Psychoneuroimmunology and Thyroid

[c1sissy]

I know of the tetnas shot. Here it is required for our childrens large amount of shots that they get. Also if injured on a job etc.. its a suggested shot. I never thought about it being related to gardening though.

It has been years since I have had that one. And from experience, its a painful one, lol, the after effects of that one cause an extremly painful arm!

[marion]

what is the shot for the garden thing?

sorry- my memory wouldn't work then...the common name is lockjaw...you can pick it up with cuts and germs from the soil...
just remembered while typing!! Tetanus!!!
It was one they wanted us to have when I started nursing, but I didn't...and my doctors practice keeps asking me every so often...

I am just thankful to God the kids were ok with all their jabs including the meningitis (hib??) one which came just after my 2nd was born at the end of '92...

I think they possibly can throw your immune system out of wack, but I don't want to take the risk of not having them... (esp. for the kids)...

[c1sissy]

I jsut started taking something advertised on tv called relacore (sp?) and I have lost some of the stomach, and a inch or so off the rest of me. I have a bit more energy, so if this keeps up, its worth checking into.  Its only recomended for those over 35, and has to do with some sort of hormone.

i'm working on loosing weight for Karens wedding. I hope to start back at the gym next week. I need to learn to balance time and energy, lol, as I say all the time I am going to work on it.

Thyroid symtoms and disease is a complicated thing. I had a tumor on half of mine and they removed the right side.  Fortunatly things worked out great and I did get mine to balance out, but I know that doesn't happen to all, and that there are different things regarding the thyroid that can go wrong.

what is the shot for the garden thing? I have never heard of this before? And not sure if I would like government health care, you really dont' have much of a say when the big boss is involved in things.

[marion]

Marion,
Do you ask for copies of the test results?

I've never thought of doing that Deb, perhaps I should...
I've never done that for anything medical, although the Doc kind of rotates the computer screen round, as if to show you...
But I couldn't take it all in there and then..
I think it might be because we have the free N.H.S. here... maybe if we had to pay we would be more demanding

And you are correct, t4, t4, t7, and tsh need to be checked all together

.

oohh you're telling me something new here, thanks ... I've never even heard or read about t7

I would go and look up in medical books what levels were considered normal for a thyroid in all of the above mentioned.

it varies such a lot, doesn't it?
One reason why I was wondering, as my opening post quotes suggested, that maybe the body might have  

built up such a resistance over the years that even that medication failed to help me anymore

as I've been on it since about July '91...

I required a very high dosage of the synthroid, and due to the same things that they are reducing yours for, mine was reduced greatly from what was helping me to loose weight

.

I'm not losing weight, and at 45, now, I guess natural changes make this even harder..
But I have strong symptoms still...

The wierd thing is, I don't take the meds anymore, and my thyroid is balanced?

wonderful!! ... sometimes, depending on what kind of thyroid disease it is, it can...oh what's the word (sorry)

Wondeing if the meds work for the body so much that  it keeps the body from recovering and learning how to work  on its own

well, my mom and dad always said that about innoculations, so I didn't have any till I went into nursing at 28... strangely enough, a couple of years before I was diagnosed with the thyroid trouble, due to immune system attacking the wrong thing

I had to have a TB innoculation, and something else, (can't remember now, on my entry to nursing), thankfully got out of having the ...oh I can't remember...brain fog...(the one that they recommend if you 'garden.')

My nursing colleague friend had a very bad reaction to that which went on for months...

[c1sissy]

Marion,
Do you ask for copies of the test results? And you are correct, t4, t4, t7, and tsh need to be checked all together.

I would go and look up in medical books what levels were considered normal for a thyroid in all of the above mentioned. And I would keep an eye on the test results.

I required a very high dosage of the synthroid, and due to the same things that they are reducing yours for, mine was reduced greatly from what was helping me to loose weight.

The wierd thing is, I don't take the meds anymore, and my thyroid is balanced? Wondeing if the meds work for the body so much that  it keeps the body from recovering and learning how to work  on its own?

[marion]

I would be interested in hearing what kind of meds you take.
 (btw sory so long to reply to this, but I have been so busy with learning web stuff and getting Karens shower going!)

hey don't you worry about not replying sooner... I think I was hoping some with thyroid probs, currently, might, (I know I referred someone here from another forum recently) but often it can rob us of motivation can't it?..

I'm back on 150mcg daily (3 tablets) of thyroxine, ...was on 4 and began to feel better, but then Dr. sent letter telling me to reduce to 3, because of the results of a blood test.. (fear of damage to heart I think)

I'm a bit frustrated as I think they are only measuring the TSH and when I feel up to it, I need to ask them to consider checking t3 and t4 seperately... and maybe even checking the level of antibodies attacking the thyroid in my blood...

The tests, particularly in the U.K. I think, are too simplistic...

[c1sissy]

Marion:
I know for me, the fog was greatly increased by some of the medications that I was taking. I'm wondering if this isn't true for others as well. The had me on so many medications for the fms, pain, sleep, digestion, etc.. that I was so totally in a fog that I didn't know if I was coming and going from it. I have elimanted a good deal of medications and am only on the most necessary right now.

I found that the worst was what they give you to sleep at night. And to top it off, It didn't work to great. If I went to bed and was disturbed somehow, i was up the rest of the night, which increased my exhaustion. So I have learned to live with about 3 hours on and off of sleep during the night.

I would be interested in hearing what kind of meds you take. Maybe a poll for this would be a good idea? It would be an interesting type of poll to see what drs put you on and for what condition? (btw sory so long to reply to this, but I have been so busy with learning web stuff and getting Karens shower going!)

[marion]

I was just wondering if anyone wants to talk about the psychology behind auto-immune disorders, primarily, hypo-thyroidism.... but as there is so much overlap of symptom, with most of them... any.

With the brain fog most of us get, it can be difficult sifting through words, sometimes, to find what is relevant for us, so here are some snippets from quite a long article.
I just wonder if it makes any sense to anyone, and if we can talk about it...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

my thyroid medication failed me. Apparently I had built up such a resistance over the years that even that medication failed to help me anymore."
   
I realize there must be something deeper inside me that caused this to occur which is not merely of a physical nature

   
an underlying sense of fear, danger and guilt permeates the mind which causes it to get stuck in the stress mode often called a fight or flight reaction. This creates a continual strain on the body. As the lungs overwork, the immune system is weakened and harmful levels of cortisol and adrenaline are produced to create chemical imbalances   

Our body/mind system for most of us is very resilient and can often overcome, in our earlier years, much physical and emotional abuse. Yet, over  time, as we age, even the strongest are weakened and the resistant negative beliefs and decisions that were made in our lifetime due to the negative conditioning we had will finally bear its toxic front.
 One day a physical or emotional trauma occurs and this can precipitate an onslaught of system breakdowns that can bring cancer, heart disease, hypo or hyperthyroid conditions, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety-panic disorders or any number of maladies    

Buried deep in your unconscious mind are large amounts of traumas some painful, some threatening and others filled with loss or rekindling of old negative feelings and beliefs   

The key is awareness of what is buried beneath your current consciousness. It's like having a garden filled with weeds, you can quickly create an appearance of a well groomed lawn just by mowing it, yet after a few days the weeds will once again pop up as the underling roots are still there.
Unless you dig beneath the soil (your conscious mind) and pull the roots completely out (the unconscious traumas you have forgotten) the weeds (your negative symptoms) will return