help that particular condition. Then it goes into an explanation and expansion of why you'd use certain herbs for that particular ailment. For heart problems it lists taking garlic (and a full two pages on why), black cohosh, cayenne (which lowers cholesterol), and Valerian root. The reason this book is so wonderful is because it looks useful for lay-people but also useful as an academic argument FOR using herbs.

To sum up--plants are drugs. I like to think less processing and bastardization of God's green Earth is better, so I would prefer to take an herb over a drug if possible. 

This blogger has an interesting quote: "...in order to achieve the maximal benefit for the health of the public, we need to apply adequate and uniform standards of scientific evidence for safety of all pharmacologically active substances, and we should fairly regulate the health claims made for any such products. This means purging ourselves of the sloppy thinking represented by the false dichotomies between natural and synthetic (something which has no bearing on safety or efficacy) and of herbs vs drugs."

Where I disagree is natural vs. synthetic. I think it does have a bearing on the whole issue, I think our super amazing bodies can distinguish the difference. Our bodies natural thyroid hormone doesn't promote osteoporosis, but taking Levothyroxine long-term (which is what is recommended for all hypothyroid patients) DOES promote osteoporosis. Why? They don't know. They made a drug in a lab to fix a problem, and, oops, unintended side effects. Guess we humans don't know everything.

I understand that plants in their raw form are hard to 'standardize'. I still think they're better for our bodies. 

Plants & Good Ol' Pharmaceuticals, Part 1

First, before I I write more, I want to be perfectly clear that I think there is a time and place for pharmaceutical drugs, over-the-counter drugs, recreational drugs... ;) But seriously, I don't think we should never take drugs; there are times when their benefit far outweighs their risks. The obvious situation is in emergencies. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let me explain why I think we could utilize herbs and nutrition instead of drugs sometimes.

I have been absolutely astounded by things I've read lately about how herbs and spices (um, plants) can act as medicines. Garlic, peppermint, lemon, sage, clove, thyme--lots of ordinary kitchen spices kill bacteria and are anti-viral.

I know that many of our current medicines are based on medicinal herbs. What I didn't realize is how effective or powerful herbs can be. (Everytime I write "herb" I think of marajuana, but that's not what I mean! I swear!)

In our society we find the 'active' chemical in such herbs and then manufacture similar chemical compounds in a lab, mix it with binders to make a pill, and then congratulate ourselves when we have a new drug in a fixed, identifiable amount. My DH is quick to point out to me that the medical world can't get excited about herbs because they can't figure out how much a dosage is and how powerful that dose is. That makes sense, since every plant will probably have a different concentration of this and that and the other.

Nonetheless, I haven't seen many herbs that come with the same list that I hear on so many drug commercials. Sure, if you take enough garlic, or enough turmeric, or enough cinnamon, it will be bad for you. Garlic can be bad for your thyroid. Turmeric can thin your blood. But you have to take A LOT.

Now here is a list of side effects for a -statin cholesterol drug. They are frequently prescribed and I very much doubt that doctors across America are doing due diligence and reciting the list of side effects and complications like the nice TV does:

• muscle problems (which can rarely lead to a very serious condition called rhabdomyolysis)
• muscle pain/tenderness/weakness (especially with fever or unusual tiredness)
• change in the amount of urine
• liver problems--yellowing eyes/skin, dark urine, severe stomach/abdominal pain, persistent nausea/vomiting

And: "This is not a complete list of possible side effects." Oh, and death. HA!

I heard a story on NPR about a Doctor who took a -statin and unfortunately he was one of the minority who suffered irreversible muscle damage. They always say it's safe and that hardly anyone has any problems. Most people probably won't have horrible reactions to -statins, but certainly everyone's liver objects to some degree. :) 

I have a great deal of trouble with this because there are plenty of stories about drugs that were 'safe' until they weren't. I have read about drugs that were 'safe' during pregnancy and then, "Oops, your baby is missing limbs." My good friend and I have a similar philosophy about drugs and when offered an anti-nausea drug during her last pregnancy she said "No" riiiiight away because of stories like this. Did you know in the 1940s doctors thought it was okay, even encouraged, to give pregnant ladies X-rays? My dear Grandma (born in 1937) remembers having her feet X-rayed "for fun" at the shoe store. 

My point is that we're all human, even the uber-educated doctors, pharmacists, health-care anyone. Some dude in a lab tests a drug for a certain amount of time on mice, then maybe trials it on some people, and then it's deemed safe for public use. There's never going to be a 100% safety seal on drugs. It's always mostly-safe until someone proves otherwise.

You know all those lawyer commercials on TV? I most recently heard one for an anti-acne drug called Acutane. Apparently, some people who took it have had colon problems to the point of having their colon removed. THEY HAVE NO LARGE INTESTINE. I know that's not the majority, but the fact that drugs can mess with our bodies like this cannot be understated.

Here's a recent story as an anecdote. Apparently a diabetes drug also gives people bladder cancer. Oops. And another drug out there, the breast cancer drug Avastin, was recalled in November (see story here), but the company that makes it is begging it to be FDA approved again. So, to recap, the drug does help slow cancer growth, but it also kills people via stroke and heart attack (oops), and the company wants people to use it because it's a big profit-maker. :)

So, instead of wasting all their resources in America, Avastin peeps have gone to Europe and convinced those guys to market their drug-see that story here. This article says that Avastin is great for treating ovarian cancer, but the FDA has enough evidence here to say that it doesn't significantly increase life expectancy so...what's the point? Anyway, money and politics and stuff. Not so much all about our health.

Read here about Type 2 diabetes drugs that are not FDA approved because similar drugs have been linked to heart attacks. In other news, the actual drug helps with high blood sugars by letting people pee off excess sugar. Now...my DH is a Type 1 diabetic and I can tell you that when he has a high blood sugar he tries to EXERCISE. But don't worry, now there will be a pill for that so you can sit on the couch, eat more carbs, and remain content while your body shuts itself down.

And if that weren't enough, all the drugs we're making and taking are hurting the environment, which in turn hurts us. This article, As Pharmaceutical Drug Use Soars, Drugs Taint Water & Wildlife, gives an example of how. Don't get me started on how the overuse of anti-biotics is hurting our overall health. (But here, have some reading material: Chinese Ministry, WHO, Warn of Antibiotic Overuse and New Drug Resistant TB Identified.

And reason Number Four is that I think there is such a thing as an immoral Big Pharma: Pharmaceutical Companies Can Go Too Far.

What? Reason Number Four you say? 1. Side Effects, 2. Drug Resistance, 3. Environmental Impact (um, who wants drugs in our water?), and 4. Ethical Reasons.

There are plenty of things one can do with herbs or diet instead of taking crazy drugs. My dad has taken fish oil with great success, lowering his bad cholesterol to the normal level. Safer than a -statin.

In any case, this thought process is the one that led me to start looking into herbs as medicines. I have ranted enough today, so I will save Part 2 for tomorrow!

Putting The Damn Puzzle Together

Putting this particular puzzle together is really baffling. I will try to sum up what I have read and written about, but summing up information is much easier than putting it into practice.

To sum up my posts:

*Gluten = Bad.
*Some Foods Are Inflammatory, For Everyone or Just For You. Avoid Them.
*Heal Your Gut. Probiotics, Whole Foods, Avoid Processed Foods.  
*Certain Vitamins, Minerals, & Nutrients are Necessary For Thyroid Health

Dr. Weil's site has an article about regulating Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. His advice is below:

• "Decrease protein intake toward 10 percent of daily calories; replace animal protein as much as possible with plant protein.
• Eliminate cow's milk and all cow's milk products, substituting other calcium sources.
• Eat more fruits and vegetables regularly and make sure that they are organically grown.
• Eliminate polyunsaturated vegetable oils, margarine, vegetable shortening, all partially hydrogenated oils, and all foods (such as deep-fried foods) that might contain trans-fatty acids. Use extra-virgin olive oil as your main fat.
• Increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids.
• Take ginger (start with one capsule twice a day) and turmeric supplements (follow the dosage directions on the package).
• Protect yourself from harmful effects of stress, start by learning and practicing the 4-7-8 breathing exercise I recommend."

Chris Kresser's site has additional information.

• Removing Autoimmune Triggers

  • Gluten, iodine, stress and a leaky gut trigger an autoimmune response.

  • "Other potential triggers include estrogens, infectious agents, and environmental toxins. Estrogen fluctuations can trigger the gene expression of Hashimoto’s in the presence of inflammation and genetic susceptibility. In addition to turning on the genes associated with Hashimoto’s, estrogen surges have been shown to exacerbate the autoimmune attack on the thyroid."

• "Autoimmune thyroid disease has also been associated with a variety of infectious agents, including Rubella, Rubeolla, Epstein-Barr Virus, Retrovirus, Influenza B virus, Coxsakie virus and Yersinia."

• Enhancing Immune Function-"These strategies are all designed to enhance the function of regulatory T cells (also referred to as the Th3 system). Regulatory T cells are used to balance the activity between T-helper cells (Th1 & Th2) and T-suppressor cells (which “turn off” the immune attack)."

• Vitamin D has been shown to influence regulatory T cells.

• "The gut flora play a significant role in both cell-mediated (Th1) and humoral (Th2) immunity. Studies show that this protective role can be maintained and modulated by taking probiotics."

• "Acupuncture has recently been shown to regulate the Th1 and Th2 immune response. In this study of patients with depression, both Prozac and acupuncture were shown to reduce inflammation. But only acupuncture restored the balance between the Th1 and Th2 systems."

• Reducing Inflammation

• "Essential fatty acids (EFAs) play an important role in preventing and reducing inflammation."

Takeaway? Eat well, live well. :) And also, eliminate stress and toxins from your life as much as one can.

Your Friendly Uterii: A Commercial Interruption

I'm going to get down off of my soapbox for a post entirely about this new doctor I saw today. The last 'annual' I had was way back in February 2010 and then I had a c-section, became really sad, and have since dealt with a shitload of health problems.

Today I decided it was time for another 'annual' (or in my case, every-three-years-appointment) and went to the Gyno.

I chose to go to the University of Colorado hospital because a) I need to establish care with them if I ever have another baby, b) they have a great reputation for VBACs and c) they have a Center for Midwifery where people might respect my hippiness instead of ridiculing it.

The Physician's Assistant I saw today spent a long time getting my history and talking with me about what vitamins and minerals I'm taking. She even wrote down the name of my 'Thyroxal' supplement with a promise to Google it later and get the full list of what's in it.

Here are the awesome takeaways from my appointment:

• My uterus seems to be great!
• So do my ovaries. (Can you believe they grab them? Weird.)
• I am an awesome candidate for VBAC.
• The Center for Midwifery will 'almost certainly' take me on.
• They do pre-conception appointments so that I can talk to someone and make sure that I'm healthy enough to have a baby.

It was really encouraging. She even told me that it was a smart idea to go see an herbalist because..."Why not?"

And she also seemed supportive of my decision to (thus far) not go back to my endocrinologist because I know he wouldn't support me taking an herbal thyroid supplement instead of his prescription. I made sure she knew that if I can't figure this out naturally, then I will do what needs to be done for my body to be 'stable' and that I don't want to have a baby until that happens.

If that's not enough, she also asked if I was taking anything for my sometimes arthritis. I explained that it disappears totally when I have a normal TSH level. She got the idea about all the doctors I've seen and said that 'And every single one has a pill to offer for separate things, right?" And I was so happy I almost kissed her.

The End. :)

Puzzle Piece #4, Nutrients Necessary for Thyroid Health

I have a fantastical announcement to make from yesterday: I had normal poo! Let the celebrating begin...

...and end. My announcement from today is that I was up all night with the Big D and currently feel totally worn out. I have no idea what happened and because I'm still in my PJs (and it's 4:30 PM), I am just going to be content with the fact that it appears to have gotten better. Plus, I took some 'real drug' to stop it, so we'll see how that goes.

This post is going to be about foods, vitamins, and minerals that are supposed to help or hurt thyroid hormone production. This is interesting because, depending on what you're getting and not getting, you might be setting yourself up for thyroid problems or exacerbating the ones you already have.

One of my favorite sites, Women to Women, has a page about thyroid health. They have this AWESOME chart for things you should be eating (though there is some debate about Iodine, as you'll see). I love that is a food chart, instead of a recommendation for what multi-vitamin to buy (or worse, that they could sell you). It's just normal food. Imagine that.

Women to Women has this list of vitamins and minerals we should be getting:

• Iodine
• Selenium
• Zinc
• Iron
• Copper
• Antioxidants and B Vitamins

Other sites/studies back up at least some of these recommendations.

Goodies:

Selenium--In any awesome study entitled "Selenium supplementation in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis decreases thyroid peroxidase antibodies concentrations", it's illustrated that in people with Hashimoto's Disease, Selenium can help! The conclusion? "We conclude that selenium substitution may improve the inflammatory activity in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis, especially in those with high activity." Selenium helps your body to regulate the immune system; it helps keep your immune system in line and not over active.

The study states that "In areas with severe selenium deficiency there is a higher incidence of thyroiditis due to a decreased activity of selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase activity within thyroid cells. Selenium-dependent enzymes also have several modifying effects on the immune system. Therefore, even mild selenium deficiency may contribute to the development and maintenance of autoimmune thyroid diseases."

Some of the posters I have run into online find that taking Selenium has largely helped their Hashimoto's symptoms disappear. Also, I posted before on how taking Selenium supplements helps women who have had postpartum thyroiditis in the past avoid having it (and avoid having a permanent thyroid problem) after subsequent pregnancies. That's powerful stuff!

B Vitamins--Interestingly enough, apparently people with hypothyroidism might also be deficient in B Vitamins. Particularly, B12. Here's a study on that: Vitamin B12 deficiency common in primary hypothyroidism. 40% of they hypothyroid patients looked at were deficient.

Mary Shomon, the About.com Thyroid Guide, has some more information about this. She fleshes out the study and includes symptoms of a B12 deficiency, how a B12 deficiency can contribute to anemia, you get the idea...

Vitamin D--In the article Vitamin D Deficiency and Thyroid Disease , a doc talks about how important Vitamin D is for your thyroid. It says "several articles published over 20 years ago showed that patients with hypothyroidism have low levels of vitamin D. This may lead to some of the bone problems related to hypothyroidism."

More from Mary Shomon on Vitamin D: An M.D. she interviews has this to say: "This particular vitamin is so crucial to thyroid function that its status has now been elevated by researchers to co-hormone. We now know that the variability of thyroid to work or not work in your body is dependent upon the presence of Vitamin D, making it not just of benefit, but absolutely essential."

Fish Oil--Another popular nutrient right now, the study Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Inflammation and Autoimmune Diseases is probably just one among many about how great fish oil can be fore you.
"Animal experiments and clinical intervention studies indicate that omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory properties and, therefore, might be useful in the management of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases."

They go on to say that "...arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and lupus erythematosis are autoimmune diseases characterized by a high level of IL-1 and the proinflammatory leukotriene LTB₄ produced by omega-6 fatty acids. There have been a number of clinical trials assessing the benefits of dietary supplementation with fish oils in several inflammatory and autoimmune diseases in humans, including rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis and migraine headaches. Many of the placebo-controlled trials of fish oil in chronic inflammatory diseases reveal significant benefit, including decreased disease activity and a lowered use of anti-inflammatory drugs."

I think it's an important side-note that inflammatory processes are helped along (in part, of course) by Omega 6 fatty acids, those that we get a lot of through things like peanut butter, avocado, palm oil, soybean oil, corn oil, blah blah. So, be wary.

Baddies:


Potentially Kale and Cruciferous Veggies--Women to Women has info here too: "...there are hundreds, if not thousands of other compounds found in edible plants that inhibit the TPO enzyme. The isothiocyanates found in the Brassica family of vegetables — broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and so on — can reduce thyroid hormone in the same way. An enlarged thyroid is sometimes referred to as a goiter, and these compounds are sometimes categorized as goitrogens." The author does NOT recommend cutting out all these foods, just making sure that you have enough iodine to bind to TPO enzymes and that you maybe cook some of them to inactivate the isothiocyanates.

A dissenting opinion on this can be found here (which I included for good measure).


Dr. Weil has some good info on this. How I love what that man stands for. Here he answers whether eating broccoli is bad for someone with a thyroid problem. The good doctors says "It is true that cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower contain natural chemicals called goitrogens (goiter producers) that can interfere with thyroid hormone synthesis. Other foods...include corn, sweet potatoes, lima beans, turnips, peanuts, cassava (YUCA), canola oil and soybeans. Fortunately, the goitrogens in these foods are inactivated by cooking, even by light steaming, so there is no need to forego the valuable antioxidant and cancer- protective effects cruciferous vegetables afford." Emphasis mine!

It seems like if you eat a lot of this stuff raw then you'll be getting a lot of anti-thyroid isothiocyanates. (I can't pronounce that, I just copy and paste. Curiously, blogger tells me the one above is spelled correctly but the one I just copied is spelled wrong. :)

Soy--From Women to Women: "Some studies have shown that the isoflavones in soybeans inhibit the enzyme responsible for adding iodine to thyroid hormone, thyroid peroxidase (TPO). These and other studies also demonstrate, however, that soy’s effect on the thyroid involves the critical relationship between your iodine status and thyroid function. This means that if you have low iodine in your body, the soy isoflavone could bond to what iodine you do have, leaving you with an inadequate reserve for thyroid hormone production. Evidence suggests that if you have sufficient iodine in your body, eating soy will most likely not be a problem."

Everything I have read says not to eat lots of soy when you take thyroid medication. Apparently this is because soy can bind to that TPO enzyme (which is the enzyme that assists the chemical reaction that adds iodine to a protein called thyroglobulin, a step in generating thyroid hormone). 

Gluten-- See previous post, Thyroids & Gluten Don't Mix, on this one! But Women to Women has a final word on gluten: "A distinct connection between celiac disease, gluten intolerance, and autoimmune thyroid issues has been observed, and many of my patients find that when they remove gluten-containing foods, they feel much better and notice fewer problems with their thyroid."

Good & Bad:

Iodine--My understanding of iodine is that it's good for normal hypothyroidism (i.e. not autoimmune), but can sometimes be bad for people with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Iodine is necessary for your body to make thyroid hormone. Too much iodine (paired with a Selenium deficiency) can indeed trigger autoimmune thyroiditis. But after you get your Selenium levels back up, it seems like it might be a good idea to make sure you're getting enough iodine.

Looking at both sides of this issue, here I present to you my FAVORITE article on this topic. On Perfect Health a guest author has written up a series of articles on how iodine works with selenium. The reason I was so impressed? These folks chased down a bunch of studies in mice and compared the results and then went on to extrapolate how that might work in humans (again, citing a bunch of studies).

Their conclusion: "Excess iodine intake can cause an autoimmune thyroiditis that bears all the characteristics of Hashimoto’s. However, in animal studies this occurs only if selenium is deficient or in excess. Similarly, in animal studies very high iodine intake can exacerbate a pre-existing autoimmune thyroiditis, but only if selenium is deficient or in excess. With optimal selenium status, thyroid follicles are healthy, goiter is eliminated, and autoimmune markers like Th1/Th2 ratio and CD4+/CD8+ ratio are normalized over a wide range of iodine intake. It seems that optimizing selenium intake provides powerful protection against autoimmune thyroid disease, and provides tolerance of a wide range of iodine intakes."

This natural doc, Jeffrey Dach, also agrees that iodine isn't to be shunned. He says that although iodine alone has been shown to worsen Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, "selenium deficiency is the underlying prerequisite for iodine induced thyroid damage in Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Selenium supplementation is protective and prevents thyroid damage from iodine. Iodine opponents such as Dr K and Chris Kresser as well as the studies they quote tend to ignore the role of selenium."

Here's an opinion from someone who is clearly anti-iodine for people with autoimmune thyroiditis. I have liked Dr. Chris Kessler for other opinions, but the more research I did the more I have to admit that maybe he's not presenting the whole picture.

This blog has a list of good sources of iodine, in case you were curious whether or not you are getting enough. I haven't had iodized table salt in the house in awhile and we haven't eaten fast food in awhile. So, from what I can tell I'm not getting much iodine now. Who knows what my intake was before this whole mess..

The point--Eat well, live well. There are a lot of tiny nutrients that can make a big impact on your health.

Puzzle Piece #3, Food Allergies, Inflammation, & The Death of My Thyroid

Update On Me: 

I'm doing okay. Some days I feel really run down, some days I feel fine. I am trying to eat well, but I do so like sugary things. But I try to balance out my cookie addiction with flax meal and chia seeds. :) I have been taking pro-biotics every day, multiple times a day. I started taking fish oil, Vitamin D, and some other vites just to make (extra) sure I'm getting what I need.

I'm still a little pissed that things like carrots and celery turned up on my Inflammation Scale. ?! They are harder to avoid than I thought because, um, they're healthful vegetables.

Poo Update--My husband's professional opinion is that it is "solid, not formed" which is a VAST improvement over "What the hell is that in the toilet!?"

Emotionally I am getting closer to giving up on this Chinese medicine thing and just taking the fake thyroid hormone from the pharmacy. DH pointed out that were I to give up now, just as I've been armed with a list of offending foods, I might regret not giving it a 100% chance. So, I am going to make an appointment with the Chinese Herbalist Dude (or, as we endearingly know him, C.A.G.) and voice my frustrations to him.

I think I will take the Thyroxal for awhile longer and try to avoid any foods that are on my 'list'. The idea is still to get to a place where I feel well enough that I can start reducing the Thyroxal and see if my thyroid picks up the slack.

Today I had more muscle tightness and arthritis and that was annoying. :( I haven't gained any weight (well, maybe a pound) BUT I haven't lost any either, which is great!

Puzzle Piece #3

Food intolerance can lead to a leaky gut (see some other Puzzle Piece). Summary: When you eat something your body is intolerant to, it causes gut inflammation and can make your intestinal wall porous or permeable. (Gross, right?)

Then bits of the food you eat can leak into your body and blood stream, causing all sorts of problems because your body identifies it as a foreign body and tries to attack it. Then, whenever you eat that food again, your body tries to attack it (i.e. your body's natural inflammatory response).

Therefore, a leaky gut leads to inflammation. Double inflammation, since your gut was inflamed and then food leaked into your body....anyway.  Chronic inflammation leads to BAD things happening.

 Normal Inflammatory Response


Normally, inflammation is for temporary bacteria or viruses that your body needs to eliminate. With allergies and autoimmune processes, the inflammatory process gets a little out of control.

I have thyroiditis (or inflammation of the thyroid) and most likely an inflamed intestine. I have written already about how gluten looks like thyroid cells to your body, so once gluten is in your blood stream your body might mistakenly attack the thyroid. Further, if you have any other intolerances or food allergies, the problem is made more complex.

Recently a friend expressed incredulity that chronic inflammation could eventually lead to more complex problems (like mine or worse). Well, I have done did the research about inflammation (which could come from anything, stress, eating poorly, eating things you're allergic to, you get the idea) and I present it to you.

This is a link to part of a textbook, but what the preview they show illustrates just what I'm talking about: *"...recent evidence supports that inflammatory mediators per se, even if they are generated by chronic disease states, go on to have a potent biological impact on the exacerbation of chronic diseases and contribute to the development of new disease states." It then goes on to state that certain types of chronic inflammation leads to cancer.

Here is a published work called Chronic inflammation, the tumor microenvironment, and carcinogenesis.This is the first sentence of it: "Chronic inflammation often precedes or accompanies a
substantial number of cancers." The very next sentence is about how anti-inflammatory stuff helps prevent cancer. Hmm.

The study "Chronic Inflammation and Oxidative Stress as a Major Cause of Age- Related Diseases and Cancer" only looks at inflammation in terms of age, but I think it's still valuable information: "Chronic inflammation is a pathological condition characterized by continued active inflammation response and tissue destruction...there is a general concept that chronic inflammation can be a major cause of cancers and express aging processes [such as] diabetes, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases. Inflammatory process induces oxidative stress and reduces cellular antioxidant capacity. Overproduced free radicals react with cell membrane fatty acids and proteins impairing their function permanently. In addition, free radicals can lead to mutation and DNA damage that can be a predisposing factor for cancer and age-related disorders." It doesn't look like the folks who published this one spoke English as a first language, so cut them a break...

Other studies I found (just on good ol' Google Scholar) mentioned links between inflammation and all types of cancer, poly-cystic ovarian syndrome, insulin resistance in Type II diabetics, chronic heart failure, etc. It even looks like having recurrent infections can lead to chronic inflammation.

For a personal anecdote, I offer up my DH and Dear Dad. Recently my Daddy-O and my husband have started eating better, largely because I pitched a hissy fit about much I love them and don't want them to die anytime soon. I digress. Since both these men have stopped eating a great many things that aren't great for them (fast food, soda, lots of red meat, greasy, fried things, you get the idea) they have noticed a) they feel better and b) whenever they DO eat those things again, there is an increase in sinus mucous production (um, snot, I guess), breathing issues, and generally how GOOD they feel. Sounds like bad food increases inflammation to me. The doc Forks Over Knives talks specifically about how animal products are inflammatory...and lead to cancer.

It's also important that you understand this sub-puzzle-piece--if I just took whatever drugs the good doctors offer to alleviate my diarrhea, my arthritis, and maybe even replace my thyroid hormone, then I would just be covering up symptoms. If I keep eating things or doing things to my body that cause inflammation, the inflammation will only get worse and I will need ever more drugs. Make sense? The idea is to STOP the inflammation, hopefully by eating and living well.

There was a dude in the aforementioned documentary who chose to eat poorly and spend his money on all the diabetes (Type 2), blood pressure, and cholesterol drugs he needed. His family was tight for money and couldn't afford both veggies/fruits AND their personal pharmacy. But if you think about this, it doesn't make much sense. If he keeps eating fast food, his diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol will get worse. He'll need more drugs. And eventually he'll end up in the hospital, maybe from a heart attack, with a giant hospital bill. Then the system will pay for his poor health. So....I'm saying I think that eating well is worth a little bit extra up front, because it might save you money at the end anyway.

If eating milk is supposedly causing inflammation in my gut and an autoimmune attack on my thyroid, then I'll give not drinking milk a try. I like this option better than the standard "We no idea why your body would do that at all! Here's a drug", thank you very much.

I was assuming that not eating wheat or gluten would be the big deal for me, but the IgG blood test showed that milk in all sorts of forms (whey, casein, cheese, even goat's milk) was an even bigger problem for me. I know that IgG tests are controversial, but for my purposes right now (seeing as I'm a Guinea Pig) I am still avoiding the foods that showed up as highly inflammatory. If it still doesn't make sense why I want to curb inflammation, go back and start at the beginning. ;)

Some other bloggers have written on this issue:

My Disability Blog

A Life of Sugar & Spice

*Note: I put in elipses when I edit words out of quotes, but I try not to change the meaning of the quote. I include links so you can double check me. Here, I took out the word "however". Often times I think the medical community tends to be long-winded and ultimately confusing in their word choice so I try to cut out the words that I think add to the confusion. Just FYI. 

Puzzle Piece #2, Thyroids & Intestinal Health

 "All disease begins in the gut." -Hippocrates

It's been so long since I last posted and there have been so many holidays in-between, that I'm not sure what I've posted last. Nonetheless, I will post as if I have never ever posted on this topic before, one because I honestly can't remember and two because some people might only read this little post.

So, the formal thesis (Ha! As if I really have such a thing...) of this post is that your health (and thyroid function) and the state of your intestinal tract are intertwined. I like to think all of our body's functions are intertwined, but most M.D.s don't seem to think so. I digress.

I recently started taking lots of pro-biotics, a pro-biotic yeast, and just eating really, really well because of this idea. It makes sense that after years of perhaps unnecessary antibiotics, a poor diet (I like sugar...and certain fast food), and then major abdominal surgery (with lots MORE antibiotics, yay!) my gut wouldn't be in the best shape.

The Chris Kessler dude has a good post on this that was worth reading. He says that "Poor gut health can suppress thyroid function and trigger Hashimoto’s disease, and low thyroid function can lead to an inflamed and leaky gut..." Something that was surprising to me is that a large part of our gut's function is as part of our immune system, not just to process food. "This portion of the immune system is collectively referred to as GALT, or gut-associated lymphoid tissue. The GALT comprises several types of lymphoid tissues that store immune cells, such as T & B lymphocytes, that carry out attacks and produce antibodies against antigens, molecules recognized by the immune system as potential threats."

He goes on to explain that gut bacteria plays a role in helping us convert thyroid hormone from T4 to T3. !

The Women to Women site also has info on this same topic. They write that bacteria in our gut "help us to digest food, aid nutrient absorption, produce certain key vitamins, prevent disease, and much, much more." And when we don't have healthy gut bacteria (when it's been depleted or when the bad bugs outweigh the good ones, for example) it can cause "gas, bloating, cramps, headaches, joint problems and more." This can happen "after a particularly stressful period in life, an illness, as a consequence of prescription meds, or even by way of a junk-food or drinking habit."

The rest of this page is about how to improve gut health (eat well, take some pro-biotics). I guess it's important because poor gut health can affect your whole body and lead to (or at least complicate) all sorts of problems. I think even autoimmune ones, which most docs will tell you are just confounding.

This link is an excerpt from a Scientific American interview with a guy who studies these types of things. "The more we looked into it, the more we realized that microbes were so intimately involved in animal metabolic processes that they might have contributions to disease development in ways that hadn't really been thought of before. We're really just starting to expand this now, thinking about how gut microbes influence all sorts of things. They have influences on liver diseases and gut pathology like Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome; there's even evidence that autistic children have very, very different gut microflora [than other children]. Almost every sort of disease has a gut–bug connection somewhere. It's quite remarkable."

What?! Crohn's Disease? Irritable Bowel Syndrome? See, what you put in your face and the condition of your guts is totally important.

Here's the abstract from a study done in 2003: "The human gut is the natural habitat for a large and dynamic bacterial community...the relevance and effect of resident bacteria on a host's physiology and pathology has been well documented. Major functions of the gut microflora include metabolic activities that result in salvage of energy and absorbable nutrients, important trophic effects on intestinal epithelia and on immune structure and function, and protection of the colonised host against invasion by alien microbes. Gut flora might also be an essential factor in certain pathological disorders, including multisystem organ failure, colon cancer, and inflammatory bowel diseases. Nevertheless, bacteria are also useful in promotion of human health. Probiotics and prebiotics are known to have a role in prevention or treatment of some diseases." I added the emphasis.

Another interesting article called "Learning How Gut Bacteria Influence Health: Scientists Crack Sparse Genome of Microbe Linked to Autoimmunity" talks about how certain bacteria can protect your gut from bad bugs but also might start autoimmune processes in our body. Crazy, intricate stuff.

Something else I picked up from this excursion onto the Internet is that when we are born, our guts are sterile and no bacteria has been introduced yet. Do you know where we get our beneficial bacterial colonization? From the first taste of breast milk--that oily, thick stuff called Colostrum. One more reason to breast feed.

Also, now that I've written all this I think I may have touched on gut health before. TOO BAD, here's more information, perhaps some of the very same information. The lovely thing about being my own blogging editor is that I don't mind repeating myself. :)