A Life Recovered: I Fought The Medical Establishment And Won
Many stories [of critical medical problems] are so complex that they demonstrate both positive and negative aspects of [health] care. Hopefully all will serve as inspiration for either what needs to be changed or what is possible.
- from Privileged Presence: Personal Stories of Connections in Health Care, p. 10, Liz Croker and Bev Johnson, Bull Publishing, 2006
My fight did not take place at a national level, with a medical college of physicians or a big pharmaceutical company, but with local doctors where most of us have to negotiate the welfare of our personal health. Standard blood test results, and the resulting drug prescription they suggested, made my life not worth living.
While I went along placidly with the prescription I had been given for nearly two decades, my pleas that "Something is wrong here" went unacknowledged. My blood test results were "normal" and that is what mattered.
When I committed to stop taking my prescription totally, and my test scores soared as a result, suddenly my personal welfare became of primary concern. The doctors thought I might die and they would be fingered for the blame (and expect litigation to follow). Only then would they refer me to a specialist.
My body is naturally hypothyroid (low production of thyroid hormone). A high TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) level on a blood test causes a doctor to prescribe thyroid hormone thyroxin (usually harvested from the thyroids of slaughtered pigs, as I understand it) to correct the level and bring it within standard bounds of acceptability. Fair enough, at one tiny pill per day it was not an inconvenience.
I was told to take the thyroxin pill first thing in the morning as taking it later in the day might affect my sleep. This increased metabolism effect is critical to the story. Eventually it became intolerable.
After several years at the same dose, with each blood test showing my TSH within acceptable bounds, I began to feel less and less comfortable in my own skin. In 2010 I realized that I was suffering from symptoms of hyperthyroidism, too much thyroid hormone. Not conditions I would wish on anyone.
The most disturbing change in my composure was a marked decrease in patience and tolerance of petty actions by my wife. I became hard to live with. Over a period of three years I saw two family doctors, two psychologists and one psychiatrist (to see if he could prescribe something more effective at settling me down than standard beta blockers and downers offered by my doctors).
When I self diagnosed myself as hyperthyroid, I went to a doctor to see if my thyroxin prescription could be lowered. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that it could not be changed because that would put my test results outside the normal range. "I could lose my licence," one doctor said, if she prescribed something that caused my test results to be outside the normal range.
Out of frustration and concern that I was putting a huge burden on my wife, making her life miserable in the process, I made the decision to stop taking the thyroxin altogether. For a couple of months, I felt better than I had for years. And I acted better.
Then I took another blood test. In a panic, the doctor got me an appointment with an endocrinologist. My TSH was so high that the doctor feared my organs would stop functioning.
Over the next year, the endocrinologist started me on a very low dose of thyroxin, then raised it until the dose was just below what the previous dose had been when I stopped taking it. When the blood test results showed my TSH still too high, she wanted to raise the dose again. I swore that I would stop taking the thyroxin again if she force me to the higher dose. Standoff.
While discussing the situation with a friend who had been hyperthyroid, whose thyroid was subsequently killed by medication and whose hypothyroidism was now under control with thyroxin, he happened to mention that when I took my thyroid pill on the day of a blood test greatly affected the TSH results. He said I should take thyroxin six hours before the test, instead of the usual three hours on a normal day. He had gotten this tip from a thyroid guru in one of the top hospitals in Toronto.
Next blood test I took the pill earlier and my TSH results dropped dramatically into the normal range. No change of prescription, just a change of when I took a single small pill on the day of a blood test. My family doctor and endocrinologist were ecstatic, judging by their physical reactions when they discussed the situation with me.
More than a year after my dispute with the doctors, I still suffer unpleasant symptoms associated with my body adjusting to a changed dose of thyroxin. I have reason to believe that the symptoms will vanish when my body eventually adjusts.
My previous dose of thyroxin, that was too high and resulted in symptoms of hyperthyroidism: 150mg. My new dose that makes my TSH test results come out normal and my doctors happy: 137mg.
That tiny difference made a family doctor refuse to change my prescription for fear of losing her licence to practice medicine (due to TSH test results that would have been too high).
Why could a lower TSH result on a blood test result from a lower thyroxin level (normally the two should change inversely)? All that changed was that I took my thyroxin pill two hours earlier on the day of my bloodwork.
Considering how common thyroid problems are among people today, you might think that doctors would be on top of such matters of fine tuning. They are not.
As always, I am ultimately responsible for my own health. You are responsible for your own. Doctors are in the middle trying to figure it all out. They don’t have enough information to work with to make decisions that will benefit us most.
We may pay a price to fight the medical establishment, but if we are right our lives will be better for it.
My wife is much happier living with a calmer and more tolerant husband.
Bill Allin is the author of Turning It Around: Causes and Cures for Today’s Epidemic Social Problems, a guidebook for parents and teachers who want to help their children develop in all ways, to live well balanced lives.
Learn more at http://billallin.com
Showing posts with label organs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label organs. Show all posts
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Stuff You Didn't Know About Your Skin
And You Thought You Knew About Skin
The largest by far of our body organs, skin ranks among the least understood by most people. Most of us know about UVB radiation causing skin cancer, but not so many know that that is only when an excessive amount of sunlight strikes the skin over a long period of time. At that, only after many years does the cancer appear, often as much as two decades or more.
Skin cancer mostly appears at the former sites of bad sunburns. Our skin needs sunlight—about 10 to 15 minutes of direct sunlight per day—in order that our bodies can make vitamin D, which we can't do on our own.
Vitamin D, among its many purposes, keeps us from suffering from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), a condition we might call depression or the winter blahs because those of us in cold climates tend to stay inside more when the outside is cold.
SAD is a real threat for almost everyone in areas that get very cold in winter. Even in the middle of the day, when sunlight is brightest, we can't get enough ultraviolet radiation to help us make the vitamin D we require for good physical and emotional health because of the sun's low angle.
We must either supplement with OTC (over the counter) tablets of vitamin D or use a lamp that mimics the sun by giving off UV rays directly onto our skin.The amount of vitamin D supplement varies considerably from one person to another.
Not enough has been studied of the effects of low levels of vitamin D in our systems to know how many of the eccentric, obsessive or just excessive behaviours we see during winter in people who live in cold climates may be attributed directly to vitamin D deficiency.
Nor do we know for certain how the deficiency may affect our personal relationships with spouse, family, friends or workmates. However, when something seems to be wrong about the behaviour of someone close to us during the wintertime, a suggestion to consult a doctor or pharmacist about taking a vitamin D supplement might be in order.
Every time we look into a mirror we see this large body organ, our skin, but we tend to think of what we see as "me" rather than as one part of us that may require attention other than by using cosmetics. For example, dry skin indicates insufficient water is reaching skin cells. Drinking more water is a more efficient and cheaper method of rehydrating skin than covering it repeatedly with topical lotions.
Here are several more facts about skin that few people know.
The skin of an average adult weighs in at nine pounds and contains more than 11 miles of blood vessels. Its mass alone makes it worth taking seriously.
In hot weather, the skin releases as much as three gallons (over 10 litres) of water each day in the form of sweat. (Okay, perspiration, for those more sensitive readers, but it still comes from sweat glands.) As water is the major component of every part of the body, not replacing lost water sufficiently will impact health.
Body odour begins with the release of a different kind of sweat, a fatty liquid secreted by the apocrine glands which are found mostly around the armpits, genitals and anus. Bacteria on the skin eat the fatty stuff and leave behind a smell that is considered unpleasant in western cultures(but not in all cultures).
Human breasts mostly consist of fat, as they are a modified form of the apocrine gland. Yes, they are mostly bags of fat.
Some people are born without skin ridges we call fingerprints. They have rare genetic defects known as Naegali syndrome or dermatopathia pigmentosa reticularis.
Our atmosphere at any given moment contains about one billion tons of dead skin and other organic matter (such as hair). The skin of each person shucks off about 50,000 cells every minute. House dust mostly consists of dead skin cells.
The skin contains about five different kinds of receptors that account for our sense of touch. Which are the most sensitive parts of the human body?
The lips (the most sensitive), fingertips, palms, lips, tongue, nipples, penis and clitoris have a kind of receptor known as Meissner corpuscles. They respond to pressure as light as the weight of a fly--that's the insect variety--about 20 milligrams.
Do blind people really develop greater sensitivity to touch and hearing? The visual cortex of blind people rewires itself in the brain to respond to sounds and touch stimuli. Blind people "see" (process information coming into the brain) the world through touch and sound.
The term "in the buff" to refer to being naked began in the 17th century in England where soldiers wore leather tunics known as buffs. Their light brown colour supposedly looked to some like the colour of English buttocks.
White skin developed between 20,000 and 50,000 years ago when darker-skinned peoples moved to colder climates in Europe and Asia. The lighter skin colour (less of the colouring agent melanin) allowed northerners to absorb more of the sun's then-precious ultraviolet, making them healthier.
Finally, a 16th century anatomy book by Andreas Vesalius, called DeHumani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body), had a cover topped with human skin. Harvard Law School, Brown University and the Cleveland Public Library all have books with covers topped with human skin stripped from executed prisoners or the poor.
Don't even ask about reprints.
(Primary data source: Discover magazine, February, 2007)
Bill Allin
Turning It Around: Causes and Cures for Today's Epidemic Social Problems, a book about real and inexpensive solutions to communityproblems most people think are inevitable evils of modern society. Theyaren't. We just have to look in the right place.
Learn more at http://billallin.com
Contact author Bill Allin at turningitaround@sympatico.ca
The largest by far of our body organs, skin ranks among the least understood by most people. Most of us know about UVB radiation causing skin cancer, but not so many know that that is only when an excessive amount of sunlight strikes the skin over a long period of time. At that, only after many years does the cancer appear, often as much as two decades or more.
Skin cancer mostly appears at the former sites of bad sunburns. Our skin needs sunlight—about 10 to 15 minutes of direct sunlight per day—in order that our bodies can make vitamin D, which we can't do on our own.
Vitamin D, among its many purposes, keeps us from suffering from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), a condition we might call depression or the winter blahs because those of us in cold climates tend to stay inside more when the outside is cold.
SAD is a real threat for almost everyone in areas that get very cold in winter. Even in the middle of the day, when sunlight is brightest, we can't get enough ultraviolet radiation to help us make the vitamin D we require for good physical and emotional health because of the sun's low angle.
We must either supplement with OTC (over the counter) tablets of vitamin D or use a lamp that mimics the sun by giving off UV rays directly onto our skin.The amount of vitamin D supplement varies considerably from one person to another.
Not enough has been studied of the effects of low levels of vitamin D in our systems to know how many of the eccentric, obsessive or just excessive behaviours we see during winter in people who live in cold climates may be attributed directly to vitamin D deficiency.
Nor do we know for certain how the deficiency may affect our personal relationships with spouse, family, friends or workmates. However, when something seems to be wrong about the behaviour of someone close to us during the wintertime, a suggestion to consult a doctor or pharmacist about taking a vitamin D supplement might be in order.
Every time we look into a mirror we see this large body organ, our skin, but we tend to think of what we see as "me" rather than as one part of us that may require attention other than by using cosmetics. For example, dry skin indicates insufficient water is reaching skin cells. Drinking more water is a more efficient and cheaper method of rehydrating skin than covering it repeatedly with topical lotions.
Here are several more facts about skin that few people know.
The skin of an average adult weighs in at nine pounds and contains more than 11 miles of blood vessels. Its mass alone makes it worth taking seriously.
In hot weather, the skin releases as much as three gallons (over 10 litres) of water each day in the form of sweat. (Okay, perspiration, for those more sensitive readers, but it still comes from sweat glands.) As water is the major component of every part of the body, not replacing lost water sufficiently will impact health.
Body odour begins with the release of a different kind of sweat, a fatty liquid secreted by the apocrine glands which are found mostly around the armpits, genitals and anus. Bacteria on the skin eat the fatty stuff and leave behind a smell that is considered unpleasant in western cultures(but not in all cultures).
Human breasts mostly consist of fat, as they are a modified form of the apocrine gland. Yes, they are mostly bags of fat.
Some people are born without skin ridges we call fingerprints. They have rare genetic defects known as Naegali syndrome or dermatopathia pigmentosa reticularis.
Our atmosphere at any given moment contains about one billion tons of dead skin and other organic matter (such as hair). The skin of each person shucks off about 50,000 cells every minute. House dust mostly consists of dead skin cells.
The skin contains about five different kinds of receptors that account for our sense of touch. Which are the most sensitive parts of the human body?
The lips (the most sensitive), fingertips, palms, lips, tongue, nipples, penis and clitoris have a kind of receptor known as Meissner corpuscles. They respond to pressure as light as the weight of a fly--that's the insect variety--about 20 milligrams.
Do blind people really develop greater sensitivity to touch and hearing? The visual cortex of blind people rewires itself in the brain to respond to sounds and touch stimuli. Blind people "see" (process information coming into the brain) the world through touch and sound.
The term "in the buff" to refer to being naked began in the 17th century in England where soldiers wore leather tunics known as buffs. Their light brown colour supposedly looked to some like the colour of English buttocks.
White skin developed between 20,000 and 50,000 years ago when darker-skinned peoples moved to colder climates in Europe and Asia. The lighter skin colour (less of the colouring agent melanin) allowed northerners to absorb more of the sun's then-precious ultraviolet, making them healthier.
Finally, a 16th century anatomy book by Andreas Vesalius, called DeHumani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body), had a cover topped with human skin. Harvard Law School, Brown University and the Cleveland Public Library all have books with covers topped with human skin stripped from executed prisoners or the poor.
Don't even ask about reprints.
(Primary data source: Discover magazine, February, 2007)
Bill Allin
Turning It Around: Causes and Cures for Today's Epidemic Social Problems, a book about real and inexpensive solutions to communityproblems most people think are inevitable evils of modern society. Theyaren't. We just have to look in the right place.
Learn more at http://billallin.com
Contact author Bill Allin at turningitaround@sympatico.ca
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