Daniel
Forum Replies Created
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Personally, I don’t have experience with these tests as well, unfortunately. But I am curious about your experience as well!
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Hey ,
This depends a little on what you expect. If you don’t have any complaints (except a lower body temperature) I would go for hs-CRP. The ‘hs’ stands for ‘high sensitive’, so this test is more sensitive at low CRP levels. If you are for example assessing for low-grade vascular inflammation.
If you expect high levels of CRP because of inflammation caused for example by infections, operations or other inflammatory diseases, then usually the standard CRP test is chosen.
We like to aim at CRP levels below 1 since these levels are associated with the best cardiovascular health outcomes.
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Hey ,
Bernadette explained you really well how with perfect thyroid values still some uncertainty can be there.
In addition, I would like to mention that a lower body temperature can also happen with forms of anemia. Anemia could for example be caused by an iron deficiency, a B12, folate and/or B6 deficiency. Typically people experience cold hands & feet with anemia. Other symptoms that sometimes play depending on the severity of the anemia are:
• Poor memory/focus
• Feeling tires and sleeping doesn’t help
• Looking pail/yellowish (The skin under the eyes and behind the lip can look pale as well)
• Shortness of breath
• Tingling sensation in the arms or legs.I would also like to give the tip to use a different thermometer, just to rule out whether the thermometer has an inaccuracy. It happens!
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I was also looking at your labs. I was wondering if you could take a look and check the numbers and the units. For example, you wrote your fT3 was 3.1 pg/dl. The reference range in pg/dl is usually between 250-400 pg/dl. 3.1 would be extremely low.
In pmol/l this number makes more sense but isn’t necessarily high as well. In this case, the other labs would probably be in mol/L as well.
If there are any reference ranges mentioned in the papers as well? They can vary bit per laboratory. It would provide us more details as well!
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Hey ,
What kind of thermometer are you using? Is it for example an electric ear thermometer? Is it an old-fashioned under-the-tongue kind of thermometer?
Ear thermometers:
I have noticed that some ear thermometers can produce different readings. This can have different reasons, but here are 2 common ones:
• If your thermometer came from a colder ‘room temperature’ it needs to be ‘warmed up’ to your ear. If you do a few measurements behind each other, you will notice that the temperature readings of your thermometer will increase with every measurement until they stabilize. In my experience, it takes 3 or 4 measurements before you will see the same measurements on your thermometer.
• Make sure your ears are clean. A second influence can come from earwax influencing the outcome of your ear thermometer.There could be other factors at play of course, but let’s rule out this one as first!
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Iberogast does have some herbal bitters (Bitter Candytuft). I believe adults and children above 12 years should take 20 drops 3x daily. Although it has peppermint leaf, it is also used for complaints like acid reflux.
If you believe you might react to it you could also try to start lower and slowly build the dosage up and let your body get used to it. See how you react to that.[Iberogast Professional Information.pdf]
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Magnesium usually comes attached with an extra bonus molecule. It is the bonus molecule that makes the difference.
• Magnesium glycinate – is magnesium attached to the amino acid glycine and therefore you get some benefits from glycine. Usually, I advise the glycinate form with spasms because glycine is calming. It can also help with muscle tightness and headaches
• Magnesium malate – Here the bonus molecule is malate which is very well absorbable as well without causing GI discomfort. Again I would advise malate with spasms, muscle tightness and headaches as well. Some research shows that magnesium malate helps with fibromyalgia complaints.
• Magnesium L-threonate – The L-threonate helps the magnesium to pass the blood-brain barrier. Therefore it can help better with anxiety – although personally, I have some good results with magnesium glycinate as well.
• Magnesium taurate – Here the bonus comes from the taurate molecule. Magnesium taurate has been shown efficient in patients with arrhythmias. Just like glycine, taurine can be used as a calming neurotransmitter and it helps support nerve growth.
• Magnesium aspartate – Aspartate and malate can form the aspartate-malate shuttle which plays an important role in transporting electrons in glycolysis.
• Magnesium citrate – This one I usually use with constipation.The ‘best’ form of magnesium depends a bit on what causes the problem. I usually would recommend my clients to start with the glycinate or malate form. If anxiety is exacerbating the symptoms I would use de L-threonate form as well.
Personally, I don’t use the aspartate form as much. Not that it is bad, but I find myself using glycinate, malate, L-threonate and citrate the most.
The rules aren’t hard either. I have noticed that some people felt more relaxed with the citrate form than the glycinate form as well for some reason.
Electrolytes
Yes, when you work out replenishing your electrolytes is a good idea. Losing electrolytes can cause cravings for salty foods as well. Another reason for the loss of electrolytes can be chronic stress. Did you experience an increase in stress lately? Increases in stress aren’t always emotional. Pain, workouts, and infections can all cause stress as well.Here are some sugar-free ideas to replenish electrolytes:
• Sole – a solution of water and salt (click here to see a recipe)
• A product used to stay in ketosis called keto electrolyte drops from Trace Mineral Research (click here)I hope this helped!
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Thanks! I see you are a coach and personal trainer as well. Feel free to give the platform some tips as well some day
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Hey ,
Do you know what your doctor wanted to rule out? I guess it all comes down to a risk assessment: do you think the MRI is worth the information it will give you?
If your doctor wanted to rule out a pinged nerve, I would just wait a while. Lots of times a pinged nerve goes away after 4 to 6 weeks. In that time you can evaluate how other lifestyle factors are affecting your muscle spasm as well. Sleep, stress, caffeine and a lack of water can all cause contribute to the cause.
Since your complaints did get better with magnesium you could try to optimize your personal dosage. I personally see that many of my clients benefit from somewhere between 300 to 1000 mg of elemental magnesium per day.
A lot of personal needs depend on factors you are probably familiar with. We need more magnesium in times we are
• sleeping less
• sweating more during the day
• experiencing more stress
• drink more coffee or caffeïne
• consuming more processed and refined foods
• consuming more proteinBeing with B Better gives you the perk we can evaluate your labs with a functional interpretation. Just like Bernadette, I am curious about your labs as well!
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Hi ,
I do believe stress for sure could play a role in hair loss. As Bernadette mentioned: stress can push hair follicles into a resting phase. A certain percentage of your hair follicles are always in Telogen. Stress can cause however more follicles to be in this resting phase. Then after a few months, the affected hair falls out. This is called Telogen Effluvium. It can happen that as a result of stressful events a few months hair starts to fall. Do you know if any stressful events occurred during that time?
Stress can lead to insulin resistance for sure. I do see her cortisol was measured. A blood draw of cortisol can be hard to evaluate since cortisol goes up and down during the day. Especially in the morning, we would like cortisol to go up quite quickly after waking up, then go down during the day.
I don’t know exactly when her blood was drawn, but I assume it was in the morning. Having cortisol on the lower end of the reference range makes me wonder if cortisol is optimal. Do you know if she feels tired in the morning? Or is she in need of coffee to get up and running? How does she feel in the evening? Does she feel like she has more energy there?
Could the doctor also explain how these products would help with stress?
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Hey ,
Bernadette gave you lots of options to explore. Thank you for sharing her labs, because there are some pearls we can learn from them!
From this lab, I wouldn’t conclude that all her blood tests are normal. Just out of curiosity: are the doctors who examined her medical or paramedical dermatologists? And what did they diagnose her with?
Do you know if her hair is broken off near the scalp? Or did her hair fall out completely? Do you know if the doctors saw a fungal infection on the skin (mycosis)?
From these labs, I would conclude that a slow thyroid is at play. Her storage form of iron (ferritin) is on the low side indicating a suboptimal iron status. Iron is a necessary nutrient for thyroid hormone production.
Her vitamin D levels are also on the lower end of the reference range. This is important since vitamin D plays a role in thyroid hormone function as well.
Do you know if she was in a fasted state when she drew her blood? Insulin in a fasted state we would like to see between the 2-6. Everything above is indicative of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance can elevate in women testosterone which may lead to PCOS. Although her testosterone levels aren’t above the upper limit of the reference range, they are high normal. Because she does show hair loss which could happen with PCOS, I would like to know if she experiences heavy or irregular periods.
From these labs I would be curious about some other nutrients needed for thyroid function like RBC zinc, Iodine and Selenium.
I would also like to see a full thyroid panel (TSH, fT4, fT3, anti-tpo, anti-tg and reverse T3 – certainly if she did experience a lot of stress). I probably would do these tests after correcting her iron.
I hope this helps!
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Hi ,
The term encephalopathy is usually used as a ‘container’ term. It just means a disease of the brain, usually a degenerative condition that is chronic.
A B12 deficiency after a certain age is more common because low stomach acid is more common. If a B12 deficiency has been established it might be wise to check out other markers as well since stomach acid is also needed for iron absorption & protein digestion.
Personally, I would also like to know if the doctors ruled out other root causes for encephalopathy. Did they for example:
• checked kidney & liver function – which can cause brain problems.
• How is his blood pressure?
• Did they check his vitamin B1 (Thiamin) status?
• Were blood sugars checked? Encephalopathy can be caused by diabetes for example.
• Are his thyroid hormones in balance?
• Are there traces of infections?There are many more possibilities here, but these can be evaluated by blood work.
Personally I would be curious to see his labs!
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Sorry, I forgot to attach the document I talked about yesterday evening!
Here it is:[Copper-IUD-Fact-Sheet.pdf]
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Hey ,
The ideal scenario we are striving for is personal. It is balancing the reasons for taking them versus are you happy with the costs. Reasons, why women take birth control, can be because of several reasons: preventing pregnancy, heavy & irregular cycles, cramps, acne, excessive body hair growth, PCOS, PMS, Anemia, etc
Unfortunately, people don’t get educated enough about the possible costs. Besides preventing pregnancy, all the other ‘reasons’ do have to a certain degree natural solutions, which in general aren’t taught to people.But let me give you an example from my practice in which it wasn’t so clear cut: one of my female clients was struggling with PMS so bad she became physically violent once a year. If you asked her why she couldn’t explain why. When she uses birth control pills, her PMS symptoms are gone. To her the benefits of the pills outway the costs even after we talked about different solutions extensively. Do I believe natural remedies could have helped her and would be better for her body? Yes, definitely. But it probably would take some time to find the right balance. To her, it isn’t worth the risk if she hurts the people she loves.
I guess I believe that the first achievable ideal scenario is that women are educated about natural solutions for other symptoms and educated about the risks of long-term contraceptives use.
Copper IUDsLet’s talk about IUDs now. Although copper IUDs don’t use hormones, I wouldn’t categorise them as naturally.I personally look at it this way: Any form of birth control is designed to interfere with a natural process in the body.
How do copper IUDs work?
The copper IUD isn’t using hormones for this, but it works differently. The copper IUD is a plastic T-shaped device wrapped in coiled copper. The copper layer will start an inflammatory process that will kill the sperm. It will also inflame the endometrium so that the implementation of the ovum(egg) becomes hard. This is why some women experience heavier periods when they start with a copper IUD.Heavy bleeding & how to asses risks.
I attached a document from Washington University in St Louise that reflects general advice about copper IUDs. Usually, these heavy periods become less after a while. The document says 3-6 months but may last longer.I do have some doubts about this general type of advice. This research is a little older (2009) but followed almost 2000 first time copper IUD users a year long. From them
• 177 (9.1%) experienced more pain than before copper IUD use in the first 9 weeks. This number decreased to 68 (4.7%) after a year
• 106 women (5.4%) experienced an increase in menstrual bleeding after 9 weeks. This number dropped to 44 women (3.1 %) after a year.This risk assessment is helpful before you place an IUD. Once you have a copper IUD and you have complaints, we have to make a new calculation to asses risks. We have to look at the change in the group of women who experience pain/menstrual at the beginning of the IUD placement and after a year. This means calculated from these numbers (and please realize that this is an ‘on the back at an envelope calculation’):
• If you experience an increase in pain after placing a copper IUD there is a 38% chance you still have increased feelings of pain after a year.
• If you experience an increase in menstrual bleeding after placing a copper IUD there is a 41.5% chance you still have increased feelings of pain after a year.Now I do believe these numbers calculated from this study need more research behind them. Still, I just wanted to give you a rough idea of what it means when general advice says: after 3-6 months heavy periods usually disappear.
Does reducing inflammation help?
The first mode of action of IUDs is by creating inflammation. There is some limited evidence that stopping the formation of prostaglandins (with ibuprofen – see this study) helps with reducing the blood loss. Therefore anti-inflammatory supplements might help.
• Try for example high dose omega 3’s (dosages between 2000-4000 mg of EPA+DHA) which actually helps to resolve the inflammation faster
• Curcumin (the Meriva form – for example, this supplement from Thorne) can reduce inflammation as well.Estrogen dominanceHowever, copper & estrogen are related (see this video here from the mineral balance course). Elevations in copper could lead to elevated levels of estrogen for example. The natural hormonal cycle with the use of copper IUDs is still present unlike with the use of hormonal contraceptives which actually disrupt the communication between the brain & the ovaries.
Testing & Things you can do right now
If you are in your reproductive years a DUTCH complete test can give you insight into what type of estrogen imbalance you are dealing with and how you are detoxifying your hormones. With this type of information, you can do much more targeted interventions. That doesn’t mean you couldn’t do anything right now. These are things you can do:
• Make sure you aren’t constipated. By that I mean you need 1 bowel movement per day. If you are experiencing problems with that, focus on movement, eat the right types of fats (Olive oil & Avocados help in particular). Make sure you eat enough fiber, drink water, get enough Magnesium. In the presence of constipation magnesium citrate is the best choice for a magnesium supplement.
• With bloating, diarhea, cramping or other gut issues: the gut health masterclass is full of helpful tips. Estrogen leaves via the stool your body, but gets reabsorbed after staying 24 hours in the gut.
• Magnesium glycinate (my favourite brand of magnesium glycinate comes from Designs for health). This is magnesium bound to glycine, which is an amino acid necessary for bile & glutathione production. These are both important for estrogen detoxification as well. Magnesium helps with something we call phase 2 detoxification of estrogen.
• Zinc will help with female hormone balance (see this study) and could bring balance to a possible copper dominance that might be present. More targeted recommendations could be done by testing copper and zinc status as well. This is something I would recommend you do.
• B vitamins help with all kinds of liver detoxification.
• Broccoli sprouts contain Sulforaphane which helps to reduce the metabolites causing DNA damage. You will need 2 to 5 grams of Sulforaphane powder daily for that.
• Reducing estrogen-like substances from plastics, makeup and pesticides, herbicides and insecticides in your life.
• Reduce alcohol intake since alcohol and estrogen compete for the same enzymes that will break them down.
• Make sure you can produce enough progesterone by reducing stress, reduce inflammation in the ovaries, insulin resistance, PCOS, Hypothyroidism, low cholesterol, too much or aggressive exercising, and age… Ok, the last one can’t be helped, but in the 10 years before menopause, we often see progesterone slowly decreasing.As I said: with testing there are many more targeted interventions you could do. If you like to explore that option, we can help you with the interpretation of for example the DUTCH test, which in my opinion gives you a lot of insight.
I hope this gives you some answers you can work with!
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Hey ,
Welcome around here! My name is Daniel and I help Bernadette on the platform. I hope we can guide you to some relief!
Understanding how estrogen & progesterone dance with each other will help you make it easier on deciding how to approach your perimenopausal symptoms.
Keep an eye on the general tips section. I am near completing an article (2-3 minutes read – I hope) that will describe how estrogen & progesterone behave during a cycle.
Yes, heavy periods are a risk factor for low iron. Another thing to keep in mind is that there is a genetic condition called Thalassemia that causes low iron levels. Have doctors ever ruled this out? I’m just asking in case you like to use iron supplements. With Thalassemia iron supplements might not work for you – or make things worse, so be aware!
If you have been tested, we have a course around minerals in the monthly courses folder. You can find the video’s over iron here (just click the bold words, they are hyperlinked). The video about correcting iron deficiency will be answering those questions.
