RE: IMPORTANT FMS INFO

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

I apologize for the length of this, but it's important information that may help

some of you.

I'm a " fibromyalgia suffer " . Over the past 3 years my symptoms became chronic

to the point of agonizing pain, then suddenly last year I had a period where I

felt like my old " well " self! Then in the autumn of 2011 I was once again

suffering with all the symptoms and more, to the present day.

In January, I was feeling so lethargic, extremely weak to the point I could not

stand up, SICK, hands shaking etc. My doctor ran some blood work and my TSH

came back normal. When I mentioned that I felt far sicker, weaker than I'd ever

been in my life, the response from my MD was " I know, it's very difficult with

FMS " .

I felt angry and frustrated when I left the clinic and pain or not I decided

that come hell or high water I was going to find out what was wrong with me! I

began researching and I came across some information written by Dr. Lowe,

an expert in both thyroidism and fibromyalgia. He wrote many papers and did

clinical trials etc. He also wrote a book called " The Metabolic Treatment of

Fibromyalgia " . Here's a wee bit of info from him:

" Fibromyalgia syndrome is the diagnosis clinicians most often give patients who

have chronic widespread pain and abnormal tenderness. Most FMS researchers

state that the etiology of the disorder is unknown. In doing so, they fail to

account for a substantial line of evidence showing that the main mechanism of

FMS is inadequate thyroid hormone regulations.These findings led to the

hyposthesis that FMS patients are hypometabolic compared to matched controls. "

MANY FEATURES OF FMS AND HYPOTHYROIDISM ARE VIRTUALLY THE SAME, AND THYROID

HORMONE (T3, levels higher than an Endocrinologist would normally give)

TREATMENT TRIALS HAVE REDUCED OR ELIMINATED FIBROMYALGIA SYMPTOMS COMPLETELY.

There was a lot more written that made me so excited as Dr. Lowe listed 64

symptoms of Hypothyroidism, many of which were on the list I'd independently

made! I was determined to contact Dr. Lowe only to learn that he died suddenly

this year.

Almost 2 months to the day, I was back at my MD's office once again telling him

how I was feeling and showing him my list of symptoms. Result: He barely

glanced from across the room at my list, after all he knows I have FMS. I live

in British Columbia, Canada and our health care system covers only TSH testing.

Months before I'd asked about having free T3 and free T4 testing done and he

told me it was quite expensive and he felt it wasn't necessary. This time, I

told him that I wanted to pay to have these two tests done, plus a Vitamin D

test. Wow, so expensive ..... TSH $20, free T3 $15 and free T4$15, while

Vitamin D was $70.00. To my amazement, when I went to the Bio Medical Clinic, I

was told that I was the FIRST person they had ever had ask for a free T3 and

free T4!!!! All I can say is there have to be millions of sick people walking

around not knowing they have a hormone problem!!!!!

For the first time, my results were different! I have learned that the " normal "

ranges for these hormone levels are different in countries. Here the TSH normal

range is 0.30-5.50; free T4 normal range is 11-22 and free T3 is 4.0 - 7.8.

In January, my TSH was 1.12, March it was .47. That in itself told me, but not

the doctor that something wasn't right. He stated I was within range. The

other two tests had never been done so now he had more information, plus my

symptoms to look at. My free T4 was 19 (within range, but towards high end of

scale) and the free T3 was 4.5, with range he said. Vitamin D test was

Sufficient, 99 .. range 75-199.

T4 should not be higher than T3 as T4 converts to T3 in your body. I asked him

if he thought everything was o.k. to explain to me why my T4 was higher than T3?

I then talked to him about Dr. Lowe's findings only to have him give me no

answer to my question (only a frown) about the T4/T3 and a statement that there

are a lot of doctors with theories about FMS. I stated this was not just a

theory but had been proven by Dr. Lowe's patients getting well. I then asked

him to give me a " trial " of low T3. NO, because my figures were within " normal "

range. It didn't seem to matter if it was the low or high of the " normal "

range.

That was it! I was determined to go to someone else. I remembered Dr. Lowe

saying that a person should go to a board certified naturopathic doctor (ND).

Again I researched and found a ND who was interested in FMS. Next day I was in

her office asking her to look at my test results and list of symptoms. I first

showed her my list and within SECONDS she said " I know what is wrong with you " !

She then pointed to the first 3 symptoms and said " these are adrenal gland

issues " and the rest are " thyroid " . I couldn't believe my ears! I then showed

her my test results and asked her to give me her opinion. She looked at them

and said " TSH is low; free T4 high and free T3 low " and your T4 is not

converting to T3 which it should be.

It appears you have adrenal fatigue and either a hormone resistance or a reverse

T3 meaning my T3 hormone wasn't working! Then she said to me " YOU MUST BE IN A

LOT OF PAIN " . She did not know I had been diagnosed with FMS! At this point I

simply burst into uncontrollable sobbing. I could hardly speak and when I

finally could I said " at LAST, it has taken me years to have someone truly

listen to me and to KNOW what was wrong. "

She told me she could put me on T3, but first she wanted me to have some testing

done. There was a choice of saliva or a urine test. I had mentioned to her

that my sister had had breast cancer and I'd not had a mammogram for a few years

due to Trigger Points I couldn't tolerate the squeezing of the machine. She

then said a urine test (24-hour) would be best as it would give her all the

information she'd need about my hormones, including a result that would tell me

if I could be prone to cancer. When the results come back she will then decide

how to treatment.

Her last words were " hang in there, once your hormones are balanced again you'll

feel completely different. I then asked her if it was possible that I could

have widespread pain (FMS symptoms) for a period of time and then suddenly feel

well like I used to feel. I said over the years this had happened to me several

times. She replied " OH YES, it all depends on where the hormones are at at that

particular time! "

I collected the urine over a 24 hour period, having to refrigerate it in a

bottle that was provided in a kit, along with 3 large vials. The first

urination was to be voided and the next was the start of the collection with the

ending being at the same time the next day. I began on a Sunday morning and

returned it on Monday. The urine was poured into the 3 vials and put into

biohazard bags then into a box with an ice pack that was provide. I dropped the

kit off at the clinic Monday and it was being couriered immediately to a lab in

Washington State. I was told the results would be back in two weeks. This is

the second week so hopefully I'll be hearing from the doctor next week. The

testing was $400. I'm anxiously awaiting the results.

Here's an excellent website about Hypothyroidism by Dr. Wells. It's heavy

reading, but persist and you'll learn so much about your hormones, thyroid,

pituitary and hypothalamus, plus some symptoms of hypothyroidism.

http://www.drwells.net/nutrition/topics/Hypothyroid.htm

Wishing you all a better day.

[Guest guest]

wrote:

> I live in British Columbia, Canada and our health care system covers only TSH

testing. Months before I'd asked about having free T3 and free T4 testing done

and he told me it was quite expensive and he felt it wasn't necessary. This

time, I told him that I wanted to pay to have these two tests done, plus a

Vitamin D test. Wow, so expensive ..... TSH $20, free T3 $15 and free T4$15,

while Vitamin D was $70.00.

Hi

Thanks for the great information. I'm from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but

I've been in Indiana for the last 12 years. I'm really hoping to move

home sooner than later. I really miss Canada. However, my American

husband is the main care person for his 84 year old mother and she is

not what one would call " cooperative " when it comes to any kind of change.

When I lived in Saskatoon, my family doctor ran all the thyroid and

adrenal tests on me and promptly put me on the appropriate meds. I

wasn't charged for any tests. They increased my energy level almost

immediately.

Down here, I haven't been able to get any doctor pay attention to the

combination of T's etc. They look at the results and say " well, they're

in the normal range. " (A couple are at the very high end of normal,

while the rest are at the very low end of normal.)

I think it's time I saw an MD, who's also a naturopath!

Thanks for the link too. I printed out the file and am going to hang on

to it.

In case someone missed 's post, here's the link again:

http://www.drwells.net/nutrition/topics/Hypothyroid.htm

Lyndi

Moderator

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

This is interesting. Here is one lady that also made the connection to Fibro and

the thyroid.

http://autoimmunethyroid.wordpress.com/2008/05/13/what-ketosis-does-to-the-brain\

/

She is also doing a ketogenic diet, like I am. Her approach is somewhat

different than mine though. I have Fibro, and my thyroid tests were always

borderline. A lot of my thyroid symptoms have improved, and my pain is less.

Some say the high saturated fats will help your thyroid function, and my diet is

high in coconut oil and butter, but also parts of my diet are what your article

says will help;

low to moderate caffeine

Kreb cycle improvements(ketosis helps the kreb cycle)

http://www.mitochondrial.net/showabstract.php?pmid=14769483

take Bs, and other basic supplements

moderate amounts of protein from unprocessed meat that is source of CQ10

I cook my low carb vegetables very well

Avoid soy

Ketosis increases glutathione

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18466343

Not all ketogenic diets are the same, as my diet does not use processed low carb

products, or artificial sweeteners, and I try to eat as naturally and

unprocessed as I can.

Thanks again for sharing, and that article, that helps us to try to get at the

root causes of the thyroid problem, and work on fixing it.

I myself, improved without taking any thyroid medication. I have to be very

careful, though to stay on the diet to keep those good results.

C.

> wrote:

> Here's an excellent website about Hypothyroidism by Dr. Wells.