Monday, May 9, 2011

Leaky gut!

Sounds nasty right?

Well when my doctor found out that I was allergic to dairy he talked to me about something called leaky gut syndrome. He went on to explain how this is connected to food allergies and autoimmune disease. A woman wrote a great post about this in her BLOG. Give it a read!

After I found out about my dairy allergy over a year ago I started taking a vegetarian pro biotic. 3 months after I started taking it I noticed I was digesting food better and was not getting nauseous anymore.
I'm sure people who are reading my blog are thinking that I take a lot of supplements. All I know is that they have worked for me and I'd rather be taking supplements and allowing my body to heal and work on it's own then taking medication that has to be continually adjusted to the correct dose.

Supplements!

Just a quick not for anyone who is interested in taking the supplements I mention in this blog:

I take the selenium and vitamin E in the morning with breakfast. Vitamin E maximises the absorbtion of selenium.
Taking selenium with other vitamins can counteract the absorbtion of the selenium. A lot of people get small amounts of selenium in their multi vitamins but becuase it is mixed with other vitamins it usually will not be asorbed properly in the body.

I take all my other vitamins and minerals at night after dinner.
It's good to put a space of 4-5 hours inbetween taking selenium and any other supplement.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Don't you dare say "Cure"

My blog has been open to the public for a full 5 days! I've had tons of amazing, supportive messages sent to me. I've also had the complete opposite, not that I'm surprised.
If you've read my blog you will noticed that I never once use the word "cure."
I know how this word tends to ruffle some feathers. In a nutshell I've been told, "This is nonsense! You can NOT cure hashimoto's disease! Once you have it you will always have it!"
Even if people are only able to lower their antibodies and get their hashimoto's disease into remission isn't that better than continuing to let your thyroid be destroyed!?
To me that is like saying "there is no cure for cancer so don't bother with treatment, just let it kill you."
I'm sorry I don't have that sort of defeatist attitude. It's not who I am and I never will be that way.
I've often thought what the world would be like if everyone always thought "this can never be done."
The world changes for the better when strong, dedicated people choose not to be defeated and fight for what they believe in.
That's all I'm trying to do. Even if people completely disagree with me I still wish them all the best in their fight against this disease. :)

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Readers!

Please read my blog from the beginning(the oldest post first) That way you will have a full understanding of my story. I tried to keep the blog as short as possible because the last thing you want to do when you are feeling unwell is read a long blog full of medical jargon.
Happy Reading,
Crystal :)

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

V is for Victory!

April 12th 2011:
It's been 3 1/2 years since I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease and 1 year, 1 month and 19 days since I've been off dairy. I have to admit I wasn't perfect at staying off dairy the whole time. I couldn't resist having a wee bit around the holidays and during special occasions. I went to get labs done again because my last blood work was over 6 months ago. Knowing that I had cheated a few times here and there on my diet I told myself not to be too disappointed if my blood results were not where I wanted them to be.

Results:

TSH (1.1) = Freaking Perfect!

Free T3 (3.5)= GREAT!


Pièce de résistance! I am no longer testing positive for Hashimoto's disease!!
I managed to get rid of those horrible little TPO antibodies.

Crystal's thyroid 1 Hashimoto's disease 0


It's been a difficult journey and I feel so blessed to have a supportive husband and family that encouraged me and knew that I could overcome this disease.


I'm most thankful to a kind and loving Heavenly Father that listens and answers prayers and who gave me strength and guidance.


I truly hope that this blog may be of some help to others. I know there will be some naysayers out there, but if this info helps one person to overcome this disease or give them hope then I will be extremely happy! Feel free to write me and ask any questions.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Bingo!

End of September 2010:
I was super strict for 6 months. I ate absolutely NO DAIRY. I read every label and made sure nothing had Casein in it. I went in for more blood work and asked it they could test my milk antibodies again just so I could compare them from before and the results were:

My milk antibodies dropped from 89 to 42 and even more impressive was that my TPO antibodies that I could never get to drop lower than 290 were now 214. Every little bit counts and this gave me hope that I could get them to drop lower over time. It took me 26 years to build up the milk antibodies so I didn't expect a huge change within 6 months. I know that the body needs time to heal.

Another huge plus was that a lot of the symptoms I equated to Hashimoto's disease like heart palpitations, nausea and headaches started to lessen.

I had a strong impression that I was on the right track finally.
Around the same time I also found out I was severely deficient in Vitamin D and had low B12 levels.

I started taking 5000IU of Vitamin D a day and 5000mcg of B12 one every 2 weeks and noticed a huge difference in my overall health.

Side note: When I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease in 2007 I also stopped eating anything with soy in it including soy bean oil because soy is toxic to the thyroid.

Et tu Dairy?

24th of February 2010:
The results are in! I'm allergic to MILK!! Sad sad day! I'm a Chef and like most people I'm in love with dairy...creamy, rich ,wonderful dairy! How could this be!? The blood work showed I'm a case 5 (the worst) with my antibodies against milk protein at 89. The test only goes to 93.

After finding out the results part of me was mad that it was dairy and part of me was relieved because this could be the answer to my Hashimoto's disease. I always felt sorry for people who couldn't eat dairy and thought "I'm glad that's not me!" Well now it is me! I never would have thought that I was allergic to milk. I would drink at least 2 glasses a day and dairy was the main staple in my diet. I had noticed however that the last two years I was having trouble digesting food and feeling nauseated more often. I decided to go off dairy for 6 months to see if it would effect my TPO antibodies and general all over gnarliness I'd been feeling. Fingers crossed!

Milk it does a body good?

End of February 2010:
After doing more research (the story of my life) I came across this interesting article online. The doctor who wrote this article mentions:

" Milk proteins contain amino acid sequences which are also present in some proteins which are present in the body. If antibodies are formed which recognize these sequences in the body's proteins then these antibodies attack the body causing a series of diseases called "auto immune diseases". This often occurs in the synovial tissue of joints attacking it and causing Rheumatoid arthritis. Such reactions can also cause diseases like cardiomyopathy, amyloidosis, Hashimoto's disease which affects the thyroid gland causing hypothyroidism, and breast problems like fibroadenosis which may progress to breast cancer. When it affects the ovaries it can cause poly-cystic ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), in the uterus it can cause fibroids and endometriosis."

Interesting right?
Come to find out that the TPO(thyroid peroxidase) protein that is in the thyroid has almost an identical amino acid chain as the protein in milk. I put two and two together and thought, maybe if I'm allergic to milk protein that could explain why my body is having an allergic reaction to my own thyroid tissue and making me have high Anti-TPO antibodies. I made an appointment with my doctor to have a full food allergy panel done through blood work. Here's hoping this is the answer!