Not In Your Head, It’s Your Thyroid
By Joan McDaniel March 2, 2019
This is a re-post and re-write of my original article
“It’s Not In Your Head, It’s In Your Thyroid!”
By Joan McDaniel July 20, 2012
The Importance of the Thyroid Gland
The thyroid produces the hormone thyroxine. This hormone stimulates every one of the trillion cells in the body. Almost all of our systems and functions depend upon receiving adequate amounts of this hormone.
My Hypothyroidism
I had been diagnosed and treated for Hypothyroidism 1996.
Hypothyroidism is simply explained as the Thyroid Gland isn’t producing enough of the hormone thyroxine.
Unknown to me at that time of being diagnosed (1996), I had the signs and symptoms of Hypothyroidism many years before that. It was discovered from the blood work taken during a physical exam for a job interview.
Also unknown or unnoticed, I had been developing a very large growth or swelling around my neck which is call a goiter. I hadn’t really noticed it or any of the other symptoms. I was prescribed a drug call Synthroid (Levothyoxine or T4). I started at 25 MCG. That was in 1997.
Then I Really Got Sick
In 2012 when I really got sick and couldn’t breath or barely walk, I spent 8 days in the hospital and was diagnosed with COPD, GERD, Candida Yeast Infection and other things. Once I got out of the hospital with my illness in 2012, I made the decision to take charge of my health and try to find a natural cure for my illness. I started a massive program of investigation. My first investigative research concerned the thyroid glad. As I said I had Hypothyroidism which means the Thyroid isn’t producing the hormones it is supposed to. I knew the Thyroid is very important for the body especial when it come to energy, and I certainly needed energy.
Goiter
The definitions of goiter I have pulled off the internet
“A noncancerous enlargement of the thyroid gland, visible as a swelling at the front of the neck, that is often associated with iodine deficiency. Also called struma.”
Goiter refers to any visible enlargement of the thyroid gland. Excess TSH (or similar hormones), cysts, and tumors will enlarge the thyroid gland. Of these, TSH enlarges the entire gland while cysts and tumors enlarge only a part of it.
My Treatment
I had been treated by the same Doctor, for hypothyroidism over a 10 year period, the dosages for my prescription to Synthroid (Levothyoxine or T4) was slowly increased. It went from 25 MCG 275 MCG – 300 MCG is the maximum dose. Synthroid works at adjusting the Thyroid hormone levels.
Even though I was taking the medication each and every day like clockwork, the increasing dosage of Synthroid didn’t seem to be doing anything. The doctor would just keep taking blood work and increasing the dose of Synthroid. The Goiter kept getting bigger and bigger. I never seemed to get over my loss of strength. I was always cold if not colder and didn’t feel too well. I also was beginning to have major brain fog.
My Hospital Stay in 2012
Once I got myself organized after my hospital stay I began to work on natural foods to help hypothyroidism. I began to eat foods high in Iodine. I now began to slowly decrease the synthroid dosage. As that went well, and I began to feel better I began taking low increments of iodine. I had read to work slowly with the Thyroid and not to do anything sudden.
Strength Slowly Returned
Over several months, once the Thyroid returned to functioning and the goiter disappeared, I found I had other health problems that caused the Thyroid to malfunction in the first place —but more of that later. My real problem was my Gut and major inflammation all over my body see my following article. I would first treat the Thyroid then slowly reduce the inflammation and finally attempt to fix my Gut or digestion with natural methods like the food I ate.
Telling My Story
This post tells my story of the fixing my Thyroid with more detail.
I have included several articles on Thyroid plus my own statement. I do not recommend any product or service that these websites may offer. I include the information because it benefitted me and my condition. I starting Iodine in very low dosages and would increment slowly over 6 months with noted improvement each month.
I do not recommend any treatment. If any of this may sound like you, some of these links may be helpful.
All I can say is with each day, I could feel my strength returning. The spring had arrived and I had enough energy to work with a very small garden. But I had the energy. I felt energized and felt I was on the right track
The Role of Our Thyroid Gland
The thyroid gland is located in the neck just under the Adam’s apple. It produces the hormone thyroxine. This hormone is converted outside of the thyroid gland where it becomes activated and stimulates every one of the trillion cells in the body. Almost all of our systems and functions depend upon receiving adequate amounts of this hormone. The thyroid along with the adrenals is probably the gland most susceptible to the tremendous stress of our fast paced society. It is the thermostat of the body. It produces hormones that work to keep our metabolic rate stable and keep energy-producing processes in balance. The thyroid is essential in protein synthesis, growth, temperature regulation, and oxygen consumption of cells. If the thyroid is depleted or deficient, the rest of the body functions poorly. With low thyroid, cholesterol can shoot up to dangerous levels.
I have written another Natural Food Iodine Sources which I will be posting next but here is another article with pictures.
Home Therapies For Hyperthyroidism
Thyroid disease, both hyperactive and under-active, is so extraordinarily prevalent today that even by conservative estimates it may strike up to 15 percent of the adult population. Women are particularly susceptible, and the disease tends to run in families. A possible reason for the increase in thyroid disease is the high prevalence of auto-immune disease today. Immunity in general is being assaulted by toxic chemicals in food, water, and air. Under-active or hypothyroid conditions can cause low energy.
“Yes” answers to the following questions may indicate a hypothyroidism condition.
Are you depressed, lethargic, and easily chilled?
Do you gain weight easily?
Do you suffer from chronic fatigue?
Do you have dry skin, hair loss, eczema, or adult acne?
Do you suffer from muscle aches, constipation, and hoarseness?
Do you have PMS or menstrual abnormalities? Is your libido low?
Are your feet and legs swollen and your nails brittle?
Do you get a lot of colds and flu? Low thyroid results in increased vulnerability to infection.
A Self Test
A test may be taken at home to find out if the thyroid is low.
For four days keep a thermometer by your bedside. As soon as you wake up in the morning put the thermometer in your armpit for ten minutes. You must do this before you get up. If you get up first you will not get an accurate reading. If your temperature runs below 97.8 then you most likely have low thyroid. It is important to shake the thermometer after each use.
Some of the common causes of low thyroid, besides inheritance, include: iodine depletion, x-rays or low dose radiation, pituitary and thyroid malfunction, air and environmental pollutants, overuse of diet pills and other drugs, and vitamin A, E, and zinc deficiency.
ATTENTION WOMEN: Sluggish & Continually Fatigued? Can’t Shed Weight? Losing Your Hair?
Your “Head” is Fine…Your Thyroid Isn’t!
“It’s Not In Your Head, It’s In Your Thyroid!”
My Statement: May 31, 2012
This is from Dr. Andrew Jones, Medical Director of the Women’s Health Institute of Texas – a research and investigative facility dealing with woman’s’ illnesses web site. I have added my own statements, and paraphrased his to illustrate my unique problem of hypothyroidism. Follow the link for his information on hyperthyroidism and the detail information on his product. I am not trying help sell his product, that is for you to decide.
When I did this article originally I was trying to make the decision on using Iodine. I used the diagram above for information. You may have different symptoms but the truth about the treatment of the disease should apply to all cases of hypothyroidism.
My Statement May 31, 2012
I am a nurse and worked the night shift. I have for years but slowly I noticed I was tired – all the time. You just about drag yourself through the shift on sheer willpower. Trying coffee, walking around, finding work to do then more coffee, to shake the cobwebs from your head, anything that would give you what you needed to function. I even tried the so-called energy drink “Red Bull”, to try waking up out of the brain fog. Yet when I got home, I could not sleep more than 3 to 4 hours straight and it was not restful sleep.
Working a night- shift has this bad reputation, but this wore me down to the point I could no longer function. No matter how much sleep I had during the day, I could hardly function at work at night. I also had a fungus infection in the throat. With hypothyroidism and the infection, I lost strength night after night, until I had to almost crawl to work. I even remember telling the girls, “I seemed to have lost my strength”, when I tried to help them lift or do other manual work. Only a few years ago it seemed I didn’t have any of these problems especially with my strength. I use to pride myself on by ability to lift especially to help at work.
Joan McDaniel
Dr. Sherri Tenpenny D.O.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ef43A8JOM8w#!
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Your “Head” is Fine…Your Thyroid Isn’t!
From Dr. Andrew Jones website: The symptoms above – and a host of others – are caused by an under active thyroid, what the medical world calls hypothyroidism. You go to your doctor about it, and you are given a thyroid blood test. Of course, when it comes back it’ll say you don’t have hypothyroidism – your thyroid is normal. You’ll then be told it’s “all in your head” and be given a prescription for an anti-depressant. Or in my case, I was diagnosed with hypothyroid and given a thyroid hormone medication (Synthyroid). But the symptoms continued, including a strange heart beat off and on and the inability to sleep.
But the fact of the matter is this…
I do not recommend Dr. Andrew Jones’s products, nor do I buy anything from him or his website. I include this only for your information for you too may be effected with hypothyroidism. Joan.
Your “Head” is Fine…Your Thyroid Isn’t!
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My next post will cover Food Sources for Iodine
Till Next Time
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