Observations & Love Songs

Yesterday I was feeling pretty crappy (I'm starting to wonder if I have a sinus infection) and I wasted no time in telling my husband how frustrated I have been getting with this whole 'journey'. I got a batch of Thyroxal pills that looked different than before and I was wary about taking them.

 DH drove into the big city to get some more. Herbalist experts :) said that it just depended on what sort of herbs they had sourced, what color they were, etc. etc. All of this lead to more conversation about my health. Here are the highlights from our conversation:


**I admitted that, more than ever, I understand why Western doctors are wary of herbal medicines variability. I don't know how much thyroid hormone I'm getting in the pills and so...I don't really know what dose works, if it's less than before or more or...?

**He reminded me that even if I stopped taking Thyroxal and started taking Tirosint again, there would still be a lag time in which I had to figure out the correct dosage.

**He honestly told me he felt like we hadn't exhausted the 'herbal' option yet. When pressed with what this meant, he said giving my thyroid more time to 'recover', if possible. Also giving weaning a good try, as in, more than once.

**He told me to be patient.

Have I mentioned that I love my DH?

I'm discouraged because when I reduced my pill dose, my TSH went up instead of down. Maybe that means I have no hope of having a functioning thyroid. Maybe that means I am impatient, as I have previously posted. ;)

I re-read a study that really encouraged me. Mice were given Iodine-induced Hashimoto's disease over the course of eight weeks. After eight weeks the mice were supplemented with Selenium and it only took EIGHT more weeks for their thyroid (which previously looked dead) to look healthy and normal again. The study was cited in this article on Perfect Health.

The cells on the far left are normal thyroid cells, the middle are Hashimoto's cells, and the far right are the thyroid cells in the same mice AFTER Selenium supplementation.

Here is a bar graph of thyroid antibodies during the experiment:

It just shows that antibodies were higher with increased Iodine intake and no Selenium to balance it out. When mice were given Selenium again, their antibody levels went down to almost normal.

If this holds true for people too (which, let's be honest, no one knows), then I am in the stage where I am supplementing with Selenium and my antibody levels have fallen.

But if takes the same amount of time to 'recover' as it takes to develop Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, then I have another two years to go! That's a long time. That's a lot of Thyroxal. :/ Logic:: I started having arthritis a year before DS was born. That's about 3 1/2 years ago.

Anyway, to sum up, I'm frustrated with how I feel, I want to move past this, I want to grow our family, but I also want to give my thyroid a chance. God is totally teaching me patience (even if I eventually take Tirosint again, this holds true!) and it's kind of irksome. :)