thinking about the thyroid again

I was googling about b-complex and thyroid and came across this article. While it has a little quackery bits in it, the nutritional stuff and thyroid function stuff seems reasonable enough to be true (IME that can be the case, good info with weird supplement pitching online). I'm going to compare to some books I have but just in case you are interested:

http://www.oxymega.com/thyroid_gland.html

knowing that some of the foods I eat, including kale, broccoli and peaches might be working against my thyroid, and that the thyroid helps the body to rest and settle itself ( something I've been having a problem with) and think clearly, I'm feeling like yes, perhaps there might be more to what I can do.

Treating Eczema and Leaky Gut with Diet

I was researching over the weekend and found reference to the fact that the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), can be helping in treating leaky gut and possibly eczema. It is believed, so I've read, that eczema can be caused by food sensitivities and leaky gut.

Has anyone tried this diet out? It used commonly used to treat colitis, crohn and it works well for autistic spectrum kids as well. If not for eczema, for other conditions?

here are a couple links:

PecanBread - site target at using SCD with kids


Breaking the Vicious Cycle - SCD Beginners Guide

Researching diet to treat constipation and fibroids

On a related note, I was looking up information about diets for chronic constipation and came across (again) The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). I've had some digestive issues for years, and since my delivery it has gotten worse. Why? I don't know. Is it hormonal changes due to nursing? The result of one more round of IV antibiotics during my c-section.

I feel my issues are due to an improper balance in my intestinal flora and I've been thinking for a while that I need to learn more about how to tweak things so I've got more favorable beneficial bacteria flourishing in my gut.

I've received IV antibiotics more than oral antibiotics during my surgeries and delivery -- I have had to remind myself that thing really could be thrown off by that.

Anyway, the SCD sounds interesting and I'm wondering if it might be worth trying out. I found the yogurt idea to be inspiring (I love to cook) and some of the dietary rules sound similar to what my naturopathic doc and acupuncturist have been telling me -- less simple carbohydrates, cooked vegetables, cut out sugar. I also found reference to this diet helping with eczema -- something else that is linked to intestinal flora issues and a leaky gut -- which might be helpful for my toddler.

BreakingtheViciousCycle.info - informational site for SCD that is based around the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle, which seems to be a SCD bible of sorts.

PecanBread.com - a site about using SCD with children, with lots of info about using it to treat ASD kids


I've also got a Susan Lark book on the way called Fibroid Tumors & Endometriosis that includes information about nutrition to treat fibroids that had good reviews on Amazon. I haven't bought a fibroid book in a while so I might as well try this one.

Dairy Not So Good

My baby had a suspected dairy sensitivity but it has morphed into a full on case of eczema now. We're doing elimination and some probiotics and I'm hoping to see a change for the better soon. My sister is allergic to cow's milk so that is a possiblity.

You might want to check out this articles about the not so good things about dairy:

Milk: Does it Really Do a Body Good?

These links are more about organic vs. regular american production of aairy:
Seven Reasons Why Kids Should Drink Organic Milk

Organic Dairy Production

This site talks about rBST and I found this:
Milk from rBST-treated cows contains higher concentrations of IGF-I. The importance of the increased amounts of IGF-I in milk from rBST-treated cows is uncertain. The amount of IGF-I ingested in 1 liter of milk approximates the amount of IGF-I in saliva swallowed daily by adults. Young children and infants already ingest IGF-I in commercially available cows' milk or in mother's milk. Whether the small additional amount of IGF-I in milk from rBST-treated cows has a significant local effect on the esophagus, stomach, or intestine is unknown. The gut of the very young infant is an immature organ that can absorb intact proteins, although in relatively small amounts. However, most infants are either breast fed or fed commercially prepared infant formulas that contain no more than trace amounts of IGF-I or growth hormone.
From: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=hstat4.section.24152

So they basically don't know the affects of the hormones on very small children. Other portions of that site talk about other differences in milk between humans and cows and rBST treated cows.

When I was doing research into the affects of estrogen on cyclic breast pain (mastalgia) I came across tons of more links related to hormonal induction of milk in cows using estrogens. The residues can appear in meat and dairy products I believe. This page lists a ton of papers related to hormones in the food we eat and affects on health (beyond the topic of breast cancer)

http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/Bibliography/diet/bib.hormones.cfm

Environmental Estrogens

I gathered these links about environmental estrogens (xenestrogens) some time ago. I saw an online discussion about precocious puberty but realized that I didn't have anything up to share. Hope these are helpful for you. They are pertinent for fibroid treatment, infertility and cancer/precancerous diet clean-up as well.

Are Plastic Bowls and Plastic Wraps Microwave Safe?

The perils of plastic: your cling wrap could be leaching chemicals

Is It Unhealthy To Reuse A Plastic Water Bottle? [this is from way before the recent concerns raised about BPA]

That plastic water bottle's taste

Our Stolen Future -- companion website to the book that raises concerns about environmental contaminants and our health

Pew Charitable Trusts - Environmental Health
The Kid-Safe Chemicals Act: Protecting the Most Vulnerable

Xenoestrogens the cause of Cervical Dysplasia

Eczema - some success

My brother and sister had bad eczema when they were growing up so I was used to it and not alarmed when my baby got a little. It was barely anything and didn't itch him so I just left it alone. Then it flared up and I made an appt with our ped who is also an ND and we went last week. That wasn't helpful at all as all she did was ask me a little bit about his diet and tell me to put on a cream like Eucerin.

What I knew from my brother and sister is that eczema:
* is related to food allergies
* can be hard to treat
* oil of primrose and vitamin E can help sometimes
* hydrocortisone is often prescribed (but didn't seem to be an answer in itself)

I went home and read up all my alternative medicine books and looked at some links as well, guided in part by a report from someone on my neighborhood parenting list (elsewhere) about probiotics helping her little one with eczema.

What I learned from reading was that eczema:
* has been linked with a reaction to an overgrowth of certain bacteria in the gut
* is often found in individuals who later go on to have allergies such as hay fever (nothing more serious than that)
* can be related to zinc deficiency sometimes
* is often related to common allergies -- peanuts, eggs, milk, orange juice, etc.
* can have some improvement from increasing omega-3 intake
* that promoting good bacteria (through injesting certain strains and helper strains) can help readjust the gut flora
* can improve when you eliminate simple carbs (refined wheat products, sugar, juices)
* can benefit from diet changes similar to what one does to try to heal from yeast infections (stay away from sugar, fermented foods, etc.)

I stumbled a little with the diet, so my sitter and I started keeping a log and I helped give her more direction on what to feed him so he wasn't just eating carbs with her. We also cut back on juice and dairy some. I also bought some fish oil, probiotic meant for children 0-5 years, and sunflower seeds.

I also tried putting a lotion on his rash that he was fine with previously on winter dry skin but on the eczema it made the rash get worse. Eczema is akin to broken skin so don't make that mistake. You can use Eucerin, Aquaphor, Vasoline, or even lanolin to help keep it covered.

After a week of treatment it is finally starting to heal up. I've been thinking about what caused it to flare and I think it was related to his love of gorgonzola cheese. He had some earlier in the month and it was a particularly bloomy one and I think it threw things off in his system a little.

I just wanted to share in case this helps anyone else.

Live and Learn

I've been going through my posts from 2005, the time between my myo and TTC again and then my second miscarriage. In there I found a reference I made to having headaches in my luteal phase, and for some reason I made the connection to them being related to prolactin levels. The reason this seems so odd to me is that in the middle of my past luteal phase I also had a killer headache, and since I'm nursing prolactin is easily related, though I'm not sure. That was the cycle I tried Vitex and while a little helped a lot, more didn't help at all, it rather delayed my ovulation.

Now that I'm TTC while nursing my cycles are a little more unpredicatable. I was loosely charting the start of my period since I first got my first post-partum AF in September. I've just started using Ovusoft's Taking Charge of Your Fertility software again to track it in a little more finer detail. I'm just tracking symptoms but not yet have I delved into basel temp taking. I know my little guy would be fascinated by the beeping of the thermometer and want to take it out of my mouth so I don't know that it would be a practical thing to do while co-sleeping. I also pulled out my fertility monitor from the back of the closet and took a look at it again. It might come in handy though now my thought is of all those little plastic sticks and their foil envelopes and the impact on the environment.

I'm trying to be diligent about taking my prenatal vitamins as you are supposed to do while nursing. I try to eat a balanced diet, eating a good 3-4 meals a day plus snacks to keep my calorie count up for nursing. The baby is growing well and my energy level has been good so I think we are doing okay in that regard. My partner is back taking Acetyl-l-Carnetine and Arginine again, plus his daily vitamin. We held off on grape seed extract for now and we have talked about getting some more Preseed again, that's the really expensive lube that doesn't hurt the sperm. I think one of the cheapest places to get that is through Ovusoft

Info About Panic-Anxiety

I'm sorry to read that you aren't doing well. My partner had bad panic-anxiety and it took work but with work we were able to turn things around for him and he doesn't need meds.

Eat regular meals and snacks to help keep your blood sugar level up

Reduce stress, incorporate activities for exercise that you enjoy to help relieve stress more

Consider any nutritional deficiencies you might have. My partner was a vegetarian for years and even though he would eat the occassional piece of organic chicken or fish, he saw big improvements when we added in zinc, arginine and carnetine into his diet.

Arginine is known to help support the adrenals though how much is safe to take in pregnancy is questionable.



Also note that from a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)perspective, pregnancy uses a lot of the kidney energy. Particularly in early pregnancy as your body is making a lot of pretty monumental shifts. I noticed this in myself as I had lots of pains in my inner ankles and feet that were on my kidney channels. The symptoms you are having are also related to the kidney channel. I also found I couldn't sleep at night -- another symptom of your kidney energy being off. I continued seeing my acupuncturist throughout the first 10 weeks of my pregnancy and I thought it was a help for my symptoms, particularly for helping get rid of the throbbing pain in my ankles.

You might consider acupuncture treatment to see if it might help your body to adjust a little easier.

I've posted about natural treatments and lifestyle changes my partner made to deal with his panic/anxiety and it worked to the point that he didn't need to take meds any more.

Re: Panic attack/anxiety/ unbearable fear

Cut back on sugar, caffeine, simple carbs
Keep blood sugar levels up
Get regular exercise
Stay hydrated
Eat more protein
Lower stress levels -- reduce responsibilities, take mental breaks, don't take things so seriously...your health is more important
Try aromatherapy with lavendar and geranium
(there are herbs one can use -- Passion Flower, Kava, Valerian but I wouldn't use them in pg)
Go get a massage
Listen to music, go out with friends, smile, read, knit, paint, meditate

I also wanted to add that one of the things that helped was going to Barnes & Noble and looking up books in their health section about panic/anxiety. Amazon.com also has loads of books with reviews from people who have been able to help themselves with the information in these self-help books. We found tips for diet, exercise, attitude, aromatherapy and all together they helped.

You also might want to learn more about how your nervous system functions, particularly things that help trigger the parasympathetic nervous system which can help reduce your symptoms. Not many people understand the dynamic between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system functions. I read recently that shifting the focus of your eyes to use the peripheral vision can help to get your parasympathetic kicked in.

http://www.stress-anxiety-depression.org/

I also wanted to add that this past week my body was freaking out and getting more and more stressed. I don't know what I was doing to trigger it but it wasn't getting better. Finally I made an appointment for a massage in the middle of the workday (thankfully there's a spa on the next block). I only got my lower legs and feet done -- a quickie massage -- but it helped me out soooooo much. Sometimes I think we just need to give our body a hand so don't rule out getting some massages as well.

And of course you could take meds, but I'm of the opinion and have seen it work first-hand, that trying to help deal with the underlying conditions is the best way to start.

Doctors aren't trained in treating conditions in this manner so they won't even suggest it (you could be living on potato chips for all they know or care). Even today the American medical student gets less than 30 hours total information on nutrition during their education and that's dispersed throughout their curriculum.

I did think of one other thing yesterday, I was watching a documentary a few months ago on cable about panic/anxiety and it mentioned that people who experience it are much more sensitive to carbon dioxide levels in their blood. As part of the panic/anxiety reaction causes you to breath less deeply you need to try to also counter this by slowing down and taking deep breaths and filling your lungs all the way.

I hope that you are able to get results soon.

Some of my tips for controlling nausea in early pregnancy

These are some of the things I've been doing to help keep my nausea at bay:

* make sure I have protein a couple times a day -- typically meat, fish or cheese (not liking eggs right now) -- remember a serving of protein is the size of a casette tape

* carry snacks in my purse -- fruit leather works well, as did nuts for a while though I'm not digging the bitterness of walnuts right now

* tortilla chips have helped me out at work in the afternoon, just plain with a little salt on them

* keep the water going at all times, I carry bottles of water with me just about everywhere. I alternate between wanting plain water, water with lemon or lime in it, or wanting sparkling water.

* if you start to feel it kicking up on you go eat something right away, eat slowly while sitting down

* don't eat too much at once -- eating small amounts all the time will help prevent you from wanting to binge. Eating too much at one sitting will just cause you to have digestive problems including gas and constipation which is really, really not fun

* make sure you are getting your fruits and veggies in with your protein. Portioning out grapes into baggies I could grab on the way out the door helped, also cutting up a cantelope or pineapple and having it ready to go

* try ginger if you are having acid indigestion, it might just surprise you at how well it works -- freshly grated with hot or cold water, or even spice cookies with ginger in them can help.

* don't go for the simple sugars, they aren't going to make you feel better -- it's just empty calories and your body knows the difference

I also haven't been eating fried foods at all, and I normally eat a low fat diet that's pretty high in fiber. My mother told me that she didn't have any vomiting when she was pregnant so maybe it's partially a physiological thing that we share.

Also, the other day I just was feeling so nauseous. I left my acu appointment and thought I would be fine until dinner but obviously my body had other ideas. I dug in my purse for a fruit leather and ate that but my body was on a rampage. My partner called to let me know he was going out with a friend and as I walked along I had this dialogue in my head about whether or not I could make it home without eating something. My body decided no, so I went into Westlake Mall and ate dinner right then and there in the food court. I felt a bit silly about it, but then again not eating was not an option -- my body was starting to send those signals that something awful was going to happen if I didn't eat right then (if you have been pregnant you will know what I'm talking about). I had a mediterranean platter and felt so much better after that -- grilled chicken, hummous, salad, tabouleh, falafel, pita -- a nice well rounded meal. Be good to yourself.

More Nutrition Information

I found this great doc from the USDA last night which details the amount of folate in different food items.

Use the Acrobat Search feature (binoculars, fourth icon from the left on the Acrobat toolbar) to things up such as grapes or tortilla chips)

Folate Contents of Foods - USDA (PDF)


Also from the USDA there is also a tool, available online or for download to a PC, that will let you search items, enter in portion and then it will spit out a fill report on the nutritional content

What's In The Foods You Eat Search Tool

I also have these posts you might want to refer to:

Anemia & Iron Rich Foods

Non-Dairy Sources of Calcium

Blood thinning foods

I looked these up for a friend of mine who was diagnosed with some clotting disorders. I had come across reference to blood thinning foods a couple years ago while researching about fibroids. In chinese medicine fibroid are linked to blood stasis, the western equivalent being excess estrogen or clotting issues.

Here are some links and information about natural blood thinners and liver support that I think may be helpful.

This link about thrombosis prevention has info about halfway down the page about foods and supplements that will help thin the blood to prevent clotting:
Thrombosis Prevention

Increase consumption of:
* Tomato Juice/ tomatoes
* Garlic
* Onion
* Omega-3 fatty acids -- found in fish, fish oil, flax seed oil, olive oil
* Vitamin E

Exercise will also help thin the blood and reduce estrogen levels (which causes blood thickening)

You will also want to increase your consumption of fiber and leafy green vegetables which aid in liver function -- which helps to get rid of excess hormones in the body. Oatmeal is great, also barley and brown rice. I've got some good recipes for greens -- it's hard to know how to get more but through trial and error I've found some good ones.

Here are a couple links about how your liver functions to detoxify your body and what nutrients are required.

http://www.liverdoctor.com/03_detoxpathways.asp

http://tuberose.com/Liver_Detoxification.html

Extended birth control use issues that could affect fertility and health

There was a discussion on Ovusoft so I looked up some references based on things that I had read here and there. Studies supposedly show that upwards of 80% of women will return to "normal" cycles upon discontinuation of the Pill. It really does matter how they did those studies though, as cycles before and after hormonal contraceptive use might differ wildly so normal isn't really as normal as you might have been if you hadn't used the Pill.

I never used the Pill, it wasn't anything other than a philosophical position -- it didn't seem right to me to introduce prolonged hormonal manipulation to my body just for the sake of more assurance against unwanted pregnancy. I was careful in my selection of partners, there were few as well that I crossed that line of intimacy with, I was willing to be diligent in my use of condoms and I knew I was open to dealing with any unfortunate outcomes of my approach. Still I ended up with fibroids and heavy period and anemia and who knows if BCPs might not have carved out a different reality for me. My sister on the other hand used all sorts of birth control including Depo and she ended up with 6 fibroids combined to the size of a grapefruit (the size mine was when it was removed after I became pregnant) and that was a good 6-7 years ahead of when I got to that point when you factor in our age difference.

Here are some mentions of the pill that might interest you.

After the pill, the copper IUD, superovulation-stimulating drugs (Clomid, etc.) or previous childbirth, the copper may be over-high and the zinc, and possibly also magnesium and manganese, may be too low. It is vital to adjust this before embarking on the next pregnancy, to avoid the risk of miscarriage or premature birth.
From: Foresight, Preparing for Pregnancy

14 women with a history of taking a combined oral contraceptive (norethynodrel plus mestranol) were studied and were found to have vaginal candidosis which commenced after an average period of 9 months from start of contraceptive therapy. 4 sexual contacts (men) of those women taking the pill were also discovered to have vaginal candidosis; they had presented with candidal balanoposthitis. 4 other men had clinical manifestations suggestive of balanoposthitis caused by hypersensitivity to the candidosis of their sexual partners. Nystatin was a satisfactory treatment in most cases; however, 2 women had to stop using the pill because of frequent relapses of yeast infections.

From: Candida albicans and the contraceptive pill.

Nutrients that can be reduced by the use of Oral Contraceptives (OC):

Folic Acid (Folate). Birth control pills tend to cause folic acid depletion and increase the risk of cervical dysplasia and vascular thrombosis, stroke, and possibly megaloblastic anemia.

B-vitamins. As several B-vitamins are affected negatively by birth control pill use, a B-complex supplement is suggested, especially vitamin B6 if depression is present.

Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid). Levels are lowered by OC use which interferes with the metabolism of ascorbic acid. Insufficient intake of ascorbate is also associated with an increased risk of cervical dysplasia.

Selenium. Selenium absorption may be reduced. Selenium is an important nutrient for cancer prevention.

From: Birth Control Pill Issues

Also since the affect of the pill cause changes in the hypothalmus-pituitary-ovarian axis isn't it possible that prolonged use actually can cause some potential atrophy of this system in how it is normally meant to function? Using a contrasting situation, if you shot up someone who was healthy with insulin for years, even at a low dose, wouldn't it affect the function of the pancreas long-term? (]more about how the Pill works here)

The pill may cause permant sex drive loss

BOSTON, May 26 (UPI) -- Women who take contraceptive pills may suffer reduced sex drive for the rest of their lives, University of Boston researchers say.

It has been long known that oral contraceptives lower levels of testosterone, and thus sex drive, and increase levels of sex hormone binding globulin, or SHBG.

While it was thought that the pill's adverse effects could be reversed, the University of Boston research shows they may be permanent, the London Daily Mail reported Thursday...

Women taking the pill had SHBG levels that were seven times higher than women who had never taken oral contraceptives.

Women who quit taking the pill still registered SHBG levels that were four times as great as non-contraceptive users.

You Are What You Eat

After coming across a few interesting news items this week I though I'd just include a general email about nutrition and food quality in the United States.

Some months ago I met a new doctor, an internist, just out of her residency and starting to work with patients. Since I had read that medical school curricula only included about 30 hours total information about nutrition, and that was spread out over all of their studies and not in nutrition courses. I asked this young doctor if that was still accurate and she confirmed it was about right. She said that she didn't buy into all this stuff about food, that people had been eating for thousands of years and people should just eat what they want. She also had an attitude that indicated that nutrition was akin to dietician or nutritionist, the lowest of the low -- she was a doctor. Wow I thought to myself, not only ignorance but arrogance about it even. I was not impressed.

Did you know that the food we eat today is not the same as what people ate 100 years ago? I don't just mean food preparations, but the nutritional value of the food has actually changed. Beef came from cows that ate grass and the omega-3 to omega-6 fat ratio was actually a lot more inline with what our bodies can handle. With the feedlot handling of today's cows/steer they eat a lot more of corn and other grains which drive up the omega-6 content. Too much omega-6 in the diet is linked to some types of arthritis and other health conditions. That's just one example that I heard about from an arthritis expert on NPR some years ago.

Then there are trace nutrients in the soil such as selenium. Wheat is usually a good source of selenium but with depleted soils in farmlands and crops grown predominently on fertilizer you likely aren't getting as much selenium in your diet as people were even 50 years ago. Selenium is one of those nutrients on the fertility supplement list -- if people dealing with infertility are having to supplement for this then you know on average there is a deficiency in the food supply on the whole.

So I wasn't that surprised when this article popped up on the ABCNews site this week, perhaps you saw coverage about it on the news this week:

Fruits, Veggies, Not As Vitamin-rich as in Past, Says New Data
Larger Fruits and Vegetables Mean More Plentiful but Less Potent Bounty

So the food you eat has 30% less vitamins than before, and it sounds like they weren't speaking even about trace nutrients, probably just the basics like Vitamin C, Iron, Calcium, etc. Does that mean that the average American is also 30% less healthy? I don't even need to say much about the recent figures about obesity in this country, I'm sure you haven't missed that.

Here's another good one:

What we don't eat can actually hurt us, Seattle Times 3/8/06

So the real deal is that if you want the best nutritional value you should buy organic. And eating local is also another way to help make sure you are getting food that hasn't been in storage for months, or ripened in warehouses with methane gas (that's what they do to those nasty pink tomatoes they sell in the supermarket).

A great couple of books you might be interested in to learn more include:

This Organic Life by Joan Dye Gussow

Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods by Gary Paul Nabhan

More Thoughts About Fibrocystic Breasts

So the common things they say to do if you are having PMS and fibrocystic breasts are:

Increase calcium consumption

Decrease caffeine consumption

Make sure there isn't a thyroid problem

Cut back on refined sugars

Increase dietary fiber

Increase B-vitamin consumption

Increase magnesium consumption

Drink more water

Use natural progesterone cream

Increase vitamin E consumption



-----

So I used to eat a fair amount of dairy and I had bad PMS but cutting back to almost none hasn't made any difference so dairy doesn't seem to do anything for me favorable. Less dairy does seem to help with my allergies and digestion so I'm going to stick with that plan.

I've always been a very moderate consumer of caffeine, I didn't drink coffee or cola. I do eat chocolate and have some black or green tea but in moderation. So, that didn't seem to make any difference at all -- in fact I recently started drinking a little more coffee than usual (a few time a week instead of once a month) and it's made no difference.

I've had my thyroid checked several times including a full thyroid panel last summer as it comes up as related to many of my conditions (fibroids, elevated estrogen, PMS) -- each time the test results were so normal it was boring. My mother has thyroid trouble so I thought for sure this might be related for me but evidently not.

Due to my naturopathic and TCM treatment I was told to cut back on refined sugars. It's helped me to feel better but I was never a total nut about eating candy or anything. I've made a concious effort to be careful about my intake of simple carbs. Still I've got sore breast in my luteal phase.

Increase of dietary fiber does seem to help me feel better generally but it hasn't seemed to help with the breast issue at all. Since this helps your body to eliminate excess estrogen I'm sticking with this for general health.

I eat a largely vegetarian diet (though I am an omnivore) and the foods I eat contain a lot of vitamin B and magnesium. Stress depletes b-levels and my work can be stressful and sometimes I don't get enough foods rich in vitamins B or magnesium but I really do try. I was never on birth control pills which can rob the body of B vitamins and magnesium so that's not an issue with me. I have been trying to be better about taking my vitamins but the best I usually do is 4 times a week -- better than nothing in my book.

I am bad about drinking enough water every day -- mostly when I'm at work. I'm much better than I used to be I think.

Natural progesterone cream didn't really seem to do much to help, maybe a little, but it mostly makes my breasts seem to swell more, not necessarily become more lumpy or sore.

And then there's the Vitamin E thing. It's in my prenatal and that on it's own doesn't seem to do anything.

But then there's that DIM/Vitamin E thing. It really did seem to help over the past three days. Today I'm spotting so AF is just around the corner but previously I used to not have my breast stop hurting until I had full-blown AF. It seems so curious to me. And some of the links I've found mention that vitamin E can increase estrogen levels, and also that DIM might do the same -- it just doesn't seem to be doing that to me -- it seems to be helping something hormonally.

Stuff about Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis

[I'm always searching out weird topics so I thought I would share this recent post]

I met the author of the book Eating for IBS once a few years ago and thought she had an interesting perspective on how to manage IBS and other diseases of the bowels using diet. You can visit her site here:

HelpforIBS.com

I don't have this condition but it's totally plausible to me that diet/lifestyle/medications were contributory causes. It isn't a normal, healthy, homeostasis condition. Here are some other links that you might find interesting:

small-bowel bacterial overgrowth(SBBO)

Bacterial Overgrowth Syndrome

Breaking the Vicious Cycle - The Specific Carbohydrate Diet

Cultured Cabbage Juice - Make the Best Lactobacteria

I've also found reference to birth control pills sometimes being a factor -- making the condition worse or better, which seems to indicate a hormonal contribution as well. Knowing that progesterone relaxes smooth muscle tissue and changes the way our bodies deal with blood sugar levels, it isn't so far fetched that hormones coud affect all aspect of our system.

Crohn's Disease and UC came up while I was searching for information on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as well. Do a search for more information though, the terms "crohn's disease chronic fatigue" turned up a bunch of interesting results.

Types of Iron

There are two kinds of iron, heme (heem) and non-heme. Heme is found in animal sources of food (red meat, liver, clams, salmon, eggs, etc.) and non-heme is found in vegetables (spinach, raisins, kidney beans, lentils etc.) Heme iron is easier for your body to absorb, though in what I've read your body can absorb more non-heme iron in the presence of heme iron.

So you want to have some spinach with your lamb curry and then you'll have your bases covered. As an anemic gal trying to build her iron stores I've been eating like that (by the way indian and ethiopian are great ways to get good iron in your diet from plant and animal sources) and taking my prenatals plus my chewable iron as well.

Athletically Induced Amenorrhea/ Female Athlete Triad

A woman posted to an online group about her high school aged daughter having amenorrhea and low estrogen. The gynecologist wanted to put the girl on birth control pills to boost her estrogen. Since I had already come across references to this condition during my searches I went out looking for more links so that she and her daughter could see there were other ways to treat this condition that did not include hormones.

The female athlete triad is three conditions that show up together in women athletes who overexert themselves: osteoporosis, amenorrhea and disordered eating.

Here are some links to learn more about what they know about this condition:

ATHLETIC AMENORRHEA

Amenorrhea in Adolescent Athletes

Female Athlete Triad

Female athletes face risks in overtraining

Menstrual Disturbances in Female Athletes


Poor diet, excess exercise can mean weak bones, heart trouble for young women

The Opponent: the Female Athlete Triad


From a quick scan it sounds like the issue is dietary and that increasing calcium and D intake (don't forget about magnesium, and likely zinc as well) might help improve hormone production/balance.

Do a google search on the terms "athletically induced amenorrhea" or "ballet amenorrhea" (lots of ballet dancers have this problem), also "female athlete triad" and you will find more info.

You also might be interested in this article from a traditional chinese medicine standpoint:

Restoring the Flow -- TCM and Amenorrhea

More about the adrenals, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia

I've studied up a bit on the affect of prolonged stress on the adrenals and cortisol in relation to my partner's panix-anxiety -- we were able to successfully treat him based on our findings and coupled with the male infertility vitamin supplements he's been off of Paxil and without any big attacks for almost 2 years now.

So, this cortisol thing for me has really piqued my interest. My partner and I have similar lifestyles obviously (we eat, live and work together) so what is bad for the gander is bad for the goose. I've been looking at medical articles this afternoon about the adrenals and progesterone and fertility and I found a few more things that might interest you.

Chronic Fatigue is associated with elevated cortisol and decreased adrenal function

(Hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction in chronic fatigue syndrome, and the effects of low-dose hydrocortisone therapy)

I don't think I've got this but decreased adrenal function is also associated in a different type of pattern as having low estrogen and progesterone with lesser amounts of LH released. I don't have amenorrhea, my LH appears to be fine I think based on my fertility monitor and trying to use its sticks prior to my period being due, a time of the cycle where the LH normal increases. Still it is interesting to read the summary.

(Isolated adrenocorticotropin deficiency presenting as primary infertility.)

Fibromalgia patients have a similar pattern of but with lowered estrogen. Still, it seems to be related to these other patterns in terms of what happens with the hormones. The elevated prolactin was interesting here. Also, before I started working with a naturopathic doc a few years ago, part of my PMS set of symptoms including burning in my extremeties, my partner couldn't touch me hardly at all because it was painful to me. Evidently "Psychological stress and hormonal changes also may be possible causes of fibromyalgia."

(Secretory pattern of GH, TSH, thyroid hormones, ACTH, cortisol, FSH, and LH in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome following systemic injection of the relevant hypothalamic-releasing hormones.)

At any rate, perhaps I've been periodically dipping into deeper levels of adrenal exhaustion, insufficiency and depletion. Qigong, the dietary changes and acupuncture will all help. What I found though was that there is an additional supplement that can help.

L-Carnetine, one of the supplements that is commonly included in the MFI vitamin regime, also helps to treat a variety of issues including chronic fatigue syndrome.

(L-Carnitine: therapeutic applications of a conditionally-essential amino acid.)

"Although L-carnitine deficiency is an infrequent problem in a healthy, well-nourished population consuming adequate protein, many individuals within the population appear to be somewhere along a continuum, characterized by mild deficiency at one extreme, and tissue pathology at the other."

We have some L-carnetine in the cabinet downstairs and I ran down and took one. I think The Infertility Cure might have mentioned this supplement as well, or else it was Arginine. Very interesting. We'll have to see what regular supplementation will do to help me out. I'm so freaking tired all the time since the miscarriage, even worse than prior when I was just waiting to miscarry.

There was an Italian study from a while back that tried treating women at risk of miscarriage with carnetine and it seems like it helped cause some improvements in the quality of their blood, specifically myoglobulin which helps carry iron:

[Serum myoglobin in pregnant women treated with tocolytics and carnitine]


Here's an article that mention chronic fatigue, miscarriage and infertility:

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Autoimmune Thyroid Disease

I bet something will show up in my bloodwork next week. When I had my pooled progesterone checked a couple years ago and I got the results back I was like "I told you so." go figure that reproductive endocrinologists aren't good at figuring out the pathology of normal endocrine issues. They like to just go for the big guns and it is so like they say, when you are a hammer everything looks like a nail.


GENERAL ADRENAL INFO

Your Adrenal Glands

Adrenal Glands - Wikipedia

Anatomy of the Adrenal Gland (PDF)

adrenal gland from Columbia Encyclopedia

More about cortisol (hypercortisol)

I opened up my reproductive endocrinology textbook this morning and found some info about cortisol. Evidently your body will produce excess cortisol in a variety of situations (addison's disease, cushing disease, anorexia/bulimia, tumors, etc.) but stress will increase it's production most certainly.

Low blood sugar will also cause an increase in cortisol production and it is related to blood sugar levels that you will have the night sweats, it has to do with some metabolic thing that happens overnight with the blood sugar.

Facts You Should Know About Night Sweats...

Here's another thing, excess cortisol will interfere with your thyroid hormones but your TSH and T4 will show up normal. It's the T3 and anti-T3(?) that will e low, and those aren't tested unless you have a full thyroid panel done, normally they only test for TSH and T4. Other signs of this pathology include low blood pressure -- how very interesting that I have that and it runs in my family. I'm also really sensitive to stress, one of my responses is to lose my appetite and thirst -- which only makes this cycle worse as it adds to the stress.

Thyroid and Anti-Thyroid Drugs

One test for adrenal function is a 24 hour test where you collect all your urine and they are able to see how your body is handling its sugar. My partner had this test a couple years ago and it showed he was hypoglycemic.

I did find mention of surgery increasing cortisol production in the body and it can be related to amenorrhea as well.

There was a liver component as well where one of these hormones (I also looked up prolactin but I don't think it was that one) in excess interferes with liver function. Potentially one might assume that this might result in one other possible cause for excess estrogen in the body -- oh yes, I've got that too -- and estrogen excess is linked to fibroids. (also too much cortisol will impair immune functioning, which might be why so many women seem to notice fibroids occuring after periods of extreme stress such as divorces and deaths in the family).

And I remembered one more thing, with this type of pattern of excess cortisol interfering with T3 and the blood sugar issues, they noted (in the case of anorexic/bulimic women) that fertility decreased during the Fall and Winter months. It had something to do with the affect of adding increased melatonin into the mix, melatonin production evidently increases as the amount of daylight decreases. How weird it all is.

In all that I've read though, the best ways to reduce your bodies cortisol production is by resting, taking regular exercise, cutting back on sugar and salt (craving these are one indicator of adrenal exhaustion), reducing stress, and eating small, regular meals. Parsley might be a help (of all things) as it is a adrenal tonic. Also rhodiola rosea which is an adaptogenic herb.

This page has more info about dietary things to do:

Adrenal Glands Revival

About Qi and Spleen Qi Specifically

Someone posted on the uterinefibroids message board about having a watery light colored period.

I looked it up in The Infertility Cure by Randine Lewis and it says that this is a sign of a Spleen Qi deficiency. You are meant to "avoid sugar, refined carbohydrates, starches, dairy products, cold drinks and raw foods" to help restore the spleen (those things listed damage the spleen). There are herbs mentioned (ginseng is one) but those are best taken under guidance of a qualified herbalist.

Someone else was interested in what spleen qi was so I wrote this up and I thought you might be interested as well. I have spleen qi issues as well as I've mentioned.

Qi (pronounced chee and sometimes spelled chi) is most easily described
as energy. See this page for more about qi

Traditional Chinese Medicine recognizes channels or meridians in the body which are associated with different organs. One book I read described how this is so by explaining that from our early embryological development certain tissues developed in relationship to one another and from certain groups of cells. The body retains this memory and energetic map of the body throughout our lives.

This page describes more about the functions of each organ channel

Spleen qi refers to how well that channel is performing its functions of aiding in digestion (transformation of food to energy and blood specifically) and control of the blood.

Here's more about the Spleen

Here's a map of the spleen channel on one side of the body, it is on
both sides in the same places.

I've been amazed at what they have been able to treat in me over the past year, things which Western medicine don't even recognize as problems, such as: feeling full of cold water; slightly swollen glands gone in seconds; inflamed back gone in minutes; a subtle ache across my stomach yesterday which turned out to be very blocked channel that was painful to open up but I feel much better now (I'm going through a miscarriage right now so my body was quite out of sorts and Tylenol wasn't helping at all in the end).

Herbs, acupuncture, movement such as qi gong which is like tai chi or any exercise really, plus the foods we eat, how we think/feel all affect the qi.