Posted by tealady on December 27, 2003, at 18:55:46
In reply to Sorry for the long delay in replying.... » tealady, posted by JLx on December 26, 2003, at 17:44:39
Hi Jan,
>
> My apologies.
Sorry too from me. I think I was a bit slow in replying too and I kinda guessed you were close..just was difficult topics for me to face I think. Hoped you would come back.
Starting work soon? Good luck!I "hit the wall" a few weeks back and flipped into depressed/nonfunctional mode. :( Not sure what happened, but I suspect, as you mentioned, that my thyroid has something to do with it as I became colder and more tired as well.
I could kinda see it, perhaps I related <g> ....which is why I kept posting even if I was slow. I hoped you might read it some time.
I have some Armour thyroid (about 20some tablets of 1 grain each) and I've been experimenting a bit with it, taking a half or a quarter and it does help.
Best to start with 1/4 grain once a day , then after 4 days or so, if everything going OK...
1/4 grain on waking then 1/4g before lunch...then get tested in about 6 weeks and see where you are.
you may need to add in T4 only from there..or from 3/4 grain..depending of Ft3 and Ft4 in test results.>
> Thanks for all the links! I enjoyed the jokes and found some good info in them too.yeah, I thought they were relevant to a couple of threads on here too in a way <g>
>
> Even before I read your link, I had just started taking 99 mg of potassium a day, in the morning with the rest of my handful of stuff.I use that lite salt..kinda half potassium Cl and half sodium Cl
I just got some tests back couple of days before Xmas..and eating this in capsules and taking MgCl and around 1.5g of magnesium..someone helped me figure it out from Mg Carbonate intake
..I had just near bottom of normal range for sodium, potassium and magnesium, ..and near top of normal range for Cl...probably need a different form than salt, huh? Only I can't find any for potassium.I'm still taking 500 mg of tyrosine too. A few days, I experimented with extra and also extra L-phenylalanine to see how that would feel and I became EXTREMELY irritable and stressed feeling, so that wasn't the answer.
yes, that's expected reaction. I take 375mg tyrosine on waking with Armour(and 20mcg t4)..
and rest of tyrosine (rest of 500mg cap) before lunch with 2nd lot of Armour&T4>
> I've started taking more magnesium too, and it seems to help. I suspect that the magnesium/stress connection for me is extremely sensitive. I've been having very good luck with mg malate -- taking 300 mg at a time (3000 mg of malate), 3 times a day and have had no diarrhea.
>Did you read that stuff about magnesium and hormones..I think it sounds like something you are having...also have a look at Ted Friedman's webpage http://www.goodhormonehealth.com/
this is something he wrote one of the posters in the tyroid forum..or someone connected to him did
http://forums.about.com/ab-thyroid/messages?msg=54026.18
"I cut and pasted parts of an article he (Dr Friedman)sent me.
Adrenals also contain an outer cortex, which produces hormones such as cortisol, aldosterone, testosterone, DHEA, DHEAS, androstenedione and estrogens. Cortisol and aldosterone are two of the most important hormones the body makes. Excesses or deficiencies of these hormones result in important clinical problems. Cortisol, a glucocorticoid, is the stress hormone and is involved in weight control, infection fighting, quality of skin and bones, and heart function. Its levels are the highest in the morning, and are increased by stress and severe illness.
Aldosterone is the salt-retaining hormone and is a mineralocorticoid. Excess of aldosterone leads to high blood pressure and low potassium. Deficiencies of aldosterone are much less appreciated than deficiencies of cortisol, and lead to low blood pressure and high pulse,
especially on standing, the desire to eat salt (salt-craving), dizziness or lightheadedness on standing, and palpitations. Severe cases may lead to high potassium and low sodium in blood tests. When the adrenal is not making aldosterone, renin, a kidney hormone, increases. Excesses of cortisol and aldosterone may occur independently, that is a patient may have only excess aldosterone, only excess cortisol, or excesses of both. Similarly, deficiencies of cortisol and aldosterone deficiencies may be independent.
Many patients coming to see Dr. Friedman lately with symptom of fatigue and often symptoms of salt-craving, "cognitive fuzziness", dizziness or lightheadedness on standing, or palpitations have low blood levels of aldosterone. He explains the connection between low aldosterone levels and fatigue as follows: with low aldosterone, the kidney loses salt, leading to low blood volume.
This coupled with the idea that the leg veins don’t constrict properly, leads to lower blood
volume to the brain and fatigue and other symptoms. These patients often have a drop in their blood pressure and an increase in their pulse when standing. They may also have decreased blood flow to the brain when measured by SPECT scan. Aldosterone deficiency may be made worse if patients restrict their salt intake.Soon-to-be-published research by Dr. Friedman shows a few patterns of abnormalities in the renin-aldosterone axis. A little more than half the patients with fatigue had low blood levels of both renin and aldosterone. This is called hyporeninemic hypoaldosteronism and is probably due to dysfunction of what is called the autonomic nervous system, which sends messages from the brain to the kidneys. Other aspects of the autonomic nervous system have been found to be deficient in chronic fatigue syndrome. About one-third of the patients were found to have low aldosterone and high renin. This indicates a deficiency in the aldosterone production in the adrenals themselves, with a compensatory rise in the renin coming from the kidney. The aldosterone defect can either be an isolated problem, or part of Addison’s disease (often early Addison’s disease), in which both cortisol and aldosterone production are diminished. The remaining patients (about one-sixth) had both high renin and high aldosterone. This is likely to be a compensatory rise in both of these hormones as a reaction to a low blood volume, most likely due to an inability of the kidney to retain salt.
Dr. Friedman recommends treating patients with an individualized combination of increased salt consumption, a synthetic form of aldosterone called Florinef (fludrocortisone), or Midodrine (proamantine), a drug used to raise blood pressure. Salt is the most benign of the treatments.
Salt tablets can be purchased in a drug store or a patient can add an extra teaspoon of salt to their food per day. Florinef comes in 0.1 mg pills and Dr. Friedman usually starts with 1/2 pill in the morning for a week or two and then goes up to 1 pill in the morning if no side effects occur. The main side effects are headache and swelling in legs (edema). Midodrine comes in 5 mg pills and
Dr. Friedman usually starts with 5 mg pills in the morning and noon. He may go up to 2 pills
three times a day and sometimes needs to use both Florinef and Midodrine, as well as extra salt.
The side effects of Midodrine include high blood pressure, itching, goosebumps, numbness and the feeling of writing on your skin or scalp. Many of these side effects go away with use and both drugs are unlikely to cause long term damage. Most patients taking Florinef and Midodrine, as well as extra salt report an improvement in their symptoms of palpitations and dizziness/lightheadedness on standing, while many report an improvement in fatigue and cognitive dysfunction. Licorice, available as a tea from Alvita, may help with mild cases.
Dr. Friedman is doing further research on the renin-aldosterone axis and chronic fatigue
syndrome (CFS) in a study generously funded by the CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome) Association of America. He is also studying the effect of Viagra on symptoms of CFS, with the idea that Viagra may improve blood flow to the brain"-----read the thread I guess, as usual , put on advanced view ..bottom RHS
> I hope you had a good Christmas and are continuing to feel good. :)
Great thanks, I went back to my parents and have spent some time with old friends etc..everyone is making a big fuss of me, and I'm enjoying it <g>..trying to get fit
>
> I'm going to try to catch up with the rest of the board now.
>
> > Jan
> > PS.
> > Brain fog..or bad short term memory is a symptom of hypothyroid..and one that is a bit too touchy at present for me. I'm like you, I need to retrain in something and get back into the workforce, sigh.
> > I'm not sure if I'll be around much longer, my babble mail is on.
>What does this last comment mean??I intend to spend less time on computers and more time getting fit..and getting my old taxes done when I get back too,...and I've enrolled in a Chemistry and Biology course for 2 weeks in Feb..kinda covers high school level..and no assessments, which is what I want..and don't have good computer access for now... so if you want to get me..just email me OK...like click on my name and I'll check out that email address at least a couple of times a week...so I'll get back to you <g>..even if late
Jan
poster:tealady
thread:283253
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20031218/msgs/293844.html