Sunday 2 April 2017

Are you on the right medication?


Being on the right medication and the correct dosage is so so important. When my thyroid was first removed I was placed on the standard medication Levothyroxine, which i'm sure the majority of readers that have thyroid issues
My daily meds
are also on. 


Levothyroxine is a thyroid hormone replacement drug that contains the synthetic form of one thyroid hormone, T4. Levothyroxine is the drug of choice by mainstream doctors for hypothyroidism and thyroxine is the most commonly prescribed brand name. This might not be the right medication for you. While these drugs work for some, for many of us including myself, this drug failed to relieve my symptoms. Our bodies need to convert the T4 in these drugs to the active usable thyroid hormone T3. However for many hypothyroidism sufferers, our bodies don’t convert the T4 to T3 and we are left suffering symptoms. If you are on T4 only drugs and you are still not feeling well, speak with your doctor about testing your Free T3 levels to determine if you would benefit from T3 medication or even a change of medication. Your body needs adequate levels of selenium to convert your T4 to T3 so get this checked also. Most of you wouldn't know there is an alternative to Levothyroxine. 

I am lucky enough to be under the care of Dr. Ali Araghi from the Australian Wellness and Cosmetic Institute who was the person who originally diagnosed me with my thyroid issues. I highly recommend him, he never gave up on me and to this day is still helping me to get to the bottom of everything. He recommended we try a Compounded T4/T3 product, natural desiccated thyroid extract. This medication is compounded for me and cuts out the fillers such as lactose or gluten, which are present in some thyroid medications and can be problematic for thyroid patients. (I will be writing a blog about gluten and dairy in the coming weeks).

Thyroid hormone replacement drugs are powerful, so powerful they can kill you if not taken properly. This is why it is critical to be under careful medical supervision when on these drugs, especially careful when starting a new brand or increasing dosage.

In conjunction with my Natural Desiccated Thyroid Extract I take every day, 3 x Fish Oil, 1 x magnesium, 2 x Zinc, 1 x melatonin to help me sleep, 1 x L-Theanine to help relax, 1 x dairy free probiotic, 1 x scoop of L-Glutamine to help with leaky gut (I will also write a blog on this). I also take Alpha venus by ATP SCIENCE to help with Fibromyalgia symptoms, 1 x DHEA. Before taking any supplements/vitamins consult with your doctor. I have had every one of these things tested so I know I am low in them.

Finding the right doctor and the right medication is crucial to getting yourself on track! It took me years of trial and error and am still trying different things but I can say I have felt better being on natural desiccated thyroid extract. Get yourself checked!

Ashton X
#thyroidmadness





Sunday 26 March 2017

Tired is an understatement

TIRED! so ridiculously tired. I knew that when I started sleeping for 10 hours a night and waking up feeling like I hadn't slept at all that something was wrong.  I started struggling to get through the days, my bed became my happy place. Four days of chronic fatigue and then all of a sudden extreme tiredness stays and insomnia kicks in. So to put this into perspective, chronic fatigue but cant sleep, brilliant! It doesn't take long for the exhaustion to kick in and everything spirals out of control. Me being me though I will keep on pushing on until my boss forces me to take some time out. I am learning though to not let it get to this point. Take the time when it first starts to ensure a quicker recovery.

I am lucky enough to have a very understanding and supportive workplace. I currently am on reduced hours as I have had a flare up of fibromyalgia ... this comes hand in hand with thyroid disease. Reduced hours doesn't mean I go home, chuck my pj's on and settle in for the afternoon watching movies and eating popcorn. Admittedly I do put my pj's on but i'm either on the phone to clients or catching up on emails. 

What is fibromyalgia you ask? Fibromyalgia is a chronic disease that has no cure. Chronic muscle pain, severe fatigue and decreased energy, Insomnia or waking up feeling just as tired as when you went to sleep. Difficulty remembering, concentrating, and performing simple mental tasks (“fibro fog”), migraine headaches, sensitivity to noise, bright lights, and feeling anxious.

I have felt every single one of these things over the past two weeks. Symptoms can intensify depending on the time of day — morning, late afternoon, and evening tend to be the worst times. Symptoms may also get worse with fatigue, hormonal fluctuations (such as just before your period), stress, WOO HOO who doesn't want to feel these things...!!! I know I don't. But how can one person have all of these symptoms and more? The amount of times I have heard "it's all in your head". Yeah, you're right, its in my head! Why would I want to feel like this? Why would I make all of these things up. NO, its not in my head but thank you for your concern. Believe in yourself and listen to your body. Don't let someone try and convince you that's it in your head cause it isn't! Go and see a doctor that will actually listen.

I have spent a lot of time over the past couple of weeks researching ways to help ease these symptoms. I have just found a product Alpha Venus that seems to be doing something as I have been able to get back to going to the gym. I have attached a link', so do some research for yourself but i'm always up for trying something new and it also says it can help shift a couple of unwanted kilo's. BONUS! These guys have just released a new podcast on chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia that I found very interesting to listen to. Here is the link ATP sciene podcast - episode 90

I have also just starting taking a high dose of fish oil, which studies shows can reduce inflammation which is essentially what is happening at the moment.I I'ts also very important to try and stay as active as possible, surprising keeping active can help with your symptoms. I know how hard it is some days to even get out of bed but If I can recommend one thing is don't stop doing the things you love.  For me the gym is a mental release and a last effort to use the rest of my energy to try and get a good nights sleep. It has also helped me to keep in shape as best as I can having no thyroid but it also keeps the endorphin's pumping. Depression and anxiety are very common in thyroid disease patients so I do what I can to avoid going down that track. The most important thing is to not give up. I have been pretty hard on myself during this flare up. It feels like it's taking forever to calm down. I don't know if it is because I am getting older or its because I didn't stop before it got really painful. Anyway the best advice I can give is to REST!


Ashton X
#thyroidmadness





Tuesday 21 March 2017

Thyroid Madness - I'm Back

Image may contain: 1 person, closeup

Hi Again!

It's been almost 2 years since I have written a blog as I go through phases of not wanting to share my story out of fear of revealing to much personal information.

I find it very hard to offload or try and explain to people whats happening. Sometimes it feels like i'm repeating myself or its one thing after the next. But after talking to several people about the day to day struggles of having no thyroid, I have started to realise that by sharing my story I have actually been able to help them, maybe even inspire them. 

Hi, My name's Ashton and 4 years ago I was told my thyroid had to be removed. I had silent thyroiditis on the left side and a large nodule on the right side that came back inconclusive (pretty much if it had of stayed there it wouldn't have been good). So bye bye thyroid and hello to a world of anything and everything or so it seems.

WHAT IS A THYROID???? OMG the amount of people that I come across on a daily basis that actually have no idea what a thyroid is outrageous! Well let me give you a quick run down. The thyroid gland is a gland located in the front of our necks. It stores and produces hormones that affect the function of virtually every organ in our bodies. Thyroid hormones affect your metabolism rate, which means how fast or slow your brain, heart, muscles, liver, and other parts of your body work.If your body works too fast or too slowly, you won’t feel well. For example, if you don’t have enough thyroid hormone, you might feel tired and cold. Or, if you have too much thyroid hormone, you might feel nervous, jumpy, and warm. It's basically the epicentre of your body.... I have done years of research and could probably tell you just about anything about the thyroid and the affects it has on your body.  Anyway I wont bore you with all the nitty gritty facts but i'm sure just by that little run down you understand the importance of having "normal" thyroid levels.  I now am on daily medication for the rest of my life. I take 4 grains of natural desiccated thyroid extract every morning as soon as I wake up. This is a more natural alternative to the standard thyroxine that is prescribed. I had a major reaction to it so I cant take. Don't have the medication I die, pretty simple. That's a whole different blog though! Happy to answer any questions on it.

Lucky for me I am the type of person that if I am given some "bad" news about my health I will spend hours and hours researching it and coming up with ways I can either manage it or solve it.  I guess this is another reason I have decided to start blogging again. If I can help someone through their journey my mission here will be complete.

These last 2 weeks have been pretty rough. To the person sitting next to me at work or the person that I work out next to at the gym or even the person that lives in the same house as me would think that I'm just your average 29 year old chick. I look quite healthy on the outside but on the inside it can sometimes be a very different story.  I get up everyday and work 9-10 hours sometimes more depending on my day.  My job is pretty stressful to say the least and unfortunately stress in a major contributing factor to the massive highs and massive lows of not having a thyroid.

I'm going to check back in at the end of each week to see what high and lows I have encountered throughout the week.  In the process I will reveal a little more about how I have gotten to this point and the multiple diagnoses that have been given to me and how they are all related to either not having a thyroid, my medication not working properly or autoimmune diseases that all go hand in hand with each other.

It's been one hell of a journey but I absolutely love my life and I will keep loving my life.  And to all the amazing people in my life who have been on this journey with me, I cant thank you enough. You all know who you are. 



 Ashton X



Are you on the right medication?

Being on the right medication and the correct dosage is so so important. When my thyroid was first removed I was placed on the standard med...