Treating the Thyroid

[Lotus97]

A Lyme doctor will probably want a lot of this testing which would be good especially in terms of pathogens. Maybe that would be a good next step too. I've nothing against driving your own health care but I would want to have some good solid testing before spending too much time, energy and money on supplements when you're not sure exactly what it is you're trying to treat at this point. Not that we ever really do...LOL.

Ema

I'm having that dilemma right now and I actually started a thread about what to do:
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...r-supplements-or-nothing-save-my-money.23390/

DPA is d-phenylalanine and I find it extremely useful in boosting endorphins and reducing pain.
http://www.moodcure.com/restoring-natural-opioid-system.html

Ok, it seems that you did tell me about phenylalanine. So is it different than L-phenylalanine? In the description it says a small portion will be converted into L-phenylalanine which I guess is ok. My concern is that it could lead to high norepinephrine since it's a tyrosine precursor, but maybe the D-form won't cause those problems. One customer review said they didn't feel wired from it like L-phenylalanine so maybe it will be ok.

Good! You already found lactoferrin. I need to go back to that study and see which form that it refers to...there are two forms apo and halo and one contains iron and the other doesn't if I recall correctly. They both have benefit in my opinion beyond iron metabolism but I'm not sure you can actually raise iron levels without ingesting some actual iron. I always used the lactoferrin along with iron supplements and found that to be quite effective. I should look back at this though as I've forgotten some of what I had originally read.

FWIW, I've take milk thistle twice a day for a long time. I haven't noticed any effects on my iron levels one way or another. And it seems to be good for my liver considering I'm taking a lot of crap and my liver enzymes are still low. Improving liver function might go a long way towards improving your thyroid levels as well. Liv52 is another good option for liver support though it is herbal too.

There's a sale on iron bisglycinate at Vitacost so maybe I'll take that and the milk thistle. Somehow I remember reading milk thistle can also raise glutathione.

I would say the same things probably about your iron levels...they are WAY too low in my non-medical opinion. But it could very easily be the anemia of chronic disease which is caused by a cytokine response in an attempt to keep the bacterial or other pathogens from one of their favorite meals.

If that is what's going on with me will lactoferrin modulate that response?

 

[Bob]

I've had problems with a clinically low Thyroid. It took me ages to get diagnosed, due to having a negligent doctor, and during that time I found a few things that raised my thyroid levels...
The easiest and gentlest is sea salt: Put sea salts in your bath, and soak. It gently raises thyroid levels.
Also, if you currently use table salt for anything, then you can replace it with sea salt.

 

[Mij]

I've had problems with a clinically low Thyroid. It took me ages to get diagnosed, due to having a negligent doctor, and during that time I found a few things that raised my thyroid levels...
The easiest and gentlest is sea salt: Put sea salts in your bath, and soak. It gently raises thyroid levels.
Also, if you currently use table salt for anything, then you can replace it with sea salt.

Hi Bob,

What do you mean it raises thyroid levels? Do you mean your t3?

 

[Bob]

Hi Bob,

What do you mean it raises thyroid levels? Do you mean your t3?

I'm very sensitive to rising and falling Thyroid levels.
Since diagnosis, I have always known if my thyroid levels are high or low, and have adjusted my medication accordingly.
I very quickly found the right level of medication that I needed (without having to wait for further testing) because of this sensitivity.
Sea salt didn't resolve my clinically low thyroid levels, but it does raise my thyroid levels.
I know this because of my sensitivity to my thyroid levels.
I can't use sea salt now that I take thyroid medicine, because it increases my thyroid levels which isn't helpful now that they are balanced with thyroxine medication.

(In the UK, we don't get extensive testing. We only get basic thyroid tests. All i know is that my thyroid levels are within range, and that I don't experience thyroid-related health problems any longer.)

There were a couple of supplements that helped me feel more well when my thyroid levels were clinically low, but I can only find one of them online. It was Neway's Maximol Classic (liquid vits), which happens to have sea salt and iodine in it:
http://www.purenewyou.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=224

(It's a very expensive product, and it would be cheaper and perhaps just as helpful simply to use sea salts.)

 

[Ema]

I'm having that dilemma right now and I actually started a thread about what to do:
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...r-supplements-or-nothing-save-my-money.23390/

Ok, it seems that you did tell me about phenylalanine. So is it different than L-phenylalanine? In the description it says a small portion will be converted into L-phenylalanine which I guess is ok. My concern is that it could lead to high norepinephrine since it's a tyrosine precursor, but maybe the D-form won't cause those problems. One customer review said they didn't feel wired from it like L-phenylalanine so maybe it will be ok.

There's a sale on iron bisglycinate at Vitacost so maybe I'll take that and the milk thistle. Somehow I remember reading milk thistle can also raise glutathione.

If that is what's going on with me will lactoferrin modulate that response?

D and L refer to the "handedness" of the molecule. So they are the same like your right and left hand are the same in that they are mirror images of one another. But because they are not identical, they can have different properties. Most molecules come as a mixture of D and L forms. Sometimes they are split out though (drug companies love to do this; they release a "dirty" mixture of D and L forms and then a clean form of only the active form later on to get two patents instead of just one).

I find that DPA potentiates endorphins and helps to relieve chronic pain. I haven't found it to be stimulating at all.

It's worth buying the 25 or 27 mg iron bisglycinate if you are going to be taking 100-150 mg of iron. Otherwise, you end up taking a ton of capsules which can get pretty expensive. I buy almost all my supps from Amazon these days as I find they usually have the best prices.

Yes, lactoferrin is meant to "protect" the iron from pathogens. It should definitely help.

I really think that there is a core group of testing that is really worthwhile for most everyone with ME/CFS. Some people may have slightly different lists or shorter lists but my list generally breaks down into general health testing, hormone testing, pathogen testing and methylation testing. I really don't think that any of these categories should be ignored at the beginning because there are things that can be done to improve symptoms from all of these categories should problems be found to exist. It also helps to put together a better picture of what particular issues are a problem for individuals. I have a more detailed testing list that I'm happy to send you if you like.

Ema

 

[Crux]

Lotus97

Hi Lotus;
I would agree with you and Ema, that the iron deficiency may be causing alot of the symptoms. I see you included a good link with symptoms, so I thought I'd just stop by and cheer you on. Cheers!

 

[xks201]

thyroid resistance...the mother of chronic fatigue. Hello 50-75mcg+ dosed T3 monotherapy.

 

[Lotus97]

I found this information from a customer review of NOW Foods Stinging Nettle Root Extract (different than the leaf extract of stinging nettle). Any thoughts?

I have to take estrogen and testosterone and my total testosterone was high, but % of free testo low. All that SHBG was binding up my free t3 as well. NOT GOOD! So I've been using these and within a couple of weeks, I was able to lower my thryoid meds as I think not so much is being bound up by SHBG. I have to get my free testo checked to see what is going on, but I do think this product is working.

 

[Ema]

I found this information from a customer review of NOW Foods Stinging Nettle Root Extract (different than the leaf extract of stinging nettle). Any thoughts?

Do you have high SHBG?

It might work. It's supposed to. The guys on the bodybuilding forums write about it from time to time so you might check that out.

Ema

 

[Lotus97]

Do you have high SHBG?

It might work. It's supposed to. The guys on the bodybuilding forums write about it from time to time so you might check that out.

Ema

I haven't had any of my hormones tested (not even sure what SHBG is). I wasn't sure if this would be a good idea or not which is why I posted it here. So that's not a common issue?

 

[xks201]

SHBG can be lowered with a drug called stanozolol 25-50mg once per week for 12 weeks of treatment. Then your SHBG will be very low for 6 months at a time.

High SHBG=High Xenoestrogen binding and Low Free Sex Hormone Availability

 

[Ema]

I haven't had any of my hormones tested (not even sure what SHBG is). I wasn't sure if this would be a good idea or not which is why I posted it here. So that's not a common issue?

SHBG is a transport protein called sex hormone binding globulin. The active hormones are free and unbound to carrier proteins. So if you have high levels of transport proteins, most of your hormones are likely bound and not active.

SHBG can be increased by thyroid hormone so this occasionally comes up.

Ema

 

[Lotus97]

I really think that there is a core group of testing that is really worthwhile for most everyone with ME/CFS. Some people may have slightly different lists or shorter lists but my list generally breaks down into general health testing, hormone testing, pathogen testing and methylation testing. I really don't think that any of these categories should be ignored at the beginning because there are things that can be done to improve symptoms from all of these categories should problems be found to exist. It also helps to put together a better picture of what particular issues are a problem for individuals. I have a more detailed testing list that I'm happy to send you if you like.

Ema

I found this list:
https://sites.google.com/site/cfstestingandtreatmentroadmap/
I'm not sure when I'll get around to being tested, but is this what you were thinking of?