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Sunday 30 June 2013

Ten times better, brighter, happier.

Ta dah!!

Remember me? I've been gone so long. Sorry dear readers. Things have been turned upside down and topsy turvy but I'm pleased to say are landing back down in just the right way.

First thing to say is that I have been feeling amazingly better. You didn't really know I was not well, and that is because I didn't wish to clog the blog up with hum-drum-ness. But now that things are totally different, it seems that it might be for the best to share a bit about what went on, in case you need to know yourself. I'll keep it simple for easy reading. What I have to say may help you, or a loved one, one heck of a lot.

The pics are to keep you interested and prove I'm feeling better, but you may also notice the glands in my neck going down from swollen to nearly normal.

At a friends wedding ceremony - end of may, my glands had already gone down quite a lot
I was not getting any joy out of the GPs, (since I wasn't crawling in there on my hands and knees and coughing up blood), but I was tired All. The. Time. Even when I first woke up. I felt like I had glandular fever (I didn't), the GP suggested I was depressed (I wasn't, or at least, I wasn't MORE depressed than someone who felt so rough might feel), and my neck was swollen and puffy and sore and had been for MONTHS. If we had a late night, or a big weekend, it would take me ages to recover, like weeks. I would try not to book two late nights in a row. Going to the events we go to for selling was quite overwhelming. I had terrible brain fog - unable to concentrate, forgetful, sluggish.

I had been struggling with these thyroid-type problems for some time, and they were getting worse and worse, not better. It seemed like it could also be Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or even Fibromyalgia, since I was getting achy muscles down my arms. It was the achy arm muscles that were the final sign that things were not right, after all, an achy back (which I also had) could be sleeping funny, bad posture or big boobs. But arms, well, you know if you have been lifting things and if they should be sore.

At a Zoo party, Early June
Anyway, lets cut to the chase, on researching thyroid stuff,  I came across Dr Brownstein in the states. And from there I found his books, including one focusing on Iodine. Long story short, I found I was iodine deficient. Within a few hours of taking a digestible iodine solution: Iodoral (as he uses) the sore arms went away. (Not literary, I still have my arms). Within a week I was feeling much better, and it has improved every week since.
Now my puffy neck has mostly gone. I can get out of bed easily and have vim and vigour for my work and hobbies again. I actually feel like I am 10 years younger.

Now, here's the extra cool bit. I have had NO HAYFEVER. None. Ok I might have a couple of sneezes every now and then, but I'm not needing the anti-histamine, plus homeopathic drops, plus eye drops and nasal spray that have dominated my summers for 15 years or more. And here in the UK it is apparently a very bad summer for hayfever.

I have also been sleeping right through the night. This might not be amazing so some of you, but my Hubby has never known me not to get up to go pee in the middle of the night. Once I was awake I would struggle to get back to sleep, so might loose an hour or two each night. I just thought it was a silly bladder, but no, now I sleep right through no problems. I think I was waking up first, then deciding I needed a pee. The bladder is strong.

I can't explain the sleeping thing - there is nothing about that in Dr. Brownstein's book, but the Hayfever has some reasoning that I'll explain quickly, because it is important.  Your body needs iodine to flush out oxides (you have heard of antioxidants right?) and all the autoimmune disorders, according to Dr Brownstein, are caused by problems with oxides.  So that includes celiac, food intolerances, crohns, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, scelroderma, sjogrens, ulcerative Colitis, Vasculitis, Reiters, polymyositis, graves, hastimotos, lupus, Multiple Sclerosis... the list goes on and on. (I have extracted this list from Dr B's book on thryroid disorders. I personally don't know what most of these things are).  Hayfever is an autoimmune disease, and so, with taking adequate amounts of Iodoral, and flushing out the oxides that I was struggling with, I no longer suffer from it. Ta Dah!
I am also allergic to cats, even though I love them, so I now need to grab an unsuspecting neighbourhood cat for a cuddle and see what comes of it. Watch out kitties!

At a 70s disco night, Mid June
Your body needs Iodine to make Thyroxine. Even if your thyroid is working properly, it can't make Thyroxine without it - simple as that. It also makes the hormone that it uses to zap early cancer cells with out of iodine. Pretty important stuff eh? You would think we should know if we are supposed to have iodine don't you? Well, here in the UK at least, it isn't considered a iodine deficient country - yet in 2007, 70% of girls they tested were deficient, on the UK scale, which is lower than other countries. 70% is a lot, and they tested girls because iodine matters to unborn babies.

So, here comes the disclaimer: I have to do it don't I? I am not a doctor, I have simply done research for myself and am sharing it here in case you too could benefit from reading up on Dr B's work. I am not sponsored or paid or anything from Iodoral (the brand name of the iodine supplement).  I had some help in getting my dosage right with my Kenesiologist. At the start I needed quite a lot, but have since dropped down my dose by the fact that get a metallic taste in your mouth if you have too much anyway. If anyone is wanting to preach to me about anything then their comments will be deleted! I have done A LOT of work on this. If my post seems light and fluffy - that is because I wanted most people to read most of it, not because I'm an air head.

Do please, if you have any thoughts that you might too suffer, investigate Dr Brownstein's work. It has completely turned my world around and I feel so entirely different than I did just a few months ago. And it was SO SIMPLE!

Photo: Off to the Awards! Wish me luck! #nationalvintageawards
This week, at an Award Ceremony (more to come on that)
A few last things to wrap up with:

  • I bought his books second hand on amazon (they were expensive to ship from the states). You buy Iodoral online, it isn't in health food shops.
  • There is a series of talks on youtube which touches on other problems that iodine deficiency might bring up - it has a focus around the nuclear fall out in Japan, as there they used an iodine solution to purify the water http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-QCZAmXHqg
  • There are a number of places on the internet that label him a Quack. Not surprisingly really, since his health solutions are so simple that it is easy to put them down. He is a proper doctor who gives proper lectures to other proper doctors and does clinical studies and what not.
  • I also found an awesome website for thyroid information in the process: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/
  • Normal service, talking about dresses, events and shoes will proceed from here forth.


Shona x

22 comments:

  1. I'm glad to read you are feeling much better! I think we are all responsible for taking care of and being an advocate for or own health care. Good for you for putting the research in and finding something that works for you!

    Best,
    MaryD

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    1. Thanks honey. Just been reading about your chickens!

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  2. I must admit, although I knew we needed iodine, I didn't realise you could be lacking it. I'd been wondering about your absenceso I'm glad to hear you're feeling better x

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    1. It is surprising isn't it? It is easy to be lacking in it nowadays, especially since we have labelled salt (which has synthetic iodine in it, for exactly this reason) as bad. Natural sea salt is GOOD for you, but you still need more iodine than that provides. Some countries add iodine to the bread but only once the country is labelled as deficient. If you are gluten intolerant, like me, you still won't be getting enough! It is in Kelp, and sea vegetables and gets into our foods through the soil, so it depends where your food is coming from. Sorry, rabbiting on now. Thanks for your thoughts!

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  3. Great that you're feeling better! As a professional in the field and to make a general point people are often surprised when GPs suggest depression but it really can manifest as lots of physical unexplained symptoms! There was actually a feature on iodine deficiency on Inside Health Radio 4 the other day! http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02yks81 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22623679

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  4. Glad your feeling better. It not nice being that ill. glad your back and better xx

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  5. So glad you're feeling better! It can be incredibly frustrating to be ill and not be able to pinpoint the cause and that can actually lead to depression just as much as depression can lead to poor health. And I'm glad depression wasn't the cause of your health concerns.

    Iodine deficiency can be a major problem - my husband is a preventive medicine doctor in the US military and when he was last in Iraq, one of the things he noticed is that there seemed to be a problem with a lack of iodine in the salt they were using and that was being sold in the marketplace, so he worked with local officials to study the problem. His tour ended before the study did, but it just goes to show how something so simple can result in major heath issues. I don't know if you're using iodized salt in your cooking but it's a major source of iodine in the US. It would not surprise me, however if, as people try to move toward more healthy eating, they use less salt and/or choose salt without iodine, not realizing how important it is to keep us healthy.

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  6. So glad you're feeling better, Shona!

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  7. You had my FULL attention when you mentioned hayfever! I suffer hideous hayfever so I am off to source me some iodine supplements prior to our (Aust) hayfever season. Thank you for sharing and providing the links for further research.

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  8. It's good to know you're feeling better!

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  9. I'm so glad you're feeling better.
    I sympathise because I know my thyroid is well out of whack....my mum's was crazy off the scale...haven't been well for years but it's a case of must toe the NHS party line with the doctors so I get no help. I had some weird virus or Lyme....they were never sure...years ago, left me with fibro and was bed ridden for nine months, the pain can be unbelieveable, and just never got over it properly, cognitive function, balance etc. Acupuncture helped greatly, got me walking again, but it's expensive, I'm going back though to see if it can help stabilise the thyroid. Can't afford to go a private Dr/Endo and Scotland, especially my part, is very poorly served for that kind of thing anyway.
    Hope you continue to improve, it must be great just to be able to feel lively again!

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  10. I am so pleased that you are feeling so much better! I am so sorry you were ill for so long without any help from your healthcare team. As a person who works in healthcare, I find this unacceptable and am so glad that you were able to advocate for yourself and get well. Sending you ((HUGS)) from Canada! x

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  11. Dear Shona, I'm deeply sorry that you'd been struggling with such a multitude of health problems for quite some time. Thank your for sharing this intimate, fascinating picture of some of what you've endured and what has helped you so much. That is is incredible news! I've been severely chronically ill with over a dozen different medical conditions for many years now, and now what an astounding miracle even just the tiniest bit of help with any of them can feel like - to have such dramatic positive changes must be an utterly incredible feeling. I hope with all my heart that things continue to look up for you on the health front.

    ♥ Jessica

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  12. So glad to hear you are feeling better and will be posting more. I look forwarding to reading.

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  13. Wow ,how long did it take before you really noticed feeling better?Have you lost any weight from it as that seems to pop up on a lot of the articles?
    I am trying the drops now and hope I will feel better.NZ is horribly deficient soil wise and I am not a big bread eater or salt eater.My Nana had a huge goiter back in the 40s so we are obviously prone...

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  14. Hi
    Thanks for sharing your story,and it's so I have suffered with Thyroid problems for over 20 years, but I am extremely lucky in having a proactive Doctor who understands the devastating effect this condition can cause. It is terribly difficult to explain to people that you aren't just 'tired' and that a nap won't help. and even after a full night's sleep you still feel drained. I hope that your health continues to improve.
    Eirian

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  15. Glad to hear that you're feeling better. Thank you so much for sharing this. My husband has had aching arms and periods of being totally wiped out for a while now, and among the assorted scary-sounding things that various tests have produced is a thyroid problem. I'll get him to read this post.

    p.s. The blue flowery dress in the first photograph is gorgeous.

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  16. Hi, I'm so happy to hear you are feeling better. I know all about thyroid problems. It turned out I had Hashimoto's disease after they operated on me and took away most of the thyroid. They never knew. I'm on thyrax now and it took 6 months, but I am feeling great. I haven't been to my GP in months. I must have been sick for years !! Thyroid problems aren't easily recognizable. They should pay more attention to this !!

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  17. Welcome back you have been missed! You look adorable in all the pictures! The tiger one you just look very fierce! LOL!



    My homepage | Online PhD UK Programs

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  18. Looking forward to normal service! :) I adore your blog, it's what inspired me to step out and dare to be vintage in style!

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  19. I am glad you're better now and hope you will be happy every day and success on the sewing.

    Brianna@ Online courses Teaching

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Thanks for taking the time to comment! I love hearing from you, even if I don't always have time to reply

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