Thyroid Function and Dysfunction (http://www.ryandrum.com/thyroid1.html)

A fellow herbalist gave me this link. It is so heavy that I am reading in bits and peices with my dh.

If anyone wants to read I am providing the link and we can surely discuss...agree/disagree share thoughts...all that:D

I got through the iodine stuff so far. Very interesting reading. I had an iodine uptake exam done when I first got a goiter at age 17 and had a normal reading. The doctor presumed from further testing that my thyroid is dysfunctional for a different reason...I actually have a problem with my pituitary instead..the pituitary is responsible for sending a message to the thyroid gland to produce the body's daily need of hormones (this is TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone). My body produces too much TSH and my thyroid gets overworked and swells up while trying to meet the demand.

So, I don't have Hashimoto's or grave's and my thyroid disfunction is a bit weird compared to what most ppl have. My thyroid is working and would probably produce the proper amount of hormone IF my pituitary didn't send out too much TSH. The goiter disappears when I am on the proper dosage of synthroid. I have weird symptomology as a result and don't always feel bad if the med is off, or even have any symptoms other than a little fatigue.

Anyway, I'm not sure this has anything at all to do with Iodine in my case, though I find the findings of this guy very valid thus far.

The article looks to be very interesting! I will be reading it and will get back with you. Mark said that he even wants to read it, so I'm sending it over to him. THANKS!

KR, I just finished speed reading this article and have since printed it out and made a bound copy of it. WOW! There are so many things in there that have a high probability to explain many health woes in our society.

I knew that I was having thyroid issues, most likely iodine deficiency based, which very well could have been the root cause for Victoria's genetic deformity. Of special interest to Mark, is the correlation of Chlorine, fluorine, and Bromine, in how it disrupts the uptake of dietary iodine.

I also see a red flag strongly indicting ADHD, which I would also think could be the root cause for the plethora of other childhood issues, Asperger's, Autism, and the like.

This is all pretty heavy stuff, but so very necessary in finding our way back to vitality.

I hope that I'm not just talking to myself here! :hahaha: It would be great to chew the fat and hash out what the best sources of iodine are for us to use. According to the article, brown algae (kelp, fucus, sargassum, hijiki) is superior to the other types of algae, even more so, if it is harvested from Icelandic waters. So, where do we go from here?

In my search, I located a product called FibroBoost that contains a concentrate from brown algae, SEANOL-F, which has raving reviews in being able to combat the affects from Fibro. I'm not suggesting that we go out and blow a wad of money on this particular product, but would like to merely use this site to be better informed in how best to approach the condition of Fibromyalgia. I have not seen any information concerning the levels of Iodine with this product though, which is kind of odd to me, being that brown algae is purported to have the highest levels of iodine. Take a peek and see what you think. http://www.nutricology.com/proddesc/discuss/NC_FibronolPDFProductSheet101306.pdf

Meg, love having you share.

it is Christmas so forgive me rushing in and out this month. I DO CARE.

I ahve been drinking queen annes lace tea to help my pituitary signal my thyroid to work. After major stress was over and I went back to low carb I feel alot better. Cool temps but I dont feel cold and actually have been having hot flashes again.

I wish I coudl have had blood work when I felt bad. If I do have it, I would have begun almost a month of work myself and I feel better -so I may never know the potential of low thyroid unless it happens again (no thank you)

Sue, that is interesting info. I am such a plain jane type of gal and I prefer doing Kelp of bladderwrack for low thyroid. I am not opposed to supplements, but favor the food ish ways unless more is needed. And also I like to focus on local. Well obviously we dont have seaweed of this nature in Arkansas...lol but we do have the atlantic and pacific so my first inclination is go with the local (US)harvesters. If that does not help, then move north.

However soemtimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

So Sue, are you thinking of giving it a try?

Do you remember women in your family lines dealing with all this very COMMON stuff like thyroid adn fibromyalgia?

No one on either side for me...not in DH lines either.

So what is it then? A new disease, or one that effects women younger?

My baba (father's mother) probably had undiagnosed thyroid issues..she was a rather large woman. My father had issues later in his life, and my cousin Melissa also has thyroid issues. (first cousin on father's side). I tend to take after this bunch, so it makes sense that I also have thyroid issues.
My mother's side also has thyroid issues, also never diagnosed until rather later in their lives.
Explains a lot of the large ppl on my dad's side, and a lot of the alcoholism in a way. Thyroid leads to depression issues, the depression could have been self medicated by the alcoholic members of the family. I can see that, actually.
I'm always on my daughter to have her thyroid tested often.

Meg, it definitely seems as though your family has a propensity for having thyroid issues. They very well could be genetic, but also could be from social factors. Maybe going backwards through the details of your family, will divulge the source of the thyroidisms.

KR, your mention of using Queen Anne's Lace to stimulate your pituitary, reminded me of what I wanted to post about before! It is known in birthing circles that when a mother hemorrhages, as you and I have both done, it directly affects the pituitary gland. Sometimes, the pituitary gland is affected so adversely, that the mother will not produce milk for her baby. In this day and age of intervening in matters of birth, with the myriad of actions in labor and birth, it wouldn't at all surprise me to know that this very thing, the interventions, are the culprit in a good number of women with thyroid issues. So, while we, a collective 'we', are focused on the thyroid, maybe more attention needs to be taken to dig a bit deeper and discover those actions in the body that precede the thyroid.

I LOVE these kinds of discussion! :hbeat:

Grow Hormone (GH) and how it effects the body
Pituitary Foundation - Adult growth hormone replacement (http://www.pituitary.org.uk/content/view/68/)

What causes an adult to be deficient in GH?

It is estimated that about three in every 10,000 of the adult population are GH-deficient. About one third of those will have developed the deficiency during childhood. In adults the most frequent cause of GH deficiency is a Benign tumour of the pituitary gland. GH deficiency is usually caused by damage to the pituitary gland or the part of the brain which controls this gland (the Hypothalamus) by the tumour itself or by the surgery and/or Radiotherapy used to treat it. Other causes include problems with blood supply, for example haemorrhage or ballooning of the arteries (aneurysm). In many cases this leads to deficiencies of several hormones. Idiopathic (no obvious cause) GH deficiency is the most common cause in children, followed by radiotherapy used to treat leukaemia or a brain tumour. It is important to bear in mind that the effects of radiotherapy in both children and adults may not be apparent for some years, so it is important that pituitary function is monitored regularly, by specialists, after treatment.

interesting stuff ladies.
Meg, Ok that helps because most older people I know never discuss thyroid, yet my mama friends in a large range of age, so many deal with one thyroid issue or another.
Maybe things are caught sooner now with modern medicine? Foods we eat? chemicals in water? I dont kwo if those have pure valid reasons.
In your family it may not be the case, Meg but truly a family genetic thing.

Sue, that is so interesting too.

I totally agree that these conversations are SO interesting. Everyone can bring to the table what they have learned. I am sure there are truths with each idea soemwhere. Unless someone was to say, your thyroid will go bad if you eat celery or soemthing. I doubt 1 peice of celery will hurt anyone on occassion...lol
We all know there are crazy things out there. FFS

I jsut had to type FFS for the novelty of it all.

I never saw that term before until about a week or so ago on a touchy thread on the market....lol

Well, now you have to explain it to me :D What is FFS? other than free for shipping :lol:

Interesting stuff about pituitary. Here's an odd fact. My mother says that she hemoraged (sp) after I was born (though she was knocked out at the time). I wonder if there is any connection to my pituitary over functioning (i.e., sending out too much tsh).

I wonder, too, if like autism, you have genetic potential for certain thyroid conditions and they are triggered by something.

Well, now you have to explain it to me :D What is FFS? other than free for shipping :lol:

Interesting stuff about pituitary. Here's an odd fact. My mother says that she hemoraged (sp) after I was born (though she was knocked out at the time). I wonder if there is any connection to my pituitary over functioning (i.e., sending out too much tsh).

I wonder, too, if like autism, you have genetic potential for certain thyroid conditions and they are triggered by something.

I think that everyone has a predisposition for just about everything, with some having higher degrees of propensity than others according to their genetics. However, I have to wonder if even the genetics are altered, which then make "this" or "that" a family tendency.

More and more, I am inclined to believe that the increased rates of dis-eases in the body, stem from nutritional deficiencies, be it in directly in utero, or directly by our lifestyle. Once anything outside of the norm takes place in the body, a chemical reaction sets in motion, which then can cause the myriad of problems that we now face.

I'll get down from my soapbox now, because even *I* am feeling as though I'm drowning from the magnitude of this line of thinking.

yes, if you think about the body down to cellular level and beyond, all it takes is some quirky thing and it can create a huge problem.

Digestion is a huge factor in so many illnesses as well. Just amazing how one part of our body is linked to many.

Meg, FFS was heavily used in a discussion ont he market a couple weeks ago when a mama made a dramatic exit. She typed out FFS which honeslty I dont think ost of us use here at Amitys.
it stands for For F*ck Sake.
Since it was such a dramatic exit and that term was used, some of us have been using it I think jsut because it brings some laughter into somethign so aggravating. Kinda like processing a situation after it happened.

So you may see it around for a bit. I have seen 3 mama's use it lately. lol