Pain, Pain, Go Away!

First, the good news: I'm well enough to exercise. I made it though a 15-minute workout I couldn't get through the last time I tried. The heart palpitations are going away and I don't feel out of breath and exhausted with every little bit of exertion. It's been almost a year since I started another go at getting my health back, and I've come a long way. I've put on about ten pounds (unintentionally) and I'm hoping that adding muscle will increase my metabolism. Now, the bad news. This has not been cheap. It hasn't been ruinous, but my health insurance hasn't covered anything. I can't even use my HSA (health savings account) to pay for my lab tests or thyroid or adrenal medicine. (But I could use it to pay for prescription sunglasses!) So I have over $900 in my HSA that I can realistically only use for sunglasses or an emergency. I'm stuck making more contributions to it for almost another year, since we just made our benefit elections at w

DIYing my adrenal fatigue and low thyroid has been a challenge. At least I'm over the brain fog and can read and think more clearly. After my ears got dry and itchy again--which seems to be a symptom of low thyroid for me--I upped my thyroid dose again. I also lowered my adrenal cortex dose since I was gaining weight, even with the increased NDT (natural desiccated thyroid medicine) and decreased carb intake. The cortisol (an adrenal hormone) will make you gain weight if you take too much. I hope this is the last time I need to up my NDT, since my current dose costs $80 per month. I can't even pay for it with my HSA (health savings account, a pre-tax deal in the US). At least the adrenal cortex is cheap, and hydrocortisone is $5 a tube. The adrenal cortex, which I take in the morning at at noon, started turning me into a morning person. I was up at six doing dishes, vacuuming the house, and packing a lunch. I was tired around 10 PM. Since backing off a little, I'm ba

Elle Russ from Mark's Daily Apple chats with Janie Bowthorpe about thyroid treatment. Bowthorpe suffered for 20 years on Syncrap Synthroid (T4 only) with symptoms that nearly made her apply for disability, all while being told by numerous doctors that it wasn't her thyroid. Through her Yahoo group, she and other thyroid patients figured out better treatments for optimal health. Bowthorpe discusses the difficulty in finding a non-obstructionist doctor, the need to educate yourself about the thyroid instead of relying on your doctor to solve your problems, and some of the issues with various thyroid treatments. Podcast here .

I've been taking various adrenal hormones for the past few weeks with mixed results. Overall, it's been positive: they seem to have helped me get over a three-month-long case of bronchitis and I have more energy. Using a dab of hydrocortisone at bedtime has prevented me from grinding my teeth at night. On the downside, the adrenal glandular (containing adrenaline) gives me palpitations if I take too much of it. I've been getting too hot and cold (mostly too hot). Too much hydrocortisone made me puffy and gave me a slight case of acne. Taking adrenal cortex after midday gives me acid reflux and keeps me up at night. (I'm writing this at 4:30 AM.) Your adrenal hormones help with healing, controlling blood sugar, controlling inflammation, and dealing with stress. They make some of your sex hormones. Why is adrenal fatigue apparently becoming more common? Your adrenal hormones are made of cholesterol--including LDL, the "bad" cholesterol. Salt is also importa

Tonight I created the perfect muffin. This is not the gluten-free baked goods of the 90s that tasted like cardboard. From the top of the muffin to the bottom, it's moist and delicious. It's a variation on Mark Sisson's pumpkin muffin recipe, which is a variation of a Bruce Fife recipe. The red kuri squash was a bit cheaper at the store than pie pumpkins. It has a mild flavor (despite being called "onion squash" in the UK, apparently after its shape). To cook it, stab it through to the center around the top a few times with a meat fork or sharp knife and bake it on a cookie sheet or pie dish at 350F (175C or gas mark 4) for an hour. Allow it to cool, then cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, scoop the flesh into a pan, and mash with a potato masher. (You could use a food processor if you don't mind the cleanup.) Red kuri squash. Image by  Marzena P.  from  Pixabay   Perfect Muffins 12 servings. 1/2 cooked red kuri (hokkaido) squash, cooked and

I know I've been saying this for three months...but I think I am finally over my bronchitis. Three cheers for adrenal supplements! I kept using 35mg per day of hydrocortisone cream, until one day last week when I became puffy and gained a couple of pounds. That's a sign you're overdoing the hydrocortisone. I backed off, then started taking adrenal cortex extract that finally arrived. I waited until Saturday to take it because I wanted to be home in case I didn't feel well on it. Saturday morning I woke up with a persistent headache, but today, I felt 42 again . I installed a new car stereo, planted some ferns, cleaned up the yard, fixed the fences--and I'm a little sore because it's been awhile since I worked so hard. Much credit to the book Stop the Thyroid Madness, Updated Revised Edition, for its chapters on treating your adrenals.

I think I finally understand why I've had bronchitis off and on for months, why I had scary heart palpitations for years up until a few days ago, and why I couldn't fast or do well on keto/Atkins induction. The reason is adrenal fatigue. Some call it a made-up illness (there's no insurance code for it), but here are the results of my lab test for adrenal hormones: Green is optimal; my cortisol levels are mostly suboptimal. DHEA is in the tank. My adrenals are clearly at the low end. As Dr. William Jefferies put it, "Patients with mild adrenal deficiency describe wanting to do things but feeling too exhausted to undertake them..." The latter is exactly how I've felt for quite a while.  Cortisol, one of the adrenal hormones, helps you deal with inflammation and stress; it also helps regulate blood sugar, metabolism and immune responses. When my dog Molly died in 2017 and I started breaking out in hives at night, it was probably a lack of cortisol. Wh