I've had a rough month. Winter is never easy for me, but I chose to do some experimenting despite winter. I want to record some of what I've learned here.
1. Lithium Orotate
My doctor suggested I try this based on my gene data (23andMe.com). Lithium Carbonate has been traditionally used to treat bipolar disorder, but I've been taking Lithium Orotate. The difference is that carbonate isn't stable and a person has to take over 1,000 mg of it at a time to absorb enough to make a difference. Orotate, on the other hand, is highly absorbable and can be taken in small doses. I'm taking 5 mg a day.
For the first couple of weeks it made me feel a bit high - giddy, could laugh really easily, smiled for no reason at all, and had pleasant dreams. That effect wore off and I went back to "normal," except that I've noticed I haven't had nearly as many dark, depressing, lethargic, and apathetic thoughts. I originally started on inositol powder to help with my mood and energy. It did make a mild positive difference, but the lithium has done more.
I have also had regular large, deep, painful cystic acne since starting the lithium. I thought it was from taking the liver glandular, thinking it was detoxing me through my skin, but the problem has continued. I then learned from someone else that lithium gave them the same kind of acne. I'm now trying to decide if the better mood from lithium is worth this painful large acne.
2. Selenium
My doctor also suggested I try selenium for the same reason as trying lithium. Low selenium contributes to thyroid disorders, and my thyroid is disordered. I started and stopped the selenium twice. The first time I tried it turned me into a total zombie: very lightheaded and weak, dizzy, and unable to focus. I developed these symptoms immediately. A few weeks later I tried it again. It took 2 weeks before I developed the same symptoms. It gave me vertigo so strong that at times I couldn't walk in a straight line. So I stopped taking it. I didn't notice any other effect or benefit.
They say that the soil here in North Dakota is rich in selenium. I eat mostly locally grown organic foods, so I'm hoping this simply means that I'm getting enough regularly through my diet.
3. 4-point Saliva Cortisol Test/ Going off all supplements for 2 1/2 days.
I am very likely going to write a post on the results and preparation process when I get them. This is about the results of quitting all supplements for 2 1/2 days in order to do the test. I joined an adrenal fatigue support group on facebook based on the book Stop The Thyroid Madness. They say that it's very important to be off all supplements for 2 full weeks before doing the cortisol test, because you have to get all adaptions and other things that affect cortisol levels totally out of your body to see how your body does without support. I couldn't handle being off my supplements for 2 1/2 days, so I went ahead and did the test. I understand that some people think this will ruin the test results, but I honestly do not think it is safe for me to be off supplements any longer.
What happened?
- My blood sugar plummeted. With supplements it stays between 95-115 most of the time. Off supplements (I measured about once an hour for 2 days) I was staying between 72-98, most of the time I was in the 80's. I start to get symptomatic of hypoglycemia when I'm below 90, but below 80 I can't function. I was hypoglycemic a lot in the last 2 1/2 days. I did not change my diet of eating protein every 2 hours. (Keeping in mind that the adrenal glands do heavily affect blood sugar, and I stopped supporting my adrenals.) This morning (now that I can go back on my supplements) I did a test. My blood sugar was 84 when I got up, then after a protein shake including licorice (which affects the adrenals) it shot up to 124!!! That's a huge difference very quickly! I'm looking forward to going back on my pancreas glandular with chromium, which really helps keep my blood sugar stable.
- Heavy menstrual bleeding just 2 weeks into my cycle. My diva cup was full, and it was very dark and clotted.
- Blood pressure got wonky. I didn't see it ever dip below 95/58, which isn't much lower than I occasionally get even when on my supplements, but my pulse pressure narrowed by about 10 points on average. Pulse pressure is the distance between systolic and diastolic, and a healthy pulse pressure is about 40. My pulse pressure was often 25-30, but I had one reading of it at 55. This isn't stable for me. I'm generally around 30-40 when on supplements, even if my overall blood pressure is on the low end.
- Disturbed sleep. I couldn't take any sleeping aids for 2 nights, which was torture. Both nights it took hours of just laying there to fall asleep, even though I was exhausted from work. Once I got to sleep I found myself waking up every couple of hours. Small sounds in the house would also wake me up. I wouldn't feel rested during the day. Last night, after finishing the coritosl test, I took my sleep pills. They normally take about hour to kick in, but they made my whole body tingle and shut down within about 10 minutes. I felt like I was fighting sleep, but after shutting the light off and trying to sleep I couldn't fall asleep for probably an hour. Once I did fall asleep I stayed asleep, thankfully.
- Couldn't find joy in doing anything, even things I liked. The first day wasn't so bad, but the second day (yesterday) was awful. Everything felt like work, most things annoyed me, and nothing was enjoyable to do. I was apathetic, but worse than that, I felt emotionally muted.
- Poor memory. I found it hard to recall information, remember how and when something happened, and found it hard to retain the instructions I was reading over and over. After only 2 1/2 days without supplements! This shows how sensitive my body is.
- Poor vision and balance. A big part of this was being hypoglycemic, but even when my blood sugar was in the 90's I would have sensations of the floor moving below me, me swaying when I was not, and objects in the distance vibrating when they were not.
- Joint aches, but surprisingly no fibromyalgia. I was feeling very inflammed.
- Digestion plugged up. I gained about 5 pounds in bloat in the last 2 days, and my IBS is acting up. I did actually take my digestive enzymes to help, but they didn't help much. I was having regular bowel movements, but staying bloated and food wouldn't move through me well.
- Intense fatigue, but not constantly. I was able to work for the first 1/2 day and the second full day without supplements, but I was dragging and "flight mode" was kicking in a lot when I was encountering minor problems. At times it took willpower to lift my legs to walk. Yesterday I had trouble getting up and moving at times, but had weird spurts of jittery energy in which I was able to run up and downstairs to do laundry.
What did I learn from all this? That my supplements really are doing me good! I was able to write this post because I'm finally able to drink a cup of green tea, which tastes like heaven right now. My adrenal glands still have A LOT of healing to do, even after 3 years of trying to repair them. I don't need the test results to feel this, but I'm very curious about how my results will look.
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