By Joan McDaniel July 20, 2012 Update 5/8/2013
This post tells my story 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 have since started to take Iodine in slow monthly increments and have found tremendous improvement. I do not recommend any treatment. If any of this may sound like you, some of these links may be helpful.
The Role of Our Thyroid Gland
The thyroid gland is located in the neck just under the Adam’s apple. It produces the hormone thyroxin. 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.
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 hypothyroid 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 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.
http://www.naturalways.com/thyroid.htm
ATTENTION WOMEN: Sluggish & Continually Fatigued? Can’t Shed Weight? Losing Your Hair?
“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.
You may have different symptoms but the truth about the treatment of the disease should apply to all cases of hypothyroidism.
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.
Joan McDaniel
How Much Iodine Do You Need?
http://www.swansonvitamins.com/blog/blogging-with-lee-2/how-much-iodine-do-you-really-need
Dr. Sherri Tenpenny D.O.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ef43A8JOM8w#!
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!
http://www.1-thyroid.com/?gclid=CLXcg-zoq7ACFUSK4Aod6H6iWI
Update 5/8/2013
Since I am constantly researching, I have found Dr. Mark Starr and I am providing it for more information
I am not recommending this doctor nor any product he may sell. I am simply providing as much information on the thyroid as I can. I do agree with Dr. Starr about one thing hypothyroidism is an “epidemic”
Dr. Mark Starr –a medical doctor and homeopathic physician, Board Certified by the American Board of Pain Medicine. He is an international speaker and the acclaimed author of Hypothyroidism Type 2 – The Epidemic.
Dr. Mark Starr I first heard of him on Extreme health radio program. I have since then gotten his book and am in the process of reading it. According to the radio program Dr. Mark Starr is the worlds foremost authority on the thyroid gland.
Radio Program
Dr. Mark Starr –a medical doctor and homeopathic physician, Board Certified by the American Board of Pain Medicine. He is an international speaker and the acclaimed author of Hypothyroidism Type 2 – The Epidemic. http://www.21centurymed.com/
http://www.21centurymed.com/?page_id=383
Thyroid treatment
