Warren's Update: IH6, Hypothyroid, and Probiotics

Here are updates for everything that I am currently trying. Please note that I mark it all on a calendar and I attempt to be as scientific and consistent as possible.

If you're too lazy to read everything below, the gist is that I have made no progress with my shedding. I still shed tons of hair when showering. My head looks terrible now too, especially compared with 12 months ago. At this rate I will be bald in 6 months. Nonetheless, I encourage you to read this long post as some of it might improve your general health.

Please give me comments if you feel I'm doing anything wrong with the regimens listed below. Also, today I will be adding enzymes and more probiotics to the experimentation cycle.


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IH 6 Update

I have been on a slightly modified version of the IH6 for two months now. Sad to say, this has made no difference to my hair. The reason I modified it was because I have also been chelating mercury for the past 4.5 months and figured I take enough ALA during chelation rounds. Here is my regimen:

• One capsule of BCM-95 Curcumin taken with largest meal only (I stopped this last week because of everyone's warnings here about shedding caused by that particular brand)
  
• Ecklonia cava extract, one 400 milligram capsule with breakfast and dinner
  
• 2 thousand milligrams of Krill Oil with breakfast
  
• 1000 milligrams Acetyl L-Carnitine per meal three times daily
  
• Vitamin D3 + Vitamin K2 with breakfast
  
• 5,000 (5 milligrams) of Biotin with breakfast and dinner
  

Since I am chelating using the Cutler Protocol, 4 out of 7 days in the week I take every 3 hours around the clock:

• 100 mg Bio-Enhanced Na-RALA (or some type of ALA)
  
• 100 mg of DMSA
  
• 5,000 (5 milligrams) of Biotin (only started adding this every 3 hours last week as an experiment).
  

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Hypothyroid Update

For the past 5 weeks I have been taking iodine, Raw Thyroid, and Now Thyroid Energy. My basal temperature is still a consistent 96.8F.

For iodine, at first I was taking Lugol's 5 to 10 drops daily, then switched to Iosal. Three weeks ago I tried painting the iodine on my foot every night before going to bed. I did this for a week, yet no change in basal temp. I have since stopped iodine altogether as I don't think it's helping. I also don't want to risk hurting my thyroid with inorganic iodine. My next goal is to buy some seaweed powder.

For the Raw Thyroid, last week I doubled my dosage. So far no results there either in basal temp.


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Probiotics Update

Last but definitely not least. Over the past 2 years I have spent THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on supplements. This includes both herbs and vitamins. None of them had a significant effect on me, either positive or negative. So my expectations are quite low.

Three weeks ago I started taking Dr. Ohhira's probiotics. Within two days I noticed a change in my body, but figured it could be just psychological. After a week, I was sure these changes were real. Hands down, Dr. Ohhira's is the greatest thing I have ever taken. I also can't believe how fast it worked.

Here are the changes:

• Dry skin gone. I have been plagued with dry skin, especially hands, since I was a teenager (15 years or so ago). When I drive, there are skin flakes all over the wheel and gear shift. My dry hands become worse during this time of the year (fall and winter). I have tried everything over the years to solve this problem. Yet just one week of Dr. Ohhira's and my hands are never dry anymore. In fact, my whole body is super smooth. This in itself is a miracle for me.
  
• Sugar and bread cravings gone. In general, I don't eat a lot of sugar or breads or pastas because I know they are not good for you (not to mention hair), but that has never stopped the craving for sweets, especially fruits and ice-cream. After the first day of probiotics this craving was gone.
  
• Masturbation urge gone. This was a completely unexpected side effect. At the same time I lost the craving for sugar, I lost the craving to masturbate. I know it sounds odd and believe me it was odd. A little more than two months ago I said on this forum that I would try to abstain from masturbating, but I failed miserably. Just like I've failed many times before in my life. A couple of days of probiotics and the urge was gone and has stayed gone. I'm not saying I don't get excited when in the presence of a hot girl or watching porn, or that I have any problems getting it up, I just don't have the urge to ejaculate anymore. It's been three weeks which I think is a near-record for me.
  

The masturbation sobriety raises some interesting questions. Even though I realized it was an addiction before, I thought it was more like a bad habit -- a psychological issue that will-power could overcome. Now I wonder if it's a physical problem. Perhaps like some sort of auto-immune disease where the body keeps feeling the need to get rid of the stuff or release dopamine or whatever it is that makes you feel good. In other words, constant masturbation might be a symptom of a health problem.

Other than what's listed above, the Dr. Ohhira's has not solved any of my other health issues. I have no extra energy as others report and, like I said above, my MAIN GOAL of stopping the hair loss was not helped. I also still have the classic Candida white tongue. The dry skin fix, however, was well worth the money.


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Final Thoughts

After the Dr. Ohhira experience, I continue to be skeptical of all vitamin supplements. Herbs make more sense, but isolating vitamins from the rest of their components can't possibly work as well as the food themselves. If your body is lacking in something, the cure shouldn't need mega-doses of vitamins for many many months to solve the problem. You should notice a change almost immediately like what happened to me with probiotics. This is just my own thoughts however.

Thus, with my hair loss, I believe if I ever find a cure to stop the shedding, the remedy will most likely take effect very quickly. I believe weekly or bi-weekly cycles of experiments should be good enough for testing going forward.

Warren - Probiotics are quite individual and experimentation is very worth while. For example, in my case my body had a preference for Jarrow EPS over Dr. Ohhira's.

If you're going through the Cutler protocol, there's a lot of unpredictable things that can occur. Hopefully the probiotic connection will have you gradually improve.

Have you looked into the wheat/gluten allergy factor? While this has been somewhat of a hot topic on the forum lately, it's especially prevalent in cases of mercury problems.

So far I haven't had any problems with the Cutler protocol even when increasing the dosage to such high amounts. Though I haven't had anything positive come out of it either. I ordered another hair mineral test so I will know soon whether the chelating has actually helped.

Indeed I am a firm believer in the wheat/gluten allergy factor and have been strictly off ALL wheat and gluten for about a month and a half now.

CausticSymmetry wrote:Warren - Probiotics are quite individual and experimentation is very worth while. For example, in my case my body had a preference for Jarrow EPS over Dr. Ohhira's.

If you're going through the Cutler protocol, there's a lot of unpredictable things that can occur. Hopefully the probiotic connection will have you gradually improve.

Have you looked into the wheat/gluten allergy factor? While this has been somewhat of a hot topic on the forum lately, it's especially prevalent in cases of mercury problems.

Warren, thanks a lot for your very detailed update, it is very helpful!

Glad to hear you had some improvement.

Many people improve after supplementation, but they often overlook the GLUTEN issue, probably the most common reason stopping a definitive reversal of problems.

Do take into consideration casein and soy. Corn is another GRAIN to be avoided. They also have the destructive effect on immunity and the integrity of the intestines. More info on this subject: http://www.dogtorj.net/index.html

I just received my strains of probiotics and yogurt maker. Will keep all of you interested updated on my progress.

BTW, I agree with you Warren.

I just wont take any synthetic vitamins any more. I have withnessed the effectiveness of real whole food like yeast in the past with great results, silly me for "forgetting". Real food fills many gaps in a safe and BALANCED (damn it takes time to accept/understand it, but seems that the key to everything is balance) manner unlike synthetic crap. I would only justifice the use of sinlge high dose vitamins or minerals for specific conditions, for example niacinamide when needed. This is not a matter of spirituality, enlightment or dogma, this is something I've learned trough experimentation with myself.

I will make my own superfood, like juicing and yogurt. There are therapeutic benefits from these two! You won't believe until you try them.

LittleFighter - This is part of the reason why I only use Brewer's yeast for my B-complex. Synthetic isolates are missing critical pieces.

Candida (if you have it) will not go overnight - I have been on Kefir since March and only lately (last 2 months) that my tongue has begin to clear up - it is still not totally pink, but 90%+ it is clear, I still have a little bit of thrush at the very back of my tongue - and I am hoping that with continued use it will take care of it.

LittleFighter - Thanks.

lund - Has beating the candida helped with hair loss at all?

Another change from probiotics I forgot to write about was weight gain. For the first time in many years I finally started gaining weight UNIFORMLY throughout my body. Before I would only gain weight on the belly. I noticed this change about a week after starting probiotics. My arms and legs are definitely a lot bigger now. However, read this with a grain of salt as it might also be a coincidence because I have increased my carb intake over the past month significantly (almost all rice) and it is possible the effects of that started at the same time as taking probiotics.

I have no regrowth - trying to stabilize the loss, which is in good check. I consider the regimen here as part of the overall cleanup, even if it does not give me back my hair - I know I am trying to get on the right path.

Probiotics - I have nothing to complain about, it is free (home made kefir), has helped remove my thrush (most of it) on the tongue. I have lost some decent belly fat - I have not caught any flu and other diseases in the last year or so. I have better bowel movements. I was beginning to have some minor gas issues (burping, etc) - that's gone.

So all in all - this is a keeper, I consider it part of the right diet and as long as it does not bother me, I will continue to take it.

Right now - I am trying to finf out if Thyroid / hormones are playing a role in my situation. Awaiting blood results......I will most likely be going on Armor, so I want to rule out if Thyroids are playing a role for me or not. As I am working with a doc - I have to wait for the blood work results to factor in...

I started having gray hair and losing it at around when I was 18 - very stressful time for me then (school, work, etc) - so my next mode of action is to make sure thyroid and adrenals are in good order (back to the basics approach). Before trying anything else at this stage...

Hypothyroid Update

For the past 5 weeks I have been taking iodine, Raw Thyroid, and Now Thyroid Energy. My basal temperature is still a consistent 96.8F.

For iodine, at first I was taking Lugol's 5 to 10 drops daily, then switched to Iosal. Three weeks ago I tried painting the iodine on my foot every night before going to bed. I did this for a week, yet no change in basal temp. I have since stopped iodine altogether as I don't think it's helping. I also don't want to risk hurting my thyroid with inorganic iodine. My next goal is to buy some seaweed powder.

For the Raw Thyroid, last week I doubled my dosage. So far no results there either in basal temp.

If Iodine alone is not working for you I highly suggest adding Zinc & Selenium. Make sure that it is selenomethionine for the selenium. Most pills are 200 mcg.

Thanks hapyman. I left out a few things in my post. I was indeed taking Selenium (selenomethionine) along with the iodine.

hapyman wrote:
If Iodine alone is not working for you I highly suggest adding Zinc & Selenium. Make sure that it is selenomethionine for the selenium. Most pills are 200 mcg.

Also note that an iodine deficiency may take some time to be remedied. I forget where it was posted (JDP?) but it could take upwards of 12 months to remedy a bad deficiency. Personally I noticed a increase in energy immediately but it took around 5-8 months to begin noticing differences in body temperature. While it is still not completely better my hands and feet do not get nearly as cold as they used to and some times not at all. Now when I touch my arms and hands, even when in a colder setting, they seem to be radiating heat instead of feeling like touching a dead person.

That's great to hear hapyman.

There are a bunch of people who report great results with Iodine and it's companion nutrients at curezone.

Here is a really good testimonial about Iodine.

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"In November I will have been on Iodine for 2 years.

My regimen has developed over time, starting with just Iodine and slowly building toward what I do now.

I didn't start with mega doses of Vitamin C until about a year ago. Nor selenium.

Now, I will say that I am not in perfect health. Iodine is no magic cure, neither are its companion nutrients.

However, the difference between who I was up until 2007 and the person I am now is astronomical. I still have a little digestive problems, but my hypoglycemia is non existent at this point. I get hungry more often, especially during periods of stress where I still must eat, but it's not the same thing as low blood sugar. I just need more fuel, and my metabolism is also much faster than it used to be.

I've never liked the way I look as a person. Now some of this may have to do with my maturing as a person and becoming quite spiritual over the last 2 years, however, I love the way I look now. I'm not perfect, I have no six pack and am still quite hairy...but even I can admit that I glow now. My face especially. It radiates good health. It's bright and shiny in a way I can't really quantify. It doesn't droop or sag the way it did 4 years ago.

Just have to update everyone. Thank god I found this forum and Iodine and then consequently branched out to other regimens in conjunction with the lugol's. If not I would be dead today.

By the way, my liver was also suffering a few years ago. I had serious anger/emotional issues. When something would happen to set me off I would get very angry and intense and the experience/feeling would never quite resolve itself. I "held it in".

Today when something like that occurs I get the same anger/emotional intensity I used to and then 3-4 minutes later it's completely gone and I feel like the experience is in the past.

I know for a fact it's the job of the liver to remove the hormones that are released when emotions are felt. I attribute this new ability to a healthier liver. I believe it is filtering my blood and removing hormones the way it was meant to now.

I believe Iodine and Vitamin C are primarily responsible for this. Probably my whole regimen really.

I was a hardcore alcoholic back in the day and really did alot of damage to not only my liver, but my whole body. I believe Iodine can help regenerate the liver, even after scar tissue has set in. I can't prove that, but it's an intuition I have."

http://www.curezone.com/forums/am.asp?i=1485446

I believe Iodine and Vitamin C are primarily responsible for this. Probably my whole regimen really.

I feel very similar to what they guy said. I found that I need about 4-5 grams of Vitamin C a day to feel like I am functioning more normal. Perhaps this can be reduced later but for right now the combination of Vit C, Iodine, Selenium, Zinc & Magnesium seem to be getting the job done. Slowly but surely.

The more I read about thyroids the more it opens up the understanding. Thyroids have a hard dependency on Adrenals - if you fix Thyroids, you must fix adrenals as well (if it is sub par or deficient). I have been stating that for some time now, at least that what my reading is telling me.

If your throids get back to producing t3, cortisol is needed to shuttle these to the cells and that comes from Adrenals. So you may be getting the t3 up but if your cortisol is down, you will not see the benefits. Most of the time, by the time you figure out you are hypothyroid, your adrenals have been working hard for years and are already by now underperforming and need to be resuscitated.

So whenever you worry about thyroids, you should include the adrenal protocol as well. Do the 4x saliva test, find out what is your Cortisol levels are - get HC (for very deficient), let the adrenal recover/rest and slowly wean away from it over time.

Curezone is diehard iodine fans - certainly one great place to be. However, I have found that in some cases it may be prudent to try a little bit more focused approach using natural and synthetic products to jump start things and then reduce the dependency over time. These guys here are truly using labs to do assess, no guess work...

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