Introducing myself

[Guest guest]

Thyroid problems run in my family. My mother had lifelong, quite

elevated hyperthyroidism, treated too late in her life as her heart

had been weakened. My late elder sister had milder hyperthyroidism,

treated in middle age. My surviving sister has a body temperature

never exceeding 35.5 degrees. I think it likely she had this

condition from an early age as she avoided physical activity, though

in late middle age surprised us all by taking up distance walking.

She does not have the expected profile of somebody suffering from

hypothyroidism except that she has to be careful about diet to limit

weight gain, and she suffers from insomnia.

For my part, by comparison with my surviving sister, I am fortunate

in having a body temperature (measured orally on waking) in the low

36s. Now in my 71st year, I have been aware of this low temperature

for a few years but have only investigated the condition since the

last six months. From a recent blood test I was told that my thyroid

function was normal. My profile in the main doesn't suggest

hypothyroidism, and my weight has been stable from my late teens, but

I have never been a good sleeper, usually have cold hands, tend to

feel cold and sometimes very much so. Dating from my 30s I have

suffered fevers perhaps three or four times a year, usually or

perhaps always triggered by accumulation of stress or release from a

period of stess. I noticed some years ago that my hands tended to

slip on a car's steering-wheel, so dry is the skin. Also in my 30s I

started to suffer from hay fever for a couple of months each year,

and from that time I have been troubled by catarrh. In the last

several years I've been troubled by year-round rhinitis. Again from

my 30s I felt that I was running on adrenalin to keep going through

the working week, usually feeling pretty listless by Saturday and

more or less picking up again on the Sunday. I have always been

reliant on physical exercise to achieve a feeling of wellness. In the

absence of exercise my digestion is often poor. From my 40s I started

cycling, racing in time-trials through summer months. This level of

exercise gaved me a great lift. I still time-trial regularly from

April to October, and the sport leads to great insights as to one's

condition. This is to say that you become acutely aware of your

health and fitness. My analysis is, however, that my ability or

performance has declined a little more quickly over the years than it

should have.

From my teens I often wondered whether I had some kind of deep-seated

health problem, and remember my mood and vitality being very variable

(tending to occasional irritability dating from my late teens) to the

point that I slightly envied friends who seemed to be consistently

healthy. Although quite a strong and active boy I was about the

slowest in short-distance running races at school, being regularly

beaten by couch potatoes. Looking back, I think I developed mental

strength and conscientiousness to a degree to offset my physical

disability.

I know of course that in the broad picture I am lucky to enjoy a

level of health that enables me to be active. I also know that my

vitality is not good, and continue to have to drive myself to start

doing things. My reading makes me think that Dr is right with

his 's Syndrome, and that I would benefit from T3 dosing.

Meanwhile I have been trying Tyrosine and Guggul among other herbal

things.

Sadly the family thyroid problems on my side (my wife has normal

function) seem to have been passed on to my younger daughter. She too

has a low temperature, though it varies greatly.

So that's my introduction.

Hans