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Tag: oxalate

Warning!! STTM is about bat-guano crazy conspiracy theorists…and more Thyroid Tidbits!

ANNOUNCINGACELLA’S NP THYROID IS ON BACKORDER  

It’s a back-handed compliment. i.e. Acella‘s brand of Natural Desiccated Thyroid has been in great demand! But…success can equal problems, because they weren’t keeping up…or that’s how we understand it. So when you go back to get a refill, the pharmacist may try to put you another brand if they are already out. So hang tight. Acella states that they will be back into better production by the end of April.

DO YOU REALLY NEED COMPOUNDED DESICCATED THYROID?

Progressive doctors have been having a love-affair with compounded medications for several years. And for some medications, as well as for patients who are sensitive or allergic to certain fillers, it makes complete sense! (Compounded means that the pharmacist “combines, mixes, or alters ingredients in response to a prescription to create a medication tailored to the medical needs of an individual patient”).

But…most thyroid patients are discovering that they really do NOT need compounded NDT and that is especially true for “slow release” compounded NDT.  First, compounded NDT is far more expensive than the prescription brands. Second, the T4 in desiccated thyroid is your “natural slow release” of T3 throughout your day. So it makes financial sense to go with the prescription brands if you have no sensitivities or problems with fillers. And even if you go with compounded….you don’t need slow-release!

YES, THE STTM WEBSITE HAS BEEN UPDATED, plus more pages!

In case you didn’t notice, there’s a new look to STTM. Part of it is because we needed STTM to be far more user-friendly on your cell phones. I think you’ll like what you see. You’ll also find links at the TOP of each page instead of to the left.

There are also new pages from the last several weeks: one on parathyroid issues, especially hyperparathyroidism (i.e. if you have high calcium levels, you need to read this page); another is an issues related to hypo landing page showing you several conditions which can outright be related to your hypothyroidism and you may not even realize it (like fibromyalgia); another about problems that can occur if you overeat high oxalate foods (as happened to ME!); how hypothyroid patients can have low stomach acid and its consequences (like acid reflux and poor absorption issues)….and you can always keep up with What’s New on STTM.

ALL THE BUZZ ABOUT MTHFR

If you haven’t heard about it, you probably will. Because lots of thyroid patients are finding themselves with a defect in a particular gene called the MTHFR, which is the acronym for “methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase” gene (methyl-ene-tetra-hydro-folate-re-duc-tase). This gene is supposed to make the MTHFR enzyme. But if there’s a defect, the enzyme doesn’t work right and you can be left with a multitude of health issues (or see them in your ancestors) including heart disease (and high homocysteine levels), breast cancer, other cancers, addictions, miscarriages, chemical sensitivities, IBS, strokes and so much more. Those with this defect can also find themselves with high levels of mercury, or iron, or other toxins. Go here to read what it’s all about.

BERBERINE. INSULIN RESISTANCE, and THYROID CANCER

Since it’s pretty obvious to me that I have insulin resistance (i.e. it takes twice as much insulin to do the job, which means more fat storage), I was pretty excited when I learned about Berberine. It’s a natural alkaloid salt found in a variety of different plants and it’s stated to make your insulin more effective, thus your blood sugar levels can come down. I notice that some folks are using it in place of Metformin, as well, and reporting better glucose levels. It’s supposedly been used for centuries in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine.

***But there’s another interesting possibility about Berberine: studies have shown it to be effective in reducing thyroid cancer cells, here. Talk to your doctor about it before assuming you can use it for cancer in lieu of other treatments, please.

AND ABOUT THE TITLE OF THIS BLOG POST...

Bet ya didn’t know that STTM is bat-guano crazy, did ya?? lol. This misinformed comment was found as a comment of a random blog post, and tells me that some still don’t get that this isn’t about conspiracy or theory. This is about patients worldwide who have either found that T4-only meds weren’t doing the job in their own degree and kind, or….patients were getting bit in the behind years later thanks to the inadequacy of thyroxine. Even worse, doctor who have been diagnosing or treating by the TSH pituitary hormone were leaving patients sick!

So what you have on STTM is more than ten years of GOOD patient experiences, the good and the bad. LEARN from it, and expect to take it into your doctor’s office to help them catch up with us!

STTM BOOK IS COMING SOON IN SPANISH  

First there was English, then came Swedish, then came German….and later, you’ll see Spanish! I’ll announce it when it’s out. I also plan on updating a few parts of the current revised STTM English book by Fall–just some corrections here or there. For example, the current one states that the percent saturation should be 25 – 45% for women, but we know that most women, when optimal, fall somewhere around 35% and definitely not 25%. So I’ll correct that, because somehow, it didn’t get in Addendum C of the current revised edition! Get your book here…and consider two or three, because your shipping rate is much better. Give the extras to a friend or loved one.

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New discovery about low magnesium & oxalates, plus a GOOD UK article, and when your spouse is hypo and wants out of the relationship!

(This page, originally written in 2011, has been updated to the present day and time. Enjoy!)

HAVE LOW MAGNESIUM LEVELS AND SYMPTOMS?

Do you have a hard time raising any of your mineral levels?

I have been working to raise my miserably low RBC (red blood cell) magnesium levels for a good year. And in spite of a strong commitment to my magnesium supplementation as well as oil, I continued to have typical low-magnesium symptoms–most especially lower leg cramping after hiking or heavy duty activity. Why was that?  I think I may have discovered one contributing factor, and this may or may not apply to you.  It’s called high OXALATE food consumption.

Oxalate is an “organic acidic salt compound” commonly found in foods of plant origin. It’s also produced in your body by the metabolism of glyoxylic acid or ascorbic acid (vitamin C).  And it is normally excreted out of your body via urine, and sometimes the bowels.

But it turns out if you consistently eat a LOT of food containing high levels of oxalates, on top of what your body naturally produces, your body might have excessive levels. This may be exactly what happened to me this year, also causing chronic hives (scratch~scratch~scratch). The latter pushed me to do research, and voila, I realized I had consumed far too many high-oxalate foods (which in turn produced excessive histamine). And my eyes popped out when I read this:

“oxalates strongly bind to minerals and vice versa (e.g., calcium, magnesium, zinc and potassium), and reduces the absorption of your minerals as they both come out via your urine.”

Of course, I am only proposing this may be why I’ve had a hard time bringing my magnesium levels up. Please do your own research.

What are foods which are the highest in oxalates?

In alphabetical order, they include:

almonds, amaranth, black beans, brazil nuts, beets, blackberries, buckwheat, carob chips, carrots, cashew nuts, cannellini beans, celery, chocolate, corn meal, dried apricots, cooked tomatoes, great northern beans, green peppers, hazelnuts, marshmallow root, milk thistle, navy beans, oil of oregano, okra, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, pink beans, pinto beans, potato chips, potato flour, rice bran, rhubarb, sesame seeds and tahini, slippery elm bark, all soy, spinach, star fruit, sweet potatoes, teff (flour and whole grain), quinoa (whole grain), white bean flour, and yucca powder.

And what was I eating daily as I was working on the final updating of the revised STTM book this year? Cocoa-covered almonds! Almonds are considered a very-high-oxalate food, as is cocoa.  That was on top of the slivered almonds in my morning yogurt, as well as my consumption of pecans, spinach, and okra. I also drink iced tea daily, which can have higher levels of oxalates. And many times, I grabbed small amounts of frozen sugar-free carob chips every few hours. ~~blush~~

I am currently on a low oxalate diet (besides a great herbal blend four times a day to counter the itchiness and histamines).  And I am curious that by lowering oxalates, I just may finally be able to get my magnesium levels up and far faster.  We’ll see. To see a good blog post and list of oxalate foods (high and low), called Roo’s Clues, go here.

And for more to the oxalate story, including its connection to autism, leaky gut, depression, kidney stones, yeast overgrowth and arthritis, read this.  B6 is also crucial in lowering oxalates.

P.S. Here’s research that may underscore a relationship between oxalates and mineral loss.  The problem with research is that one study will say one thing and another will say the exact opposite! So you decide! If you know of more research on this topic, let me know and I’ll add it.

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UK thyroid patients are clapping at the latest article which appeared in the July 3rd “The Mail”, a UK based, Sunday only magazine. It’s titled  “For Twelve Years I was a victim of The Great Thyroid Scandal” by Matthew Barbour. You can read its entirety here.

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WHEN YOUR HYPOTHYROID SPOUSE OR LOVED ONE IS RUINING YOUR MARRIAGE or RELATIONSHIP:

Over the years, I’ve gotten several emails, and mostly from men, who are emotionally suffering.  But it’s not because they themselves are hypothyroid. It’s because their spouse/girlfriend is, and many of the latter seem to be in the throes of adrenal fatigue and low cortisol, as well.

The correspondents all seem to love their spouses dearly. But their spouses are defensive, over-reactive, paranoid, depressed and/or reclusive—all typical symptoms of having low cortisol. Depression is especially a problem even for those who just have undiagnosed or T4-only treated hypothyroidism.  And most all of those who email me are facing extremely unhappy relationships at the least, and pending divorces at the worst, even while still loving their spouses and wanting to stay married or connected.

 

 

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