5 ms·

I had CFS and I believe it is almost always physical. It’s hard to tell because it feels mental. I saw a ton of different Drs and endocrinologists who all told

by mattmol 11y ago

I had CFS and I believe it is almost always physical. It’s hard to tell because it feels mental. I saw a ton of different Drs and endocrinologists who all told me I was physically fine and it was mental. I looked healthy, I felt depressed. It significantly impacted my life. After many years of self experimentation and internet reading here is what made sense for me. I had high T4, low T3, and low cortisol levels. My working theory is subclinical hypothyroidism and adrenal fatigue. The theory for the cause is long term high levels of stress (tech startup) and imbalanced microbiota. I treat it with natural desiccated thyroid (edit: not compacted thyroid), licorice root, light therapy, blue blockers, strict sleep schedule, quit coffee, regular exercise, paleo diet, probiotics, and fermented food. The thyroid meds made the biggest and most immediate difference, it was like switching a light back on. I’ve quickly turned into a hippy and I’ve never felt better. Thank you internet!

AnimalMuppet 11y ago
Could you define for me "compacted thyroid" and "blue blockers"? I'm not familiar with those terms. (My wife has CFS.)
- betenoire 11y ago
  "blue blockers" probably refers to those sunglasses that filter out blue light
- mattmol 11y ago
  Sorry, I meant natural desiccated thyroid. I did mean the blue light blockers. You can get them for $10 from Amazon. I went from mild insomniac to sleeping like a baby.
  - AnimalMuppet 11y ago
    Do you wear the blue blockers while you sleep, or during the day?
cpncrunch 11y ago
It's really hard to tell just from symptoms whether it is mental or physical. And from your explanation, it sounds like you're saying it was from stress (i.e. mental), but caused physical effects (reduced cortisol, etc). It's well known that stress causes these effects. I'm not sure it's helpful calling it either physical or mental. Psychosomatic is the correct term, but it is widely misunderstood (most people think it means "imaginary"). Perhaps functional is the best term to use. As for treatment: what exactly is compacted thyroid, and how would it help with cortisol? The low cortisol in chronic stress is central in nature (due to changes in the brain), so how would any of your treatments change your brain? Bear in mind that psychiatric interventions and have been proven to treat low cortisol, so it could just be the lifestyle changes you made that resulted in improvement.
- mattmol 11y ago
  I think you're right, psychosomatic is a better way to think about it. They are intrinsically linked. I also think microbiota plays a big part, which would be physical. Although apparently some research suggests the brain does have an effect on microbiota. I think from a treatment point of view the physical is often discounted far too much. I went through 6 years of lifestyle changes and before trying the thyroid meds.
  - cpncrunch 11y ago
    There are a few ways the brain has been proven to affect the gut: stress causes increase in gut motility, and changes in bacteria. I don't think there's much evidence of the gut bacteria affecting the brain, except in the case of an ongoing infection. I'm curious which lifestyle changes you made. The changes that seem to help with CFS and low cortisol involve increasing activity, not just reducing stress.
- DanBC 11y ago
  > Psychosomatic Somatoform or somatic symptom disorder is newer and preferred, because of the stigma perpetuated by people saying things like "it's not all in my head". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_symptom_disorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_symptom_disorder > exactly is compacted thyroid There's a bunch of people who don't meet the clinical threshold for inactive thyroid, but who think that thyroid medication would help them. They either take thyroxine, or they take thyroid extract. In England there are a couple of quack doctors who make their living selling nutrient supplements and thyroid extracts to private patients. (EG Dr Sarah Myhill, who was ordered by the GMC to fix her website)

by mattmol 11y ago

AnimalMuppet 11y ago

Could you define for me "compacted thyroid" and "blue blockers"? I'm not familiar with those terms. (My wife has CFS.)

betenoire 11y ago
"blue blockers" probably refers to those sunglasses that filter out blue light
mattmol 11y ago
Sorry, I meant natural desiccated thyroid. I did mean the blue light blockers. You can get them for $10 from Amazon. I went from mild insomniac to sleeping like a baby.
- AnimalMuppet 11y ago
  Do you wear the blue blockers while you sleep, or during the day?

cpncrunch 11y ago

It's really hard to tell just from symptoms whether it is mental or physical. And from your explanation, it sounds like you're saying it was from stress (i.e. mental), but caused physical effects (reduced cortisol, etc). It's well known that stress causes these effects. I'm not sure it's helpful calling it either physical or mental. Psychosomatic is the correct term, but it is widely misunderstood (most people think it means "imaginary"). Perhaps functional is the best term to use. As for treatment: what exactly is compacted thyroid, and how would it help with cortisol? The low cortisol in chronic stress is central in nature (due to changes in the brain), so how would any of your treatments change your brain? Bear in mind that psychiatric interventions and have been proven to treat low cortisol, so it could just be the lifestyle changes you made that resulted in improvement.

mattmol 11y ago
I think you're right, psychosomatic is a better way to think about it. They are intrinsically linked. I also think microbiota plays a big part, which would be physical. Although apparently some research suggests the brain does have an effect on microbiota. I think from a treatment point of view the physical is often discounted far too much. I went through 6 years of lifestyle changes and before trying the thyroid meds.
- cpncrunch 11y ago
  There are a few ways the brain has been proven to affect the gut: stress causes increase in gut motility, and changes in bacteria. I don't think there's much evidence of the gut bacteria affecting the brain, except in the case of an ongoing infection. I'm curious which lifestyle changes you made. The changes that seem to help with CFS and low cortisol involve increasing activity, not just reducing stress.
DanBC 11y ago
> Psychosomatic Somatoform or somatic symptom disorder is newer and preferred, because of the stigma perpetuated by people saying things like "it's not all in my head". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_symptom_disorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_symptom_disorder > exactly is compacted thyroid There's a bunch of people who don't meet the clinical threshold for inactive thyroid, but who think that thyroid medication would help them. They either take thyroxine, or they take thyroid extract. In England there are a couple of quack doctors who make their living selling nutrient supplements and thyroid extracts to private patients. (EG Dr Sarah Myhill, who was ordered by the GMC to fix her website)