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Prayer is a wonder for calming the mind Your trying to balancing out your body's needs is also great

If you can read read Psalm 32:8

and Matt 7:7

Along with your Thyroid see if your adrenals are exhausted? Thyroid disorders often come from this adrenal exhaustion

how good is your water system?
are you getting enough vitamin D with vitamin K

exercise does boost your immune system and give your circulation a boost even just walking in step and up and down steps helps Stretching is vital and beneficial Hopes this simple set of words helps you
oh and keep a food diary to see if any food or drink makes you feel ill

Hugs

My prayers for you

Remarkable supplement!!!

Amazing for everyone from moods, stress anxiety, depression, mental disorders, and even helps with people trying to get off drugs and alcohol .

If you have pots and pans or small ponds of rainwater in your yard squirt a very small amount of any hand dishwashing liquid on them. This breaks the surface's attention of the water and mosquitos cannot land on the water to lay eggs. This trick really works and reduces mosquitos if you collect rainwater or have small ponds of water in your yard.

Hello everyone,

I have an interesting new issue and I hope people can weigh in with some opinions. Apologies in advance for the long post.

In July during a Zoom karate class, I injured both my thumbs at the basal joint (base of the thumb closest to palm, first metacarpal) when we had to drop to the floor for a defense move. My hands, and especially my thumbs, took a beating during that class as you had to reach out with one hand to catch yourself.

Now normally whenever I have an injury, I am quick to heal. However, not this time. It's been two months and these joints are still very painful and sore. Additionally, a couple days after that initial injury, my right thumb got trigger finger. We've had a Trigger Finger page on Earth Clinic for a long time, but I never knew what it was until I got it. Basically, when you bend your thumb, it pops and gets stuck in the bent position. It is quite painful to straighten it. It has to do with the scarring on the tendon. I had no issues with my hands before getting trigger finger all of a sudden.

Since July, I have tried numerous remedies to heal the basal joints and trigger thumb.

Remedies I have tried, one at a time include:

Borax Tonic, Joint Enzymes (top rated on Amazon), Topical Magnesium Oil, Magnesium Oil with Borax, Bromelain, Iron, Art's Arthritis Lotion, Colloidal Silver, DMSO, and a Shiatsu and heat massager for hands.

Nothing has made a dent. The only thing that actually feels good is if I use KT (Kinesiology Tape) during the day and night to stabilize the thumb joints.

You have no idea how often you use your thumbs until you injure them! At night it is also very easy to reinjure your thumbs when you roll around from side to side during the night. So there's definitely a repetitive stress injury aspect to this as well.

I have the feeling that something I started taking around the same time caused a vitamin or mineral deficiency, which caused these issues to flare. To make matters worse, just in the past two days, my other thumb has started to get trigger thumb. IT IS REALLY WEIRD!

The only two new supplements I started this summer were melatonin and zinc with copper. Does anyone know if either of these can lead to a deficiency that affects the tendons and joints? If so, what? Calcium? Vitamin C?

Two more things that happened that may or may be related: I found 3 deer ticks on me in March. Not sure how long they had been on me, but didn't get a rash, and no symptoms unless you count this sudden onset of joint issues 4 months later.

Also, in this house I rented, the landlord put in a new water heater a couple of days before these issues started up. The water up to that point probably had a lot of iron in it from rust in the old water heater. I did supplement with iron after the new water heater was installed, but that didn't do anything to heal the joints and tendons.

I would really appreciate any ideas and intuition on this.

Thanks so much!

Deirdre

I strongly suggest getting checked for Lyme disease. If you're positive, please don't let anyone scare you into antibiotics, which are guaranteed to destroy your GI microbiome and immune system. Even if the Lyme test is negative, you might want to read Stephen Harrod Buhner's book Healing Lyme (2nd edition) and try the protocol. There are dozens of tick-borne co-infections that may not show up in a test, and living in a rural area increases your risk of infection. It's a simple blood test with a follow up to confirm if the first is positive. If I had a do-over, I'd refuse the second test (same blood draw as the first). I think it's an unnecessary cost.

I'm currently recovering from chronic (years old) and acute Lyme. My body was "mostly" coping with the first infection. I didn't realize I'd been bitten and was infected the first time -- no rash, no bullseye, no immediate illness or symptoms. I thought the slowly developing aches, pains, moodiness were aging or menopause (I'm 63). Got bit again in early June and found the tick this time. The bacteria overwhelmed my body's ability to handle it, and the physical issues were debilitating. I declined four weeks of antibiotics, bought Buhner's book, and have been on the herbal protocol for not quite three months. My husband said he knew it was working and I was getting better when I started to laugh again. Moodiness, outright b*tchiness, and nearly all the physical issues are gone. I'm sleeping and eating normally and am off pain killers.

(BTW a drop of oregano oil and that tick backed out fast. No tweezers. Dead tick.)

I hope this is helpful. Good luck!

Teresa, sorry to hear you feel so miserable.... I have a few comments/suggestions regarding the supplements you are taking.

1. Iodine- have you been diagnosed with low iodine? Maybe your iodine levels are too high which can cause you irritability and other health problems. I suggest that you look seriously at stopping the iodine - you are already on Armour which should be sufficient to provide you with iodine

2. What are your T3, T4, TSH, and RT3 levels? Maybe your hypothyroidism is not well controlled?

3. You are taking huge dose of D3. is that daily, weekly or??

Best is to take vit D in a natural way - through sunlight- that probably should be possible especially in the summer in the countryside

4. B12 oils? Is your B12 level low? How low? Best is to take B12 as a sublingual supplements (the ones designed to absorb under the tongue). You may need B12 shots if it is very low

5. Thyroid vitamins? What are those vitamins specifically? B-complex vitamins or something else

6. L- theanine is mood modulator and could be beneficial

7. Yoga - specifically the calming yoga (yin yoga) could help you get more mentally balanced

8. Make sure you get good restful sleep at night

9. Epson salts detoxing baths or detoxing sauna would help too

Hypothyroidism is a very complex condition... It takes long time, energy, a lot of self study and search to get to the bottom of the problems... but don’t get discouraged- keep on trying and you’ll find the solution for you!

Best of luck!

Hi Terisa

Try 3 or 4 Brazil Nuts a day. They are amazing for mood and work very quick. They are high in selenium dont eat more than that. you can try 1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda in water every morning for energy plus it has lots of other benefits. Try going mostly plant based for your diet with intermittent fasting. Eat last meal in evening then don’t eat until after lunch next day. Hope you feel better soon.

To Dave or anybody who has tried out Dave's method:

when you said you used colloidal silver to brush teeth, what do you mean?

can you explain more about how to brush teeth by using colloidal silver?

Appreiate with your help!

Lee

I am also hypothyroid and currently on naturethroid desiccated thyroid meds. I found that when my TSH is above 1.5 or below 0.5 my moods suffered. Your thyroid's needs change over days, weeks, months and years, so it's best to regularly monitor at least your TSH level. When I'm too hypo I become depressed, uninterested in normal activities, and everything feels overwhelming. If I am too hyper, I am super irritable... even noises can be too much. Finding your optimal dose of meds for every point in time can be annoying, but it's totally worth it. There's problems also with consistency in dosing with the natural meds, but if you follow my instructions and monitor and adjust as necessary it won't matter if your pills are slightly off. (My beloved thyroid meds just experienced their first recall this month. )

I also found the daily use of Adrenal Fatigue Fighter (initially twice daily for months) helped considerably with the initial irritation I had as I started thyroid meds. I still take it.

Lastly, you can't leave your sex hormones out of the discussion. It was expensive, but I saw a naturopath who tested me for hormonal imbalances, which I'm confident that you have. I'm on quite a bit of bioidentical progesterone and a little bioidentical testosterone (I'm in perimenopause at 41).

As long as I'm all balanced now I feel great and weight loss is not an issue.

I would definitely zero in on your TSH because that alone can fix mood and weight loss issues. Just being in the normal range does not mean you're not still feeling all those hypo symptoms. Stopthemadness.com for thyroid help.

I would also recommend picking up some bioidentical progesterone online to start with. After 1-2 months you'll notice enough of a difference to investigate further.

The adrenal glands, thyroid, and ovaries are connected in a feedback loop. They're usually all negatively impacted if your symptoms are showing up.

You should feel better! And no amount of meditation or mindfulness did it for me until I got balanced.

I have no thyroid function...take generic synthroid. I have taken adhwaganda for years now...helps immensely.

Dear 59 yr old, I am hot on your heels with peri-menopause as Ms. 47.5yr old.

I seem to be cruising through compared to what I hear is normal esp. as a home-schooler mother. Thanks to all the women (and men) who continue to share what works.

I am on a strict AIP paleo diet and have been for the last 8 years, having only just introduced nightshades and chamomile back in to the routine in the last few months.

I drink almost exclusively ACV and soda water, sometimes pomegranate vinegar and soda water for cold drinks. I add honey for a quick recovery from exercise.

For hot drinks- very rare in summer- all manner of appropriate teas like red clover, St. John's Wort, dandelion root, mallow, valerian root, etc.

In the mornings to my St. John's Wort tea I add in cocoa, collagen, some sort of honey (or local sugar) and butter and blend it for a delicious creamy chocolate (medicinal) tea. My son drinks it too and loves it.

I use iodine (Lugol's) five days per week, one drop in olive oil rubbed on my thyroid, followed by saline water followed by clean water as per the 2007 Iodine Protocol.

I can't stress the importance of this particular step enough. Accumulation of displaced halides can give a person 'dark thoughts' and severe depression- speaking from experience it's a very real phenomenon while detoxing from chlorine/bromide etc. using iodine.

On facebook I followed the wisdom of a strict group for about three years to get the gist of how to use iodine correctly. It was the greatest blessing apart from my daughter, of that era.
I just looked it up- sadly they have been deleted.
You could try this group but I don't know it personally;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/iodineforbeginners
The idea is to follow the 2007 iodine protocol, and follow it carefully.

I take a magnesium salt bath once per week to calm the nervous system.
I exercise every day either a bike ride or a ride and swim, or walk to the shops of for pleasure by the river.
BUT;

The most important thing of all of these is sleep, which has only been considered an 'easy fix' with the personal breakthrough of
1. progesterone
2. blue-light blocking glasses and f.lux for use of screens and bad light at night time.

1. I started with bio-identical progesterone which I found online.

On the week to ten days prior to that little joy of womanhood, I would rub in a fingernail-sized pea of it on to my belly or elbows or hands- wherever I hadn't put it the night before. Within minutes I'd be asleep again. For a woman who had her children fairly late, and who was rather sick of being awake all night with an active mind this was incredible. Outstanding. I went through two small tubes over a two year period, then bought a slightly bigger jar made locally of yams. The scent is lovely and natural and it absolutely works.

At one point I said to a friend, "Try progesterone when you feel like ripping a family members head off in anger, or crying with depression after a sleepless night. You'll end up happily weeping at kitten photos with the sheer sweetness of life." Maybe I used too much that time (- that did actually happen, they were so cuuuute!). By Jove, it's worth its weight in gold.

2.- A neurosurgeon called Jack Kruse discovered the real reason he was fat, angry and bad-tempered all the time and wasn't food, wasn't supplements, wasn't lack of exercise... it was the lack of natural sunlight that was making him sick.

He spent so much professional time under artificial light that it fried his eyes, which dumped 'morning' chemicals in his body at night time when he sat in front of his blue-light screens which effectively wrecked his entire system.

Seeing the sunrise literally opened his eyes to what he'd been missing for so many years.

A healthy rhythm with the rise and setting of the sun. European Man's old god. (Now replaced by Mammon, god of money...)
He now spends a great deal of time on the beach, is fit, aging gracefully more or less, and has a real issue with the modern medical paradigm... but don't we all!

He's on FB and also has his own blog, including paid members areas.

Highly recommend you set up your screens with f.lux or whatever sort of built-in red-screens with timers are available to you, and/or buy a pair of red lensed glasses for night time too.

This was a huge piece of the health puzzle (sleep, temper, proper relaxation) for me and many others.

I was having horrible anxiety, moodiness, irritability, foggy brain, dizziness, numb toes, etc, which I attributed to menopause. My doctor gave me a blood test which showed I was very low in vitamin B12. As soon as I started receiving B12 shots all of these issues went away.

I know you are using a B12 cream but creams and oral supplements do not work for everyone. In order for your body to process vitamin B12 your body needs a co-factor called intrinsic factor. As we age or if we have conditions like crones or IBS or even if we take acid reducing medications we don't produce enough intrinsic factor for our bodies to use the B12 we are consuming or rubbing on our skin. Many older people need B12 shots.

Maybe ask your doctor to give you a B12 shot and see if it helps. If it doesn't, no harm done. You can't overdose on B12. Extra B12 you just pee it back out.

Hello Marianne,

I understand what you are saying about doctors. Some are not helpful when it comes to things that they are not prescribing for you themselves, but at a bare minimum they need to have the supplements you are taking on file so they will know what to do in case you have a problem.

As far as interfering or reacting to any drugs, your pharmacist may be more knowledgeable than many doctors and are usually willing to go over your list of drugs and supplements to check for contraindications. My doctor asks about all that I am taking other than prescription meds and puts that information in my file.

It is our health that doctors are dealing with so if they are not helpful to your needs, perhaps it is time to consider another one.

Art

I live in Arizona. My grandchildren had nosebleeds a few times a week. I would use a q tip with Vaseline and rub this up in their nose. Everyday then a few times a week, yes they let me, this stopped all of there nose bleeds. Hope this helps

Mary Lou,

Glad to hear your sleep has improved and even gladder to hear you have fared very well with your bout of Covid!

I think what Dr. Neel is doing is waiting until you test negative and then slowly reduce your melatonin dose until you get down to around 5 mg/night.

I believe the reason he is in no rush to take his patients off of melatonin too quickly is because Covid-19 has shown damage to almost all major organs in autopsies and studies suggest that melatonin can repair much of the damage that you can't see and is not readily apparent to the patient or doctor. This damage if left unchecked may cause health issues years down the road. I think the damage has the best chance of being repaired while it is relatively fresh.

Art

I agree. And Brewer's Yeast is high in B vitamins. I used to put it in the dog's food and it repelled mosquitoes from her.

Thanks very much for the super helpful, informative response, Art. You rock! I can do 20mg of Vit C/day. In general, how much amla berry delivers 20mg of Vit C?

And yes, I'm using this for memory. (It's more like mild cognitive impairment, as I'm also doing things like putting tissue I've just used to blow my nose in a drawer rather than the trash can and can get very confused. There's much more to it than that, but I'll spare you!! I'm in conversations with my doc about it, but want to go as natural as possible.)

I'll also explore the probiotics! Thanks for that great info, too! My understanding is that some now think that probiotics only help in the short term and don't colonize long term.

I noted you posted your comment in March. That is a season when allergies might just be starting to be an issue. Allergies can develop (and go away) at any time. The dryness and thing in your eye that won't go away really sound like allergy symptoms to me. I had a "phantom eyelash" in my eye until a friend told me it sounded like allergies. Then I knew what to do. CoQ10 can help & try taking vitamin C ....good vitamin C, not ascorbic acid. Something with acerola & rose hips. Ester-C is OK and readily available. Otherwise order NOW Vitamin C and take several grams a day. There is no way to take too much vitamin C. Your body will flush what it cannot use (which makes is a cure for constipation as well.) And get back to your healthy native Indian diet! It's full of vitamins and healthy fats.

Hey Hari,

I read your reply on DDD, is the degeneration completely gone for you after practicing yoga? Also what practices did your guru teach you for the same as I am a yoga teacher myself .

Thanks 🙏

I have taken a capsule of flaxseed oil every day for some years. It completely stops the dry eye problem. If I go off it for several days I start getting the stinging back from dry eyes. I don't put it directly into my eyes though.