The thyroid gland
Last night some idiots damaged our gate. It looks like they crow barred the thing upwards. Because when B left for work the thing started opening at an angle.So while I was sitting at home waiting for the repair guys and then waiting for them to fix it, I was online watching some EFT videos and listening to some audios too. I love being on holiday. It gives me a chance to read my inbox properly.
In any case, I have been super sensitive to everything related to the thyroid lately, and have come up with some plans to tap on this problem.I got the first idea from Emma Roberts. Listen to this, she is quite good talking about Fertility and EFT. She gets her clients to visualize their insides. Go inside your reproductive organs and do what needs to be done. Need better implantation? Get some cuddly toys. Need to unblock tubes? Imagine yourself with a hose. Now, of course I prefer getting my doctor to laser off endometriosis rather than just imagine it happening, but she makes a point: half our battle is in the mind. And it really helps to visualize things being healthy and ready to make a child.
She also suggests those with high FSH say:
“Even though I have a FSH of …, I’m choosing for it to be….” (depending on the figure you want).
Which gave me the idea: “Even though I have a TSH of 4.67, I’m choosing for it to be a 1.” And while we’re at it: “Even though my antiphospholipid antibodies are there inside me wanting to destroy a fetus, I deeply and completely love and accept them and their need to defend me. Even though they have felt this need for so long, I’m choosing to imagine them putting down their spears, or guns, or acid or whatever they have and melt into the rhythm of my body, accepting new life.”
I also listened to one of my favourite EFT’ers, Alina Frank here, on a video explaining certain points. She says that the gamut point, (the fold between your ring and little finger) is the thyroid point. Reading some handouts from Gwen Bonnell, the emotions associated with this point are depression, hopelessness, among others. I also watched Suzanne Zacharia, saying how this point is a “brain balancer”, good to calm yourself down during the fight/flight response. So, in other words, instead of becoming very depressed, you can calm yourself down by rubbing this point and doing the 9 gamut (which is rolling your eyes around hard down left and right, singing happy birthday, and counting 1-5). Those unfamiliar with EFT will probably think this is nuts, but in truth you are balancing your right brain (singing) with your left brain (counting).
What I have, according to those blood tests is “Subclinical / early Hypothyroidism” which means my thyroid is underactive and needs more TSH to get it to produce the thyroidfunction. It means depression, fatigue, decrease in activity and low body temperature. Hmm. I am always cold. Even when I tried to chart recently my temps were low. Am I in emotional hibernation?
Better get tapping out of the cold…
The EFT tapping points to tap onSo “Even though I’m cold, depressed and tired, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Even though I just feel like climbing in a cave and avoiding this winter and all my problems, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Even though I sometimes feel so hopeless that I will ever have a child, and the coldness and aloneness is overwhelming, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”
Top of the head: My FSH is 4. 27
Top of eyebrow: Maybe my body’s trying to tell me something
Side of eye: I’m cold
Under eye: I’m tired
Under nose: I’m depressed
Chin: Even my own antibodies are working against me
Collarbone: I just want to sleep
Under arm: I want to forget
Under breast: And stay in my cave.
Positive choice:
Even though my cave is warm and comfy, and safe, I’m choosing to take a peek out from behind my blanky and open my eyes to the sunshine that is out there. Even though I’m scared to come out, and so tired, I’m choosing to allow that light and warmth from the sun soak into my body with its new promises and hope. Even though my FSH is 4.27, I can just visualize my new test results being a 1. Even though my antibodies are trying to protect me in a weird way, I’m choosing to thank them and accept them, and allow the medication to help them to work with my body instead of against it.
Top of the head: Warm, warm sun
Top of eyebrow: Giving me life again
Side of eye: Waking me up
Under eye: Helping me arise above my problems
Under nose: This glow within me
Chin: This power I have to get my thyroid going again
Collarbone: Come on, thyroid, you can do it! I have faith in you!
Under arm: So my TSH doesn’t have to rise to get you going
Under breast: You can do it all by yourself.
If you have a similar problem to me, I recommend this tapping sequence, plus doing the 9 gamut.
Here are some affirmations:
From Gwenn Bonnell: “I am safe. I am light. I am buoyant.”
From Louise Hay: “I move beyond old limitations and now allow myself to express freely and creatively.” (general thyroid) “I create a new life with new rules that totally support me.” (hypothyroidism).
I just finished typing this up when this popped into my inbox. Yip, my blood type O working against me. I did get that book about eat right for your type, and I do love meat, and I have been trying to avoid wheat and dairy as much as possible. But Iva Keene also lists some good hints and vitamins that can help too.
I am taking iron supplements and lots of good stuff from the homeopath. He has given me something called “Expel Stasis” which is to clear out things after the op, remove blood stasis and relieve pain, and “Si Wu Tang” to nourish blood and for blood deficiency.
I’m slowly fixing myself up.
Just like the gate to our house, which is all fixed now. The posts have been soldered securely onto the surrounding walls. New pieces have been replaced. The motor was serviced and there are new batteries. It opening and closing just beautifully.
Sometimes bad stuff happens, and when we have to fix things, we are even better than before.
Here’s to a new me, ready to embrace new life.
Have you ever tried hypnotherapy also? There is a video in the HMI case studies, which they occasionally broadcast on HMIWebTV.com, of a series of fertility hypnosis sessions led by Lisa Machenberg (I think that’s how her name is spelled). I think you can also access the series here, but AHA membership is required to view the archives: http://www.hypnosis.edu/aha/videos/394
Hi Vicki – I actually have tried it. The first time I felt very relaxed, the second time (just before my second IUI) I was still very tense and it didn’t work. It could have been the lady, though, maybe I just need to try someone different.
Thanks for the link! I’m sure others will also appreciate it.
I’m a huge believer in the power of positive thinking – so keep it up my dear! I’m choosing to imagine all the same for you and your FSH as well! 🙂
Thanks, SIF.
Hi. I clicked over from Terres Fertiles (having clicked over there from Stirrup Queens), having seen your mention of thyroid. I’m a long-time thyroid patient (and now mom after IVF) and thought I’d post some info. I’ve garnered over the years that I think helped me finally get pregnant. Sorry, I’m sure a lot of this is stuff you already know but I’m going to go ahead and post it in case it might be useful to someone reading.
Thyroid regulates metabolism, which is why when it starts to fail our bodies shut down “non-essential” stuff. What the body perceives as non-essential seems to vary from person to person but body temp, which you mention, is certainly one, and reproduction seems to be another. The thyroid is the only organ in the body that can produce a hormone called T4 and when there’s not enough T4, things start shutting down (or slowing down). The body turns up the signal to the thyroid (thus higher TSH), but of course if it’s not healthy the thyroid can’t respond.
Fortunately it is pretty much always really easy to fix this — we can take supplemental T4, sold as levothyroxine, Synthroid, etc. Although often described as thyroid meds, I think it’s important to know that these aren’t a medication (something foreign to the body) but a hormone (something our bodies produce on their own when they are healthy). I see you commenting in one place that taking these is starting down a slippery slope, but it’s not, anymore than an insulin dependent (Type I) diabetic is creating a dependency by injecting the insulin his or her body cannot produce naturally. It’s true that generally people who need to take supplemental T4 will need to do so for life, but only because we are replacing something our bodies should be making but can’t — not because we are creating a dependency (I can tell you that I had similar concerns before I started taking Synthroid and that once I started I felt so much better so quickly that you’d pretty much have to pry it from my cold, dead hands to get it away from me now. And my TSH was never over 3, but I had anti-thyroid antibodies and a history of failed IVFs and wanted to see if getting my TSH down around 1.0 would change things — for me, it did).
I can’t speak to what’s considered normal in SA, but in the US, the American Association of Endocrinologists (AACE) issued new guidelines making the normal range 0.3 to 3.0. You can find the AACE press release about this here: http://media.aace.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=4584. And while there is some debate over these guidelines (see http://thyroid.about.com/od/gettestedanddiagnosed/a/tshtestwars.htmfor an overview), it’s pretty clear that strong, healthy maternal thyroid function is absolutely essential to pregnancy health; insufficient thyroid function ? hypothyroidism ? is linked with a host of problems, including infertility, miscarriage, pre-term birth, and problems with fetal neurodevelopment to name a few.
Long and short, positive thinking can do wonderful things. So can treating a chronic, easily treated health problem — treating it will probably make you feel better, improve your prospects of conceiving (with or without further treatment, depending on your situation — I needed IVF due to my DH’s issues), and help insure that any pregnancy you achieve can be a healthy one. If you want more info. or resources please don’t hesitate to email me and regardless of what treatments and family-building paths you pursue I hope they will bring you the family of your dreams.
Oops, dang, sorry, that second link doesn’t work. Here’s another that contains a similar discussion, from the same source — http://thyroid.about.com/od/gettestedanddiagnosed/a/garbertsh.htm .
Wow thanks Alexicographer, I am so glad you “clicked” over. You’ve given me a lot of really useful information. I think that is one of the side benefits of a blog: not just the emotional support, but also getting information from people who have been there before.
The medication I am taking is Eltroxin 0.05mg.
The reference level on my blood test results was that TSH should be between 0.27 and 4.2, but from everything I’ve heard both from you and from someone that commented on my blood test results post, plus Dr Pillay my homeopath, I really need to get it down to a 1.
I think it’s too soon to say what effect the meds are having on me. I still feel weak and I’m trying to figure out why – is it from the op, the need for more iron, or is it the thyroid? I’m taking all my meds, supplements and homeopathic meds like crazy.
So I’m still trying to figure everything out but I’ll definitely keep taking the eltroxin. Hopefully out of everything I’m doing something is going to work!
Heathers, glad that was of some use. I’m always reluctant to post unsolicited advice but at the same time do feel that I’ve pulled together some useful info. about thyroid over the years, much of it the hard way, and hopefully it can benefit someone if I pass it on. I’m glad to hear you are taking the Eltroxin — I don’t know how that dosing compares (I’m on 100 mcg of Lexothyroxine, maybe that’s twice your dose?) but I hope it will help and think it is likely to. Regardless of whether from that or something else or a combination, I hope you will get your strength back and feel better.
Couple more things that may be useful to know about thyroid and treating hypothyroidism — estrogen binds with T4 (the thyroid hormone, Eltroxin), so as your estrogen levels go up you will often need to adjust your dosage. Many doctors seem either oblivious or “slow” on this but the thyroid specialist I connected with was very good about being pretty proactive — upping my dosage from the start if I was doing something (like IVF) that was going to drive my estrogen levels through the roof. I did have to explain to her (knowing from experience) how high estrogen can get when taking ovarian stimulants — medicine today is so specialized I think often doctors don’t know much about other specialists’ areas — but once we talked about it she was great about helping me come up with a plan. And along the same lines, pregnancy also increases the need for thyroid hormone. My thyroid doc tells me she tells all her female patients that if they find they are pregnant they should immediately up their dosage by 2 pills/week (i.e. take an extra pill every Sunday and Weds. or whatever), or about 25% or 30%, and then get bloodwork done as quickly as practical. This was pretty much my experience (that my dosage needed to increase 25-30%) and is definitely something to run past your doctors once you have your levels stable. Mild hyperthyroidism (too much T4) is actually really common early in pregnancy in healthy women and is not generally a problem (though it can contribute to morning sickness!), but even mild hypothyroidism is a problem for the reasons I already described, so it’s important to be aware and have a plan (in consultation with your doctor, obviously, I am not one even if I do occasionally play one on the internet ;)!).
Hope that helps and again, best wishes and good luck to you.
Thanks Lindi!
I believe in positive thinking as well. I honestly think that what you put out to the earth is what you will get, sometimes it is hard to stay positive in a bad situation, but it is so much more fun being positive as apose to being negative.
Keep up the good attitude!
Excellent way of explaining, and good article to get data about
my presentation subject, which i am going to present in academy.
The best way to fix thyroid issues is to get real help from doctors and not self medicate.
Yes but it always helps to understand emotional issues behind it as well.