An update and supplements report

It’s been so long since I’ve posted, which is a good thing in terms of my health. My last thyroid ultrasound in mid-January showed that the tumor had grown slightly to an ellipsoid volume of 111.2, up from 104.4 in October. So a slight increase. It’s funny, though, because the radiologist who has mostly ignored any decreases up until now, actually ignored this slight increase and wrote on his report that the tumor had decreased 10% in volume over the year. This was enough to put my doctor at ease and we agreed that the next ultrasound would be in 6 months (July).

I continue on my spiritual path, which has felt particularly difficult this year. I really hope this is because I am making progress:) My health, on the other hand, has been better than it’s been in years. Our family (me, husband and two children 8 and 9 years old) made it through this winter healthier than we ever have. Far healthier. I think I got one minor cold. And now as I enter allergy season it’s been so far so good. Last year at this time I was wiped out many afternoons, something that has been going on since spring of 2010 when I initially discovered the thyroid nodule.

In part I credit the improvement to figuring out some good supplements. Currently I am taking

• fermented cod liver oil (3 capsules/day)
• vitamin D3 (5000 mg/day)
• NOW magnesium citrate (400 mg/day in evening)
• Pure Radiance C powder (1 tsp/day) I take this rather than regular vitamin C because it’s not a corn derivative, and I have or had an allergy to corn. It’s kind of expensive, but I swear it seems to keep my immune system strong.
• Pure (brand name) Adrenal (1 in am, 1 in pm)
• Thorne Selenomethionine (200 mcg in am)
• Lugol’s 5% solution iodine (1 drop 1-3x/week)
• Celtic sea salt (1/2 tsp) on days that I take Lugol’s, also use it liberally on my food

I was also taking Riboflavin and Niacin for much of the winter, but I began to get stomach aches and when I removed it, they went away. I have to say figuring out the supplements has been very tricky for me. I was using David Brownstein’s book Iodine as a guide, but the amounts of things he recommends have been way too much for me. For instance, he recommends that people with cancer take up to 50 mg/day. 1 drop is 6.25 mg, and the most I have been able to take is 4 drops/week.

My main problem with iodine has been that it upsets my sleep. I have trouble falling asleep and/or wake up as early as 3 am unable to fall back asleep. It’s for that reason that I am taking the Pure Adrenal, which supports your adrenals, which are, I guess, what get thrown out of whack by the iodine for some people. I also think it’s important to take the selenium as that balances out the iodine and supports the thyroid.

I feel like with these supplements, my energy is really good, my sex drive is decent, and my periods are fairly regular.  When I wasn’t taking them (I didn’t start until January 2013) my periods were getting all screwed up, and my sex drive was nil. And I have to say it has taken me a very long time to figure out what is right for me. Sleep being the main problem when things go off.

There is one more supplement I am starting to take (and wonder if down the line it might be all that I need). That is Pure Synergy Vita-Min-Herb for women. There is also a version for me. I think I should probably be taking a multi-vitamin, too. Like all the others I don’t seem to be able to handle the recommended dose so I am alternating taking it with Lugol’s. My rule of thumb is that I have to have had 2 good nights of sleep before taking anything that contains iodine (in case it disrupts my sleep). And this supplement contains iodine.

One more thing about supplements is that I think the organic or whole food versions of them are much more potent than the synthetic ones. So, for instance, I was taking Dr. Ron’s magnesium pills for a while. These are only 150 mg, but one pill was all I needed. Magnesium seems to help keep my digestion going well. Since switching to NOW magnesium I am taking 400 mg. I think the same is true of that Pure Radiance C powder– it’s way less vitamin C than is recommended by Dr. Brownstein, but (I think) it’s been great at keeping my immune system strong. That’s not to say you have to take organic, but that not all versions work the same so you can’t just go by the milligrams.

I think I’ve given this link before, but this is a .pdf guide to supplementing with iodine based on Dr. Brownstein and Dr. Abraham’s research, which is helpful.

So overall I am feeling very good and don’t really believe that I have cancer anymore. I set an intention every night before I sleep for the tumor to dissolve in the most productive way possible and for perfect health to manifest in every cell of my body. I will see what the ultrasound shows in July, but the tumor/nodule doesn’t seem to be changing much that I can tell. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem as visible as it used to.

I am still avoiding corn. I’m not eating popcorn or corn chips or straight corn, but I’m not concerned about getting small doses of it in other things. I believe what I thought was a very strong reaction (crazy insomnia) to it in the late summer was stress rather than corn. Perhaps this summer when the spring allergens are gone, I’ll give corn a try again.

 

An alternative doctor and supplementing with iodine again

All that said about wanting to heal through the mind, I am quite happy because I have found an alternative doctor who I think supports iodine therapy, and I have an appointment to see him in two weeks. He specializes in environmental medicine, which I need to read more about. But this includes allergies, which are a major issue for me in the spring and late summer.

I spent a good deal of time (way too much time) this week reading more about iodine and how to implement it. Yahoo groups are great, but I would search the Yahoo Iodine Group for a specific thing like, which type of selenium to take, and I would get over 1000 results. How long do you spend looking?

One thing I downloaded and read was a .pdf file called The Guide to Supplementing with Iodine. You can download it for free from that link. I am going to try iodine again, but this time use all of the supplements that are recommended.  The first time I tried iodine, a couple months ago, I took it with a very high dose of Vitamin C (which upset my stomach) and Celtic sea salt. This time I am going to add in selenium, magnesium, ATP Cofactors, and an adrenal health supporting herb. I got all of these at iherb, which is a good site. I got a buffered version of Vitamin C, which should help with my stomach problems, and I got a version of magnesium that is supposed to be easy on your stomach also.

Here are screenshots of my order in case you want to see exactly what I decided on. I did afterall spend 2000 hours researching the types before I ordered:)

I am excited to start them because a lot of the reviews on iHerb had people talking about what a big difference some of them had made. I’m starting with all the supplements except Iodoral. I will add that in after I talk to the doctor in two weeks.  A lot of the information says it’s best to do tests and monitor things when you’re taking Iodoral.

Just to review my main symptoms now are: low sex drive, more frequent periods, occasional low energy, and occasional unexplained weight gain. I have had low sex drive since the birth of my second daughter 7 years ago. The problems with my period seem to have developed in the last 6 months; the unexplained weight gain has been happening for the last two years– but in spurts, not all of the time; and the low energy seems very related to allergies and has been consistently happening in the spring and late summer. Overall, however, my health seems very good. I run and do sports and function normally most of the time.

I will post again after my doctor’s visit.

Looking for love in all the wrong places and then in the right place

I have been continuing to waver between faith and fear. I found a number of websites that talk about the iodine protocol that Dr. Brownstein suggests. Here are the websites– they are all on thyroid issues and healing them using supplements and natural hormones:

Stop the Thyroid Madness a site which endorses using natural hormones rather than synthetic ones to fix thyroid problems.

Natural Thyroid Choices, the site and blog of a woman who had thyroid cancer which spread to her lymph nodes and how she healed. (She actually went to Dr. Brownstein.)

Iodine Yahoo Group, a discussion group for people using iodine to improve their health. I believe it was started by the woman from Natural Thyroid Choices.

These websites have a lot of useful information, but I was looking for two things: a thyroid doctor recommendation in the Boston area and for someone who had had a similar experience as me when taking iodine. I have spent hours on these websites, and haven’t really found either. I did get one clue that my iodine experience might be due to adrenal overload.

I did find a thyroid doctor. He was recommended by my chiropractor’s wife. I made an appointment for June 20th, which was the first available.

And so what is my point here except that I have been delving into the world, looking for a solution to my thyroid issues, and it has been completely frustrating and mostly fruitless. Last night after spending two hours on the internet, hopping from link to link trying to get my questions answered, I wrote two emails. One to a medical intuitive I saw almost 3 summers ago when I first discovered the nodule, and one to the woman who runs the natural thyroid choices website. I asked the medical intuitive for a recommendation of a natural thyroid doctor, and I asked the website woman about having a consultation with her. (It says on her website that she does phone consultations. She is now a naturopathic doctor and specializes in all of this.) I promptly got two denials. The medical intuitive wrote this fast email without addressing me or signing off, saying that I should not go to an endocrinologist. That general practitioners were best. And the website woman said she was not doing consultations at this time.

It struck me as funny to get such abrupt and negative responses. Like it is confirmation that I am looking in the wrong place. It completely takes me out of my peace to scan the internet for information. There is a lot of fear and warnings on these websites. So much belief in the necessity of doing the right thing. So much belief that healing is found in the right combination of pills. I begin to buy into it. I wonder what the right thing is for me. I keep looking on the web. I hope that I can find someone who will help me find the right thing for me.

Then today I read from NTI, Luke, Chapter 22. It is an extremely helpful chapter for me. It’s kind of long and I didn’t want to copy the whole thing (though the whole thing is even better), so I’ve tried to excerpt some of the most important parts:

• “The thoughts within your mind can seem to take you in circles. You can seem to move from understanding to confusion at lightening speed, which makes you dizzy. Do not let this concern you. when this seems to happen within your mind, you are witnessing your own resistance struggling in a fight for survival. Remember that I have told you this is your fear of healing. Remember I have shown you that your fear of healing must be sickness. Be grateful that your sickness has come to the surface where it may be healed. Remember that the way in which you let sickness be healed is simply to rest in its presence.

• Do not get caught up in the struggle to understand what cannot be understood. Remember I have told you that this is a ploy of resistance. Instead, rest. Give your faith and willingness to Me, that you may be healed through your decision to rest and trust.

…

• You know that you want the comfort and peace of God. And now you know that this comfort and peace comes from within. So what you must do is choose the comfort and peace of God by denying anything that you recognize as alien to that comfort and peace. For if it is not of God, it does not exist. It is merely sickness born of imagined meaning. Therefore, there is nothing to do with it except let it be healed.

• Where you see a need to defend, rest and let that perception be healed. Where you see fear, rest and let that perception be healed. Where you see guilt, rest and let that perception be healed. Whenever you think you are not worthy of all of the glory of God, rest and let that perception be healed. As you rest, you will be healed.

• Within the mind of health, you will receive guidance. Trust and follow your guidance. It comes but from your true Self, which is based on truth, not illusion.

This last paragraph is where I get mixed up. I can see that I do all of what the other paragraphs talk about. In my search for the right mix of supplements, for the right doctor, I am seeing fear and the need to defend. That channel that I listened to a couple of weeks ago mentioned that I had waited a long time to with the cancer and that I could safely only wait another 6 months. So if this is true, I am feeling under the gun to heal. My ego mind tells me that if I wait until my doctor’s appointment on June 20th, it may be too late to implement iodine therapy, which is supposed to be so effective. This is fear. I should be resting and trusting. Not believing it and frantically searching the internet for answers.

Where I get mixed up is in trusting that I will receive guidance. And trusting in that guidance when I do receive it. When I asked the chiropractor for a thyroid doctor, the answer came so easily. Then I called up and the receptionist was kind and responsive. I think this was probably guidance. Whereas my fearful searching on the web has only led to two dead ends.

But even now I feel my ego tugging at me. To call the Broda Barnes Foundation again (even though I’ve left two messages) and try to find a doctor here who will work with me on the iodine therapy. My ego wants to take over. It wants to do something. It can’t stand resting and trusting.

I have been getting great comfort and peace from meditating with the Sacred Acoustics meditations. I listen to them and hold my hand over my thyroid. I took a reiki class last year, and there’s supposed to be healing coming out of my hands now. I make that sound so cynical. I actually do believe it, but I don’t think you necessarily have to take a reiki class for it to work. I think if you place your hand somewhere with the intention to heal, then it’s the intention that is healing through our One Mind, it’s not some secret thing that’s only granted to people who take a class.

If you are reading this I am sending you love and healing, too.

Iodoral and Vitamin C

I had a tough week last week. It turns out that a lot of it was self-inflicted. My lower right back was  bothering me for a good week– a lot of dull, aching pain that kind of wore me down. And then on top of that my stomach was really bothering me. It was a stomach ache that wouldn’t really go away. It seemed to come on after lunch and last most of the rest of the day.

I find it very difficult to stay positive and believing in my healing when I am in pain. It’s just really hard. It’s one thing to have energy and feel good and then to look at the tumor and think, “This is not real.” To be so uncomfortable for so long pulls me down.

But on Sunday I realized that the stomach aches are all due to the excessive Vitamin C that I have been taking as recommended in Dr. Brownstein’s book on Iodine. I have been taking Iodoral along with Vitamin C and Celtic sea salt. I started with a low dose– half of a 12.5 mg pill. Then I ramped this up to a whole 12.5 mg pill and added in the Vitamin C and salt. It took a while for the stomach aches to kick in, which is why I didn’t figure it out sooner. On the web, they say there are very few side effects of excessive Vitamin C. One is diarrhea, but this wasn’t my problem. Mine was more of a straight stomach ache.

It looks like now that the dust is settling I will be taking either 6.25 mg of Iodoral every other day or every two days, salt, and maybe trying a little Vitamin C– more like 500 or 1000 mg as opposed to the 2000 mg I was taking. Dr. Brownstein actually recommends 3000-5000 mg, so I was taking it easy.

I have been figuring out my dosage the hard way. It’s tricky I think because the effects didn’t kick in until the second week I was taking it. What I have found is that when I take too much Iodoral (which is a combination of iodine and iodide), I wake up very early, as early as 3:30 or 4. And when I wake up I’m feeling uncomfortably warm in bed, I don’t feel like I got enough sleep, and my mind is very restless.

On the positive side I think the Iodoral has helped my period. My periods have been averaging every 25 days for the last year or more. They used to be much more like every 28 or more days. Normally they are pretty short– 2 days of heavy flow and maybe a day or two at the end petering out. But this fall they had begun to stretch out. I was having up to 3 days of spotting before it started in earnest and then it would take a little while to end– so it was twice as long and then every 25 days or so. But this month for the first time in a very long time, my period came 29 days after the last one, it started quickly and ended quickly.

Still no effects on my sex drive which is nearly non existent and has been low for years. But I am hopeful.

Also my back is much better after seeing the chiropractor.