I had to laugh at myself yesterday. I've rearranged the time of day when i take a couple of my supplements, and the two i added just recently (inspired by the CFS book) are recommended for early-in-the-day; i ended up drinking three cups of Sumatran Reserve (no problem from that variety) and having a handful of pills and liquids for my breakfast. Not all at once, but staggered over a few hours -- however it was definitely supplements for breakfast!
All the young folks at MDA would probably admonish me for not getting my nutrients from whole foods, but i've been shown over and over that if certain vitamins, minerals and amino acids come in their natural compounded forms, my body doesn't do a good job of breaking them apart and absorbing them efficiently. Different nutrients compete with each other for receptors and carrier-proteins, and they obviously don't use a take-a-number system like the meat-market does. ;-) Even though i don't complicate the issue with lots of fiber and starches, or even many nut-derived phytates, these nutrients seem to be more entangled than my digestive system can adequately handle. Spacing them out helps.
So, fortified with herbs, minerals and vitamins, cofactors and prohormones, carnitine, ribose and caffeine, i faced the world! It was the kind of early-autumn day that my husband and i both love, cool, cloudy, and good-smelling. We went to the Missouri Botanical Garden to look for the perfect trees for our front yard, to replace the tired ol' boring hedge that the previous owners planted god-knows how many years ago (i've wanted to get rid of the damn thing for most of the time we've lived here).
We wandered all over and chatted with people at the help desk awhile, coming to the conclusion we probably want three ilex opaca Foster or Canary (two female, one male) ... and i began to be HUNGRY. J consulted his watch and i discovered i'd just had a twenty-hour coffee-fast! I was PLEASANTLY fatigued.
Well, under the circumstances i felt that would be the time to have a carb re-feed, so we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant and had an early dinner full of wicked delicious stuff. I was full and happy till almost bedtime, when i had a last decaf with cream, then hit the hay for a blissful 8-hour sleep.
Woke up a little slowly this morning, but feeling pretty good! Haven't had a histamine flare-up for quite awhile (knock on wood). I feel more systemic inflammation than i like, but the Exclzymes are still on back-order and i'm having to use another brand which aren't as effective -- getting your systemic enzymes from some company which may handle them carelessly and allow them to overheat is a problem. Note to self: order enough in April to last till October, and overheating in shipment will be reduced....
All in all, a very good day. :-)
Showing posts with label supplements. Show all posts
Showing posts with label supplements. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
confirmation -- it feels GOOD
When i was hit by that histamine tornado, i started doubting my regimen. I spent the first week of September eating VERY cleanly and vacationing from my supplements, and the second week adding them back in ... and i feel vindicated that I did a good job of choosing my additions well in the first place.
Well, although i might have rushed into trying new things there for awhile, stopping and starting again with them individually over the course of last year, i felt at the time that i had proven all of them "worthy"! :-) I've now confirmed that i'm benefitting from including them. Last week, as i added them back one by one, i felt improvement with each.
This faulty body of mine just doesn't absorb nutrients the way it should! About the only things i eat which give me a sort of "rush of well-being" are raw oysters, beef/veal liver, rack of lamb, and fatty beefsteak. An appalling number of healthyfruitsandvegetables actually make me feel BAD, which surprised me mightily when i first discovered it. Now, after further study and further experimentation i have learned to accept the counterintuitive!
We HAVE to accept what our bodies tell us, and ignore the "experts" if we adopt their advice and find our health deteriorate. EVEN IF populations have existed healthfully eating certain diets, if we try the same thing and find diminished wellbeing, it's wrong for us. EVEN IF other individuals, ostensibly similar, thrive on certain meal patterns and plans, that won't mean it's our own ideal. We each have to experiment and tweak until our own ideal emerges.
May all my readers find theirs! Amidst the storms of various opinions, there obviously is no one perfect plan for all of mankind, but i have to believe there's one for YOU.
Well, although i might have rushed into trying new things there for awhile, stopping and starting again with them individually over the course of last year, i felt at the time that i had proven all of them "worthy"! :-) I've now confirmed that i'm benefitting from including them. Last week, as i added them back one by one, i felt improvement with each.
This faulty body of mine just doesn't absorb nutrients the way it should! About the only things i eat which give me a sort of "rush of well-being" are raw oysters, beef/veal liver, rack of lamb, and fatty beefsteak. An appalling number of healthyfruitsandvegetables actually make me feel BAD, which surprised me mightily when i first discovered it. Now, after further study and further experimentation i have learned to accept the counterintuitive!
We HAVE to accept what our bodies tell us, and ignore the "experts" if we adopt their advice and find our health deteriorate. EVEN IF populations have existed healthfully eating certain diets, if we try the same thing and find diminished wellbeing, it's wrong for us. EVEN IF other individuals, ostensibly similar, thrive on certain meal patterns and plans, that won't mean it's our own ideal. We each have to experiment and tweak until our own ideal emerges.
May all my readers find theirs! Amidst the storms of various opinions, there obviously is no one perfect plan for all of mankind, but i have to believe there's one for YOU.
Friday, August 30, 2013
pleasant fatigue and ... the other kind
This morning i was having a bit of trouble with fatigue. Caffeine wasn't making any impression on it, nor carnitine nor tyrosine. I decided to try some nicotine, and all of a sudden i had an urge to get out of my chair and work on the powder room some more. The rest of the afternoon flew! I finished removing the wallpaper from all of the west wall i could reach without a ladder, and called it a day.
When we're feeling more-or-less GOOD, with "normal" energy levels, work and exercise feel good too. People who don't have chronic fatigue issues probably only experience this kind of weariness, which carries with it the satisfaction of accomplishment and the promise of good rest and returned vitality tomorrow. This is the way it should be. Unfortunately, some don't share this experience -- theirs is completely otherwise.
And this is one of the reasons that normal people can't empathize with "chronic fatigue" sufferers. Hell, even the name of this problem is felt by its victims to be a minimization of the disease; while some have widely-varying day-to-day energy levels, others are completely prostrated by the lack of available energy for the essential activities of living. Their lives are devastated by inability and they're not even taken seriously by much of the medical establishment -- they're constantly told that they're malingerers and it's all in their heads.
So many medical problems have fatigue as a significant symptom, i can imagine that pinning down the diagnosis IS tricky. As a hypothyroid, i've always had energy issues, and my fatigue has waxed and waned in a manner not at all predictable. Fatigue crops up in association with neurological problems, too, and with mitochondrial issues and in concert with difficulties in energy-retrieval and ... innumerable others that i'm not qualified to list.
In the last few decades, CFS/ME [(Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) and its aliases post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS), chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS), or by several other terms] HAS gained some ground, though the whole situation is far from well-defined OR understood. The sufferers and their doctors have amassed quite a few techniques for improving energy and quality-of-life, and i'm hoping to be able to pick their brains for some good pointers. It's turning out to be a very interesting study!
You see, i WANT to be able to enjoy more afternoons like i did today -- expending some energy i actually have TO SPARE, and accomplishing things.
When we're feeling more-or-less GOOD, with "normal" energy levels, work and exercise feel good too. People who don't have chronic fatigue issues probably only experience this kind of weariness, which carries with it the satisfaction of accomplishment and the promise of good rest and returned vitality tomorrow. This is the way it should be. Unfortunately, some don't share this experience -- theirs is completely otherwise.
And this is one of the reasons that normal people can't empathize with "chronic fatigue" sufferers. Hell, even the name of this problem is felt by its victims to be a minimization of the disease; while some have widely-varying day-to-day energy levels, others are completely prostrated by the lack of available energy for the essential activities of living. Their lives are devastated by inability and they're not even taken seriously by much of the medical establishment -- they're constantly told that they're malingerers and it's all in their heads.
So many medical problems have fatigue as a significant symptom, i can imagine that pinning down the diagnosis IS tricky. As a hypothyroid, i've always had energy issues, and my fatigue has waxed and waned in a manner not at all predictable. Fatigue crops up in association with neurological problems, too, and with mitochondrial issues and in concert with difficulties in energy-retrieval and ... innumerable others that i'm not qualified to list.
In the last few decades, CFS/ME [(Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) and its aliases post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS), chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS), or by several other terms] HAS gained some ground, though the whole situation is far from well-defined OR understood. The sufferers and their doctors have amassed quite a few techniques for improving energy and quality-of-life, and i'm hoping to be able to pick their brains for some good pointers. It's turning out to be a very interesting study!
You see, i WANT to be able to enjoy more afternoons like i did today -- expending some energy i actually have TO SPARE, and accomplishing things.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
another good MR activity
Another week is left of the Mercury Retrograde, and it seems like a good time to talk about supplements again. Since my husband retired, we've been on the go a whole lot more, and the traveling-light times have given me more insight into what's ESSENTIAL for me, and what seems a lot more optional.
When i used to drive to New Orleans and spend a month at a time away from home, i used to take the whole collection. There was no reason not to -- my Cross Country has a lot of space, even when traveling with the dog (and his big crate) and the canary (RIP to my little Pip, who lasted a long time for such a little guy). Going to Texas, too, i didn't try to take just the bare necessities, because i was usually gone a good two weeks and had plenty of room. But on our train trip at Christmas, the Low-Carb Cruise, and various long-weekend kinds of excursions, it seemed ridiculous to take the 20 bottles that sit on my bathroom counter while at home. Some things i REALLY missed while we were away, and some things i ran out of mid-trip and was surprised not to be able to easily replace.
Good-quality cod liver oil falls into that last category. As discussed some time ago, vitamin A is something i MUST supplement and CLO is a stellar choice which balances it with D, and gives the omega-3s a boost at the same time. Before the winter trip, i ordered capsules of what i THOUGHT was the perfect alternative to the liquid stuff that lives in my fridge at home, but it was NOT. Before i take another trip, on which it will be difficult to carry the liquid, i need to find something better -- but in the meantime, i luv me my Carlson's!
I ran out of my systemic enzymes on the ship, and we stayed longer in TX afterward than i expected, so i was without those till i could order more and have them delivered at home. While i was away, i strained a knee which refused to return to normal till i had been a week back on a good serrapeptase supplement. LESSON LEARNED the painful way -- and that certainly teaches one in a manner that's hard to forget.
I've played with reducing my iodine intake, because i'd heard that megadoses are necessary for replenishment of one's stores, but after that a maintenance dose is all that's needed. I don't believe that any more. Splitting the difference between the 50mg mega and the 12.5mg maintenance seems to be the answer for me. Iron, too -- there's so much ferrophobia in the paleo blogosphere it almost makes me angry! It's clearer than the water of Montauk Spring that when i supplement i'm fine, and when i don't i shed like a big dog! I've gone through the supplementing/not-supplementing cycle SEVERAL times, and it NEVER FAILS. Case closed. Bless his little heart, Dr. Jayson Calton* chatted with me on the cruise, and gave me a good tip about taking my iron in isolation -- he DID NOT freak out and caution me about the DA-A-A-ANGER of supplementing this stuff like the make-believe authorities online do. :-D
I'm less sure about things like copper, selenium, K2, zinc and magnesium. I take the first two because i understand that they're needed to balance iron and iodine, respectively. The last three i take because i want to make sure i get enough, and most people don't. Whether any of these are things i do or don't absorb well ... i don't really know! They are just-in-case supps. I believe i also need B12 in the sublingual methylcobalamine form i take, but haven't given it the same kind of testing i gave iron.
Having decent energy levels is SO CRITICAL for my well-being, anything like zinc and B12 that help the thyroid and hormone conversion/usage, i don't want to mess with! I think they're helping, so i don't want to play around with them and risk crashing. I HAVE played with some other things that fall in the maybe-helpful category, and ... well, they really seem to deserve their own paragraphs....
Months ago, i tried tyrosine and stopped again because it seemed that instead of making me energetic it seemed to just make me jittery. Reflection and retrial has given me food for thought -- tyrosine appears to be a good thing on those days when i HAVE to be doing physical "work." When we have a long list of places to go, people to see and things to do -- activities that tend to wear me out -- tyrosine helps me cope, and i tend to return home without the excessive fatigue i used to experience. So tyrosine apparently helps me utilize energy better, but it's not so good to use for mental, sitting-down work.
Carnitine, i was pretty certain, helped with energy but being another damned pill i frequently didn't take enough, i suspect. Well, when i ran out of the last caplets, i ordered a bottle of the high-potency LIQUID, and ... YES. It DOES appear to be better-absorbed and more effective. I've become an enthusiast of the liquid supplement by Now (citrus flavor), but i find it better to take in two half-doses instead of the recommended dose all at once. Wooo's training taught her that carnitine competes with thyroid hormone for receptors, and it's therefore not recommended for hypothyroids -- i suspect that there's more to the mechanism than appeared in her textbook; don't quote me as an authority, but my experience seems to imply that carnitine MIGHT just spare thyroid in its job of escorting fat into cells for burning as fuel.
My raw thyroid glandular supplements are essential [full stop]. No compromise possible. Ditto for the pregnenolone.
Betaine-HCl, like melatonin and my favorite antihistamine (benedryl), is something i keep on hand because they belong in the sometimes-badly-needed category. Licorice root, too, seems to be helpful in times of stress. Mucuna SEEMS to help with essential tremor. Just like echinacea, goldenseal, zinc lozenges have their moments, when infection makes a rare appearance.
I've got it down. For now. Till something ELSE changes. ;-)
______
* Ph.D., FAAIM, DCCN, CMS, CISSN, BCIH, ROHP, A.M.P -- this guy works with real-life human patients, and i feel confident that he actually HELPS PEOPLE....
When i used to drive to New Orleans and spend a month at a time away from home, i used to take the whole collection. There was no reason not to -- my Cross Country has a lot of space, even when traveling with the dog (and his big crate) and the canary (RIP to my little Pip, who lasted a long time for such a little guy). Going to Texas, too, i didn't try to take just the bare necessities, because i was usually gone a good two weeks and had plenty of room. But on our train trip at Christmas, the Low-Carb Cruise, and various long-weekend kinds of excursions, it seemed ridiculous to take the 20 bottles that sit on my bathroom counter while at home. Some things i REALLY missed while we were away, and some things i ran out of mid-trip and was surprised not to be able to easily replace.
Good-quality cod liver oil falls into that last category. As discussed some time ago, vitamin A is something i MUST supplement and CLO is a stellar choice which balances it with D, and gives the omega-3s a boost at the same time. Before the winter trip, i ordered capsules of what i THOUGHT was the perfect alternative to the liquid stuff that lives in my fridge at home, but it was NOT. Before i take another trip, on which it will be difficult to carry the liquid, i need to find something better -- but in the meantime, i luv me my Carlson's!
I ran out of my systemic enzymes on the ship, and we stayed longer in TX afterward than i expected, so i was without those till i could order more and have them delivered at home. While i was away, i strained a knee which refused to return to normal till i had been a week back on a good serrapeptase supplement. LESSON LEARNED the painful way -- and that certainly teaches one in a manner that's hard to forget.
I've played with reducing my iodine intake, because i'd heard that megadoses are necessary for replenishment of one's stores, but after that a maintenance dose is all that's needed. I don't believe that any more. Splitting the difference between the 50mg mega and the 12.5mg maintenance seems to be the answer for me. Iron, too -- there's so much ferrophobia in the paleo blogosphere it almost makes me angry! It's clearer than the water of Montauk Spring that when i supplement i'm fine, and when i don't i shed like a big dog! I've gone through the supplementing/not-supplementing cycle SEVERAL times, and it NEVER FAILS. Case closed. Bless his little heart, Dr. Jayson Calton* chatted with me on the cruise, and gave me a good tip about taking my iron in isolation -- he DID NOT freak out and caution me about the DA-A-A-ANGER of supplementing this stuff like the make-believe authorities online do. :-D
I'm less sure about things like copper, selenium, K2, zinc and magnesium. I take the first two because i understand that they're needed to balance iron and iodine, respectively. The last three i take because i want to make sure i get enough, and most people don't. Whether any of these are things i do or don't absorb well ... i don't really know! They are just-in-case supps. I believe i also need B12 in the sublingual methylcobalamine form i take, but haven't given it the same kind of testing i gave iron.
Having decent energy levels is SO CRITICAL for my well-being, anything like zinc and B12 that help the thyroid and hormone conversion/usage, i don't want to mess with! I think they're helping, so i don't want to play around with them and risk crashing. I HAVE played with some other things that fall in the maybe-helpful category, and ... well, they really seem to deserve their own paragraphs....
Months ago, i tried tyrosine and stopped again because it seemed that instead of making me energetic it seemed to just make me jittery. Reflection and retrial has given me food for thought -- tyrosine appears to be a good thing on those days when i HAVE to be doing physical "work." When we have a long list of places to go, people to see and things to do -- activities that tend to wear me out -- tyrosine helps me cope, and i tend to return home without the excessive fatigue i used to experience. So tyrosine apparently helps me utilize energy better, but it's not so good to use for mental, sitting-down work.
Carnitine, i was pretty certain, helped with energy but being another damned pill i frequently didn't take enough, i suspect. Well, when i ran out of the last caplets, i ordered a bottle of the high-potency LIQUID, and ... YES. It DOES appear to be better-absorbed and more effective. I've become an enthusiast of the liquid supplement by Now (citrus flavor), but i find it better to take in two half-doses instead of the recommended dose all at once. Wooo's training taught her that carnitine competes with thyroid hormone for receptors, and it's therefore not recommended for hypothyroids -- i suspect that there's more to the mechanism than appeared in her textbook; don't quote me as an authority, but my experience seems to imply that carnitine MIGHT just spare thyroid in its job of escorting fat into cells for burning as fuel.
My raw thyroid glandular supplements are essential [full stop]. No compromise possible. Ditto for the pregnenolone.
Betaine-HCl, like melatonin and my favorite antihistamine (benedryl), is something i keep on hand because they belong in the sometimes-badly-needed category. Licorice root, too, seems to be helpful in times of stress. Mucuna SEEMS to help with essential tremor. Just like echinacea, goldenseal, zinc lozenges have their moments, when infection makes a rare appearance.
I've got it down. For now. Till something ELSE changes. ;-)
______
* Ph.D., FAAIM, DCCN, CMS, CISSN, BCIH, ROHP, A.M.P -- this guy works with real-life human patients, and i feel confident that he actually HELPS PEOPLE....
Friday, March 22, 2013
recovery has been a little different this time
Most of my out-of-town adventures end by my coming home and gratefully taking up my proper diet once more, the only difficulties lying in how long it takes me to start getting enough energy from burning FAs and ketones again. This trip and its aftermath have been slightly different.
Because i didn't get out of ketosis during the course of the weekend, i only lost speed because of weariness, stress and ... the fact that i left most of my supplements at home!
I didn't think it would make a lot of difference, because i was making sure i WOULD: 1) eat the right things; 2) NOT eat the wrong things; 3) be back home before i had time to suffer a shortage. I was wrong. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday my thyroid function was on the low side; i tended to have a hard time dealing with the cold snap we've been having here, and my digestion has been weak. And the most suspect thing i DIDN'T carry with me was the iodine. I've gone that many days without everything else in my supplement collection before, and recently too ... but not that.
When i think of all the cautionary advice about iodine that one hears, it just MAKES ME SO MAD! And it's predicated on ignorance and misunderstanding of the science! Yes, if you blindly and excessively supplement without having a clue about appropriate dosing and balancing of nutrients, things can go wrong. HRT, anyone? Or maybe synthetic vitamin A....
I got a bit of spring back in my step today. Tomorrow should be better. And i'm never going anywhere without my Iodoral again (knock on wood)!
Because i didn't get out of ketosis during the course of the weekend, i only lost speed because of weariness, stress and ... the fact that i left most of my supplements at home!
I didn't think it would make a lot of difference, because i was making sure i WOULD: 1) eat the right things; 2) NOT eat the wrong things; 3) be back home before i had time to suffer a shortage. I was wrong. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday my thyroid function was on the low side; i tended to have a hard time dealing with the cold snap we've been having here, and my digestion has been weak. And the most suspect thing i DIDN'T carry with me was the iodine. I've gone that many days without everything else in my supplement collection before, and recently too ... but not that.
When i think of all the cautionary advice about iodine that one hears, it just MAKES ME SO MAD! And it's predicated on ignorance and misunderstanding of the science! Yes, if you blindly and excessively supplement without having a clue about appropriate dosing and balancing of nutrients, things can go wrong. HRT, anyone? Or maybe synthetic vitamin A....
I got a bit of spring back in my step today. Tomorrow should be better. And i'm never going anywhere without my Iodoral again (knock on wood)!
Friday, February 8, 2013
devil rum strikes again!
And just after Sid commends me for holding my liquor....! tsk tsk! I left two important supplements off my list yesterday!
Of course, i've sung the praises of epimedium and mucuna pruriens very recently -- and very literally, in the case of mucuna. It's been impressive in improving that damned tremor of mine.
How i look forward to finishing two or three bottles of things -- i might SEE my bathroom counter again! ;-)
Thursday, February 7, 2013
supplements to keep and increase
As i was saying before i so rudely interrupted myself.... ;-)
The results i've felt from adding liver to my diet have really impressed me, as have the last couple of additions to my supplement collection. It has prompted me to make some revisions in my nutrient regimen, which should amplify the benefits i've found in my supplement additions over the past year as well as reduce the appalling number of bottles which clutter my side of the bathroom counter. The following are STAYING:
At this point, the most valuable of my supplements are two different glandular preparations which i've been taking for several years now, Dynamic Nutrition's T-100 and Natural Sources' Raw Thyroid. They both contain other dried glandular substances and additional nutrients as well as the thyroid, and they SEEM only slightly different from each other, but i experimented with using different dosages of each alone as well as using both on the same day, and i finally concluded that i do BEST when i have their different virtues working for me in tandem.
After the dried thyroid preparations, the next most important supplement in my lineup has got to be iodine -- i use the caplet version of the antique formula of Lugol's solution. It was the first item in my collection-to-be, recommended to me by one of the best doctors's i've ever had; he had thyroid problems himself, and so had my other great doctor -- amazing isn't it, that a physician having a problem him/herSELF might cause them to actually give a damn about the subject, and give good advice about it? ... Hello? (Hello, skinny obesity experts???)
Iodine's value, however, goes far beyond its part in composing the thyroid molecules themselves. There are iodine receptors all over the body, to which the toxins bromine, fluorine and chlorine (which are so overabundant in modern life) may attach, and a generous supply of iodine in the body is protective against them. It's also postulated that iodine is protective against bacterial and viral threats, and that cancer cells cannot thrive in its presence.
When you take iodine, it's highly recommended that you take selenium as well. The research i've been doing today has given me a hint that i may even want to RAMP UP my selenium, as i've found that not only is this mineral a component of the deiodinase which helps convert the more-or-less-inert T4 to the metabolic torchbearer T3 -- it also is an important component of the molecule which escorts hormone into cells for use, transthyretin. So although i've found that liver is an excellent vehicle for ingesting selenium, i believe that an extra daily supplement is a great idea.
I've recently sung the praises of pregnenolone, so i won't weary my gentle readers* by going on any more about it. I recently did a stop-and-restart of systemic enzymes, and i believe they're still doing me good; i wrote a whole post about them during the summer, so that can stand as an explanation and defense of them ... if the latter is actually needed! Carnitine, too, has been recently discussed.... Magnesium and zinc STAY -- we have a close and caring relationship. ;-) They're great for everyone, and doubly important to hypothyroids.
Going-to-be-added is ubiquinol, on EB's suggestion; she considers it possible that it will provide the boost that ordinary CoQ10 never delivered for me. At this point, i'm not aware of any other supplement likely to improve thyroid function for me, or provide additional energy -- but you can be sure i'll keep my eyes open!
_______
* expression stolen from Miss Manners, whose writings have given me much pleasure!
The results i've felt from adding liver to my diet have really impressed me, as have the last couple of additions to my supplement collection. It has prompted me to make some revisions in my nutrient regimen, which should amplify the benefits i've found in my supplement additions over the past year as well as reduce the appalling number of bottles which clutter my side of the bathroom counter. The following are STAYING:
At this point, the most valuable of my supplements are two different glandular preparations which i've been taking for several years now, Dynamic Nutrition's T-100 and Natural Sources' Raw Thyroid. They both contain other dried glandular substances and additional nutrients as well as the thyroid, and they SEEM only slightly different from each other, but i experimented with using different dosages of each alone as well as using both on the same day, and i finally concluded that i do BEST when i have their different virtues working for me in tandem.
After the dried thyroid preparations, the next most important supplement in my lineup has got to be iodine -- i use the caplet version of the antique formula of Lugol's solution. It was the first item in my collection-to-be, recommended to me by one of the best doctors's i've ever had; he had thyroid problems himself, and so had my other great doctor -- amazing isn't it, that a physician having a problem him/herSELF might cause them to actually give a damn about the subject, and give good advice about it? ... Hello? (Hello, skinny obesity experts???)
Iodine's value, however, goes far beyond its part in composing the thyroid molecules themselves. There are iodine receptors all over the body, to which the toxins bromine, fluorine and chlorine (which are so overabundant in modern life) may attach, and a generous supply of iodine in the body is protective against them. It's also postulated that iodine is protective against bacterial and viral threats, and that cancer cells cannot thrive in its presence.
When you take iodine, it's highly recommended that you take selenium as well. The research i've been doing today has given me a hint that i may even want to RAMP UP my selenium, as i've found that not only is this mineral a component of the deiodinase which helps convert the more-or-less-inert T4 to the metabolic torchbearer T3 -- it also is an important component of the molecule which escorts hormone into cells for use, transthyretin. So although i've found that liver is an excellent vehicle for ingesting selenium, i believe that an extra daily supplement is a great idea.
I've recently sung the praises of pregnenolone, so i won't weary my gentle readers* by going on any more about it. I recently did a stop-and-restart of systemic enzymes, and i believe they're still doing me good; i wrote a whole post about them during the summer, so that can stand as an explanation and defense of them ... if the latter is actually needed! Carnitine, too, has been recently discussed.... Magnesium and zinc STAY -- we have a close and caring relationship. ;-) They're great for everyone, and doubly important to hypothyroids.
Going-to-be-added is ubiquinol, on EB's suggestion; she considers it possible that it will provide the boost that ordinary CoQ10 never delivered for me. At this point, i'm not aware of any other supplement likely to improve thyroid function for me, or provide additional energy -- but you can be sure i'll keep my eyes open!
 |
| x3 |
_______
* expression stolen from Miss Manners, whose writings have given me much pleasure!
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
more supplement talk -- what i'm going to drop
I could call 2012 my own Year of Diet and Supplementation. I learned what i SHOULD eat, what i CAN eat, and what i'm best off staying the hell away from (may the gods of grammar forgive me). I learned what supplements are essential to my well-being because i obviously don't absorb them well. Finally, i learned what foods do practically the whole job in making me feel like a properly-functioning human being.
My REQUIRED foods actually make for a very short list: grass-fed beef or lamb, wild-caught fatty fish, raw oysters and liver. Everything else is garnish.
Iron is especially necessary to me, a life-long hypothyroid, and one of the quickest ways to send me into Mama Grizzly mode is to whine about iron-overload -- CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT! ...Okay, i feel better. Through long experimentation, i've determined that i don't absorb iron well FROM FOOD. I absorb it just fine when i take a supplement on an empty stomach with cooperating supplements like selenium, B12 and C. Iron is one of the minerals necessary to convert T4 to T3. As a small child AND in my adulthood, moron-doctors prescribed Synthroid for me and i did not thrive. It's easy to see why, with my absorption issues.
But a highly interesting thing happened during my exploration of liver-based cuisine -- day after day i forwent my iron supplement and day after day my hair-loss diminished. The four before-lunch supplements i used to take can ALL go on the back burner. All i have to do is eat liver on a weekly basis. Did i say i don't absorb iron well FROM FOOD? Amend that to "from ORDINARY food."
When i discovered raw oysters -- yet another thing i love N'Orleans for -- i noticed right away that i felt a glow of contentment. Every time. I go through a half-dozen or more raw oysters, and i sit back relaxed with a smile on my face, regarding the world around me with a sense of benediction. Much is made of eating animals snout-to-tail, and i heartily commend it, but eating raw oysters is eating the whole animal all at once, in one convenient bite -- EVERYTHING is in there!
About the grass-fed ruminants (with their butter) and wild fatty fish, i think anything i say will be completely redundant ... except to note that i can safely omit the K2 supplements i've been taking, and i can save the cod-liver oil for when i'm traveling, too. I don't even need to have laxative substances around, for the rare occasions when i eat too much vegetable matter and get stopped up. From Donaldson (of Strong Medicine) i learned that "by regulating his intake of caribou fat, he [mankind] can have as many bowel movements as he pleases." And it works. I am now saving all the drippings from my GFburgers, doing a quick-and-dirty clarification of them, and adding some to my coffee from time to time. The resulting drink is bouillon-like in flavor -- i like it better than with unsalted butter, though that has its virtues too.
Now that i'm armed with my new-found "personal superfoods" i also plan to stop supplementing CoQ10 or acetyl l-carnitine. I never have FELT any benefit from them. It's actually possible that i am able to absorb/synthesize SOME THINGS properly....
So a whole schmear of the bottles on my side of the bathroom counter are going bye-bye! I'll wave them adieu with thanks for a job well done, for most of them have helped me a LOT -- they're just redundant now. The other half of my collection is staying .. but more on that later.
My REQUIRED foods actually make for a very short list: grass-fed beef or lamb, wild-caught fatty fish, raw oysters and liver. Everything else is garnish.
Iron is especially necessary to me, a life-long hypothyroid, and one of the quickest ways to send me into Mama Grizzly mode is to whine about iron-overload -- CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT! ...Okay, i feel better. Through long experimentation, i've determined that i don't absorb iron well FROM FOOD. I absorb it just fine when i take a supplement on an empty stomach with cooperating supplements like selenium, B12 and C. Iron is one of the minerals necessary to convert T4 to T3. As a small child AND in my adulthood, moron-doctors prescribed Synthroid for me and i did not thrive. It's easy to see why, with my absorption issues.
But a highly interesting thing happened during my exploration of liver-based cuisine -- day after day i forwent my iron supplement and day after day my hair-loss diminished. The four before-lunch supplements i used to take can ALL go on the back burner. All i have to do is eat liver on a weekly basis. Did i say i don't absorb iron well FROM FOOD? Amend that to "from ORDINARY food."
When i discovered raw oysters -- yet another thing i love N'Orleans for -- i noticed right away that i felt a glow of contentment. Every time. I go through a half-dozen or more raw oysters, and i sit back relaxed with a smile on my face, regarding the world around me with a sense of benediction. Much is made of eating animals snout-to-tail, and i heartily commend it, but eating raw oysters is eating the whole animal all at once, in one convenient bite -- EVERYTHING is in there!
About the grass-fed ruminants (with their butter) and wild fatty fish, i think anything i say will be completely redundant ... except to note that i can safely omit the K2 supplements i've been taking, and i can save the cod-liver oil for when i'm traveling, too. I don't even need to have laxative substances around, for the rare occasions when i eat too much vegetable matter and get stopped up. From Donaldson (of Strong Medicine) i learned that "by regulating his intake of caribou fat, he [mankind] can have as many bowel movements as he pleases." And it works. I am now saving all the drippings from my GFburgers, doing a quick-and-dirty clarification of them, and adding some to my coffee from time to time. The resulting drink is bouillon-like in flavor -- i like it better than with unsalted butter, though that has its virtues too.
Now that i'm armed with my new-found "personal superfoods" i also plan to stop supplementing CoQ10 or acetyl l-carnitine. I never have FELT any benefit from them. It's actually possible that i am able to absorb/synthesize SOME THINGS properly....
So a whole schmear of the bottles on my side of the bathroom counter are going bye-bye! I'll wave them adieu with thanks for a job well done, for most of them have helped me a LOT -- they're just redundant now. The other half of my collection is staying .. but more on that later.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
a speculation or two
[chuckle] Well, i always DID know i was "different"....
In the comments over at Sidereal's place, Wooo describes more-or-less how i differ from a more classic hypothyroid. However, i'm very discontented with the state of the science. I want me a couple of dozen hypothyroid people to experiment on for a few years ... and that isn't a possibility in THIS life; maybe in my next one...? ;-)
For instance, i KNOW that inappropriate levels of certain micronutrients (especially if i can lump O6 in this category) make me feel like hell -- or in balance, wonderful -- with absolutely no change of diet to act as a confounder. When people get hypothyroid symptoms from taking carnitine, for ONE thing ... how do their diets and supplement regimens differ from mine? I was all ready to speculate that carnitine spares thyroid when it binds to receptors and does the donkey work of ferrying in FAs for burning. That's exactly what seems to happen in my case.
I really feel like a lot is misunderstood about thyroid function by those who should know better. I feel that they THINK they have it down pat, and so have been taking a lot of things for granted. WHY are there so many more hypothyroid people in the world than there were a few decades ago? Like so many other categories of the not-quite-well, i think a lot of hypothyroidism is NOT derived from mysterious genetic or "god-sent" causes, but MALNUTRITION. I'm probably alone in this belief, but that doesn't make me wrong.
In the comments over at Sidereal's place, Wooo describes more-or-less how i differ from a more classic hypothyroid. However, i'm very discontented with the state of the science. I want me a couple of dozen hypothyroid people to experiment on for a few years ... and that isn't a possibility in THIS life; maybe in my next one...? ;-)
For instance, i KNOW that inappropriate levels of certain micronutrients (especially if i can lump O6 in this category) make me feel like hell -- or in balance, wonderful -- with absolutely no change of diet to act as a confounder. When people get hypothyroid symptoms from taking carnitine, for ONE thing ... how do their diets and supplement regimens differ from mine? I was all ready to speculate that carnitine spares thyroid when it binds to receptors and does the donkey work of ferrying in FAs for burning. That's exactly what seems to happen in my case.
I really feel like a lot is misunderstood about thyroid function by those who should know better. I feel that they THINK they have it down pat, and so have been taking a lot of things for granted. WHY are there so many more hypothyroid people in the world than there were a few decades ago? Like so many other categories of the not-quite-well, i think a lot of hypothyroidism is NOT derived from mysterious genetic or "god-sent" causes, but MALNUTRITION. I'm probably alone in this belief, but that doesn't make me wrong.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
"normal response" to carbs, at last?
There's no doubt about the fact that i feel best on VLC. But surprisingly enough after this holiday of unusual carb intake, my mood and physical sense of well-being are pretty high. Why? I can guess, and it's all about exercise, omega-3 and hormones.
We walked ALL over the downtown area of Seattle, and though the hills did a number on my back and legs, i know we burned a boatload of glucose in the process. I ordered seafood at meals whenever i wasn't actually craving red meat. I encouraged mitochondrial performance with carnitine, and boosted raw material for testosterone production with pregnenolone supplements. Through it all, when not having to wait in uncomfortable public areas for late trains, i've been sleeping well.
I've resisted snacking most of the time, and when i succumbed it was generally to pistachios or cashews (once, waiting for the dinner train an extra 3 hours or so after having no lunch, i had myself a happy-hour with cheese-flavored rice crackers and Abbeys). I've tried to satisfy appetite on the meat or egg main dish , and then "fill up the corners" (if you'll forgive the Hobbitism) with non-starchy vegetables, then potatoes and finally with sweets.
The celebration-worthy part of gaining a little fat through it all is that leptin is doing its proper job of inhibiting subsequent appetite. Eating a good-sized meal with more carbs than i'm used to is not spurring me to chow down again in a couple of hours, but to WANT to fast for awhile! Many days, we've been eating a late breakfast and an early dinner, and that's all.
Well, i'm not going to "continue the experiment" when we get home -- i'll be gratefully returning to the VLC diet i actually PREFER. I enjoyed that croissant and the four bites of sourdough toast i had, but i feel no desire to make a regular indulgence of it. Pushing my luck any further is NOT at all tempting!
We walked ALL over the downtown area of Seattle, and though the hills did a number on my back and legs, i know we burned a boatload of glucose in the process. I ordered seafood at meals whenever i wasn't actually craving red meat. I encouraged mitochondrial performance with carnitine, and boosted raw material for testosterone production with pregnenolone supplements. Through it all, when not having to wait in uncomfortable public areas for late trains, i've been sleeping well.
I've resisted snacking most of the time, and when i succumbed it was generally to pistachios or cashews (once, waiting for the dinner train an extra 3 hours or so after having no lunch, i had myself a happy-hour with cheese-flavored rice crackers and Abbeys). I've tried to satisfy appetite on the meat or egg main dish , and then "fill up the corners" (if you'll forgive the Hobbitism) with non-starchy vegetables, then potatoes and finally with sweets.
The celebration-worthy part of gaining a little fat through it all is that leptin is doing its proper job of inhibiting subsequent appetite. Eating a good-sized meal with more carbs than i'm used to is not spurring me to chow down again in a couple of hours, but to WANT to fast for awhile! Many days, we've been eating a late breakfast and an early dinner, and that's all.
Well, i'm not going to "continue the experiment" when we get home -- i'll be gratefully returning to the VLC diet i actually PREFER. I enjoyed that croissant and the four bites of sourdough toast i had, but i feel no desire to make a regular indulgence of it. Pushing my luck any further is NOT at all tempting!
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
superior P-word supplement
I'm very pleased with how i feel, using the pregnenolone. It's been a two or three weeks since i started taking a 10 mg sublingual every day and i have that "balanced" feeling which, at my age, is cause for rejoicing. I've also settled into taking a gram of carnitine every morning, which together with the P does a much better job of providing steady (if not abundant) energy than tyrosine, which tends to make me uncomfortably wired.
The thing i didn't like about the progesterone creme i used to use was that i definitely put FAT on the portions of my anatomy where it was applied. And those places where it is recommended that one apply the creme? -- EXACTLY where i don't need more fat! :-) I ended up preferring to rub it into my butt, to balance my proportions out a bit. When i first learned about maca, i thought maybe that would be good for me, but hearing that it can be detrimental to thyroid function, i haven't played with it much yet.
I didn't get an immediate boost from the pregnenolone -- it took at least a week for me to feel that something good was happening. Of course, being the cautious self-experimenter that i am, i wasn't about to start off with the massive dose some people use. However, being also of an age at which natural pregnenolone production is significantly reduced, i felt confident about doubling the amount suggested by Dr. Peat -- 10 mg is the smallest concentration offered through Amazon.
I didn't get the boundless energy of youth, but i do feel good about adding this supplement to my regimen -- the more so because it IS the dissolve-in-the-mouth sort (i do get tired of swallowing pills). Perhaps when the time comes to buy another bottle i'll go for the 25 mg size. If i don't like the way i feel with the higher dosage, i'll just bite the little suckers in half.
The thing i didn't like about the progesterone creme i used to use was that i definitely put FAT on the portions of my anatomy where it was applied. And those places where it is recommended that one apply the creme? -- EXACTLY where i don't need more fat! :-) I ended up preferring to rub it into my butt, to balance my proportions out a bit. When i first learned about maca, i thought maybe that would be good for me, but hearing that it can be detrimental to thyroid function, i haven't played with it much yet.
I didn't get an immediate boost from the pregnenolone -- it took at least a week for me to feel that something good was happening. Of course, being the cautious self-experimenter that i am, i wasn't about to start off with the massive dose some people use. However, being also of an age at which natural pregnenolone production is significantly reduced, i felt confident about doubling the amount suggested by Dr. Peat -- 10 mg is the smallest concentration offered through Amazon.
I didn't get the boundless energy of youth, but i do feel good about adding this supplement to my regimen -- the more so because it IS the dissolve-in-the-mouth sort (i do get tired of swallowing pills). Perhaps when the time comes to buy another bottle i'll go for the 25 mg size. If i don't like the way i feel with the higher dosage, i'll just bite the little suckers in half.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
supplements "as needed"
When i go out of town, my supplement-taking becomes a lot less organized. It's a pain to have to pack all those little bottles -- they take up a lot of space which means they have a train-case of their very own. I can't always spread them out at my destination (if i stay in one place more than a couple of days), which makes my taking them more haphazard. But when i leave some behind at home, i see pretty clearly which ones have a strong impact on my well-being.
At home, they're ranged on my side of the bathroom counter with the contact-lens solutions, deodorant, salt container for the neti-pot, electric toothbrush and scented candle -- quite a lot of clutter! But they're also organized by time-of-day when they're taken, so i don't have to seek for the first-thing-in-the-morning bottles, and the midday take-these-together items are easily identified. I use my comb as a divider between those i've already taken and the ones i haven't. If i choose not to use a particular supplement today, i turn the bottle upside-down as i put it to the left of the comb. I "have to" do things like this -- i have so vivid an imagination that sometimes i wonder if i DID take those antihistamines or just THOUGHT about it....
Being systematic about my supplement-taking has helped to define which nutrients are really necessary, and some of the conclusions are surprising. After my thyroid glandular and the iodine and selenium, i find that the most obvious things i need to pack are the IRON and the BETAINE-HCl! The latter is an "emergency" supplement -- indispensable when i'm so drained that my stomach doesn't work properly. My absorption of iron from foods is obviously so poor that without the supplement, taken on an empty stomach in company with selenium, C and B12, the amount of hair i shed is directly connected with my depletion. I see NO correlation with shedding and copper, though balance of the two minerals is theoretically essential.
The "as needed" part is where things get tricky. I "know" that cod-liver oil (or capsules of it), K2, acetyl-carnitine and CoQ10 are beneficial, and i KNOW that magnesium and zinc are essential, but i don't feel their effects much if at all. I take them in modest quantities daily. Carnitine i'm convinced is a good addition, but like vitamin C is a behind-the-scenes "plus" rather than a star on stage -- if i skip a day or two, i don't expect to experience a big difference. Tyrosine is so potent a stimulant as well as a provoker of tremors, i'm treating it very gingerly these days. If circumstances make me need to pour out my energy, i have no doubt that it is a good thing, but for an ordinary day i find it winds me up too much -- rather than improving thyroid function and boosting dopamine, it seems to prefer to take the highway to adrenaline, and i tend to secrete that a lot already. The mucuna seems to be an antidote to tyrosine's action as an upper, balancing the catecholamines.
The pregnenolone arrived yesterday and i've let a 10mg sublingual melt in my mouth twice already -- i don't notice any reaction yet, but i'll keep you informed. In my mid-life reduced-hormone state, i may find that getting used to it then dropping it again might show me its effects more clearly; that's a sure test for the iron.
[sigh] The hoops i jump through, to try to function like a normal person...!!! The young and "whole" -- that is, most paleo bloggers -- don't have a clue how fortunate they are. And it's not like i "brought it on myself with poor choices." :-P- - - ...How do you blow a "razberry" using emoticons?
At home, they're ranged on my side of the bathroom counter with the contact-lens solutions, deodorant, salt container for the neti-pot, electric toothbrush and scented candle -- quite a lot of clutter! But they're also organized by time-of-day when they're taken, so i don't have to seek for the first-thing-in-the-morning bottles, and the midday take-these-together items are easily identified. I use my comb as a divider between those i've already taken and the ones i haven't. If i choose not to use a particular supplement today, i turn the bottle upside-down as i put it to the left of the comb. I "have to" do things like this -- i have so vivid an imagination that sometimes i wonder if i DID take those antihistamines or just THOUGHT about it....
Being systematic about my supplement-taking has helped to define which nutrients are really necessary, and some of the conclusions are surprising. After my thyroid glandular and the iodine and selenium, i find that the most obvious things i need to pack are the IRON and the BETAINE-HCl! The latter is an "emergency" supplement -- indispensable when i'm so drained that my stomach doesn't work properly. My absorption of iron from foods is obviously so poor that without the supplement, taken on an empty stomach in company with selenium, C and B12, the amount of hair i shed is directly connected with my depletion. I see NO correlation with shedding and copper, though balance of the two minerals is theoretically essential.
The "as needed" part is where things get tricky. I "know" that cod-liver oil (or capsules of it), K2, acetyl-carnitine and CoQ10 are beneficial, and i KNOW that magnesium and zinc are essential, but i don't feel their effects much if at all. I take them in modest quantities daily. Carnitine i'm convinced is a good addition, but like vitamin C is a behind-the-scenes "plus" rather than a star on stage -- if i skip a day or two, i don't expect to experience a big difference. Tyrosine is so potent a stimulant as well as a provoker of tremors, i'm treating it very gingerly these days. If circumstances make me need to pour out my energy, i have no doubt that it is a good thing, but for an ordinary day i find it winds me up too much -- rather than improving thyroid function and boosting dopamine, it seems to prefer to take the highway to adrenaline, and i tend to secrete that a lot already. The mucuna seems to be an antidote to tyrosine's action as an upper, balancing the catecholamines.
The pregnenolone arrived yesterday and i've let a 10mg sublingual melt in my mouth twice already -- i don't notice any reaction yet, but i'll keep you informed. In my mid-life reduced-hormone state, i may find that getting used to it then dropping it again might show me its effects more clearly; that's a sure test for the iron.
[sigh] The hoops i jump through, to try to function like a normal person...!!! The young and "whole" -- that is, most paleo bloggers -- don't have a clue how fortunate they are. And it's not like i "brought it on myself with poor choices." :-P- - - ...How do you blow a "razberry" using emoticons?
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
new idea for me, borrowed from EB
I had occasion to reread Sidereal's last post, having referred my son to it this morning.... It's no surprise to me that blogs' comment sections can be just as fertile an area for ideas as the main text -- except where the audience is a pack of morons, and Ad Libitum's readers are NOT.
"Exceptionally Brash" made a comment which didn't particularly "click" with me when i first read it, but DID this morning. She observed that the use of bioidentical progesterone seemed to "fix" her ability to use carbohydrates in a "normal" way (my phrasing). Remember, she was a lean vegetarian for many years, then with midlife hormonal changes began to gain weight on the same intake that she maintained with before.
The discussion seems to me to settle on dopamine as the final substance which wrought the desirable end-product, but i wonder if testosterone might be a part of the equation. It occurs to me that the paleo world's "potato brigade" is peopled largely by the highly-T-endowed amongst us....
Since going out of town a couple of weeks ago, i have been abnormally low in energy. It's as though to have even MY usual levels of vitality, i need to have every nutrient in proper quantity and balance just like a house of cards -- and one puff of wind (in the form of a deficiency, or too many carbs, or too little sleep...) can tumble it right down. The tedious rebuilding of my Edifice of Energy can take a LONG TIME ... and i'm just beginning the second story at this point.
I'm going to try yet another experiment. Adding tyrosine made me hyper instead of energetic, and carnitine was less than perfect too, though i'm still using both supplements albeit in smaller, less frequent doses. I just ordered some sublingual pregnenolone tablets as suggested by Drs Peat and Sahelian (not that these guys are on my go-to list), and i'm interested to see what the effects will be. Ideally, it will be a better supplement than the progesterone cream i've used before, which tends to promote fat deposition on the location where it's applied!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)