Weight loss, autoimmune thyroiditis, scleroderma, insomnia

Hello doctor,

I am afraid that I need some help with treating my health problems. I have quite a few, and I am trying to better myself for many years, but it doesn't go as smooth as I would like to. I was just reading one of the posts, and the doctor posted a list of the questions to be answered, so I am going to follow this list.

1. I am a 56 year old female.
2. Weight 86kg (~190 pounds)
Height 153cm (~5.35 feet)
My arms and legs are not fat, most of the weight is concentrated in torso/abdomen.
Upper abdomen is more distended, and I look almost like pregnant.
3. I am part time self-employed - office job.
4. I would say that I have A type personality, ambitious, if I start something it has to be done even though I wouldn't go to sleep. I am a little stubborn, lazy to do physical work, though if I start, I do it well. I am always in a hurry, the day doesn't have enough hours for me to do everything I would like to. I am always late, and also I procrastinate sometimes.
5. If money was not an issue, I would book a vacations for the whole month somewhere down south - everything included, to enjoy the sun, swimming, dancing, good food etc.
6. Relationships:
Both parents passed away over ten years ago, but before this the relationship wasn't bad, but wasn't the greatest either.
No siblings, I was the only child in the family.
No children - not because I couldn't have, I never wanted to have. I was married twice (5 years & 10 years) and divorced, also had two long relationships. Presently for quite few years not in relationship, and to be honest somehow I am O.K. with it.
8. I used to smoke for over 25 years, quit over ten years ago because I was getting too frequent bronchitis which lasted a month every time, and because of social pressure, and because it was really expensive. Since I quit and did lung detox, I never had bronchitis again, but I gained a lot of weight that I am trying to loose without any success so far.
Only in the first year after quitting smoking I gained 40 pounds, even though I watched what I was putting in my mouth - it looked like I was gaining weight just watching at food. Of course now when I look from perspective, I would have completely different diet, but back then I didn't have this knowledge.
Also I used to drink a little too much during high school and university years, but now very little and infrequent.
Never took drugs.
9. I have three, or four main health problems, and it is difficult for me to pin point which one is the worst, but if I had to choose I would probably put the skin problem as it is the most bothering, and time consuming for me, and preventing me from fully enjoy the life.
More or less - a year, or two after quitting smoking, I had a thyroid ultrasound done, and it showed one bigger nodule in the right lobe, and few small in the left lobe. At that time they weren't visible, and the test was done because I was complaining that I can't loose any weight even though I was on a diet and exercising like crazy. My thyroid hormones seem all to be in tact, maybe because I take so many supplements and herbs. My TSH ~ 1.3, T3 and T4 within the ranges, rather higher than lower. My doctor never wanted to do any additional tests (thyroid antibodies, reverse T3 etc.)
though I was asking for, and the endocrinologist at the hospital proved to be a complete idiot.
Eventually last year I was sent for the antibodies test by a nurse practitioner, and they were over the roof (thyroid peroxidase, TG was normal). Since then I am researching autoimmune diseases, watching all these webinars organized by functional medicine doctors, and brought a lot of info to the above nurse for her to study. She is very open to the new things in the contrary to my family doctor. She put me on low dose Naltrexone, which I am taking now for almost four months, and already noticed that my right thyroid lobe is getting smaller and the artery is not sticking out. I also take a lot of vitamins, minerals - including Selenium, herbs western and Chinese (for damp heat in the liver, wind heat, and both yin and yang kidney deficiency). Also I have to mention here that I am sensitive if not allergic to iodine. I know about this since I was a teenager, when I tried kelp for weight loss, and it finished very bad for me - I was all in blemishes, and it took many months to take it under control. Now I am avoiding regular salt, only using Celtic or Himalayan salt from health food store. So I suspect that I had thyroid problem long before it was actually diagnosed.
My skin problem started when I was a teenager, probably in the last grade of grammar school. Initially I thought that it was acne, but it was more to it and of course the doctors were useless as always. It was more like a dermatitis, every little lesion was healing like for ever. They were almost never ripe, and lingering deep under a skin, and for few first days they were red. If I squeezed something it wasn't healing, it was suppurating, and later leaving the scar, so I have quite few scars on my face/body even though my skin problem never was really bad, bad. Occasionally only it was aggravated, the skin on the lesions was becoming very hard almost horny, and when I tried to remove the crust that was very adherent, it was bleeding. It was taking sometimes three or four months for some lesions to heal. It is happening now too. My skin has it's good months and bad months. Generally it is aggravated in the spring and fall. After sun tanning it looks much better. The lesions look similar to scleroderma or lichen which both are consider to be autoimmune in nature. I was never diagnosed with scleroderma, but I suspect I may have it because I have many other symptoms associated with this disease - telangiectasia on my upper chest and to lesser degree face. Tingling, numbness in the fingers almost every morning on awakening now. The middle finger (on right hand) is affected to bigger degree, and on the very tip of the finger I have a big showing vein that I have to be very careful not to hurt myself because it is difficult to stop bleeding, also the nail on this finger is most likely to split or break, much weaker than other nails. My nails look now quite well, I had a period of splitting, but took silica, vit. B2, and a lot of vit. E for few months, and now it is much better, but cuticles around are still very dry and I have to use keratin daily - externally. Don't have any spots on my nails, and the color is nice - pinkish, and they are not concave etc. The moons on the thumbs are very big. There is definitely a tendency to hang nails if I didn't use the keratin daily.
Insomnia - it is not really insomnia because I sleep, but I don't sleep the same hours as most normal people do. I am not sleepy in the evening and could sit and do my stuff all night, and get sleepy in the morning. If not some obligations, appointments etc. when I make myself to go to bed earlier, I could sit until 6am, and than go to bed because at this time I usually feel tired. My sleep pattern is very irregular, sometimes I sleep 5 hours, 6, 7, 8, or even 9, but the wrong time, and I know that this problem contributes greatly to my other problems that I have. There is definitely something wrong with my adrenals. I suspected that I might have increased evening cortisol, and I took many things for this, but nothing really helped. Recently I took for few months for this Phosphatidyl- Serine, and didn't see any improvement. Now I am taking GABA. In the past I tried a herb California Poppy and had seen slight improvement - maybe should go back to it.
10. Weight gain started 11 years ago after quitting smoking, but I had weight problem all my life to small degree. As a child I was chubby, later lost some weight when in high school, later gained a little, in my thirties lost again and was 125 pounds, and this was my best weight for quite few years.
Skin problems since puberty - up and down, but all the time present.
Sleep problems started in childhood. I remember as a child I didn't want to go to sleep, and even before started going to school I was frequently up until midnight. This aggravated big time during my life. There was time that I worked for a big company and was starting my work day 7am. It was the pain for me because I had to wake up 5:30. I was still going to bed late around 1am, but when I was coming back from work I had to take two hour nap because I couldn't function otherwise.
Nodules were detected in my thyroid about 10 years ago, but was diagnosed with autoimmune thyroiditis less than a year ago because doctors were not willing to do the tests.
11. I suspect that I have SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth)and leaky gut, and this contributes to many food/chemical sensitivities, and this causes autoimmunity.
I have digestive problems too - excessive gas.
12 & 13. Don't know. I am really mixed here. Sometimes this what makes one problem better, aggravates the other. Generally I am better when on vacation and not stressed. When I am very strict with my diet - no sweet, no grains, no dairy, but I lack strong will, and start eating bad things again. These days my diet is much better than it used to be in the past. I am not eating GMO foods, and trying to buy some items organic (can't afford everything). Don't eat much meat because it contains too much omega 6 that is pro-inflammatory, until it is organic. Eggs I buy only organic. Greens and berries organic too. Reduced trans fatty acids to minimum, only this what is in yellow cheeses, and when I buy I read the labels and choose the ones that contain the least. I know that I should quite eating grains entirely, not only the ones that traditionally are consider to contain gluten, and dairy (which I love, and almost can't imagine the life without them), but at least I buy organic (they are still pasteurized though).
14. I am a little irritable and restless, otherwise no mental problems.
15. I think I mentioned most of them already, and think that all starts from the gut.
16. Already did it, but I should mention here that I was taking a lot of antibiotics when I was a child, and later when a teenager for acne, and later when I had frequent bronchitis. This screw up my digestion, and all other problems started from there.
17. ???
18. ???
19. I am not afraid of anything, just I am disgusted with snakes etc.
20. I am not afraid of heights, but I would be definitely afraid if I had to jump with a parachute.
I don't like fire and everything what burns - acids etc.
21. How to get better, how to cure myself, how to make money.
22. Don't care for it.
23. Most of the time I prefer to be alone, but sometimes I need people.
24. Apart from my strange hours, and that I am waking to go pee, it is good. Even if I wake up, I can go back to sleep right away.
25. Don't remember my dreams.
26. My weight gets aggravated during humid weather (it means I gain few pounds), my skin gets aggravated during both humid and dry weather.
27. Most of the time I feel hot, especially now during menopause - additional hot flashes and sweats.
28. Cheese yellow and white, kefir, cheesecake, ice cream with astringent flavour, eggs, fresh bread and pastry from the oven, berries, pizza, jello with whipped cream, blueberry juice,
avocado, pomegranate juice with cold soda water, sesame seed butter, brazil nuts.
29. Don't like tofu or natto.
As a child, didn't like meat.
30. The most I like sweet and astringent taste, don't care that much for salty or bitter, and the least sour.
31. Not really, but sometimes sour food seems bad.
32. Like them both now, but there was time that I preferred cold to bigger degree.
33. NO!!!
34. I am a thirsty person, I would say moderate to excessive, depends on the day and weather.
35. Yes, my lips are always dry, and I am applying something several times a day. My mouth also very dry, throat and larynx too.
36. I have a coat in the back of the tongue. It is creamy in colour, sometimes more whitish, sometimes grayish.
I would say medium thickness.
There are days that I don't have coat.
37. No particular taste in the morning, but it happens sometimes that I have bitter or sour taste during the day. Happens rarely.
38. I had once a test done at a spa, and was told that my skin is oily, but dehydrated (strange combination).It is rough and prone to different kind of blemishes.
39. will follow...
40. Perspiration:
- Head and neck mostly, but also on back, and the groins.
- a lot
- didn't noticed any particular smell, but there was time that it smelled sweet
- it does stain yellow.
41. Constant problem with eyes for over twenty five years. Red, swollen, sometimes burning and itching tarsi. Loosing eye lashes. Upper eyelids overhanging the eyes. Sand sensation in the eyes sometimes. Whites in the eyes have some redness. Sometimes tearing - outer corners. I had an eye infection in my late twenties. The mucous was diagnosed, and it was Staphylococcus bacteria. I was taking antibiotic drops for a while for this problem. It cleared out, but my eyes were never the same, and with the time they were getting worse and worse. Now I am
controlling this problem with Chrysanthemum morifolium herbal tincture, but it is not going away, but at least I may function. Also My eyes got worse recently and I have to use glasses for reading, and also my vision gets blurred sometimes.
42. Itching in the ears
sometimes, nose feels blocked/congested especially night time, have to moisten inside to breath properly. Very little discharges. Bleeds a little when blowing, especially this time of the year when the air is very dry.
Bloody scabs form the nose, but not much bleeding.
43. Stool:
Three times daily or more.
Different consistency - depends what I ate, and what supplements took. If I drink unfermented milk or kefir before meal(what doesn't happen any more), I get
diarrhea immediately. Other dairy products don't have this kind of influence on me. I never had constipation in my life, don't remember a day that I didn't go at least twice, but sometimes I have
so called difficult stool, so it means I have to strain. I have blood in my stool pretty often (fissure probably)- in the end of the stool. Gets aggravated after eating spices, drinking some kinds of alcohol, and after aloe vera, or so called 'hot' herbs, so I am avoiding them.
Smells bad, but I don't know how to describe it.
44. Now I take B vitamins, so it is always darkish yellow, but when I don't it is quite pale. No blood, sometimes smells bad, used to be cloudy in the past, but not any more.
45. Not existing...
46. See above
47. Used to, but now don't even care for tis.
48. No.
49. n/a
50. Stopped menstruating about half year ago.
- when I had periods, they were regular every 26 days.
- flow was high during second and third day, moderate on first, low on fourth and
fifth.
- there were clots, sometimes to bigger, sometimes to lesser degree, dark color
- no other discharges, never had yeast infections
51. My mother died from stroke (she was 81), her mother from digestive system tumour - it was spread out everywhere when she went for operation (she was over 90), her father from pneumonia/bronchitis - smoked all his life (he was over 90 years old). My mother's two sisters died from tumours - stomach and ascites.
My father died from stroke, but he was a drinker, his mother had breast tumour, and his father also stroke.
52. The only prescription med that I am taking is low dose Naltrexone which is mainly used by functional medicine.
Take a lot of vitamins, minerals and herbs - it is based on my years of studying, and they are helping, but not curing. Also take homeopathic meds. The ones that agree with me, and I see temporary improvement are: Nux Vomica, Rhus Toxicodendron, Belladonna, Calcarea Fluorica, Calcarea Sulfurica, Sulfur, Hepar Sulfuris, Atropinum Sulfuricum, Kali Carbonicum, Silicea, Sepia, Thuja, Ferrum Phosphoricum, Eupatorium, and sometimes Nat Mur.
I can imagine only what you
are thinking right now - this is a crime against classical homeopathy, but my symptoms change like in kaleidoscope, and I am quite impatient, and can't stand prolonged aggravation, not
even been sure if this what I am taking is the right choice for me. I am taking only potency C30, sometimes C200, but never higher, don't want to mess my health more than it already is.
53. No surgeries or implants.
54. I had tuberculosis when I was in grammar school, don't remember much about treatment, but it was antibiotic, more than one.
I was treated twice by Chinese doctors. First time it was over ten years ago, and I actually have seen improvement. I did it for half a year - herbs, acupuncture, and shiatsu massages until my finances got short. Second time three years ago for the whole year, and the results were so minimal, and the last prescription was bad, and this what was acquired during the long weeks of therapy, was lost during only one week of improper prescribing, so I canceled future visits.
55. Over 15 years ago I was treated by a professional homeopath for the whole two years. He was supposed to be good, but after two years absolutely no improvement. I was sick with cold when I first saw him for consultation. It was before I quit smoking and gained weight and way before I started using homeopathy on my own. He gave me first Natrium Muriaticum that didn't help, and the cold became bronchitis, so he gave me Pulsatila, and this helped to some degree. I had to help with herbs to get over this. Later it was long repertorization, and initially I was given Tuberculinum C200 - one or two doses. Later he somehow figured out that I am a Phosphorus type, what was totally incorrect. I know now because at that time I bought some homeopathic books (I am a nerd), homeopathic materia medica and repertory, and every time I red about Phosphorus, it didn't sound like me at all. I was more like calc carb, or lycopodium, but these also did not cover all my symptoms, and because these are polycrests, so almost everybody might find some symptoms for themselves.

56. I love animals, especially cats and dogs, and when I was a child I was bringing home every homeless cat I found on the street. My mother only had a lot of work with them. They had to be
cleaned, dewormed, some of them had flees, and when they look good again we had to find a home for them. I always had pets at home. I
feel for them, and I am very much upset when I hear about cruelty to animals, it affects me to big degree. I will never understand how people can be so heartless, and cause suffering to others.
Also I am not religious, don't believe in this crap.
Time passes to fast for me.

If I missed something, or something needs more explanation, please let me know.
Thank you in advance for reading and helping me with my health problems.
[message edited by ginger5 on Sun, 23 Nov 2014 11:25:43 GMT]