Chapter 10: The Healing Process of Inflammation
The day of my ten month visit had arrived. I was curious to see how my recent detox would affect my lab values. Would it make a difference? Would my doctor be able to tell what I had done? Would she be amazed at my progress? Or was I just kidding myself?
As it turns out, my thyroid levels had dropped significantly and my platelets had risen to double their usual level. My doctor did not tell me about my elevated platelet count at the time. I only know because I requested a copy of all of my lab work after our relationship ended. And after reviewing my labs, what I firmly believe is that the doubled platelet count was an indication of the severe inflammation my body was experiencing at the time of the detox. I believe this because my final lab values, the ones that I would get at my next and final visit, were seen to drop immediately back down to my usual levels. So….the detox had indeed been reflected in my lab work. I just wish I had known it at the time.
Before my visit I was also anxious to have her palpate my thyroid. She had previously told me during several visits that she could feel the nodules. Now, after detox, I wanted to know if anything had changed or, hopefully, gotten smaller. In fact, I was so anxious to see results that prior to my visit I was studying how to palpate it myself. As it turns out, this is rather difficult to do alone. But I tried.
So, here’s how my ten month visit went:
The medical assistant took my vitals. Blood pressure and pulse were perfect, and I had gained another pound. My doctor came into the room, paperwork in hand, said hello, and informed me that my “levels looked good”. Then she began her assessment. She had me hold out my hands - no shaking. She listened to my heart - sounded good. Then she palpated my thyroid. Oh boy…here we go. She applied pressure with one gloved hand and ran it down the right side of my neck, top to bottom - twice. She turned away and said nothing.
I asked anxiously, “So how does it feel?”
She replied, distracted by paperwork, “Everything seems good.” That answer was not good enough for me.
So I asked again, “No….how does it feel?”
She turned to look at me, tilted her head to the side like a puppy, gave a little shrug of her shoulders, raised her eyebrows slightly, and said with a slight inflection of surprise, “It feels flat.”
Ha! I knew it! I knew I hadn’t put myself through ten days of absolute misery for nothing! I knew it in my gut and all the way down to my bones. Oh happy day! Two more months of this nonsense to go and I was done.
She told me to continue for the next two months on the methimazole, and she gave me the date to stop taking it. She was insisting that I take my current dose up until the last day. I again proposed the idea of tapering off, and she said that’s not what should be done. Little did she know that tapering off was exactly what I planned to do, especially since I had just gotten ten months worth of methimazole out of my system. I did not want to start loading myself up again. My plan was to begin tapering off and staying on a maintenance dose of the Essiac to assist in removing it from my liver. She also told me to start thinking about what I wanted to do at the end of my treatment. It made me a laugh a little when she said this. I knew precisely what I wanted to do at the end of my treatment….take care of myself on my own terms.
Life Lesson #10 - Question everything. Satisfy your need to know.
Graves Disease Note #10 - Inflammation is the body’s attempt at self protection. The goal of inflammation is to remove harmful, damaged cells, things that are irritating to your systems, and all causes of disease. There are two types of inflammation, acute and chronic. The word acute means something is short lived, as opposed to chronic which means ongoing. Acute inflammation is part of the body’s immune response that shows the body is trying to heal itself. It starts very quickly and is severe. During this response there is a release of platelets. At the end of an acute inflammatory response there is a lowering back down of the platelet count.
An elevated platelet count can be reactive, or secondary, to inflammation and does not necessarily signal a clinical problem. But what are these platelets reacting to? They are reacting to something called cytokines. Cytokines are proteins produced by white blood cells. Most people are aware of the function of white blood cells - to fight infection. They are part of our immune system. These cytokines that are produced by white blood cells provide the signals that regulate the immunological aspects of cell function during both inflammation and specific immune response. They act by changing the cells that produce them and altering other cells close to them, and a few affect cells systemically.
Common sense would dictate that if someone has an autoimmune disorder, the last thing you would want to do is put stress on an already dysfunctional system. But I wanted a clean slate. I wanted my body to be able to function without being impeded by toxic substances, however that would turn out. I wanted my liver and my kidneys to be able to rid my body of the things that I believed were causing me harm. I found the best product for me, and I began my detox.
Applied to a detoxification process for myself with an autoimmune disorder, here’s the clinical picture:
I have an autoimmune disorder. That means my body has learned to attack itself. It cannot recognize the difference between a foreign invader and my own cells. It is considered a chronic condition. I am considered to have an ongoing, dysfunctional immune system.
I then go through a detoxification process whereby toxic substances are being driven out of my body - all of my tissues, organs, et cetera. My immune system then reacts to this flood of circulating toxins waiting to be filtered and eliminated through my liver and kidneys, which themselves have been overloaded with foreign substances and are not functioning well. My white blood cells then react to these foreign invaders. They begin producing their cytokine proteins. The cytokines regulate white cell function during inflammation and the immune response that is beginning to happen. The platelets then react to these cytokines during the inflammatory response. Hence, an elevated platelet count. The inflammation in my body is evidenced by the pain I experienced, my lack of mobility, and the heat of my fever. I end up spending ten days in bed. An elevated platelet count shows up on my lab work, even after the symptoms of my detox have disappeared. When the acute inflammatory response is resolved and my body has done all it needs to do, the platelet count drops back down. Interestingly, there was no rise in white blood cell count, which would indicate disease. There was only a rise in platelets, indicating a reaction to inflammation.
Most important to remember is that inflammation is part of the healing process.
- Dorian A., RN, CHLC
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