[Daniel]

Hey ,

This looks good. The TSH-Receptor Antibodies are used to test for graves disease, which is an autoimmune disease causing a fast thyroid. In my opinion, you don’t need to test for that.

The fT3 is most important to determine if you have a slow thyroid. The reverse T3 will rule out or confirm if stress plays a role.

The antibodies test will rule out or confirm autoimmune diseases as well as we can.

On these labs, we only miss T4 & T3. If stress & autoimmune are ruled out, T4 & T3 could tell us how well the conversion from T4 to fT4 goes and how well T3 to fT3 goes.

We would then have stronger evidence that some thyroid nutrients might be missing, possibly to absorption issues. 

Perhaps  might have another opinion on this, but to me, this looks fine!

[Daniel]

Personally, I don’t have experience with these tests as well, unfortunately. But I am curious about your experience as well!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

This depends a little on what you expect. If you don’t have any complaints (except a lower body temperature) I would go for hs-CRP. The ‘hs’ stands for ‘high sensitive’, so this test is more sensitive at low CRP levels. If you are for example assessing for low-grade vascular inflammation.

If you expect high levels of CRP because of inflammation caused for example by infections, operations or other inflammatory diseases, then usually the standard CRP test is chosen.

We like to aim at CRP levels below 1 since these levels are associated with the best cardiovascular health outcomes.

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Bernadette explained you really well how with perfect thyroid values still some uncertainty can be there.

In addition, I would like to mention that a lower body temperature can also happen with forms of anemia. Anemia could for example be caused by an iron deficiency, a B12, folate and/or B6 deficiency. Typically people experience cold hands & feet with anemia. Other symptoms that sometimes play depending on the severity of the anemia are:
• Poor memory/focus
• Feeling tires and sleeping doesn’t help
• Looking pail/yellowish (The skin under the eyes and behind the lip can look pale as well)
• Shortness of breath
• Tingling sensation in the arms or legs.

I would also like to give the tip to use a different thermometer, just to rule out whether the thermometer has an inaccuracy. It happens!

[Daniel]

 

I was also looking at your labs. I was wondering if you could take a look and check the numbers and the units. For example, you wrote your fT3 was 3.1 pg/dl. The reference range in pg/dl is usually between 250-400 pg/dl. 3.1 would be extremely low.

In pmol/l this number makes more sense but isn’t necessarily high as well. In this case, the other labs would probably be in mol/L as well.

If there are any reference ranges mentioned in the papers as well? They can vary bit per laboratory. It would provide us more details as well!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

What kind of thermometer are you using? Is it for example an electric ear thermometer? Is it an old-fashioned under-the-tongue kind of thermometer?

Ear thermometers:
I have noticed that some ear thermometers can produce different readings. This can have different reasons, but here are 2 common ones:
• If your thermometer came from a colder ‘room temperature’ it needs to be ‘warmed up’ to your ear. If you do a few measurements behind each other, you will notice that the temperature readings of your thermometer will increase with every measurement until they stabilize. In my experience, it takes 3 or 4 measurements before you will see the same measurements on your thermometer.
• Make sure your ears are clean. A second influence can come from earwax influencing the outcome of your ear thermometer.

There could be other factors at play of course, but let’s rule out this one as first!

[Daniel]

Iberogast does have some herbal bitters (Bitter Candytuft). I believe adults and children above 12 years should take 20 drops 3x daily. Although it has peppermint leaf, it is also used for complaints like acid reflux.

If you believe you might react to it you could also try to start lower and slowly build the dosage up and let your body get used to it. See how you react to that.[Iberogast Professional Information.pdf]

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Welcome around here! My name is Daniel and I help Bernadette on the platform.

I think a few people here can relate to the questions we get from our friends & family. Most of the time the ‘tension’ doesn’t come from the question itself. Sometimes it is the way the question is asked. Sometimes it is the way our friends & family react to the answers to our questions. Sometimes we already anticipate some friction because of our earlier experience with these types of questions.

I personally feel there is a great learning opportunity when such a question is asked:
• We learn about our family & friends.
• We learn about ourselves.

I think one of the best lessons I personally have learned from these types of questions is, I don’t have to ‘defend’ my personal lifestyle choices. 

I also know that some family/friends need some time to process things that are different to their world. Jokes can be a way to process things. 

The good news is most people are ok with it in the end. I have learned to trust the process. 

If they still feel uncomfortable with it after a while, I will just ask my friends: “I have noticed you act different. It feels like you are uncomfortable with “X”. I wouldn’t like that to influence our friendship. Care to share why you feel like that?”

This is my personal way of dealing with these situations. I know as a mother the situation is more difficult. But you are not alone, so please share your thoughts

[Daniel]

 Magnesium usually comes attached with an extra bonus molecule. It is the bonus molecule that makes the difference.

• Magnesium glycinate – is magnesium attached to the amino acid glycine and therefore you get some benefits from glycine. Usually, I advise the glycinate form with spasms because glycine is calming. It can also help with muscle tightness and headaches
• Magnesium malate – Here the bonus molecule is malate which is very well absorbable as well without causing GI discomfort. Again I would advise malate with spasms, muscle tightness and headaches as well. Some research shows that magnesium malate helps with fibromyalgia complaints.
• Magnesium L-threonate – The L-threonate helps the magnesium to pass the blood-brain barrier. Therefore it can help better with anxiety – although personally, I have some good results with magnesium glycinate as well.
• Magnesium taurate – Here the bonus comes from the taurate molecule. Magnesium taurate has been shown efficient in patients with arrhythmias. Just like glycine, taurine can be used as a calming neurotransmitter and it helps support nerve growth.
• Magnesium aspartate – Aspartate and malate can form the aspartate-malate shuttle which plays an important role in transporting electrons in glycolysis.
• Magnesium citrate – This one I usually use with constipation.

The ‘best’ form of magnesium depends a bit on what causes the problem. I usually would recommend my clients to start with the glycinate or malate form. If anxiety is exacerbating the symptoms I would use de L-threonate form as well.

Personally, I don’t use the aspartate form as much. Not that it is bad, but I find myself using glycinate, malate, L-threonate and citrate the most.

The rules aren’t hard either. I have noticed that some people felt more relaxed with the citrate form than the glycinate form as well for some reason.

Electrolytes
Yes, when you work out replenishing your electrolytes is a good idea. Losing electrolytes can cause cravings for salty foods as well. Another reason for the loss of electrolytes can be chronic stress. Did you experience an increase in stress lately? Increases in stress aren’t always emotional. Pain, workouts, and infections can all cause stress as well. 

Here are some sugar-free ideas to replenish electrolytes:
• Sole – a solution of water and salt (click here to see a recipe) 
• A product used to stay in ketosis called keto electrolyte drops from Trace Mineral Research (click here)

I hope this helped!

[Daniel]

 Thanks! I see you are a coach and personal trainer as well. Feel free to give the platform some tips as well some day

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Do you know what your doctor wanted to rule out? I guess it all comes down to a risk assessment: do you think the MRI is worth the information it will give you? 

If your doctor wanted to rule out a pinged nerve, I would just wait a while. Lots of times a pinged nerve goes away after 4 to 6 weeks. In that time you can evaluate how other lifestyle factors are affecting your muscle spasm as well. Sleep, stress, caffeine and a lack of water can all cause contribute to the cause.

Since your complaints did get better with magnesium you could try to optimize your personal dosage. I personally see that many of my clients benefit from somewhere between 300 to 1000 mg of elemental magnesium per day. 

A lot of personal needs depend on factors you are probably familiar with. We need more magnesium in times we are
• sleeping less
• sweating more during the day
• experiencing more stress
• drink more coffee or caffeïne
• consuming more processed and refined foods
• consuming more protein

Being with B Better gives you the perk we can evaluate your labs with a functional interpretation. Just like Bernadette, I am curious about your labs as well!

[Daniel]

Hi ,

I do believe stress for sure could play a role in hair loss. As Bernadette mentioned: stress can push hair follicles into a resting phase. A certain percentage of your hair follicles are always in Telogen. Stress can cause however more follicles to be in this resting phase. Then after a few months, the affected hair falls out. This is called Telogen Effluvium. It can happen that as a result of stressful events a few months hair starts to fall. Do you know if any stressful events occurred during that time?

Stress can lead to insulin resistance for sure. I do see her cortisol was measured. A blood draw of cortisol can be hard to evaluate since cortisol goes up and down during the day. Especially in the morning, we would like cortisol to go up quite quickly after waking up, then go down during the day.

I don’t know exactly when her blood was drawn, but I assume it was in the morning. Having cortisol on the lower end of the reference range makes me wonder if cortisol is optimal. Do you know if she feels tired in the morning? Or is she in need of coffee to get up and running? How does she feel in the evening? Does she feel like she has more energy there?

Could the doctor also explain how these products would help with stress? 

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Bernadette gave you lots of options to explore. Thank you for sharing her labs, because there are some pearls we can learn from them!

From this lab, I wouldn’t conclude that all her blood tests are normal. Just out of curiosity: are the doctors who examined her medical or paramedical dermatologists? And what did they diagnose her with?

Do you know if her hair is broken off near the scalp? Or did her hair fall out completely? Do you know if the doctors saw a fungal infection on the skin (mycosis)?

From these labs, I would conclude that a slow thyroid is at play. Her storage form of iron (ferritin) is on the low side indicating a suboptimal iron status. Iron is a necessary nutrient for thyroid hormone production.

Her vitamin D levels are also on the lower end of the reference range. This is important since vitamin D plays a role in thyroid hormone function as well.

Do you know if she was in a fasted state when she drew her blood? Insulin in a fasted state we would like to see between the 2-6. Everything above is indicative of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance can elevate in women testosterone which may lead to PCOS. Although her testosterone levels aren’t above the upper limit of the reference range, they are high normal. Because she does show hair loss which could happen with PCOS, I would like to know if she experiences heavy or irregular periods.

From these labs I would be curious about some other nutrients needed for thyroid function like RBC zinc, Iodine and Selenium.

I would also like to see a full thyroid panel (TSH, fT4, fT3, anti-tpo, anti-tg and reverse T3 – certainly if she did experience a lot of stress). I probably would do these tests after correcting her iron.

I hope this helps!

[Daniel]

Hi ,

The term encephalopathy is usually used as a ‘container’ term. It just means a disease of the brain, usually a degenerative condition that is chronic.

A B12 deficiency after a certain age is more common because low stomach acid is more common. If a B12 deficiency has been established it might be wise to check out other markers as well since stomach acid is also needed for iron absorption & protein digestion.

Personally, I would also like to know if the doctors ruled out other root causes for encephalopathy. Did they for example:
• checked kidney & liver function – which can cause brain problems. 
• How is his blood pressure? 
• Did they check his vitamin B1 (Thiamin) status? 
• Were blood sugars checked? Encephalopathy can be caused by diabetes for example.
• Are his thyroid hormones in balance? 
• Are there traces of infections?

There are many more possibilities here, but these can be evaluated by blood work.

Personally I would be curious to see his labs!

[Daniel]



Sorry, I forgot to attach the document I talked about yesterday evening!

Here it is:[Copper-IUD-Fact-Sheet.pdf]