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10 Rockin’ Thyroid Patient New Year Resolutions just for you!

10 RESOLUTIONSHIP HIP!! As we head into a New Year, here are 10 resolutions to potentially help you feel better and stay better as a thyroid patient…and informed patients everywhere will back you all the way, thyroid friends!!

check mark in square1. I WILL GIVE UP THE PATIENT PASSIVITY AND BECOME EDUCATED AND PROACTIVE!

It’s on purpose that this is the first resolution! Why? Informed thyroid patients achieve better results plus become more confident and proactive in their doctor’s office. Both the latter are IMPORTANT to getting well and staying well, say informed patients.  Let the wisdom of thyroid patients in the Stop the Thyroid Madness books and the patient-to-patient website information be your key towards finding your better thyroid treatment spot. (The STTM II book is even written by medical practitioners!)

check mark in square2. I WILL EXERCISE MY RIGHT TO FIRE MY DOCTOR AND FIND A MUCH BETTER ONE IF I CAN.

If attempting to educate our doctor doesn’t work, there’s the option to find a better one. In the United States, thyroid patients do have choice, and they can exercise it. They work to find a better informed or more open-minded doctor. In the UK, patients choose a clinic…and believe it or not, they do have the right to choose a specialist, but they need to fight for their rights to find a good replacement doctor. Says an informed UK patient: if you hear of good Endo, ask for a referral and ensure you contact them to say you only want to see that Endocrinologist. No one else.  In Canada like elsewhere, patients can do the work to find a better doctor, but may have to call to make sure someone is taking new patients. Every province has different rules.

It’s not always easy depending on where you live, but it’s possible!

check mark in square3. I WILL RETHINK THE SYNTHROID/LEVOTHYROXINE BALONEY.

A healthy thyroid makes five hormones, not just one. T4 is a storage hormone meant to convert to the active T3 hormone. It’s T3 which does the trick in removing hypothyroid symptoms. But a healthy thyroid also gives you direct T3 and doesn’t force you to only get it from conversion. There are plenty of reasons why you won’t get enough T3 from conversion, sooner or later, even if at first, some do feel better. That’s why patients all over the world are switching to natural desiccated thyroid (NDT), or adding synthetic T3 to their synthetic T4 and raising the T3 or NDT to find their optimal dose.

check mark in square4. I WILL KEEP TRACK OF MY IRON LEVELS

Informed patients, whether female or male, found out the hard way in groups associated with STTM that their iron levels are important. If iron gets too low, we’ve noticed we might have hyper-like symptoms with NDT or T3 on top of feeling poorly from low iron. Or we just might feel pretty darn awful from inadequate levels of iron. And we know that there are important iron labs we pay attention to, as well as learning where our iron should fall.

check mark in square5. I WILL PAY ATTENTION TO MY GUT HEALTH AS WELL AS WHAT I CONSUME.

The “gut” refers to the journey and bodily activity from what goes into your mouth all the way down to where what’s left comes out. And for those with Hashimoto’s, the majority do better by avoiding gluten. It helps decrease antibodies for many, and lowers the problem of inflammation caused by the gluten. Removing gluten has also improved nutrient levels. Some need additional help with LDN, or selenium, or iodine–it’s individual as to what will work best for any one patient.

Our intestinal bacteria is also important and believe it or not, can have a major role in a strong immune system and even our brain health, besides good thyroid function. Informed thyroid patients nourish their microbiome with fermented food like sauerkraut or kombucha, or consuming yogurt, or taking a broad-spectrum probiotic supplement–all for the good bacteria. Prebiotics are dietary fibers which will help feed the good bacteria, and include foods like asparagus, onions, garlic, dandelion greens, raw chicory root, and even bananas or beans and more. You can do a search for prebiotic supplements, too.

check mark in square6. I WILL PROTECT MY ADRENAL HEALTH.

Our adrenals are the knights that protect us and keep us going. So patients have learned to support and protect them. One important way is to avoid or lower stress the best way we can: resting, meditation, pleasure reading, music, artistic pursuits, laughing, yoga…you name it and it’s individual. When under stress, thyroid patients often use adrenal-supportive herbs, such as Ashwagandha, Rhodiola or more. If there is suspicion of a problem with our cortisol levels, informed patient do saliva testing, not blood, since they found it fit their symptoms better, besides revealed the cellular, useable levels of cortisol.

check mark in square7. I WON’T BE FOOLED BY “NORMAL” RANGES ON MY LAB WORK.

This is a huge area that thyroid patients learned about in the early patient groups and into the present. Namely, we saw that many of us fell in the so-called “normal range” result, yet clear symptoms of the particular problem. The TSH lab rest was one, but there are many other labs and their so-called normal ranges that we won’t be fooled by anymore.

check mark in square8. I WILL LEARN FROM THE MISTAKES OF OTHERS BEFORE ME!

Yes, along the way, thyroid patients and/or their doctors have made a lot of mistakes, and we can learn from them! This page outlines many of those mistakes and what was done about them.

check mark in square9. I WILL PAY ATTENTION TO MY DUCKS–quack quack.

Yes, there are first priority issues to find through testing and working with informed doctors that we need to take care of, which ranges from better thyroid medications to treating cortisol or iron issues correctly to keeping our nutrients at healthy levels. But some have to explore other issues with their doctor to find their sweet spot, ranging from h-pylori to lyme to reactivated EBV to high heavy metals and more. It’s individual and it’s all about our ducks in a row.

check mark in square10. I WILL HAVE HOPE!

There is very good reason to have hope: there are thyroid patients all over the world who have gotten better. Janie Bowthorpe, the creator of the informational Stop the Thyroid Madness website and books, went from having to apply for Social Security Disability to regaining her life again. Hang in there! Learn from worldwide patient experiences and wisdom on STTM and find a good doctor to help!

All the above are just summaries and if more detail is needed, click on the links. For information not linked, there is plenty on the internet. 🙂

JanieSignature SEIZE THE WISDOM

 

 

 

 

 

 

– Have active Graves disease and you aren’t hypothyroid yet? Go here. 

– Check out all the STTM articles on Thyroid cancer here.

– Come on over and “Like” the STTM FACEBOOK PAGE for daily inspiration and information. 

– Here are patient groups for support and information: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/talk-to-others

22 replies

How foods you eat, or don’t eat, can make or break your health!

Headshot StandingWhen you think of doing things that will make you healthy, what do you think of?

But there’s one more way to achieve health: what we eat or don’t eat!  The right food is bigger than we ever imagined for our health and well-being as thyroid patients, especially if you have autoimmune issues. And that is an especially important when the shelves of our grocery stores are filled with rows and rows of over-processed junk!!

The following STTM Guest Blog Post…about FOOD…was written by Jennifer Robins. She was diagnosed with several autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s disease, had chronic infections, plus Lyme disease. Jennifer became gravely ill and mostly housebound. When traditional medical treatments failed to help, Jennifer turned to food for healing! Yes, food. She removed grain, dairy and refined sugars and began eating “predominantly Paleo”. And because of that radical change in the way she ate, she started reclaiming her life, one whole food at a time. Read about her interesting story!

I remember growing up eating a standard American diet, missing little to no school, and having more energy than any one person ever could use. While my family did not eat out or frequent drive-through windows routinely, our home had it’s share of boxed “food”. As a family, we were “healthy.” We felt good and rarely visited the doctor.

It’s funny looking back, how people defined “healthy”. Rarely did we think about what goes into our bodies as defining health. Instead, we tended to gauge our health by how we think we feel, how many prescription drugs we are taking, and whether or not we have made any trips to the emergency room.

However, with autoimmune disease and other chronic ailments growing exponentially every year, diet and food sourcing is becoming increasingly more important.

Eight years ago after giving birth to two babies less than a year apart, I felt miserable.

I chalked it up to the obvious lack of sleep, the stress of having two babies so close together, and to the fact that my husband was preparing to deploy, leaving me behind with our infant and toddler.

Exhausted, frazzled, irritable, lightheaded, and overheated, I finally headed to my general practitioner to seek advice. She ran thyroid labs and they were “normal”, except for my TSH which read 0. Yes, 0. We agreed to follow up several weeks later and when I did, my labs were all in range, including TSH, FT4, FT3, and reverse T3. My low TSH had resolved yet I felt just as horrible if not worse than the month prior.

Eventually I sought out the help of an endocrinologist who discovered my thyroid antibodies.

My Anti-Thyroglobulin levels were more than double the upper limit. All other thyroid labs were in range, as they fluctuated between hyper and hypothyroid. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s and sent on my way. I tossed my prescription for synthetic thyroid replacement, as I just wasn’t ready for that step, whatever that meant.

I ended up reading about the connection between gluten and autoimmune disease as I scoured the internet looking for answers to my affliction. I was desperate to avoid taking thyroid replacement for the rest of my life. I ran the stool test looking for antibodies produced against gluten and came back positive. So I gave up gluten and was very compliant; but within the year resolved to start thyroid medication.

I researched natural desiccated thyroid and knew it was the best fit for me, so I found a doctor willing to prescribe it. Over the next year or so things leveled out, symptoms improved, and I felt like I could at least participate in my life. We moved to another military assignment, I began working out more regularly, started routine acupuncture, and realized I wanted another baby.

After a few months of trying, I got pregnant.

I was elated and I was feeling better than I had in a long time. My pregnancy was fairly uneventful other than managing my thyroid dosage, and my delivery was unmedicated–a goal I had had for awhile. I had 3 healthy children and life was good.

But around 5 months postpartum, I began feeling terrible. 

It was even more terrible than I felt after the first two babies were born. I chalked it up to juggling 3 babies and the hormone shift as well as the need to recalculate my thyroid dosage. I had let my strict gluten free lifestyle go as well and it was time to refocus. So I lowered my meds, cleaned up my diet, and tried to ride it out.

And I got worse. Much worse.

I became so sick in fact that I was housebound 90% of the time and often bedbound. Now I was stricken with neurological symptoms including brain swelling, vertigo, migraines, severe emotional lability (especially when my brain was inflamed), heart palpitations, disorientation, word searching, and more. It was a living nightmare.

I visited a new integrative doctor, in yet another new city and sought help.

She ran labs for viruses, candida, thyroid, adrenals, nutritional deficiencies, and infections and included urine, stool, blood, and hair. The results were overwhelming. I had elevated antibodies for so many types of infections I didn’t know where to start. She noticed I had a few antibody bands come back positive on a western blot for Lyme disease and suggested I test further. I fell down a rabbit hole of more testing, more doctors, and lots of medication recommendations.

Ultimately, I chose to treat the Lyme disease as it was insinuated that this could be the root of all my issues. I began multiple high dose antibiotics that I eventually took for over a year. I was back to strict gluten free eating, took over 40 supplements, probiotics, herbs, and anything else that my doctors recommended. I saw 3 different Lyme literate physicians (LLMDs) over this time.

And I got even worse. Ridiculously worse.

I was assured that this was “herxing” or bacterial die off. So I persisted, I stayed on meds, and life just kept getting more horrendous. I so often begged to die that I wondered daily when my last day on earth would be. I knew I was dying, I just didn’t know when or how long it would take.

But during this time I researched. I read and read and dug until there was nothing left to read. I kept seeing things about the paleo lifestyle for any number of ailments. Be it autoimmune or otherwise, it seemed I was being pointed in this direction for a reason.

Ultimately I made the decision to stop taking antibiotics and start focusing on rebuilding my immune system instead of destroying it.

Giving up the remaining grains and dairy was terribly hard, but it was the first time I began seeing ANY progress in this very long journey. Slowly but surely, I began reclaiming bits of my life back. I began chronicling my recipes, keeping a blog in secret, and eventually sharing it with others. I simultaneously took my already-gluten-free children off of dairy as well, so I needed a place to revisit recipes that kept them nourished and happy too. I noticed changes in all of us. My five year old’s sleep apnea and enlarged tonsils all resolved, my two year old’s enlarged glands in both her groin and neck resolved, and my son’s tummy aches disappeared without gluten and dairy.

I see now how life altering food changes can be.

I see that what you put in your body has everything to do with not only how you feel from day to day but also has the capability of healing a leaky gut and truly managing autoimmune conditions. This does not mean that food always takes the place of medication or of medical care. But we cannot overlook nutrition as being instrumental in our healing.

In my own story, my body could not even begin to heal until I removed inflammation-causing foods, despite the multiple medications, supplements, and other lifestyle changes. My healing has been gradual, with those expected setbacks that have made me feel as if I was failing. But over the past 2+ years of eating this way, I have finally seen glimpses of the old me. Before my body began attacking itself, before I became a shell of the person I was, and before my immune system became my own worst enemy.

I consider myself a work in progress as I truly believe that once you have a chronic ailment, you must always take extra care in respecting your body and its limitations. But I am living again. I am an active parent, a contributing citizen and am no longer just a spectator of my own life. And for that my heart will never be able to exScreen Shot 2015-08-16 at 2.56.40 PMpress the joy and gratitude to have been born once again.

ABOUT JENNIFER ROBINS: Jennifer is the voice and whole foodist behind the popular food blog Predominantly Paleo and is best selling author of the fabulous book of recipes and information called Down South Paleo: Delectable Southern Recipes Adapted for Gluten-free, Paleo Eaters
–filled with gorgeous photos of the recipes she includes. You can also visit her Facebook page Predominantly Paleo which has some really delicious recipes on it, too.

P.S. I, Janie, have her book Down South Paleo: Delectable Southern Recipes Adapted for Gluten-free, Paleo Eaters and it is fabulous.

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** Learn what Thyroid Patients before you have learned about better thyroid treatment.
**Join the STTM Facebook page for daily tips, information and inspiration.  

11 replies

15 Things which Thyroid Patients should teach their Doctors

Screen Shot 2015-08-07 at 4.28.31 PMMany thyroid patients will tell you they have, or have had, doctors they love! I, Janie, have had many of them.

But it doesn’t take away from the fact that those in a medical profession have been sorely lacking for decades about correct knowledge on how to diagnose and treat hypothyroidism or Hashimotos, besides have inappropriate familiarity about all the issues related to being hypothyroid. Even their knowledge on how to correctly read labwork has been lazy.

Because of that poverty of correct knowledge, patients were forced to take the bull by the horns and figure things out for themselves! Stop the Thyroid Madness, the flagship of “patient experiences and wisdom”, represents all that wisdom!

Here are 15 things that any thyroid patient not only has to learn, but needs to teach any medical practitioner the best way they know how:

1) My fatigue and weight gain is not simply because I need to exercise more and eat less.

Granted, we know that exercise and how we eat is important! But being undiagnosed hypothyroid, or poorly treated due to Synthroid or any other T4-only medication, or being held to the TSH, keeps many of us with a low metabolism. The latter results in very easy weight gain, or the failure to do the kind of exercise which would help us!

2) Depression is strongly related to continued hypothyroidism!

We know there can be a variety of reasons for depression, but for most thyroid patients, our depression is a sure sign that we are either undiagnosed due to the lousy TSH lab test, or undertreated due to being on only one of five thyroid hormones like T4-only, or being held hostage to the TSH, a pituitary hormone.

3) The TSH lab test has been a failure for too many years.  

Yes, though a seriously low TSH can detect if we have hypopituitary, for most of us, we’ve had a “normal” TSH yet obvious hypothyroid symptoms. Additionally, when we are optimally treated on Natural Desiccated Thyroid, T4/T3 or T3-only, our TSH lab test is always below range without one hint of bone loss or heart problems. We want to go by the free T3 and free T4, plus symptom removal and a good heartrate and blood pressure instead. //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/tsh-why-its-useless

4) To figure out if I have Hashimotos,  BOTH antibodies labs need to be tested, not just one. 

To detect if we have the autoimmune version of thyroid problems, patients saw right away that one antibody could be high, but the other one not.  So we need both the anti-peroxidase AND the anti-thyroglobulin lab tests. And by the way, many Hashi’s patients soar on Natural Desiccated Thyroid if they raise it correctly. See #5.

5) Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT) has been changing patient lives for years now, just as it did for decades before Synthroid hit the market. 

Though some patients do better on T4-only meds than others…at first..there is simply too many reported experiences by patients for 15+ years that it’s not the way to go. And those same reports show that being on the five hormones that NDT gives makes much more sense.  Even adding synthetic T3 to synthetic T4 has produced better results.

6) I can’t wait six weeks before having a raise!

Thyroid patients found out the hard way that if they stay on a starting dose of NDT (which is usually one grain) longer than a few weeks, the feedback loop causes hypothyroidism to come back with a vengeance in some way or another. So we raise every two weeks and start slowing those raises in the two grain area or close to three to start finding our optimal dose. //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101

7) My lab results are not about being in the “normal” range.

This was a huge discovery by informed thyroid patients as they kept observing each others lab results for years: it’s about “where” the lab result falls that tells the story…not just because it falls in a suspicious “normal” range based on the testing participants the lab facility chose. //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/lab-values

8) If I react poorly to NDT, it’s not because NDT isn’t right for me. 

Patients who have had problems with NDT found out that there are five correctible reasons for most of them:  a) being kept on lower doses far too long b) not raising high enough because of being held to the TSH range c) having low iron d) having a cortisol problem 5) having Lyme. This page explains: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ndt-doesnt-work-for-me

9) Yes, there really is such a thing as adrenal fatigue/adrenal insufficiency/hypocortisolism.

Easily more than 50% of thyroid patients end up with a cortisol problem, either due to being undiagnosed for years thanks to the use of the faulty TSH lab test, or being put on only one of five thyroid hormones–T4. And to learn more about it, one of your doctor’s own colleagues has written a brilliant chapter as to biologically why we get low cortisol, found in the Stop the Thyroid Madness II book, chapter 15. And this:  //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info

10) Saliva testing for cortisol is far more accurate than blood testing

Saliva is said to be testing one’s cellular levels of cortisol, plus it does so at four key times during a 24-hour period, which is important to know. And patients found that the results (from reputable companies) fit their symptoms! Whereas blood cortisol testing is measuring both bound and unbound cortisol, and most of the time does NOT fit the symptoms, showing high cortisol when we are really low, or vice versa. //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info

11) If some or most of my saliva cortisol results are low, there are safe and effective ways to treat it. 

The adrenal area is one which thyroid patients took great time and care to learn, based on what we read from experts, plus our repeated experiences and wisdom. This is where our doctor, need to be open-minded enough to learn from Stop the Thyroid Madness, both on the website and in the revised STTM book, chapters 5 and 6.

12) If I have acid reflux or stomach problems, it’s usually due to low stomach acid caused by our hypothyroid state, not the need for Prilosec (Omeprazole). And some of us need to be off gluten, especially if we have Hashimotos.

i.e. what we need is to restore a better level of acid in our stomachs, which our hypothyroid state lowers–the latter which causes problems in absorbing vitamins and minerals. That’s why we need to put lemon juice or apple cider vinegar in the liquids we use to swallow our meds and supplements. And a large body of us with Hashimotos need to be off gluten.

13) I’m not stupid just because I didn’t go to medical school, plus I live in my own body. So I need you to see us as a team. 

Because of what Stop the Thyroid Madness gives me, both the website and the books, it’s important to me that you see us as a team–BOTH my knowledge and your own.

14) No, thyroid cancer is not the easy cancer.

Thyroid cancer patients hate their cancer as much as anyone does…plus it’s worrisome, surgery nor RAI is not a picnic, and recurrence is on our minds. //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2015/01/31/thyroid-cancer-easy-cancer-thyroid-cancer-patients-appalled/

15) My thyroid labwork should be done before I take my thyroid meds for the day. 

Patients discovered that the T3 is NDT will peak about two hours after meds are taken, then a slow fall. If patients are on T3-only, it’s a 4-hour peak. We want to measure what still lingers in us, not the peak or rise.

What else do you think our doctors need to learn?

JanieSignature SEIZE THE WISDOM

* Join the STTM Facebook page for daily information, tips and inspiration!
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43 replies

About Quinoa; Mistakes made on T3-only; Thyroid Patients and West Nile Virus

“WHAT IS THAT??”

As a thyroid patient who went to hell and back thanks to 20 years of a lousy treatment by allopathic medicine, I care about my good health and what I eat. So I attempt to balance my eating sins. And when I was recently at a salad bar, I couldn’t figure out what a particular bowl of food was, sitting next to mixtures of fruit, pastas, etc.

It looked like “frog eye salad”, which is made up of teeny tiny b-b size pasta and sweet fruits. But this had tomatoes in it. And the small round things had a thin white line around them. Were they fish eggs??

Turns out its a high protein, higher fiber whole grain called Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa), and is loaded with nutrients, including the minerals iron, zinc, and selenium, plus vitamin E and lysine, and all essential amino acids. I got a scoop and I was impressed.

And voila….if you need to be gluten-free, this grain gets the mark! I plan on buying some at my local health food store for an occasional hot breakfast cereal (as I suspect my husband would do better avoiding gluten thanks to frequent digestive issues), besides strongly recommend it to my husband’s niece, who badly needs to go gluten-free to lower her high inflammation levels.

Don’t feel the need to avoid gluten?? This still looks like a great grain and food to become familiar with, which I’m going to do! But a word of warning: it’s not low carb. So like any carb you intake, you’ll want to eat it in moderation.

KEY MISTAKES IF YOU ARE ON T3-ONLY, says a lot of patient experience

Though ten years of strong patient experiences show that natural desiccated thyroid gives the best results for thyroid disease, some thyroid patients have to be, or choose to be, on T3-only. It’s definitely a far better treatment than the lousy T4-only treatment with Synthroid and other brands.

And along the way, we’ve figured out some mistakes we may be making when using T3-only:

  1. Dosing rigidly every certain amount of hours  When patients were first learning about using T3-only (which requires more multi-dosing at first than does natural desiccated thyroid), we thought it was a good idea to dose rigidly about every 4-5 hours or so, thinking that T3 would peak about 4 hours after taking the first dose, then make a fall, and you’d then need to replenish your levels. We were wrong with that rigidity.It can be very individual when one needs a dose of T3. Some might need another dose of T3 in three hours after taking the first one due to a higher metabolism. So if they go longer, they put themselves in an increasing hypothyroid state. Another person might be a slow metabolizer and only need their next dose in 5 or 6 hours. So if you take it too soon, you put yourself in the direction of a hyper state.Turns out you need to be dosing  T3 when your body tells you it’s time you need it! How to know? Your signs and symptoms. Look for clues that you need your next dose, like a rising heartrate or blood pressure, depression, fatigue, or any hypothyroid symptom unique to you. Notate that on paper, then you’ll know to take your T3 right before that time the next day. It might take a few days of experimenting to figure out when your ideal dosing times are.
  2. Multi-dosing T3 too many times during the day As patients, we used to think that we need to dose T3 up to four to fives times a day in smaller doses. But with our new knowledge about T3, several patients have noted noted that moving dosing to 2-3 times a day, and thus in larger amounts each time, has resulted in better treatment of their hypothyroid state, especially with better cortisol levels.
  3. Thinking that different brands of T3 are equal  Unfortunately, some brands of T3 are weaker than others. And occasionally, some batches of a better brand may be bad due to heat exposure.  Generally, patients have reported Cytomel to be of a quality and consistent strength. Cynomel has been reported as equal in strength, but lately, patients have found some batches to be weak and are reporting this to the company. UK’s Liothyronine by Goldshield has been reported by patients as weaker in strength all the time.  All in all, Cytomel has received the most positive scores.

Using T3 all day while doing the T3 Circadian Method (T3CM) for your proven adrenal fatigue?? As your adrenals kick back in, you may notice that you 1) need to space your T3 farther apart, and 2) that you will need less T3.

WEST NILE VIRUS IS BACK LIKE A VENGEANCE: WHAT YOU AS A THYROID PATIENT SHOULD BE DOING!

Found out that a cousin of mine, who’s a father of two young children, found himself with West Nile Virus several days ago. I got West Nile about 5 years ago, as well. For many of us, it’s like the WORST flu you ever had, and you can take a few weeks to get over your post-illness weakness.

And since having a compromised immune system (as struggling hypothyroid/adrenal patients can have) makes one more vulnerable to the virus effects, I can see it being imperative to be on immune-supportive herbs right now, besides putting on some kind of mosquito repellant of your choice. I also read about Lomatium root, which is supposedly very anti-viral. I would talk to your local health food/supplement store for recommendations.

7 replies

My discovery of why our MAGNESIUM levels are a huge problem! (mine was)

1-Screen Shot 2015-01-14 at 8.02.21 PMThough this post was written several years ago, it’s information is applicable even to this day and time and has been updated.

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I am blown away by the magnitude of what I have discovered just recently. And this potentially involves YOU.

I had several labs done just to keep track of how I stood in several areas. One was RBC Magnesium. “RBC” (red blood cell) measures the intracellular levels of magnesium–supposedly a more accurate picture than a “serum” measurement of your magnesium, which only measures 1% (and sadly, most doctors only measure your serum levels). i.e. even if your serum measurement was normal, your cellular levels may NOT be.

And my result?? My RBC magnesium measured at the bottom, very bottom, of the range. I was shocked. I eat healthy, and have been giving myself liquid minerals off and on for awhile. But clearly, I have been unable to raise my magnesium level. When I tried to raise my supplementation, I’d have to runnnn to the bathroom.

So I opened a book that a good friend gave me: Transdermal Magnesium Therapy by Mark Sircus, OMD. And I am blown away. Here is what I have learned, and YOU may need to as well:

Magnesium Deficiency

  • Affects at least 7 out of 10 reading this
  • Can be there even if you feel well (me); will be there if you have mal-absorption (think gluten issues)
  • Is common with diabetes, liver disease, and if you take or eat a lot of calcium
  • Is especially problematic if you drink alcohol, sodas, caffeine and excess sugar, have a stressful life, sweat a lot, or take birth control pills
  • Increases your risk of heart disease, strokes, muscles problems, cancer and many other illnesses
  • Is common in a stressful life (and especially so if you have adrenal fatigue/low cortisol, or you are a Type A personality)
  • Can be even worse than a serum lab test reveals
  • Is found in someone like me who eats right!!

How a deficiency of magnesium affects you

  • Can cause heart disease (and exacerbates my Mitral Valve Prolapse), plus strokes
  • Promotes tooth decay, muscle cramping (me for over a decade)
  • Lowers your immune system strength, energy levels, metabolism
  • Increases blood pressure (mine has risen at the same time I’ve noticed leg cramps…hmmmm)
  • Decreases your body’s ability to use Vit. C and E
  • Lowers the production, function and transport of insulin
  • Causes an increase of toxins and acid in your body (think cigarettes, radiation, toxins in food/water/air)
  • Makes you susceptible to host of diseases and conditions
  • Can cause tinnitus in the ears

Why you need higher levels of magnesium

  • Helps the metabolism of carbs, fats and amino acids and influences 325 enzymes
  • Counteracts and regulates the influence of calcium, which can harm you if too much
  • Is required for the body to produce and store energy (just like desiccated thyroid)
  • Calms the brain
  • Removes toxins along with Vit. C
  • Increases the efficiency of white blood cells (your immune system)
  • Helps prevent cancer and slows down the course of cancer (along with zinc and selenium!)
  • Can raise testosterone levels in men (and with zinc)
  • Relieves pain! (important news for those with arthritis or other pain issues)
  • Does the opposite of what is listed above about how deficiencies affect you
  • Is nearly miraculous for the depth and scope of its application
  • Saves billions of dollars as well as millions of lives

How will I treat my own low magnesium??

After confirming my situation via the RBC Magnesium lab test,  I know I can’t improve it with oral supplements. The amount I would need simply causes diarrhea.

Instead, I am following the information I’ve read in this book and heard about from others: the use of “magnesium oil”, which is magnesium chloride, and I’ll be rubbing it on my skin and following the information on how much. That is apparently the best way to give myself enough magnesium. I have personally ordered the Ancient Minerals brand–found it on the net. I may also use magnesium salts in water, soaking my feet in it. I plan on making sure my husband is tested, as I strongly suspect he is low as a diabetic with digestive issues.

(Update: I eventually stopped liking the stinging feeling that the magnesium oil did to my skin, and I switched to Natural Calm powder in my morning drink…then later to other forms of supplemental magnesium!)

Yes, I feel really good with my natural desiccated thyroid in the treatment of my hypothyroid. But I want to be healthy in all areas, and this is one that looks important to me. (Thanks Stephanie)

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