Sunday, March 31, 2013

Thyroid Gland Physiology, Musings, Gadgets...


...by Dr. Adeleke Adesina. More videos like this on http://www.ftplectures.com/:
-- a subscription is required, free for the first three days. Another free video on "Thyroid Storm" can be found on YouTube.

Can a thyroid gland ever come back from Hashimoto's? My ultrasound shows that destruction of the gland has happened. It is not clear to me whether it is still going on. I do have some moments when I feel BETTER, as in almost hyperthyroid... So that would be consistent either with continued destruction and cleaning of debris by antibodies (which have considerably diminished in the past year) or with slow regaining of function and improvement. It will be interesting to have the same doctor perform an ultrasound in the near future and compare the results with the previous ones.

A few studies out there let me believe that the thyroid can indeed be destroyed by incorrect nutrition and rebuilt in the presence of high TSH and low T4.  I have both, as well as normal T3.  My doctor said I should not supplement with thyroid hormones unless I reach a TSH of 10 (I am currently at 7) or I run into serious symptoms.

Since I started eating Peat style, I can say that my energy has increased a whole lot.

I have also had a series of bacterial infections, in my left ear, the last of which has been extremely virulent, to the point that surgery was considered an option. I had very high fever and then...

And then, I don't know if this is temporary or not, but I have been pretty much walking on air! I am still trying to understand how this happened and what is it that makes me feel not good, but GREAT! Again, I hope it was not an episode of thyroid destruction that released lots of T3 and T4 into the bloodstream.

If my next thyroid numbers are awesome, I will attribute this to the Peat lifestyle, without a doubt.

If the antibodies have increased, I will not be too happy -- that means that further destruction has occurred.

But I want to get to the bottom of this diet experience by following Dr. Georgia Ede's example, namely doing readings of blood glucose and frequent blood tests and pulse and tension and recording properly everything that happens to me. I should also keep a serious diary with all this, but I am reluctant to do it here, it might make this blog too messy with a mix of personal experience and science and thoughts about diets and what not. Maybe I should start a separate blog for the daily diet experience, connected here in the upper tabs...

I need to round up some equipment in order to do this. I had set my eyes on the Withings smart body analyzer and their blood pressure monitor. I could do some mean graphs without even trying using those... Besides, I needed a good excuse to get them.

So, lots of work ahead, but that's alright, 'cuz now I've got the energy!


Friday, March 15, 2013

Why This Blog

I discovered Ray Peat's available body of work in the beginning of 2013. I had been doing Paleo for 14 months and my health was on a downward spiral.

Somehow, I clicked with Peat's teachings and I am now on a journey that I hope will lead me to a healthier place. My main concern is my Hashimoto's (TSH over 7, but euthyroidian, at the moment).

The bet is to raise my metabolism through diet.