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M uch of what you may find benefits or causes problems for you whilst taking levothyroxine will probably result from trial and error, howeve...
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"W hat allows the brain to work quickly and efficiently is its energy supply . If this is impaired in any way, then the brain will go slow ....
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'Switch' means change. 'Switch' means exchange. 'Switch,' to me, implies that you are either going back to something or that you will go b...
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"I f it is possible I want to stand in front of millions of people and say: " The jungle is the most important thing for huma...
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This week is Thyroid Awareness Week in the UK. 1 IN 5 have it. That means you should either have it or know someone who does. But it's undia...
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I HAVE a theory. The theory is that it is possible to train your body to the way you want it to be. I'm talking about food. I'm talking abo...
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OUT comes another problem with the fast food industry: it buggers up your thyroid. Yep, so it's not just that they make you fat; clog up y...
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I have the thyroid-thing: I see all these people on the trains, see their necks and their faces; see they're exhausted; see they're sleeping...
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Friday, 25 December 2009
BBC Publishes Article Pointing to the Problems of "Low Hormone" in Pregnancy
15:56 | Posted by
Louise Sopher
This week the BBC has published an article on their news site titled "Low hormone levels in pregnancy linked to hard birth."
In the article, problems in pregnancy caused by low thyroid are explained: that it:
According to the researchers 1 in 10 pregnancies are affected by low thyroid hormone.
In addition, a Professor Pop is quoted saying:
"Recent findings have shown that motor development in children at the age of two is related to low levels of thyroid hormone in pregnancy... The baby is unable to make its own thyroid hormones until 20 weeks into the pregnancy. Before this, it is entirely reliant on its mother's stores, he said."
More research is apparently needed to find out about the link found and whether or not it would benefit pregnant women who would not normally be diagnosed with clinical thyroid disease to receive treatment for it.
-----
Where the BBC do publish an article about the thyroid it is usually referring to pregnancy - not to any other symptoms. Whilst it is fantastic that there is actually an article up here, it could put across the wrong impression - that low thyroid causes pregnancy problems...and that's it. Mind you, add to that the popular assumption and about the only thing that people who've heard of the thyroid know about - "it makes you fat" - I suppose this is a one-symptom-at-a-time kind of thing. Better than nothing, no doubt.
One positive thing in this article, though, is that a small info box at the end of the article explains other "thyroid problems" - including how the thyroid controls metabolism and therefore low thyroid hormones lead to fatigue...as well as weight gain.
---
To read the article, follow the link below.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=39310e85-8739-4f20-8073-233368f4dd78)
In the article, problems in pregnancy caused by low thyroid are explained: that it:
"is already known to complicate pregnancy, increasing the risk of miscarriage, premature birth and pre-eclampsia."But results of a new study by a Dutch team has found that:
"even "low to normal levels" of thyroxine may cause problems."Problems were recorded in which babies were positioned wrongly and that these pregnancies were more likely to have complications and require assisted delivery.
According to the researchers 1 in 10 pregnancies are affected by low thyroid hormone.
"a blood test for it should become a routine part of the antenatal check"Just think how many people that is! And how many people go through pregnancy and never find out that they have low thyroid? How many people are never diagnosed?
In addition, a Professor Pop is quoted saying:
"Recent findings have shown that motor development in children at the age of two is related to low levels of thyroid hormone in pregnancy... The baby is unable to make its own thyroid hormones until 20 weeks into the pregnancy. Before this, it is entirely reliant on its mother's stores, he said."
More research is apparently needed to find out about the link found and whether or not it would benefit pregnant women who would not normally be diagnosed with clinical thyroid disease to receive treatment for it.
-----
Where the BBC do publish an article about the thyroid it is usually referring to pregnancy - not to any other symptoms. Whilst it is fantastic that there is actually an article up here, it could put across the wrong impression - that low thyroid causes pregnancy problems...and that's it. Mind you, add to that the popular assumption and about the only thing that people who've heard of the thyroid know about - "it makes you fat" - I suppose this is a one-symptom-at-a-time kind of thing. Better than nothing, no doubt.
One positive thing in this article, though, is that a small info box at the end of the article explains other "thyroid problems" - including how the thyroid controls metabolism and therefore low thyroid hormones lead to fatigue...as well as weight gain.
---
To read the article, follow the link below.
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Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Wait For It...
There are a few new posts and a few changes which are going to happen soon to this blog:
Changes:
I'm going to have a look at all the tags and make some really good ones and make it generally easier to find.
I'll look at the links and try and make a separate page (or post on its own) for great links. - This will generally make the blog easier to navigate around and use.
Look out for these!
Meantime, check out my Everyday Health blog: http://www.everydayhealth.com/blogs/life-with-a-headless-metabolism-thyroid-disease
...And Which Charity
And of course let me know any ideas!
- A very big, very ambitious blog post will find its way here hopefully soon.
- There will be posts on how the thyroid affects individual parts of the body: the stomach; the brain and so on.
- There will be useful answers to useful questions about the thyroid and ongoing health.
- There will be interesting facts about the thyroid and its diseases.
Changes:
I'm going to have a look at all the tags and make some really good ones and make it generally easier to find.
I'll look at the links and try and make a separate page (or post on its own) for great links. - This will generally make the blog easier to navigate around and use.
Look out for these!
Meantime, check out my Everyday Health blog: http://www.everydayhealth.com/blogs/life-with-a-headless-metabolism-thyroid-disease
...And Which Charity
And of course let me know any ideas!
'Wearing In' Your Newly Normal Thyroid: Patience.
Patience. But who has it really? Who is able to sit quite comfortably and wait, wait for the world to change; wait for the government to make a decision about climate change, or for their favourite book or movie to come out in the shops; for their holiday which is so near but so far away; wait, wait for their body to wake up and start working? Patience. We need it.
You're a bit stuck if you don't have it, to be honest. I mean, all that waiting for blood test results and appointments and "oh but let's just wait and see if that goes out your system anyway"'s. All that waiting, waiting to see if your tiredness today is due to something you did or something you didn't do; if it's going to last or if it's going to go.
Impatience. It bites. That's how you know when it's attacking you. It kicks, too. Dark matter. You have a brilliant week and you think your blood test result that your thyroid is now finally "normal" did actually tell some truth...and then you feel rubbish again. And then you stress about whether or not your thyroid is going down; whether or not you're just not feeling what you should be feeling, and don't you just want to get on now?! But here's the truth, and it ought not be a 'but':
Once you have that 'normal' blood test it can take months before you actually feel better again.
Note that this is a non-technical explanation, but it should be assumed that the levels measured in blood tests - TSH, T4, and sometimes T3, are the chemical levels which are in your blood - this isn't the level of hormones which are available to each and every organ or brain cell inside of you, and that means that your body isn't necessarily using up all of these hormones:
T4 is converted into T3 and used when needed.
This means, I guess, that to find out how much energy your body needs on a day to day basis you need to find out how much T3 you have in your blood. That would certainly be interesting to find out, but whether it is useful in terms of telling you how well or fast your body is adapting to its new energy I'm not sure. (There is an argument which says that some people cannot effectively convert T4 into T3 but this is not well accepted by mainstream science and treating with T3 is regarded as more a cause of long-term problems than an effective treatment).
So to recap, the main point is that your levothyroxine tablets are giving your body what it should need if you have the right dose of them - but that doesn't mean that your body is using it all. Not yet, anyway.
I tend to picture it like this: each and every organ or part of your body gets its energy supply from the blood rushing through your body and from the ingredients contained within that blood. A body that has for years been used to a menial supply of certain things, though, will continue to expect only that menial supply - nothing more. This means that when there actually is a supply of extra hormones sitting outside their door they are unlikely to actually pick it up and use it. With time, though, they will slowly pick up these things, swig and get to know the taste, and then one of the following will happen:
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=c0c2adcf-a4ab-47fd-8892-e771f6d69916)
You're a bit stuck if you don't have it, to be honest. I mean, all that waiting for blood test results and appointments and "oh but let's just wait and see if that goes out your system anyway"'s. All that waiting, waiting to see if your tiredness today is due to something you did or something you didn't do; if it's going to last or if it's going to go.
Impatience. It bites. That's how you know when it's attacking you. It kicks, too. Dark matter. You have a brilliant week and you think your blood test result that your thyroid is now finally "normal" did actually tell some truth...and then you feel rubbish again. And then you stress about whether or not your thyroid is going down; whether or not you're just not feeling what you should be feeling, and don't you just want to get on now?! But here's the truth, and it ought not be a 'but':
Once you have that 'normal' blood test it can take months before you actually feel better again.
Doctors, specialists, endocrinologists, everyone, I think, forgets that sometimes. It is easy to be fooled by a self-explanatory statistic on a sheet of printed paper. Easy.
Note that this is a non-technical explanation, but it should be assumed that the levels measured in blood tests - TSH, T4, and sometimes T3, are the chemical levels which are in your blood - this isn't the level of hormones which are available to each and every organ or brain cell inside of you, and that means that your body isn't necessarily using up all of these hormones:
T4 is converted into T3 and used when needed.
This means, I guess, that to find out how much energy your body needs on a day to day basis you need to find out how much T3 you have in your blood. That would certainly be interesting to find out, but whether it is useful in terms of telling you how well or fast your body is adapting to its new energy I'm not sure. (There is an argument which says that some people cannot effectively convert T4 into T3 but this is not well accepted by mainstream science and treating with T3 is regarded as more a cause of long-term problems than an effective treatment).
So to recap, the main point is that your levothyroxine tablets are giving your body what it should need if you have the right dose of them - but that doesn't mean that your body is using it all. Not yet, anyway.
I tend to picture it like this: each and every organ or part of your body gets its energy supply from the blood rushing through your body and from the ingredients contained within that blood. A body that has for years been used to a menial supply of certain things, though, will continue to expect only that menial supply - nothing more. This means that when there actually is a supply of extra hormones sitting outside their door they are unlikely to actually pick it up and use it. With time, though, they will slowly pick up these things, swig and get to know the taste, and then one of the following will happen:
- Either they'll realise that this stuff is absolutely brilliant and will down it all in one - hence you feel brilliant super-fast.
- Or they'll gradually take a little more, cautious of taking too much but also realising that their jobs are getting easier with more and more of this stuff - hence you will, very gradually, feel better...or perhaps you will wait several months and then suddenly realise that you feel brilliant.
When you first started taking your levothyroxine pills you were probably told to not expect to feel better until up to 6 or 9 months later, and you probably thought "well that's just so that I don't complain, or don't get too ahead of myself, or don't panic" (which response you chose probably depended on your opinion of your doctor). Whether or not their words came to be true, it should be remembered that if you do go back down to hypothyroid at another date, and then go through the whole process again, it may take a different length of time: just because you recovered quickly last time doesn't mean you will do this time. Sad, but true.
The nice side of it is that it gives you an excuse if you're not feeling well at the moment - you may not be feeling the full effects of your newly normal thyroid - and who knows what's to change?
What is crucial and is the point behind this whole article is that Impatience shouldn't kick before your body's had a chance to look around and notice all the extra hormones sitting there. Your newly normal thyroid, just like a pair of shoes, needs 'wearing in.' Things need to change in your body - your bones need to loosen up from being so stiff; your body needs to relax a little, and, again, your brain needs to become aware of the energy that's just arrived at its door: it needs to open the door. This all takes time: it's like stone trying to move. Your brain slowly awakes from a three-thousand year sleep, stretches and yawns and then rummages through its cupboards searching for its glasses. Meanwhile you're falling asleep on your highly important notes as though you've been doing what the rest of the world does and have been up late partying.
A month later and your brain's still searching for its glasses, and you're a very clumsy, very forgetful, very useless person waiting for changes to happen that just aren't happening.
And so it goes on.
Unfortunately that's just the way it is. But there are things you can do to help this process, to push it along a little:
- Exercise!
- If your symptoms are currently all wound tightly around the sleeping and falling over area then this is going to be a little more difficult, but exercise does raise the metabolism and will serve to wake up sleeping organs, especially, in my experience, the stomach pump that is a massive part of digestion.
- Also, I would imagine that if your body is needing more energy then it will convert more T4 into T3 hence you gain more useful thyroid hormones and you make more use out of your levothyroxine pills.
- If you do, however, come across an incredibly gasp, laugh-out-loud brilliant week and feel like exercising flat out every day, this also may not be such a good idea - your body is still in recovery and next week you might not be so good. On the other hand, it is also sometimes good to force your body to do things because it gives you your strength (which right now you probably have little of) back and wakes you up, and if you are lucky enough to have a second brilliant week then it is definitely worth it! So there's not really a decision there, but there is a choice - or you could always knowledgeably try both.
- Correct Food
- One symptom of hypothyroidism as well as hyper is digestion problems. The problems vary between the two diseases: in hypo it is to do with being slow; in hyper it is to do with being fast, but the end-point is that a slow metabolism cannot deal with certain foods as well as a normal one might be able to (and likewise, I guess, for a fast one). There is no 'correct' food, but avoiding heavy foods, which I define as pizza, pasta, greasy meals, big portions and a plate highly accumulated with solid matter, is probably going to be the better option. See 'Tips Whilst Taking Levothyroxine' for more on this.
- Avoiding wheat - which is more difficult to digest than something like Spelt (the old, traditional grain), may also help. Anything which is more difficult to digest is probably going to be a challenge for a slow metabolism, and if your body is concentrating all its energy on one ache or one pain then you're not going to have much left for anything else, least of all when you had hardly any energy in the first place.
- The main point here is to listen to your body and if it doesn't like something don't eat it again. Symptoms to acknowledge should be quite obvious but will be for example acid reflux/food regurgitation; the feeling of a 'jammed' stomach; excessive gas; abdominal aching; light-headedness or the feeling of sickness after eating certain foods - but be aware that some of these are separate conditions in their entire, so if they are very severe then they may not be down to the thyroid.
- Adrenaline
- Do as much activity as you can to give yourself adrenaline - the natural way, I mean. So that means taking yourself out to places like theme parks to get the excitement-fuelled adrenaline; skidding in the snow to get the fear-fuelled adrenaline (no, I don't mean do this on purpose, it's just an example!); and lots of exercise. Adrenaline will wake you up and make you feel good.
Feel free to add your own and I will too as I think of them.
The 'process,' if you will, of your body adjusting to its newly normal thyroid life, will happen: it just may take time. Slowly, as you get used to things being easier you will hopefully pick up on things around you and react - you may think faster; run longer; work better; you may do anything at all better than ever before. It just takes time. Patience.
The 'process,' if you will, of your body adjusting to its newly normal thyroid life, will happen: it just may take time. Slowly, as you get used to things being easier you will hopefully pick up on things around you and react - you may think faster; run longer; work better; you may do anything at all better than ever before. It just takes time. Patience.
Sunday, 20 December 2009
The Thyroid In The Media
Note: if the links in the presentation below do not work then try downloading it as a PowerPoint presentation.
The Thyroid in the Media
The Thyroid in the Media
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Contact Me
All feedback about the blog is welcome. Please contact me here.
Saturday, 12 December 2009
My Spaces & Places
These are some of the places which I live in either a little or a lot:
STORIES FROM A SETTLED TRIBE: THE PEOPLE OF LONG LAMAI
- Stories told by real tribesmen and women.
Buy your copy of incredible tales now: http://stores.lulu.com/louisesopher
Note: stories were collected on my gap year in Borneo (Malaysia). All my profits go to the village.
My Google Profile
Dear Thyroid invites people to write letters to their thyroids. These are the letters which I have written to mine:
The Sober Drunkard
Reminiscing
Which Charity Fan Page on Facebook
Which Charity on Twitter
My Twitter Page
STORIES FROM A SETTLED TRIBE: THE PEOPLE OF LONG LAMAI
- Stories told by real tribesmen and women.
Buy your copy of incredible tales now: http://stores.lulu.com/louisesopher
Note: stories were collected on my gap year in Borneo (Malaysia). All my profits go to the village.
My Google Profile
Dear Thyroid invites people to write letters to their thyroids. These are the letters which I have written to mine:
The Sober Drunkard
Reminiscing
Which Charity Fan Page on FacebookWhich Charity on Twitter
My Twitter Page
And some great places which link to me:
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