This vlog is posted here a little out of order- somehow I missed it- but I continue to discuss thyroid and adrenal issues on and off HCG Injections because I think they are huge components in long term health and happiness (ie. having the will to live).

Transcript:

Hey guys! HCGChica. I am here today to talk a little bit more about thyroid stuff and HCG, mostly thyroid. I wanted to discuss the final results on why I think I lost so much lean mass on my first round and why I loss a lot more fat on my second round. I don’t think it was related to the T3 that I take, the Cytomel, the active thyroid hormone, originally I thought that it could have to do with that but as it turns out the second round I am at first I was having Diet Coke like I did on my first round everyday on HCG which has aspartame in it and I was losing a significant amount of lean mass again at the beginning. I kinda frustrated about that so I decided I really needed to test out all the possible factors so I removed the Diet Coke it’s not really on the original protocol although he did says sweeteners were okay but I don’t know that aspartame was around then or not I don’t really know. Anyway I removed that and literally within a day or 2 I started losing a lot more fat of the weight that I lost. I really do now attribute it to aspartame and/or sweeteners in general. I’m not sure about the other ones. I think stevia is fine but I did read online on some of the low carb websites that aspartame can knock some people out of ketosis. I feel now that that must have been the reason for the first round losing a lot of lean mass. The second round as soon as I removed that I lost a lot more fat. I’m very, very happy about that and I’m happy for my next round because I won’t be having any Diet Coke on my next round so that should help me lose all fat. I just wanted to throw that out there for some of you who watched my previous blogs that that might be something to consider, just making sure of the different things that you’re having. I do have that body fat analyzer it’s the Omron brand and you hold it by your hand and that was very useful to me in seeing what affected what and that way you can know if certain things that you’re eating are causing you to gain more lean mass or not, so in my case it was the aspartame. So that’s that, good news for that you can take your active thyroid hormone and feel fine on this diet and do well. Probably do even better.

The other things I wanted to talk about were regarding thyroid issues a little more. I’ve done it before but I can’t remember what I said. One thing is that I think thyroid issues are a lot more prevalent than people know I think that there’s a lot of people who probably have a thyroid condition and they don’t know it. Even though they run this standard thyroid test at a regular doctor a lot of them will not show if you have a thyroid disease or condition and I’m serious about that. Any research you do, I have all the leading thyroid books right now which are Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms When My Lab Test Are Normal check that one out on the Amazon. Stop The Thyroid Madness that’s another one. A new book just came out called Hope For Hashimoto’s which has to do with the thyroid. Hashimoto’s is actually an autoimmune disease against your thyroid which is what I have. And even though it deals with Hashimoto’s I kinda recommend everyone with thyroid issues or who might have it get it because it really discusses a lot of really interesting things about why certain things happen that a lot of books don’t explain.

When you read through all of those books they help you to realize that there are a lot of undiscovered thyroid problems out there. A lot of them basic test they do will always comeback normal until your problem is like maybe so extreme that you’ve had it for a long time it just took this long get that extreme and that’s actually what happened to me. My thyroid test come back pretty normal for quite a while even though I felt awful and in the end I did have Hashimoto’s which is a thyroid issue and it wasn’t discovered until it’s so severe that it finally showed up. But it would have been nice to catch it earlier because I probably would have a lot of my thyroid left and I’d probably be able to treat it even more successfully.

Anyway I’m just encouraging anyone who just feels like they know that something’s not right and they’re always exhausted to pursue it further. Don’t just go off with those test because they’re really inaccurate. Anyway that’s that. The other thing is if you do find out that you have a thyroid issue or have hypothyroidism you might wanna pursue a little further seeing if you actually do have Hashimoto’s. The reason I say that is because the leading cause in the United States of hypothyroidism is Hashimoto’s disease. Basically probably around 90% of those who have hypothyroidism whether it’s discovered or not have Hashimoto’s, that’s from that. They do not test for that when they test your thyroid because Doctors treat it the same whether you have Hashimoto’s or hypothyroidism it doesn’t matter to them. They treat it the same so they don’t do those extra test. There are 2 antibody test that can be taken to see if you have Hashimoto’s. And even then sometimes it may not show up but you may still have it and some of the doctors in the books I’ve been reading they say one of a good way to retest if you just really feel like you may have that is to eat a bunch of gluten and then retest for the antibodies and then they might be elevated and then you know there is something there. The reason I say that is because the way you should treat hypothyroidism versus Hashimoto’s is different. Conventional doctor treat it the same but that really isn’t the way to go about it and there are a lot of things that is what you have can really help you to adjust or you’ll know why things happen, how you can fix certain things, and the stuff like that. I would definitely check that out too.

The other thing is whichever one you have or both as stephsuniverse mentioned she started taking T3 again. T3 or Cytomel is the brand name of it. It’s basically active thyroid hormone it’s what your body makes T3 normally from T4 and its kinda what makes your metabolism go. It’s what gives you energy and all that stuffs. A lot of people are finding that when they’re on T4 only meds like Synthroid that they don’t really feel that much better. And a lot of them are starting to do combos of T4 and T3 and that’s definitely an improvement and they may feel that they’re feeling better but even then you have to see if you’re actually feeling better. The really best way to dose is by symptoms and that’s actually what some of this books I’m reading are saying and that’s what I do.

I take a pretty high dose of T3 I take 87.5 micrograms to 100 micrograms anywhere between there I adjust it depending on how I’m feeling. That’s probably according to most doctors is like really super high but you know I feel great on it. I really do and I’ve been on this dose for over a year and I feel really great. A lot of doctors are really afraid of Cytomel they make up all this words scary things that can happen but I haven’t experience that. I’ve had times where I did take a little too much and my heart beat went up and I just reduce the dose again and it went back down and that’s fine. It’s easy to know if you’re taking too much. It’s not like it’s hard to fix and that almost never happens so once you find a dose that’s good you’re gonna be fine.

The biggest thing right now also is doctors are prescribing when they do prescribed T3 they’re doing it in sustained release form or slow release which is where they put it in a capsule with binders and the idea is that it will slow the absorb into your system like maybe it naturally would happen and you’ll feel more even throughout the day. However, in theory it’s nice but in reality most people find that they still absorb nearly as much of the T3 that they should and I have found that to be the case. I just take straight Cytomel now I use to take sustained release and I noticed that it was much higher potency, the regular. But It felt good and I actually did reduce my dose a little bit because it was so strong and then I was able to work my way back up again but I have found that that actually has been a lot more effective just taking the straight regular Cytomel and that’s actually several of the books that I’m reading say as well so these people really know what they’re talking about.

Finally they’re getting some good information but again the commercial doctors are not going to know about any of this. I’m just telling that you got to get the information yourself. Usually when you take T3 you in like 12.5 microgram increments and that’s usually how doctors do it and I get my T3 out of the country now without the prescription. I’m not suggesting that you guys do that but if you do enough of your own research and you know enough and you will feel comfortable it is something you can do. But I don’t wanna get in trouble for somebody doing something not good for themselves but  I’m just saying that I have done enough research enough for myself and I’ve been doing this long enough and I did start out with the doctor that I feel comfortable now just dosing myself base on my symptoms. I really don’t adjust it much but you know what I’m saying is I don’t feel like I have to constantly go in for a testing every 3 months because I know if I feel good or not and that’s what really counts.

There are times when a doctor when you get your test back maybe you’re on a dose where you feel good with your thyroid medication, you feel great. And your test come back and it says, your T3 is too high and your TSH is too low we need to reduce your dose. And then you feel terrible again because you’re on a lower dose that you don’t feel good but he’s saying “Oh, but your labs look good though” that does not makes sense. What makes sense is when you feel good is when you’re on the right amount, to me. I just think that’s silly then again that’s what all of the books I’m reading say too.

The other thing is the gluten connection with all autoimmune disease. To be honest I didn’t really believe it at first. I never would have remove gluten out of my diet for the full 3 months that they suggest that you do the trial without HCG but since I was on HCG that’s what ended up happening and then when I had gluten again I really saw a huge difference. I felt terrible. There really is a connection as much as I hated to admit it. It really is there I cannot have gluten now I know I’ve been off of it even longer because of my second round. I had it again recently like kind of a lot when I was doing my unplanned to load for no reason and I had an extremely intense intestinal pain. It felt like my bowels are on fire literally like my intestines I could feel like the particles burning through the lining of my intestines. That was very real and that’s what it does is with gluten it damages your intestinal lining if you have an issue with it which is really a big thing with all autoimmune diseases.

They said you really have to go all completely gluten free. It doesn’t matter if it like almost a 100%. If it’s not a 100% it doesn’t matter because basically you only have to have a little bit of gluten every 7 to 10 days to keep your intestinal lining damaged. And the reason I suggest you take it out for that full 3 months is cause it takes that long for your intestines to heal. For that lining to heal and I have found that to be true. So that is my experience and it is true I cannot have it now I really, really feel terrible and it really makes me more fatigue too. My energy levels even with my medication they were still a lot really up and down and now ever since the gluten has been gone after that period of time my energy levels are much more consistent. Just consistently good instead of so fluctuating. So that’s another thing for anyone of you out there you know just wanting more info on stuff like that.

The other thing is iodine that’s a really hot issue. If you don’t have Hashimoto’s it’s probably fine to take iodine however as I said the leading cause of hypothyroidism in the United States is Hashimoto’s so you may have it and not know it. And the thing is iodine, until you can get your immune system under control, which is what this book for Hashimoto’s discusses and deep detail the whole protocol, you should not take iodine and I have experienced this too. Iodine is very, very bad for you right now if you have Hashimoto’s and your immune system it’s not modulated. Iodine causes your body to make thyroid peroxidase or something like that which normally is good thing but when you have an autoimmune condition in the form of Hashimoto’s, that actually triggers your body to make more antibodies against that because the antibodies it makes are against the thyroid peroxidase so you’re actually fueling another attack and your body is gonna destroy more of your thyroid every time you take iodine. You know I have experienced this. I really like those dry seaweed you can get that at the store they use it for rolling Sushi I love that stuff I think it’s great and I noticed when I would have it I would feel like I got hit by a truck. I would feel terrible not too long afterwards.

I figured that connection out of kinda on my own and then I did some research online and found that to be true but there is a lot of misleading information out there that you should take iodine for your thyroid but be very careful with that. There is a time and place for it if you get you immune system under control but until that time don’t have it unless, you know, if you have Hashimoto’s.

Same thing with a lot of supplements. My husband has this green drink that has all this like minerals in it but a lot of it comes from like spirulina and kelp, same thing. I felt awful I feel like I got hit by a truck whenever I have that green drink so I don’t have it. So that’s the case with iodine just do a little more research on that.

The other thing is before I found out that this is what I had I actually thought that I was bipolar for a while because I had huge fluctuations in my energy level where I’d feel like fantastic for 3 weeks and like stay up till 3 in the morning and do a ton of stuff and then I would be fatigue I could hardly do anything for weeks and so I started thinking I was bipolar. I kinda want to throw that out there for any others who maybe have had a diagnosis or think that could be it. You actually could have a thyroid issue and it could be Hashimoto’s. Cause see what happens with Hashimoto’s is this autoimmune thing. Your body  attacks your thyroid and destroys part of it and then excess thyroid hormones spill it out into your blood stream jin your body and you actually have excess thyroid hormone for a time after that attack. But then after that’s over and it’s faded away then you’re left with less thyroid than you had before and so now you’re hypothyroid. And then you feel terrible and then what ever happens you have stress in your life, you eat too much gluten whatever then you have another antibody attack and more of your thyroid’s destroyed there’s excess thyroid hormones floating in your body so you’re super hyper. That cycle continues for a time until eventually it gets so extreme that you just are only hypothyroid. You no longer have those surges of energy and that’s what happened to me. Eventually I no longer have the highs and I was only low and I was just only hyperthyroid but like I said I didn’t know any of that at the time. All I knew is my symptoms, what was happening.

That’s just another thing to check into. Some things are not always mental I know that there are things that are mental but I think that there’s lot of things that are actual real imbalances in your body that you are not aware of and that when those things are fixed if they can be fixed overnight you’re a different person and that has what’s been the case with me. When I started, when I got on the medication and I felt better overnight I started doing a lot more. I didn’t have to convince myself to make dinner or to get exercise. I was able to do it and it felt good but before that it didn’t and I couldn’t. Anyway I hope that’s helpful. I guess that’s all for the moment if you guys have any questions feel free to ask but like I said those books are really good, a good starting place and I think thyroid stuff is a lot more common than you realize. Hope that helps. Talk to you guys soon.

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