Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Confession


Hi, my name is Ginger and I'm a napper. Have been for years. I take a good deal of teasing for my lack of activity in the afternoons, but I don't mind. Everyone enjoys a little down time. I just happen to enjoy my down time lying down.

Sometime between Chloe and Lydia, I developed hypothyroidism. I pretty much slept through my pregnancy with Liddy, threatening bodily harm to anyone who woke me up, regardless of the time of day. But it wasn't until after Lydia was born, and I still wanted to sit down or lie down all day that I considered another possibility than just pregnancy fatigue. Fast forward through several doctors' mistakes and bad advice; I now feel terrific on my new thyroid regimen. Everday, I take:

Armour Thyroid
Adrenogen
Iodoral
3000-6000 mg. Vitamin C
B-Complex twice a day

and I'm no longer fatigued and lethargic all day and I'm not irritable! Woo-Hoo! (says Kyle)(and the rest of the Clarks)(and all my friends).

Naps are now optional, although more often than not I fall asleep when I lie down in the afternoon with my favorite book. ;)


12 comments:

Vicki Miller said...

Hello my name is Vicki and I too am a napper:))

Lori said...

I too am a napper. Just got up from mine.

said...

Hello, my name is Brynn and I'm a sleeper-inner

Robin said...

Can you explain more about each supplement and why you take each one? Thanks!

Janelle said...

Can you explain more, my hubby suffers from this and it is really bad. He is so tired all the time that it is ridiculous. Any help you can give is welcome. You can email if that would be better, thanks.

Ginger said...

Armour Thyroid- because Synthroid is synthetic, which causes other problems, and Armour is natural dessicated thyroid. This is the only pill I take that requires a prescription.
Adrenogen- for my adrenals. When your thyroid is taxed, adrenals take over, which wears them down too. Sluggish adrenals cause insomnia, which I used to have frequently.
Iodoral is a high level iodine supplement. Hypothyroid and iodine defeciency go hand in hand. I used to take Kelp for iodine, but it didn't provide enough.
Vit C strengthens the adrenals as well as the whole immune system. Hypothyroid causes a weakened immune system. I don't want to get sick.
Vit B Complex is my happy pill. It took away the irritability that fatigue and sleeplessness caused.

Ginger said...

Janelle,

He can start by making sure he doesn't eat soy. Soy weakens the thyroid. Also, getting enough salt. Salt provides iodine, which is very important. Celtic sea salt is the best.
Iodoral (google it) would be a great beginning, along with B Complex and Vit C (oh and a multi- I forgot to mention that I take a multi daily). He should start with 4 iodoral/daily and he can increase it to 6/day so long as he isn't having headaches. Too much iodine gives you a headache that feels like something is pushing against the center of your forehead really hard. It's not a whole head headache. You can take them all at once, in the morning, or take half w/ breakfast & half w/ lunch.
If this isn't enough, he should find a doctor (I don't recommend Endocrinologists) that will prescribe Armour, not Synthroid. I will warn you, it is very difficult to find a doc who knows their stuff when it comes to thyroid/adrenals. :(

Ginger said...

The best place to learn about Armour vs. Synthroid is here:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group /NaturalThyroidHormones/

That's also where I found my doc.

GT said...

I am a napper too, and I am especially tired during this pregnancy. Hopefully I will get my energy back once the baby is born...

ASHTON said...

Interesting what pregnancy does! I apparently have developed hypERthyroid...but am going back to have another blood test to see if the first was wrong.

Ginger said...

E, you're pregnant!! That's great! Congrats!

ASHTON said...

Ack! no, no (i mean i would love to be, but baby's only 4 months and if history repeats itself it would be another 6 months before it might happen!) I just meant that during some pregnancy i managed to develop this. Pretty sure it was after Thea because that's when I started having symptoms.