Guest guest Posted February 4, 1999 Report Share Posted February 4, 1999 Hello all... A couple of weeks ago, I suffered from a terrible earache but didn't have time to go to the doctor. To ease the pain, I took tylenol and decongestants. Didn't really think much of it until I noticed I had lost eight pounds in a week. This totally startled me since this was the first symptom I noticed before being diagnosed with Graves. So, in backtracking, trying to figure out what I was doing different, I checked the decongestant bottle. Needless to say, thyroid disease was listed as a " do not take this medication if you have'. I stopped the medication and within a couple of days I was back to normal. I have even gained back five pounds. So, to all those who use a decongestant in one form or another...be careful. And, what about a decongestant would affect the thyroid. Deb ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 4, 1999 Report Share Posted February 4, 1999 Hi Deb, Thanks for the information about decongestants. Could you please tell me the name of the product that you used and perhaps the name of the active ingredients. Might be another important clue. Thanks, ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 1999 Report Share Posted February 5, 1999 , The product is a generic form of Sudafed. The active ingredient is Pseudoephedrine. I also want to touch base again on the subject of progesterone and hyperT. In prior research, it seemed apparent that estrogen dominance was an issue with hypoT. But my history of hyperT and low progesterone did not follow with that train of thought. I knew I had read somewhere the relationship with hyperT and low progesterone...and I finally found it. In Dr. Lee's book, he references twice to how hyperT can be made worse by low progesterone. On page 42-43, the list of symptoms that can be caused or made worse by estrogen dominance includes 'Autoimmune disorders such as lupus and thyroiditis and possibly Sjogrens disease.' On page 258, Dr. Lee states, 'The onset of autoimmune disorders is often in middle age, when estrogen dominance becomes common. Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Sjogrens Disease, Grave's Disease, and lupus are all not only more common in women, but appear to be related to estrogen dominance.' It is my understanding that estrogen dominance can be the same thing as low progesterone. It appears that estrogen dominance can affect thyroid function in either hyper or hypoT. It will be interesting to see the results of my next blood test to see if the progesterone supplementation has truly balanced the thyroid hormones. I had definitely been feeling much better...until I took the decongestant that is. Now that the illness has passed and the decongestant is out of my system, I am feeling better again. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the decongestant. Deb ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 6, 1999 Report Share Posted February 6, 1999 Hi Deb and Everyone, Deb told us that she started losing weight and feeling more hyper after using a decongestant which contains Pseuoephedrine, which is another name for ephedrine. Ephedrine is an adrenergic central nervous system stimulant which is derived from the herb Ephedra or Ma Huang. You might find Ma Huang or Ephedra listed as ingredients in energy or weight loss supplements, in addition to decongestants. My advice is to not take these under any circumstances, especially if you have or had hyperthyroidism. I researched the literature to see if there is a connection between ephedrine and the thyroid, but the only study indicated that ephedrine caused a decrease in T3 and didn't affect T4. Perhaps long term use of low doses might decrease T3. I consider Deb's experience as valid. Since ephedra and ephedrine will both stimulate and cause weight loss, I suspect that it might also increase hyper symptoms. It's possible Deb's weight loss was independent of hyper symptoms, but why take a chance. Ephedrine or ephedra and stimulants which should not be used. Deb asked about progesterone. Previously I had speculated that progesterone should stimulate the thyroid. Deb's experience has been the opposite: While she was hyper her progesterone was low. She has started taking progesterone and is feeling better. She found a reference in Dr. Lee's book: On page 258, Dr. Lee states, 'The onset of autoimmune disorders is often in middle age, when estrogen dominance becomes common. Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Sjogrens Disease, Grave's Disease, and lupus are all not only more common in women, but appear to be related to estrogen dominance.' I think that Lee is trying to equate causation with temporal coincidence. Just because many autoimmune diseases manifest at middle age when progesterone diminishes does not mean that they are caused either by estrogen dominance or progesterone deficiency. However, there may be common causes. Also, Lee just mentions the autoimmune aspect and not the thyroid stimulating or suppressing effects. I have speculated in the past that progesterone deficiency may be a result of zinc deficiency, and I still have no reason to suspect that this is not true. I believe that zinc is necessary for progesterone production, but I'm not sure of this (I intend to study this but haven't yet.) If this is true, then supplementation with progesterone would have a zinc sparing effect. Extra zinc might well reduce the " autoimmune " reactions. I've recently read that the serum (blood) level of zinc is usually low in hyperthyroidism. It this is true (there aren't many studies on this), then the zinc sparing effect of progesterone might help restore normal zinc levels to hypers. I believe that zinc can increase hyper symptoms when copper is low, but this effect is not because of the stimulating effect of zinc. It now looks like the function of zinc and copper in hyperthyroidism is the production of metallothionein, which is a metal-binding protein. Metallothionein seems to bind with toxic metals and help remove them from the body. When metal toxicity is high, the body makes a lot of metallothionein and this uses up zinc and copper. If copper runs out first, hyperthyroidism may result. Possibly if zinc runs out first, hypothyroidism results (I'm still working on this, so don't accept this at face value yet.) But if this is true, then both zinc and copper can get very low and whatever might increase zinc and copper levels might help. For example a person who is taking copper, but not enough zinc, might be helped by progesterone, because the zinc sparing effect might result in higher levels of zinc. I'm not sure that this is what's happening in Deb's situation, but I trust her observations more than Lee's speculations or the results of studies done by people who don't see the whole picture. Whatever theories we come up with have to account for each observation we see. It will be interesting to see what her blood tests show. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 19, 2010 Report Share Posted April 19, 2010 Is he not swallong his supplements b/c of chest congestion, or nasal congestion? If it's nasal you can buy a saline spray pretty much anywhere. The ones that are aerosol work best. Shoot two squirts in each nostril, wait a few seconds then have him blow. Afrin also makes really awesome nasal decongestant sprays. If it's chest congestion mucinex DM is awesome! Sorry, I don't know any natural remedies yet. You could google 'holistic congestion cures' ? My friend has a website called The Holistic Diva http://www.holisticdivaonline.com She knows EVERYTHING Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 19, 2010 Report Share Posted April 19, 2010 Are you sure he doesn't have a terrible soar throat and hence not wanting to swallow? I personally let things run during the day. It's at night sleeping I'd give something. The only thing I every give to my guy, and this is the one with severe food allergies. It helps you sleep plus helps dry things up. Not up on anything else. Tammy Decongestants My son has a cold with lots of chest congestion. It is so bad that he is refusing to swallow his supplements. Should I give him a decongestant to break up the mucus? Does anyone recommend an OTC or have any other suggestions? Thanks, Dayna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 19, 2010 Report Share Posted April 19, 2010 Gosh, I'm not with it! Long day! Need to add in Benadryl, dye free of course. That bad of a sore throat, strep? Tammy Decongestants My son has a cold with lots of chest congestion. It is so bad that he is refusing to swallow his supplements. Should I give him a decongestant to break up the mucus? Does anyone recommend an OTC or have any other suggestions? Thanks, Dayna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.