Mornin' Cristi!
I started a new thread because the other one is getting so long!
I would be interested to see a brief summary of your MC course again, if you don't mind. How long since diagnosis, how long since eliminating each food, what tests have you had, etc?
The seritonin thing is interesting. We have discussed here in the past how the gut is essentially the second brain in the body. Apparently it makes seritonin and other brain chemicals. Here is one reference that explains it
www.aikidoaus.com.au/dojo/docs/2nd_braina.htm
I saw your list of foods that you are eating. The only one I wonder about are the peas - since they are high in lectins (which can open the "gates" in the gut to foreign protein). Although as Luce says, nuts can be a problem for some.
Also, besides the weight loss and AM loose stool, how are you feeling? Are you having any fever, aches/pains, lack of energy, sleeping problems, nausea, bloating, etc.? Did you have any of those symptoms back before diagnosis?
Too bad Dr. Fine is no longer doing phone consultations. I had one with him when first diagnosed and it really put me on the road to recovery. But getting his referral for a good GI doc is may be even better in the long run!
Love,
Polly
Paging Cristi!
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Paging Cristi!
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
Hi Polly,
Okay, here goes.
Hysterectomy, appendix removed Nov2005. Got sick in hospital and have had D ever since. It started with lots of vomiting, flu like symptoms and all morning dumping. They suspected C-diff and I went on 3 week course of Flagyl...just got worse and worse. Colonoscopy in Jan. revealed LC. He said to wait to let it run its course and gave me effector an SSRI which made me violently ill. During this time i had intense nausia,intestinal cramping,lots of am D...not watery,muscle aches, constant hand and arm twitching,racing heart and panic attacts and brain fog.
Started entocort mid Jan 2005 for 10 weeks and started a diet that included rice,oatmeal, blueberries, bananas,cod, chicken potatoes and asparagus. Continue morning D but changes color from pale to brown and unformed to barely formed...still felt awful.
I have one week in here where I go off the diet and eat wheat cheese and soy and I have the reaction that you all describe...horrible all day watery diarrhea.
Discovered Dr. Fine's website and eliminated oatmeal and went gluten free. Shortly there after found you guys and discovered I wasn't careful enough with the gluten and I believe I was truely gluten free April 28. Got my enterolab results and discovered other intolerences...but hadn't been eating those anyway. After a few weeks my body aches and nausea eased up some but still had bloating. So I eliminated the only grain I was eating...rice. This greatly decreased the bloating...but none of this helped with the D.
Started on the clonazapan for the anxiety and heart racing.It helped with those and interestingly helped with the intestinal cramping...I was having more days with only one D episode rather than multiples all morning.
So now I eat chicken thighs,cod,carrot green beans,acorn squash,applesause,bananas, cashew butter. I experiment with asparagus,peas, sweet potatoes,yams,white potatoes,and bluberries. None have any effect on the D...white potatoes make my joints in my hands hurt and bananas burn my stomach.
About this time I am having tests done through my naturopath. I took an organic acid test through Metametrix Labs and they found high levels of a cell regulation marker called 5-Hydroxyindoleacetate which means too much saratonin turnover. A blood test shows a fasting insulin level of 3.5...normal range is 6-27.TSH comes back .2 to .5. Thyroid uptake test is 37%...upper limit is 32%....subclinical graves disease. Stool test comes back with high amounts of dysbiotic flora...no yeast or parasites found.
I wean myself off the clonazapan as it contained lactose and I was concerned it was aggrevating D. Diarrhea edisodes get a little worse. Start Entocort again Aug 10. I feel a little better...no D change.
Two weeks ago I started Methimazole after many weeks of trying to get it compounded without the lactose. I immediately feel better. Anxiety is way down,rest of body aches and brain fog are gone,and intestinal cramping is mostly gone.
Today my symptoms are...Morning unformed stools large quantity..no water..1-4 times before noon. I continue to need to urgently eat every 2-3 hours. It's not hunger pains but a sudden intense weakness that eating helps. It's hard to explain but it feels like my body is starting to shut down. I continue to loose weight ..35 lbs. and get extremely hot and sweaty when I eat. I also get dizzy when I stand up. I had low blood pressure before surgery and it has gotten really low after...as well as low body temperature 96 degrees.
I am afraid I got carried away and wrote you a book. As you can see I have come a long way....mostly because of the help I have received from this site. Perhaps this is all just a matter of giving it more time, but I continue to feel there is something on top of the LC that is complicating things for me. Thanks for taking the time to read all this.
Love,
Cristi
Okay, here goes.
Hysterectomy, appendix removed Nov2005. Got sick in hospital and have had D ever since. It started with lots of vomiting, flu like symptoms and all morning dumping. They suspected C-diff and I went on 3 week course of Flagyl...just got worse and worse. Colonoscopy in Jan. revealed LC. He said to wait to let it run its course and gave me effector an SSRI which made me violently ill. During this time i had intense nausia,intestinal cramping,lots of am D...not watery,muscle aches, constant hand and arm twitching,racing heart and panic attacts and brain fog.
Started entocort mid Jan 2005 for 10 weeks and started a diet that included rice,oatmeal, blueberries, bananas,cod, chicken potatoes and asparagus. Continue morning D but changes color from pale to brown and unformed to barely formed...still felt awful.
I have one week in here where I go off the diet and eat wheat cheese and soy and I have the reaction that you all describe...horrible all day watery diarrhea.
Discovered Dr. Fine's website and eliminated oatmeal and went gluten free. Shortly there after found you guys and discovered I wasn't careful enough with the gluten and I believe I was truely gluten free April 28. Got my enterolab results and discovered other intolerences...but hadn't been eating those anyway. After a few weeks my body aches and nausea eased up some but still had bloating. So I eliminated the only grain I was eating...rice. This greatly decreased the bloating...but none of this helped with the D.
Started on the clonazapan for the anxiety and heart racing.It helped with those and interestingly helped with the intestinal cramping...I was having more days with only one D episode rather than multiples all morning.
So now I eat chicken thighs,cod,carrot green beans,acorn squash,applesause,bananas, cashew butter. I experiment with asparagus,peas, sweet potatoes,yams,white potatoes,and bluberries. None have any effect on the D...white potatoes make my joints in my hands hurt and bananas burn my stomach.
About this time I am having tests done through my naturopath. I took an organic acid test through Metametrix Labs and they found high levels of a cell regulation marker called 5-Hydroxyindoleacetate which means too much saratonin turnover. A blood test shows a fasting insulin level of 3.5...normal range is 6-27.TSH comes back .2 to .5. Thyroid uptake test is 37%...upper limit is 32%....subclinical graves disease. Stool test comes back with high amounts of dysbiotic flora...no yeast or parasites found.
I wean myself off the clonazapan as it contained lactose and I was concerned it was aggrevating D. Diarrhea edisodes get a little worse. Start Entocort again Aug 10. I feel a little better...no D change.
Two weeks ago I started Methimazole after many weeks of trying to get it compounded without the lactose. I immediately feel better. Anxiety is way down,rest of body aches and brain fog are gone,and intestinal cramping is mostly gone.
Today my symptoms are...Morning unformed stools large quantity..no water..1-4 times before noon. I continue to need to urgently eat every 2-3 hours. It's not hunger pains but a sudden intense weakness that eating helps. It's hard to explain but it feels like my body is starting to shut down. I continue to loose weight ..35 lbs. and get extremely hot and sweaty when I eat. I also get dizzy when I stand up. I had low blood pressure before surgery and it has gotten really low after...as well as low body temperature 96 degrees.
I am afraid I got carried away and wrote you a book. As you can see I have come a long way....mostly because of the help I have received from this site. Perhaps this is all just a matter of giving it more time, but I continue to feel there is something on top of the LC that is complicating things for me. Thanks for taking the time to read all this.
Love,
Cristi
-
kate_ce1995
- Rockhopper Penguin
- Posts: 1321
- Joined: Wed May 25, 2005 5:53 pm
- Location: Vermont
Christi,
I didn't realize you had a hysterectomy in November. I did as well. I wonder if you are still in the "it can take 6 months to a year to recover" stages.
The need to eat feeling you describe sounds a lot like what I felt when I was taking Lupron prior to my surgery. Are you taking hormones at all? How are the hot flashes treating you, or did you get lucky enough to keep your ovaries. I get nervous sometimes (almost like an anxiety attack) when I get hot flashes in certain situations.
Are you taking HRT? I think that can be a link to MC (or trigger I should say).
I'm not familiar with the drug you mention you are taking that ends in azole, but I remember someone having trouble with other *azole drugs. Check the label on that for possible side effect of D.
Hmmm. I don't have any answers, except you have been through the wringger this last year and I hope it will turn around for you very quickly.
Hang in there.
Katy
I didn't realize you had a hysterectomy in November. I did as well. I wonder if you are still in the "it can take 6 months to a year to recover" stages.
The need to eat feeling you describe sounds a lot like what I felt when I was taking Lupron prior to my surgery. Are you taking hormones at all? How are the hot flashes treating you, or did you get lucky enough to keep your ovaries. I get nervous sometimes (almost like an anxiety attack) when I get hot flashes in certain situations.
Are you taking HRT? I think that can be a link to MC (or trigger I should say).
I'm not familiar with the drug you mention you are taking that ends in azole, but I remember someone having trouble with other *azole drugs. Check the label on that for possible side effect of D.
Hmmm. I don't have any answers, except you have been through the wringger this last year and I hope it will turn around for you very quickly.
Hang in there.
Katy
Hi Cristi,
Just offhand, I agree with you that something else is going on besides MC. Muscle twitching, heart racing, and panic attacks are not a standard part of MC. Also, the high volume of your BMs suggests that you are probably absorbing little nutrition from the food you are eating, which, of course, is why you need to eat so often.
Your mention of becoming extremely hot and sweaty when you eat, suggests that something is out of whack with your metabolism. TEF, (Thermal Effect of Food), is a reality for all of us when we eat, since it's basically a display of the validity of the second law of thermodynamics. IOW, converting energy from one form to another, as any engineer knows, is never 100% efficient. Therefore, eating typically generates a modest amount of energy as heat. However, most of us don't get "extremely hot and sweaty", when we eat. I think that may be a big clue that something is causing extreme inefficiency in your energy conversion precess.
Becoming dizzy when standing can be caused by hypoglycemia, or other factors, but these symptoms are probably all tied together. Low body temp is another important clue. Thinking about all this, and trying to piece it together, it appears that you have many of the symptoms of adrenal fatigue. Katy raises an interesting point about the possible link with the hysterectomy and/or hormone influences, also. Consider this table of symptoms:
http://www.drrind.com/scorecardmatrix.asp
How do your blood test results correlate with the blood test findings for adrenal fatrigue, in the bottom table on this site? If I were a doctor, I think I would be giving some serious consideration to this possibility.
I hope that Polly can see some patterns in your history that offer clues to what is actually going on.
Love,
Tex
Just offhand, I agree with you that something else is going on besides MC. Muscle twitching, heart racing, and panic attacks are not a standard part of MC. Also, the high volume of your BMs suggests that you are probably absorbing little nutrition from the food you are eating, which, of course, is why you need to eat so often.
Your mention of becoming extremely hot and sweaty when you eat, suggests that something is out of whack with your metabolism. TEF, (Thermal Effect of Food), is a reality for all of us when we eat, since it's basically a display of the validity of the second law of thermodynamics. IOW, converting energy from one form to another, as any engineer knows, is never 100% efficient. Therefore, eating typically generates a modest amount of energy as heat. However, most of us don't get "extremely hot and sweaty", when we eat. I think that may be a big clue that something is causing extreme inefficiency in your energy conversion precess.
Becoming dizzy when standing can be caused by hypoglycemia, or other factors, but these symptoms are probably all tied together. Low body temp is another important clue. Thinking about all this, and trying to piece it together, it appears that you have many of the symptoms of adrenal fatigue. Katy raises an interesting point about the possible link with the hysterectomy and/or hormone influences, also. Consider this table of symptoms:
http://www.drrind.com/scorecardmatrix.asp
How do your blood test results correlate with the blood test findings for adrenal fatrigue, in the bottom table on this site? If I were a doctor, I think I would be giving some serious consideration to this possibility.
I hope that Polly can see some patterns in your history that offer clues to what is actually going on.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Hi Katy and Tex,
I forgot a few things.When I had my hysterectomy,they also removed my ovaries. Right after surgery I was on an estrogen patch ,a small dose at first but then my OBGYN increased it because she thought the heart ra
cing and anxiety was caused by the lack of hormones.. I went off it for a while and then my naturopath put me on bioidentical hormones which is a transdermal cream that varies the dose of the hormones estradiol and progesterine according to a women's natural cycle. So everyday i use a different amount of the cream. I am taking 1/2 the recommended dose that it calls for everyday because I had heard about the HRT link.
The other reason I decided to go back on it was another test that my naturopath ordered was the adrenal test which indicated that I was producing zippo DHEA....adrenal fatigue. So June 1, I started taking a low dose of transdermal DHEA. Then the thyroid tests came back hyper and she said my whole endocrine system is off. The stress of surgery and the removal of the ovaries just messed it up...so she thought getting all my hormones balanced might help me.
Katy..the methimazole is for my thyroid and it doesn't contain any of my intolerences.
Tex, that chart is very interesting and I definitely have more of the adrenal issues. However it is comparing it to a hypo tthyroid person and I am hyperthyroid. My hair is thin ...never need to shave, finger prints are smooth with longitudinal wrinkes,I'm extremely sensitive to meds,intuitive,panic attacts,startles easily, wired and tired is very me, walking easier than standing, light headed, craves sweets,and food leaves stomach too fast...I know this because I had an upper GI test a few years ago where I had to drink somthing and then go in to be scanned and when I went in the stuff was gone...so I had to drink more and go in immediately to be scanned. So many of the adrenal symptoms describe me. When I showed my adrenal stress test to my endo...the one who diagnosed the graves disease...he dismissed it ...saying he has never seen a normal one, and of course this test didn't come from him but from the naturopath.
So, I know my endocrine system is messed up, I know I have LC. I don't know if either of these causes the urgent need to eat every few hours. They both can cause D. Should I continue with the HRT in an attempt to balance the hormones or stop because it might irritate the LC? I don't know how the saratonin plays into this. Is it related to either of these two conditions or is it from something else. And the same with the low insulin blood levels...related or something else. The endo dismissed this as well saying my glucose levels were fine....but the urgent hunger makes me wonder.
Also,if I decide to cut back on the HRT...should I also be concerned about the DHEA as its a hormone as well and I think the reason for suspecting the HRT is because it causes inflamation.. I still think that if inflamation was my problem...then the entocort should be making a difference.
It all gets so confusing. What I mess I am. LOL. Thanks again for your time and support.
Love,
Cristi
I forgot a few things.When I had my hysterectomy,they also removed my ovaries. Right after surgery I was on an estrogen patch ,a small dose at first but then my OBGYN increased it because she thought the heart ra
cing and anxiety was caused by the lack of hormones.. I went off it for a while and then my naturopath put me on bioidentical hormones which is a transdermal cream that varies the dose of the hormones estradiol and progesterine according to a women's natural cycle. So everyday i use a different amount of the cream. I am taking 1/2 the recommended dose that it calls for everyday because I had heard about the HRT link.
The other reason I decided to go back on it was another test that my naturopath ordered was the adrenal test which indicated that I was producing zippo DHEA....adrenal fatigue. So June 1, I started taking a low dose of transdermal DHEA. Then the thyroid tests came back hyper and she said my whole endocrine system is off. The stress of surgery and the removal of the ovaries just messed it up...so she thought getting all my hormones balanced might help me.
Katy..the methimazole is for my thyroid and it doesn't contain any of my intolerences.
Tex, that chart is very interesting and I definitely have more of the adrenal issues. However it is comparing it to a hypo tthyroid person and I am hyperthyroid. My hair is thin ...never need to shave, finger prints are smooth with longitudinal wrinkes,I'm extremely sensitive to meds,intuitive,panic attacts,startles easily, wired and tired is very me, walking easier than standing, light headed, craves sweets,and food leaves stomach too fast...I know this because I had an upper GI test a few years ago where I had to drink somthing and then go in to be scanned and when I went in the stuff was gone...so I had to drink more and go in immediately to be scanned. So many of the adrenal symptoms describe me. When I showed my adrenal stress test to my endo...the one who diagnosed the graves disease...he dismissed it ...saying he has never seen a normal one, and of course this test didn't come from him but from the naturopath.
So, I know my endocrine system is messed up, I know I have LC. I don't know if either of these causes the urgent need to eat every few hours. They both can cause D. Should I continue with the HRT in an attempt to balance the hormones or stop because it might irritate the LC? I don't know how the saratonin plays into this. Is it related to either of these two conditions or is it from something else. And the same with the low insulin blood levels...related or something else. The endo dismissed this as well saying my glucose levels were fine....but the urgent hunger makes me wonder.
Also,if I decide to cut back on the HRT...should I also be concerned about the DHEA as its a hormone as well and I think the reason for suspecting the HRT is because it causes inflamation.. I still think that if inflamation was my problem...then the entocort should be making a difference.
It all gets so confusing. What I mess I am. LOL. Thanks again for your time and support.
Love,
Cristi
Hi Cristi,
I'm certainly not qualified to advise you on whether to modify or curtail your HRT. That's a $64 question. Asside from the MC issue, there was a recent research report claiming that women who eschew HRT following a hysterectomy, run the risk of health problems later in life. There have been prior conflicting research reports about increased risk if HRT is utilized, also. Of course all that is sort of irrelevant if you're already trying to solve a current health problem.
Incidentally, did you notice the footnote they had on that site concerning the tendency for people with adrenal fatigue to have trouble digesting meat? They suggested a remedy to prevent the gastric burn by chewing on a special type of licorice, about a half hour before eating meat, (I added the red color on the key sentence):
I have a hunch that fine-tuning hormone supplements is an art that very few individuals in the medical profession, (or anywhere else, for that matter), are truly qualified to do. There are so many variables to consider, that it becomes pretty much of a trial and error routine, IMO. The regulatory mechanisms in the human body that normally handle this job, do so by very complex relationships. Once that capability is disrupted, I'm not sure that mere mortal minds are capable of developing a strategy to manually replace it correctly. With all the other issues affecting you, it's difficult to say whether hormones, (or lack therof), could be playing a role in your problems, or not.
Love,
Tex
I'm certainly not qualified to advise you on whether to modify or curtail your HRT. That's a $64 question. Asside from the MC issue, there was a recent research report claiming that women who eschew HRT following a hysterectomy, run the risk of health problems later in life. There have been prior conflicting research reports about increased risk if HRT is utilized, also. Of course all that is sort of irrelevant if you're already trying to solve a current health problem.
Incidentally, did you notice the footnote they had on that site concerning the tendency for people with adrenal fatigue to have trouble digesting meat? They suggested a remedy to prevent the gastric burn by chewing on a special type of licorice, about a half hour before eating meat, (I added the red color on the key sentence):
I think you are correct about having problems other than inflammation. Your observation that Entocort should control the inflammation is right on target, in my opinion.These individuals tend to digest meat poorly because of low gastric acidity. They often think they have high acidity because of occasional heartburn or heartburn with digestive enzymes containing digestive acid. The problem is usually not one of inadequate acid production, but less adequate gastric protection. This could be helped by chewing or sucking on a specific type of licorice candy called DGL or Slippery Elm. Suck or chew on it about ½ hr before the meal. It produces increased secretion of gastric (stomach) mucous protective layer. This helps to prevent irritation by the acids in the stomach.
I have a hunch that fine-tuning hormone supplements is an art that very few individuals in the medical profession, (or anywhere else, for that matter), are truly qualified to do. There are so many variables to consider, that it becomes pretty much of a trial and error routine, IMO. The regulatory mechanisms in the human body that normally handle this job, do so by very complex relationships. Once that capability is disrupted, I'm not sure that mere mortal minds are capable of developing a strategy to manually replace it correctly. With all the other issues affecting you, it's difficult to say whether hormones, (or lack therof), could be playing a role in your problems, or not.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Cristi,
Here's some comments on serotonin. Serotonin level variations are probably a part of MC, but I'm just guessing about this. Here's a quote from a discussion about IBS, (again, the red emphasis is mine):
http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/ ... _bowel.htm
Here's another quote from a discussion asbout carcinoid tumers:
http://psy.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/con ... /46/1/88-a
Clearly, increased serotonin levels in the gut can/will cause diarrhea. Clearly, SSRI's are to be avoided.
Love,
Tex
Here's some comments on serotonin. Serotonin level variations are probably a part of MC, but I'm just guessing about this. Here's a quote from a discussion about IBS, (again, the red emphasis is mine):
This is from The Harvard Medical School:An emerging theory focuses on the neurotransmitter serotonin. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that transmit messages between nerve cells. Most of us have heard about the relationship between depression and serotonin in the brain, but the gut also produces serotonin, which in turn acts on nerves in the digestive tract. Some research suggests that IBS patients who suffer mainly from diarrhea may have increased serotonin levels in the gut, while those with constipation-predominant IBS have decreased amounts.
http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/ ... _bowel.htm
Here's another quote from a discussion asbout carcinoid tumers:
This is from:Gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea and diarrhea, are relatively common side effects of SSRIs (e.g., diarrhea with citalopram1). Carcinoid tumors of the gastrointestinal tract are also frequently associated with diarrhea. Serotonin may play a role in the pathophysiology of diarrhea associated with both SSRIs and carcinoid tumors.
http://psy.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/con ... /46/1/88-a
Clearly, increased serotonin levels in the gut can/will cause diarrhea. Clearly, SSRI's are to be avoided.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
WOW, Cristi!
What a year you have had! A bummer, that's for sure.
It sure does appear that you have multiple endocrine issues. If you don't mind me asking, what was the reason for the hysterectomy? (If you'd rather not say, that's fine). Were you perfectly healthy up until you had that surgery? Or were there "clues" that all was not well when you look back?
So many of your symptoms could be due to hyperthyroidism. For example............ tremors/twitching, excess sweating, fine hair, rapid heart rate, intense hunger, weight loss, anxiety/panic attacks, increase in BMs (but not usually diarrhea), brain fog (lack of concentrating, distractibility, etc.), becoming easily upset and irritable, nausea, vomiting, aches and pains, fatigue, etc. Your "wired and tired" term is so descriptive of hyperthyroidism, I think. Even depression, mood swings, feelings of worhtlessness can occur. (The thyroid affects total body metabolism)!
Also, you apparently have adrenal fatigue, which seems to often go along with MC.....or any chronic illness. And too little insulin? This is the opposite problem from hypoglycemia, where there is too much insulin - and it "overshoots" and lowers the blood sugar, causing weakness, shaking, and cold clammy skin. When your doc said your blood sugar was OK, did he mean the fasting sugar, or did you have a glucose tolerance test?
Have you always had low blood pressure or is this something new? I have it myself and have to be careful when suddenly changing position. If I stand up too quickly I can start to black out. Especially with low BP, it is important to stay well-hydrated at all times. We must be careful to replace adequate water and electrolytes based upon the amount of D, the heat index, amount of exercise, etc.
Body temperature is interesting. You probably know that 98.6 is not really the avg. temp of human beings - the avg. is actually lower. (The original study that determined avg. temp. was flawed!). When I awaken in the morning, my basal temp runs 96.6 to 96.8, which is normal for me.
I am a little confused about the care you are receiving. Are all three (the naturopth, endocrinologist, and OB/GYN) treating you? Are you taking anything for the LC? Which treatment are you getting from which one for which problem? I guess there isn't a primary care doc involved who could help you manage your medical issues, is there? (I think you said the last one didn't work out). That's too bad, because when you are seeing multiple specialists it helps so much to have someone to "run interference" for you, to interface with the specialists and help you sort out conflicting advice/reports.
Did you receive antibiotics just prior to getting the LC? Were you taking lots of NSAIDs?
Thanks for repeating your history. I can see it has already sparked some good ideas in the other posts. Sorry, I seem to be asking you an awful lot of questions. LOL!
Love,
Polly
What a year you have had! A bummer, that's for sure.
It sure does appear that you have multiple endocrine issues. If you don't mind me asking, what was the reason for the hysterectomy? (If you'd rather not say, that's fine). Were you perfectly healthy up until you had that surgery? Or were there "clues" that all was not well when you look back?
So many of your symptoms could be due to hyperthyroidism. For example............ tremors/twitching, excess sweating, fine hair, rapid heart rate, intense hunger, weight loss, anxiety/panic attacks, increase in BMs (but not usually diarrhea), brain fog (lack of concentrating, distractibility, etc.), becoming easily upset and irritable, nausea, vomiting, aches and pains, fatigue, etc. Your "wired and tired" term is so descriptive of hyperthyroidism, I think. Even depression, mood swings, feelings of worhtlessness can occur. (The thyroid affects total body metabolism)!
Also, you apparently have adrenal fatigue, which seems to often go along with MC.....or any chronic illness. And too little insulin? This is the opposite problem from hypoglycemia, where there is too much insulin - and it "overshoots" and lowers the blood sugar, causing weakness, shaking, and cold clammy skin. When your doc said your blood sugar was OK, did he mean the fasting sugar, or did you have a glucose tolerance test?
Have you always had low blood pressure or is this something new? I have it myself and have to be careful when suddenly changing position. If I stand up too quickly I can start to black out. Especially with low BP, it is important to stay well-hydrated at all times. We must be careful to replace adequate water and electrolytes based upon the amount of D, the heat index, amount of exercise, etc.
Body temperature is interesting. You probably know that 98.6 is not really the avg. temp of human beings - the avg. is actually lower. (The original study that determined avg. temp. was flawed!). When I awaken in the morning, my basal temp runs 96.6 to 96.8, which is normal for me.
I am a little confused about the care you are receiving. Are all three (the naturopth, endocrinologist, and OB/GYN) treating you? Are you taking anything for the LC? Which treatment are you getting from which one for which problem? I guess there isn't a primary care doc involved who could help you manage your medical issues, is there? (I think you said the last one didn't work out). That's too bad, because when you are seeing multiple specialists it helps so much to have someone to "run interference" for you, to interface with the specialists and help you sort out conflicting advice/reports.
Did you receive antibiotics just prior to getting the LC? Were you taking lots of NSAIDs?
Thanks for repeating your history. I can see it has already sparked some good ideas in the other posts. Sorry, I seem to be asking you an awful lot of questions. LOL!
Love,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
Hi Tex and Polly,
Thanks for your insights. It gets pretty frustrating trying to figure this out. A great GP to help look at the whole picture would be great. My current one thinks a good antidepressant is all I need and I believe he shares those feelings with the specialits I see through him. My experiences with doctors that I arrange indepentantly seem to go much better.
My history before my hysterectomy is strange as well. I have always been constipated...actually only learned recently that that wasn't normal. Passed hard rocks since my earliest memory. Around 15 started having severe stomach pain that lasted 24 hours then disappeared completely. Only occurred once or twice a year. Every five years or so would see a doc for complete digestive work up...never found anything.
When I got pregnant the first time at 25 was diagnosed with bad anemia....tried to take pills for it but they always upset my stomach. This continued for the next 10 years trying different pills for the anemia with no luck.Tried iron injections about 7 years ago but my body didn't absorb it. I was finally having so much trouble breathing that my doc started giving me iron IV treatments....after 15 of those...my anemia was a lot better.
Back up 5 years earlier I started taking Prilosec 20 mg a day because my stomach problems were getting worse and more freguent. Amazingly the iron infusions cured my stomach problems.
My endo also said that he though I was suffering from graves disease for several years before the surgery.
The problem was that the iron infusions caused my periods to increase in volume so much that I was losing so much blood that the anemia was coming back. So my doc and I decided that a hysterectomy might help...especially because I have a family history of ovarian cancer.
I didn't take nsaids but I took amoxicillan after my surgery.
My blood pressure was always on the low side of normal...it is even lower now. Before surgery my temp was 97.4 now it is 96.
The only glucose info my endo had was from the same blood test that showed the low fasting insulin. He said it was in normal range so I was fine.
So...no I wasn't well but I was fully functioning before the surgery. As I look back I had learned to limit what I did and to compensate to make things work.
Man, you guys are great for reading all this...I'm exhausted with myself. Thanks again for all your time.
Love,
Cristi
Thanks for your insights. It gets pretty frustrating trying to figure this out. A great GP to help look at the whole picture would be great. My current one thinks a good antidepressant is all I need and I believe he shares those feelings with the specialits I see through him. My experiences with doctors that I arrange indepentantly seem to go much better.
My history before my hysterectomy is strange as well. I have always been constipated...actually only learned recently that that wasn't normal. Passed hard rocks since my earliest memory. Around 15 started having severe stomach pain that lasted 24 hours then disappeared completely. Only occurred once or twice a year. Every five years or so would see a doc for complete digestive work up...never found anything.
When I got pregnant the first time at 25 was diagnosed with bad anemia....tried to take pills for it but they always upset my stomach. This continued for the next 10 years trying different pills for the anemia with no luck.Tried iron injections about 7 years ago but my body didn't absorb it. I was finally having so much trouble breathing that my doc started giving me iron IV treatments....after 15 of those...my anemia was a lot better.
Back up 5 years earlier I started taking Prilosec 20 mg a day because my stomach problems were getting worse and more freguent. Amazingly the iron infusions cured my stomach problems.
My endo also said that he though I was suffering from graves disease for several years before the surgery.
The problem was that the iron infusions caused my periods to increase in volume so much that I was losing so much blood that the anemia was coming back. So my doc and I decided that a hysterectomy might help...especially because I have a family history of ovarian cancer.
I didn't take nsaids but I took amoxicillan after my surgery.
My blood pressure was always on the low side of normal...it is even lower now. Before surgery my temp was 97.4 now it is 96.
The only glucose info my endo had was from the same blood test that showed the low fasting insulin. He said it was in normal range so I was fine.
So...no I wasn't well but I was fully functioning before the surgery. As I look back I had learned to limit what I did and to compensate to make things work.
Man, you guys are great for reading all this...I'm exhausted with myself. Thanks again for all your time.
Love,
Cristi
-
kate_ce1995
- Rockhopper Penguin
- Posts: 1321
- Joined: Wed May 25, 2005 5:53 pm
- Location: Vermont
Anyone heardd from Lori lately? Didn't she have adreanl fatigue? And thyroid issues.
You say you crave sweets. Are you eating the sweets you crave? As you are probably aware, eating sweets can cause major drops in your blood sugar levels and even if its only temporary so your fasting numbers come out okay, you still feel like crap! I know I've experienced this, and it was a lot worse when my body was stresses out on Lupron although I somtimes still eat enough sweets without proper protien balance to get myself feeleing that "need to eat" way. Are you eating protien with every meal/snack? That might be a help in controling the blood sugar.
I think you described the trembling/twitching when you were taking effexor? I can relate to that also. I didn't have it all the time, but some mornings when I'd stretch, my hands would tremble as my muscles were tight. That has resolved for the most part for me since going off effexor in July (I was on it for 5 years for a lot of symptoms you are describing that cropped up just prior to my diagnosis of endometriosis, and I'm convinced it was a hormonal issue!).
I wonder (and of course talk to your doc) if either trying full dose hormones, or going back to none would make sense. Maybe by taking a reduced dose to try to help the MC, the hormone issues aren't having a chance to settle down. I know my hotflashes have calmed way down since surgery. I still get them and some days drive me crazy, but not like those first months after surgery. Because of the endometriosis my doc had me go cold turkey...I only had estrogen the 2 days in the hospital so "I wouldn't have to deal with that on TOP of recovering". I even went out on a limb and ordered new turtle necks for this winter...couldn't wear them last winter.
Don't you wish you could get all your specialists in a room together to work out a solution since what each of them wants to do might disrupt what the other is doing?
Good luck, we're here for you.
Katy
You say you crave sweets. Are you eating the sweets you crave? As you are probably aware, eating sweets can cause major drops in your blood sugar levels and even if its only temporary so your fasting numbers come out okay, you still feel like crap! I know I've experienced this, and it was a lot worse when my body was stresses out on Lupron although I somtimes still eat enough sweets without proper protien balance to get myself feeleing that "need to eat" way. Are you eating protien with every meal/snack? That might be a help in controling the blood sugar.
I think you described the trembling/twitching when you were taking effexor? I can relate to that also. I didn't have it all the time, but some mornings when I'd stretch, my hands would tremble as my muscles were tight. That has resolved for the most part for me since going off effexor in July (I was on it for 5 years for a lot of symptoms you are describing that cropped up just prior to my diagnosis of endometriosis, and I'm convinced it was a hormonal issue!).
I wonder (and of course talk to your doc) if either trying full dose hormones, or going back to none would make sense. Maybe by taking a reduced dose to try to help the MC, the hormone issues aren't having a chance to settle down. I know my hotflashes have calmed way down since surgery. I still get them and some days drive me crazy, but not like those first months after surgery. Because of the endometriosis my doc had me go cold turkey...I only had estrogen the 2 days in the hospital so "I wouldn't have to deal with that on TOP of recovering". I even went out on a limb and ordered new turtle necks for this winter...couldn't wear them last winter.
Don't you wish you could get all your specialists in a room together to work out a solution since what each of them wants to do might disrupt what the other is doing?
Good luck, we're here for you.
Katy
Mornin' Cristi!
A few more questions, if you don't mind. Are you having any problems with vision? Headache? Did you have any complications from pregnancy/labor/delivery? Head trauma? Any family history of refractory anemia? Any problems with your periods (other than the recent excessive bleeding) or breastfeeding? Infertility? Excessive thirst or urination?
The longstanding problem with constipation is interesting. It could have been due to gluten intolerance, of course. Although diarrhea is classic for celiac disease, it is not uncommon for constipation to be present for years before diagnosis. Also, if your small intestine had been damaged by the gluten, you might have difficulty absorbing the iron from the tablets. Of course that does not explain the inability to absorb iron from the muscle injections. If they gave you iron, it must have been an iron-deficiency anemia. Did they determine WHY you were anemic? Were you losing blood from the gut or for GYN reasons? Or were your red blood cells hemolyzing (deteriorating) too quickly?
A temperature of 96 is indeed low. Low temp. usually goes along with HYPOthyroidism, not HYPER, as you undoubtedly know. One cause for a temp. that low is starvation, which you have experienced, I'm sure, with that 35 pound weight loss in such a short time.
Prilosec and antibiotics have been implicated as possible causes of MC, just as HRT and and NSAIDs have.
Love,
Polly
P.S. You might want to ask if Dr. Fine knows of any up-to-snuff primary care docs in your area too. Maybe there are some who refer to him or consult with him.
A few more questions, if you don't mind. Are you having any problems with vision? Headache? Did you have any complications from pregnancy/labor/delivery? Head trauma? Any family history of refractory anemia? Any problems with your periods (other than the recent excessive bleeding) or breastfeeding? Infertility? Excessive thirst or urination?
The longstanding problem with constipation is interesting. It could have been due to gluten intolerance, of course. Although diarrhea is classic for celiac disease, it is not uncommon for constipation to be present for years before diagnosis. Also, if your small intestine had been damaged by the gluten, you might have difficulty absorbing the iron from the tablets. Of course that does not explain the inability to absorb iron from the muscle injections. If they gave you iron, it must have been an iron-deficiency anemia. Did they determine WHY you were anemic? Were you losing blood from the gut or for GYN reasons? Or were your red blood cells hemolyzing (deteriorating) too quickly?
A temperature of 96 is indeed low. Low temp. usually goes along with HYPOthyroidism, not HYPER, as you undoubtedly know. One cause for a temp. that low is starvation, which you have experienced, I'm sure, with that 35 pound weight loss in such a short time.
Prilosec and antibiotics have been implicated as possible causes of MC, just as HRT and and NSAIDs have.
Love,
Polly
P.S. You might want to ask if Dr. Fine knows of any up-to-snuff primary care docs in your area too. Maybe there are some who refer to him or consult with him.
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
Hi Polly,
I am having problems with vision. I went to my eye doctor half way through my first course of entocort because I thought it was doing something to my vision. I was having problems watching TV because the light was too bright. I was also having mild headaches from one temple across both eyes to the other temple. My eyes also feel jumpy at times when my eyes are closed and it feels like each eye is not tracking exactly the same. I have dismissed all of these when I got the Graves dx....while my eyes are not bulging out...I assume it's the thyroid messing with them.
I had two C-sections the first breach...water broke so I went to hospital and was 9cm dialated and had never had a contraction. Second was just huge...no problems.
Periods have always been heavy,lots of cramping and PMS...lots of mood swings.
No family history of anemia, but grandmother took B12 shots same as I did for last 5 years. There is a history of colitis on both sides of my family. Apparently two members took Donatel their entire lives.
No breast feeding or infertility problems....I warn my children that I only didn't use birth control twice and have two kids...LOL.
Since the surgery I notice a pretty constant mild thirst...I am always drinking water...My naturopath always looks at me and says I am dehydrated.
At the time of my colonoscopy, they also did the endoscope and GI said the small bowel that he looked at and biopsied looked normal...fat malabsorption test from Dr. Fine was also normal
It is iron deficiency anemia that I have but never found out why...I was losing blood from periods...not my gut...as far as I know...I think they checked stool for blood and it was negative.
I have had blood tests for anemia twice since surgery and they have been normal...no anemia. No one has ever mentioned anything about the blood cells deteriorating too quickly.
I have had interesting skin changes since surgery or gf...I'm not sure which is responsible. I have very fair skin but always had a ruddy patchy overtone. Also had reddish rough bumps on the top of my thighs. My Mother is covered with what the dermatologist calls barnacles( I know there is a medical term but can't remember it) and I started getting quite a few of those since I turned 40. Both our Dermatologists said they were caused by the sun...which didn't ring true to us as a lot were on our inner thighs. Anyway, my ruddiness is tons less.especially face and hands...bumps on thighs mostly gone...and no red...I look more yellowish...maybe that was always my natural color under all that red. AND. the barnacles have all disappeared. I suspect they were caused by my problems digesting gluten or grains.
Hi Katy,
I am not eating any sweets at all...but I love sweets and not salty foods. Before surgery I ate dessert once a day after a meal because if I ate it on an empty stomach I would have a huge drop in blood sugar and would sleep for an hour to recover. But I thought about and looked forward to that dessert all day...Almost eating the healthy stuff as a means to get my sugar fix at the end of the day. There was also a sense that I didn't get enough energy from regular foods...felt flat...but after ny dessert I was super woman and could accomplish a lot. I attributed this all to the anemia...thinking I needed the sugar to compensate for the lack of energy caused by the anemia.
I only took effexor once...had major reaction with lots of vomiting and D....it was a long 24 hours until that was out of my system.
I do eat protein at every meal...I still get the crashing feeling after a few hours. It's not exactly like the drop in blood sugar that I used to get. The drop in blood sugar I could feel coming on...and I'd get shakey and weak and eventually take a nap and wake up feeling fine. Now I will be fine and it comes on suddenly...no shaking but a feeling of my body shutting down...extremely weak..I have to sit or I'll fall. However, eating something makes me feel good again....so it sure sounds like a blood sugar thing. Strange.
I would like to get all my docs in the same room...hopefully they'd try to help me ...but I'd be a little nervous that they'd turn on me and try to commit me.LOL
Again,thanks for reading all this. I so appreciate you all being here for me.
Love,
Cristi
I am having problems with vision. I went to my eye doctor half way through my first course of entocort because I thought it was doing something to my vision. I was having problems watching TV because the light was too bright. I was also having mild headaches from one temple across both eyes to the other temple. My eyes also feel jumpy at times when my eyes are closed and it feels like each eye is not tracking exactly the same. I have dismissed all of these when I got the Graves dx....while my eyes are not bulging out...I assume it's the thyroid messing with them.
I had two C-sections the first breach...water broke so I went to hospital and was 9cm dialated and had never had a contraction. Second was just huge...no problems.
Periods have always been heavy,lots of cramping and PMS...lots of mood swings.
No family history of anemia, but grandmother took B12 shots same as I did for last 5 years. There is a history of colitis on both sides of my family. Apparently two members took Donatel their entire lives.
No breast feeding or infertility problems....I warn my children that I only didn't use birth control twice and have two kids...LOL.
Since the surgery I notice a pretty constant mild thirst...I am always drinking water...My naturopath always looks at me and says I am dehydrated.
At the time of my colonoscopy, they also did the endoscope and GI said the small bowel that he looked at and biopsied looked normal...fat malabsorption test from Dr. Fine was also normal
It is iron deficiency anemia that I have but never found out why...I was losing blood from periods...not my gut...as far as I know...I think they checked stool for blood and it was negative.
I have had blood tests for anemia twice since surgery and they have been normal...no anemia. No one has ever mentioned anything about the blood cells deteriorating too quickly.
I have had interesting skin changes since surgery or gf...I'm not sure which is responsible. I have very fair skin but always had a ruddy patchy overtone. Also had reddish rough bumps on the top of my thighs. My Mother is covered with what the dermatologist calls barnacles( I know there is a medical term but can't remember it) and I started getting quite a few of those since I turned 40. Both our Dermatologists said they were caused by the sun...which didn't ring true to us as a lot were on our inner thighs. Anyway, my ruddiness is tons less.especially face and hands...bumps on thighs mostly gone...and no red...I look more yellowish...maybe that was always my natural color under all that red. AND. the barnacles have all disappeared. I suspect they were caused by my problems digesting gluten or grains.
Hi Katy,
I am not eating any sweets at all...but I love sweets and not salty foods. Before surgery I ate dessert once a day after a meal because if I ate it on an empty stomach I would have a huge drop in blood sugar and would sleep for an hour to recover. But I thought about and looked forward to that dessert all day...Almost eating the healthy stuff as a means to get my sugar fix at the end of the day. There was also a sense that I didn't get enough energy from regular foods...felt flat...but after ny dessert I was super woman and could accomplish a lot. I attributed this all to the anemia...thinking I needed the sugar to compensate for the lack of energy caused by the anemia.
I only took effexor once...had major reaction with lots of vomiting and D....it was a long 24 hours until that was out of my system.
I do eat protein at every meal...I still get the crashing feeling after a few hours. It's not exactly like the drop in blood sugar that I used to get. The drop in blood sugar I could feel coming on...and I'd get shakey and weak and eventually take a nap and wake up feeling fine. Now I will be fine and it comes on suddenly...no shaking but a feeling of my body shutting down...extremely weak..I have to sit or I'll fall. However, eating something makes me feel good again....so it sure sounds like a blood sugar thing. Strange.
I would like to get all my docs in the same room...hopefully they'd try to help me ...but I'd be a little nervous that they'd turn on me and try to commit me.LOL
Again,thanks for reading all this. I so appreciate you all being here for me.
Love,
Cristi
Hi Cristi,
Adding to what Polly said, I've always had a problem understanding how you could have hyperthyroidism. I recall when you originally mentioned that, but it just doesn't seem logical to me. Was that an "iron-clad" diagnosis?
Concerning the amoxicillin that you mentioned in your previous post. That particular antibiotic is notorious for precipitating C. diff infections. I assume that this was before you were given the 3 week Flagyl treatment. You said they suspected C. Diff. Was it ever confirmed? Did they do a culture test to verify that the C. diff was absent, after the treatment? You said the D just got worse. Did they then try Vancomycin? C. diff can be a very persistant, (and/or recurring), problem. Have you had a C diff test lately? If you have C. diff, Entocort would not be effective to stop the D.
It's well known that C. diff is the most common cause of infectious diarrhea that begins in a hospital.
Incidentally, I came across this discusson while trying to find the recommended treatment period for Flagyl. Anyone ever hear of fecal infussions, to treat C diff?
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/gastro/me ... 37490.html
Weird!
Incidentally, all the vision symptoms, and related issues that you mention in your last post, fit the adrenal fatigue profile.
Love,
Tex
Adding to what Polly said, I've always had a problem understanding how you could have hyperthyroidism. I recall when you originally mentioned that, but it just doesn't seem logical to me. Was that an "iron-clad" diagnosis?
Concerning the amoxicillin that you mentioned in your previous post. That particular antibiotic is notorious for precipitating C. diff infections. I assume that this was before you were given the 3 week Flagyl treatment. You said they suspected C. Diff. Was it ever confirmed? Did they do a culture test to verify that the C. diff was absent, after the treatment? You said the D just got worse. Did they then try Vancomycin? C. diff can be a very persistant, (and/or recurring), problem. Have you had a C diff test lately? If you have C. diff, Entocort would not be effective to stop the D.
It's well known that C. diff is the most common cause of infectious diarrhea that begins in a hospital.
Incidentally, I came across this discusson while trying to find the recommended treatment period for Flagyl. Anyone ever hear of fecal infussions, to treat C diff?
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/gastro/me ... 37490.html
Weird!
Incidentally, all the vision symptoms, and related issues that you mention in your last post, fit the adrenal fatigue profile.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Hi Tex,
The C-Diff was never found ....they looked for it but never had a positive confirmation at the time right after surgery. However they said it was sometimes hard to find and put me on Flagyl anyway. Then at time of colonoscopy in Jan. my GI said there was no sign of C-diff infection. My GI mentioned those fecal infussions before the MC Dx....more as a funny gross out topic than a serious treatment option.
As far as my thyroid issues....I think you hit the nail on the head when you said it is more of an art than a science right now. My TSH number is borderline hyper. Many endo don't treat people with that number. However some endo are finding people who are having symptoms in this subclinical range. All I can say is the Methimazole has made a big difference in how I feel. It's as big a difference as cutting out gluten was for me. The iodine uptake test that I took was also abnormal. The upper limit of uptake for a normal thyroid is 32% and mine took up 37% in an even distribution which my endo said is what happens when you have graves disease. He said mine is mild and there is a good chance for remission.
My naturopath has raised the possibility that there is actually nothing wrong with my thyroid but that it is just compensating for something else being out of balance in my body.She wanted him to investigate whether or not I had somthing wrong with my pituatary gland or hypothalamus. She said tumors there could mess up the entire endocrine system. But he didn't want to look into that...thought the graves was the whole picture.
I didn't know that adrenal fatigue could cause the vision issues. Interesting. Do MD acknowledge adrenal fatigue?
The first endo I went to (the one who said I should wrap my head around the fact that I probably had cancer) said it didn't matter that my DHEA levels were extremely low. The second said he'd never seen a normal test ever.
So the endocrine stuff all seems pretty loosy goosy to me....Everyone seems to have a different opinion. I am an O blood type and those people in general will have hypothyrodism....but I think Graves disease patients eventually burn out their thyroid and end up hypo within 10 years.
I also found the DGL and Slippery Elm info interesting because while I took prilosec for 6 years...I never had reflux...never any burning in my esophogus or neck area...it was always my stomach that burned. So lack of a protective stomach mucous layer makes perfect sense to me.
Thanks Tex.
Love,
Cristi
P.S. Sorry about the spelling..it's never been my strength.
The C-Diff was never found ....they looked for it but never had a positive confirmation at the time right after surgery. However they said it was sometimes hard to find and put me on Flagyl anyway. Then at time of colonoscopy in Jan. my GI said there was no sign of C-diff infection. My GI mentioned those fecal infussions before the MC Dx....more as a funny gross out topic than a serious treatment option.
As far as my thyroid issues....I think you hit the nail on the head when you said it is more of an art than a science right now. My TSH number is borderline hyper. Many endo don't treat people with that number. However some endo are finding people who are having symptoms in this subclinical range. All I can say is the Methimazole has made a big difference in how I feel. It's as big a difference as cutting out gluten was for me. The iodine uptake test that I took was also abnormal. The upper limit of uptake for a normal thyroid is 32% and mine took up 37% in an even distribution which my endo said is what happens when you have graves disease. He said mine is mild and there is a good chance for remission.
My naturopath has raised the possibility that there is actually nothing wrong with my thyroid but that it is just compensating for something else being out of balance in my body.She wanted him to investigate whether or not I had somthing wrong with my pituatary gland or hypothalamus. She said tumors there could mess up the entire endocrine system. But he didn't want to look into that...thought the graves was the whole picture.
I didn't know that adrenal fatigue could cause the vision issues. Interesting. Do MD acknowledge adrenal fatigue?
The first endo I went to (the one who said I should wrap my head around the fact that I probably had cancer) said it didn't matter that my DHEA levels were extremely low. The second said he'd never seen a normal test ever.
So the endocrine stuff all seems pretty loosy goosy to me....Everyone seems to have a different opinion. I am an O blood type and those people in general will have hypothyrodism....but I think Graves disease patients eventually burn out their thyroid and end up hypo within 10 years.
I also found the DGL and Slippery Elm info interesting because while I took prilosec for 6 years...I never had reflux...never any burning in my esophogus or neck area...it was always my stomach that burned. So lack of a protective stomach mucous layer makes perfect sense to me.
Thanks Tex.
Love,
Cristi
P.S. Sorry about the spelling..it's never been my strength.
Hi Cristi,
I agree with your naturopath, the problem could be further up the line.
http://www.hormone.org/endo101/glands.cfm
There is an Endocrinologist search option on that site, FWIW.
I don't know how the medical profession views the concept of adrenal fatigue. Maybe Polly can address that.
Love,
Tex
I agree with your naturopath, the problem could be further up the line.
http://www.hormone.org/endo101/glands.cfm
There is an Endocrinologist search option on that site, FWIW.
I don't know how the medical profession views the concept of adrenal fatigue. Maybe Polly can address that.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.