Iodine shortened the duration and intensity of my last migraine

This post was drafted a few days ago.  I'm a little behind with everything and so will churn out a few in quick succession, to catch up, but they have to be in chronological order...

Please note:  when I refer to Salt Tonic, I'm only ever talking about quarter teaspoon of Sea Salt, taken with one full glass of water.  Total Sea Salt consumption in any one day should reach 1 full teaspoon only.  Also, when I refer to Iodine, I'm only ever talking about Sea Kelp tablets, which are 15mg each of Iodine. 

Please also note:  I am in the UK and here we are advised not to take Iodine with Thyroid medication.  I understand this is different to the advice given elsewhere in the world.  In my personal view, if you can resuscitate your Thyroid gland with the help of Iodine and Tyrosine, then you should try and do this, with your physician's knowledge and assistance.  Levothyroxine has been shown to result in Osteoporosis, even at correct doses!

I'm not certain yet, but I have a feeling that the underlying cause of my migraines was a result of Iodine Deficiency.  The chain reaction was possibly something like this: iodine deficiency, in turn led to adrenal insufficiency, in turn led to sodium deficiency, led to electrolyte compromise which resulted in periodic crises (e.g. migraine), triggered by low progesterone and sharp decline in  hormonal output by the ovaries.  

Been taking iodine now for about a week.

Yesterday I had my first anticipated 'oestrogen dominant' migraine, which makes it 11 days since my last.

Migraine

I call it a 'migraine' but really it didn't reach that level. There was no nausea, no diarrhoea and no ferocious stabbing from one side of my head.

It was much more of an all over headache, with some neck pain.

No Polyuria
Crucially, there was no polyuria, which tells me my Adrenals could handle it.  This is a measure of how much stronger they are, and as a result, how much my overall health has improved.  I put this improvement down to using the Salt Tonic.  

There was no real need for analgesics, maybe for half an hour I thought shall I or shan't I take some paracetamol, but I didn't have to in the end.  

Remember, I've resisted painkillers throughout my adrenal crisis because I learnt the hard way a few years ago that they only add to the strain on your system and fool you into thinking your have more strength than you actually do.

Salt Tonic has been my saviour in the adrenal crisis - not paracetamol!  

Peppermint to quell the blood flow to the head

I managed to control the blood flow to my head by using Vicks Vapo Rub cream applied to my top lip and inside my nostrils - not too far in!

It actually says on the tub "Do not insert into nostrils" but I didn't care, I needed a powerful Vasoconstrictor, and it did the trick.  My right nostril seems to be really involved in my migraines and so it was particularly comforting to have mint inside that opening of that passageway.  

I first noticed that mint had a calming effect on my headaches, when I inhaled orally the minty toothpaste whilst brushing my teeth. 

Also, I had a Mojito on a cruise about an hour after a bad migraine a couple of years back, and it put paid to that little sucker, both abdominally and nasally.   

I understand Peppermint Oil is also a VERY powerful Vasoconstrictor.  I might get some soon, because Vicks looks really weird if you have to meet people.

I reapplied the Vicks every 2 hours.

Usually Vicks applied in this way would feel pretty uncomfortable, so it proves just how altered my autonomic nervous response was.  

Unbelievably for me, I managed to function through the headache and even entertained thoughts of being migraine-free one day, soon, maybe by the end of this year?  

But you know, if that doesnt happen, and all my future headaches only reach the magnitude of this last one, I think I can live with that.  I think I can travel too.  

Fluid Intake

When I did take some fluid, it was 'Salt Tonic'.  Before I learned that my migraines were as a direct result of adrenal depletion and its interaction with Oestrogen dominance, I used to make the BIG MISTAKE of drinking too much plain water during a headache.  I now realise that this only makes an 'electrolyte crisis' worse, much worse, as this means you dissolve and separate further the vital ions that are trying to bump together and help you have normal cellular reactions.  Sodium was the missing link in how my body coped with these crises.  

Comorbidity of Sodium Deficiency Addressed
I'm realising now for the first time how a 'low salt diet' probably made my health a lot worse, because I was inadvertently missing out on the need for 'pure sodium', that's derived from the precious mineral that's essential to all life.   

Low sodium reading is part of Hypothyroidism and Adrenal Insufficiency and if referred to as: Hyponatremia.  It can present with various complications, such as disturbed heart rate and severe headache.  In my opinion, I should have been warned to keep up Sodium levels by my doctor when I presented with the low Cortisole reading that proved I was Adrenally Fatigued.  The fact that we're simply packed off home and told to 'take it easy' is just a load of tosh!  I'm beginning to wonder if my migraines were really just an awful warning to me to look further into the underlying cause of my lack of homeostasis?

We are constantly warned against "the harmful effects of salt", but what they never fully explain or make perfectly clear, is that 'SODIUM' and 'table salt' are totally different, biologically.  

Table Salt is actually (hate to say it) poisoning us, because its so chemically denatured due to its processing.  Its essentially rendered something far removed from anything our body needs, and is basically excreted without being utilised.  Plus it has masses of Aluminium, which is really bad for us and represents the accumulation of yet another heavy metal in our brains. 

In the UK, Table Salt doesn't even include Iodine, because its not mandatory here.  So, if you think you're getting Iodine that way, think again.  (I'm going to be doing a big post on Iodine soon, btw).   

While Sodium proper, which is in fact a distinct silvery-white (good) soft metal, is highly reactive, dissolves easily, and is found in abundance in the oceans.  

This PURE sodium is vital to all biology, especially in regulating blood volume, osmotic equilibrium and ph (see Wikipedia).  

Crucially for me, I've learnt that 'Pure (sea salt) Sodium' will heal a brain that has been subjected to massive amounts of histamine.  Which is what happened to me during all those horrendous migraines, but Table salt will never ever do that magical healing thing!       

Sea Salt Tonic seems to work wonders for me and during this particular headache episode, it was only after the third glass and 4 1/2 hours later, it finally disappeared.

Salt Tonics have been around for centuries and of course we all know Saline Solution can heal a myriad of complaints, but who would have guessed that ingesting sodium could do me so much good?  

The Sea Salt I use is fortified with potassium, calcium and magnesium.  It has a greyish colour, is hand harvested from the Atlantic using methods the Romans used.  It's organic and slightly damp.  I have mashed a load of it up with my pestle and mortar and poured it into a little pot for use during cooking, as when you buy it, its really does need to be ground down.  For Salt Tonic though, its possibly better taken as tiny beads or crystals, as you can swallow them quickly, also the quantity of ground Sea Salt is obviously greater per quarter teaspoon than if the crystals were intact.  

Duration of this headache was cut down to 4 1/2 hours

With all of these things in place, I registered that my migraines have reduced from 72 hours, down to about 4 1/2 hours.  

This didn't happen at all once and if you read back you can see its happened mainly over the last 3 months.  But the biggest improvement happened after I started Salt Tonics.

Oestrogen Dominance and headaches

I should never have been prescribed HRT because of my headaches.  

The quack should have made basic enquiries of me before he started scribbling on his little pad. 

But of course, all they have time to ask you is, if there is breast cancer in your family?  

I thought I would get more time with a private doctor, but instead of a measly 7 minutes, he magnanimously gave AN ENTIRE 10 MINUTES!

I answered 'yes' to the breast cancer in the family question, my mother had it, as a result of taking HRT for 15 years!  

Even though I said that to him, he still insisted that my emotional disturbance would be corrected with HRT and if I didn't take it, I would probably kill myself. He added it was 'safer now'.  (I was too upset at that time to think straight, but what I should have told him was my mother has only just stopped taking it in the last 5 years!).  

I remembered my mother benefitted from taking it, so I thought I would too. 

I read recently a woman describe her experience with HRT as "feeling like she was due to have a period the whole time she was on it, kind of bloated and irritable".  

I can completely relate to that.  When I look back at photographs of myself taken during those awful 17 months, I don't recognise myself.  I looked like a fat old woman, with a colourless face, a swollen neck and half-closed eyes. 

(The fat has been shed by coming off HRT and with the help of Salt Tonics and Iodine.  The swollen neck has been altered immensely by Iodine.  The half-closed eyes was a classic symptom of Adrenal Fatigue and that's been helped by Salt Tonic, Iodine and Pantothenic Acid, Riboflavin and Liquorice Root.  My complexion has been dramatically improved by Salt Tonic, Iodine and DMAE, DHEA and L-Carnotine.)

Anxiety and Thyroid Disturbance/Instability

Anxiety has been a problem of mine for a very long time, 15 years to be precise.  Persistent anxiety coupled with exhaustion should never be ignored, these are the two key features of Adrenal depletion.

I've always thought that anxiety is merely a neurosis and basically its about your personality and your thoughts and experiences, not about things going wrong in your body and your sensitivity to hormonal imbalaces like excessive adrenaline or cortisol, reduced serotonin, overproduction of oestrogen etc.

Low Progesterone

It seems to me you can cruise along with your own particular bag of tricks for years, until Progesterone production gets a kick in the teeth.  Once Progesterone is no longer reporting for duty, you can expect things to really start to go downhill. 

Now I've come to realise the hard way, that persistent perennial anxiety is actually the result of endocrinal problems.  Anger is also the result of that.  Anger for anger's sake: bad moods, irritability, hatred, bad temper, dark thoughts.

Truman Capote once said "My head is a dangerous neighbourhood at times".  I can relate to that!

Why am I saying all of this?  Because since taking Iodine, I've noticed I'm no longer anxious, either about anticipated migraines or anything else for that matter.

Levothyroxine didn't end the anxiety, HRT didn't for sure.  Nothing touched it except something so basic and ancient and cheap called SEAWEED EXTRACT!

This confirms to me several things:

1.  It was right and proper for me to come off synthetic thyroid hormone.

2.  Anxiety is often reported by people suffering with thyroid instability.

3.  My thyroid is obviously now being given what it needs, and my pain has ended.

Tyrosine

Last time I mentioned that I'm also taking L-Tyrosine. Tyrosine and Iodine are essential to the Thyroid Gland, in order that they can produce T3 and T4.

Natural Tyrosine in our bodies is responsible, in a large part, for our 'motivation' mechanism.  If you have enough Tyrosine, you have motivation to do things.  Its a simple biological feedback loop. 

5-HTP

If you think about Thyroid dysfunction, patients always report a lack of motivation as one of their major symptoms.  I think I said a while back, 5-HTP improved my mood, but it had not addressed my lack of energy/motivation.

Well, thankfully Tyrosine has.  So I have to go now - lol!

End of the Cycle - no migraine but terrible mood swings

Unfortunately, I ended-up having an abysmal Christmas.  It was probably the worst ever.

Because I stopped taking HRT last month, I went past the point where it should have happened and continued into my next pack.  I could feel a 'pressure' building up, but put it all down to the Christmas rush. 

I managed to get hold of a very helpful essay, which proved key in helping me in the lead up to my little 'crisis' - I'll talk more about that book another time - plus I kept taking 2 Rhodiola Rosea, which helped immensely and even family members noticed a definite improvement, plus I'm taking the 350mg of Magnesium daily, as mentioned earlier.  

I noticed I was getting pretty bloated and started to crave mature cheese, but resisted.  My one coffee a day, in the morning, is quite weak and doesn't really taste of coffee any more, so diet-wise, I felt I was coping well.  

What was particularly great this menses, was that it arrived  without a dreaded migraine!  

In fact, it presented as it used to when I was a lot younger, in that I felt really tired, kind of weird, with a slight sensation of sensitivity at the side of my head, but nothing specific, just a general feeling of needing to take it easy for a couple of hours - but not getting the chance.

The tiredness increased, to the point that it made me irritable and I was disappointed in myself that simple tasks were taking me a long time.  I plodded on and forgave myself by saying 'look, you didn't do this and you didn't do that, but you're migraine-free (so far) and you're not having to lie down!'

This continued for quite a few days, much longer than usual and I honestly thought I would miss my menses this month?   

Then I encountered an exhausting 'unforeseen circumstance'.  I couldn't park the car in the supermarket car park so had to carry about 10 bags of food for a quarter of a mile in incremental short trips.  It was pouring with rain and my coat was soaked through.  I came home and with all the extra work for Christmas, I couldn't really manage to sit down for any significant time until about 10.30pm that night.  I noticed my back was beginning to really ache after about 10 hours of being non-stop on my feet!

The next day I had all the cooking to do.   My mood was still OK and I actually looked forward to creating all the wonderful dishes and smells for the feast day.  

Then, while stirring one of the concoctions at around 3pm, I remember I had a very clear thought that everything was against me and I was a miserable little person with little hope of redeeming myself!  

This was odd, but this is what happens when my brain chemicals change dramatically due to my periods.  Really weird things pop into my head and little worries become HUGE issues that make me very, very disturbed!

This diary is supposed to be about my migraines, but the more I write the more I realise that my PMT problems go hand-in-hand with all that disturbance.  

My lifelong problem with extreme PMT, which really has been hell to live with, is characterised by an overwhelming feeling or belief that I'm 'persecuted and under-valued, everyone is laughing at me and I'm going to fail at everything and die without any money, miserable, forgotten and ashamed, in a dark corner somewhere, dressed in filthy rags??!!??!!  

To put it another way, any feelings of generalised anxiety, become much more extreme and take the shape of overwhelming emotional pressure and distress.  This is so strange, because I'm a person that can usually think quite clearly and is very reasonable and always formulates 'B' plans and takes very little risks.  

These clear, but extremely threatening thoughts, always start off as slight niggles, that gradually build up, until in the end my negative thoughts speed up dramatically and become louder and LOUDER!

I don't know why I think like this, its like someone else inhabits my body for a few days each month and makes me say things that I bitterly regret afterwards?

This is accompanied by my speaking very fast indeed and my poor DH often says, "you speak faster than I can think!".  

This time however, it all happened with the pressure of Christmas on top of me, so it was just AWFUL, really, really awful.  

I remember at one point I ran up the stairs because among other things, the roast potatoes were not turning out as I had hoped and I'd undercooked the swede.  When I got upstairs I slammed the door, starting swearing to myself about being surrounded by outright bastards everywhere and looked out of the window and remembered all the things I hadn't got round to doing e.g. Christmas was FAR from perfect.  Suddenly remembered I hadn't bought any lemons and so the rice salad I'd planned for that evening would be a TOTAL failure!  My anger with myself became so completely overpowering that I reached the point that the only solution I had for such a miserable attempt at festive cheer was to kill myself.  

This now sounds very over-the-top and like a complete joke and I can see how totally stupid that episode was, but honestly, my thoughts were out of control!  

I returned to the kitchen, which was boiling hot and the timer was screaming at me.  I managed to sort out the food, cleared some space, ate something, paced up and down.  

Then my poor dear unsuspecting husband walks in holding a completely inoffensive object.  I take one look at him and literally hurl him across the kitchen and threaten that I will push him off a cliff!  (We don't live anywhere near cliffs but I think he got the point!)

That's when all my feelings totally finish me off and I run upstairs again and start crying profusely, in fact I was wailing.  He then comes up the stairs and says through the closed door in quite a soft voice: "you'll feel better later, when you get your period".

I then lurch forward and suddenly open the door, look at his gentle face and get confused?  I walk up and down a bit more and hiss at him: "You're going to ruin my life, my parents will laugh at me, I'm going to die starving and filthy under an arch, everyone hates me, and I want you to pack a bag and leave NOW!"

He then announces that he'll go out and buy some petrol instead.  I then add he should never come back.  

Meanwhile the potatoes are finally looking like they should, the gravy has turned out very well and all the other vegetables are quite successful.  

Husband returns, incredibly we manage to have a really nice Christmas lunch and stuff ourselves with sherry and chocolates afterwards, and watch Ben Hur.  Then later, while I tidy up the kitchen, my head starts spinning again, my back starts to seize up but I continue with my tasks and decide to deal with the recycling.  

I went up to bed eventually, and slept OK.  

My cycle ended during the night - Thank God and all the celestial beings!!

When I got up, my back had totally seized up and I had to crawl to the bathroom.  I managed to pull myself up and noticed my legs were numb.  I went downstairs, had breakfast and remembered all the horrible things I had said the day before and cringed.  It was like a monster had possessed me, I'd said hateful things, things that make NO SENSE now, but cannot be taken back.  

I spend the rest of the day apologising and making very elaborate dishes to compensate for such terrible behaviour and end-up even more tired, but Thankfully, still with no migraine!