Well, I have had quite the journey this summer. I heard of a physician who specializes in nutritional medicine earlier this summer. I was told he was very thorough in his examinations. After my “near death” experience last year with a ruptured appendix, I decided mainstream docs were not in my best interest so I decided to give him a try.

My initial exam was over one hour long and he found my heart rate was extremely low, 49 bpm, and my electrocardiogram showed an interesting pattern only found in trained athletes (he is a winter biathlete). I told him my athletic career was more of soccer mom and not trained athlete. With that he decided to do a symptoms test of hypothyroid symptoms. I had no Achilles tendon reflex, my skin was dry and flaky and I had over 20 signs of low thyroid. We had a discussion on blood tests, and I said I had been tested numerous times for thyroid and every time everything came back normal. He said thyroid blood tests were a shot in the wind, but he still tested them and he relied more on physical symptoms.

He indicated that my appendix was a sure sign of lack of Vitamin A which is also a sign that somehow the thyroid hormones were not getting the job done. Vitamin A needs thyroid hormone to be active in the immune system.

We also spoke about the precursors of Thyroid Hormone:

Iodine + Tyrosine = Thyroid Hormone

I have a huge craving for salt which is iodized in Canada and I had been taking Tyrosine supplements. The doctor sent me home with Iodine and instructions to take my armpit temperature during the first 2 days of my cycle…more to follow.