checking temps achilles heal , pulse etc?

[ainslie]

I have read Dr Peatfields book and he was in favour of checking temps, heart rate, achilles heal etc as opposed to blood tests or certainly in addition to. His view was its what is in the cells that is important not the blood, seems reasonable?

I wonder about for example the temps, I found thyroid increases made little difference to my temps about 15 years ago but wondered about trying it again, is there any up to date views on how to do it and its accuracy.?

Pulse is a tricky one , what is the pulse supposed to be, for example a athlete may have optimal thyroid levels but a very low pulsedue to fitness, mine can be 46, on the other hand a very unfit person may not have optimal thyroid levels but a much higher pulse due to lack of fitness or other issues, so I wonder how good a test of thyroid that is in reality.

Do we still use achilles heal reactions?

[healthkiwi]

As much as anything I think temperature and pulse reading are useful as a personal guide to my own metabolic status, therefore the readings are relative (to me) not absolute. For example , my body temperature never seems to get anywhere near 37. But if it drops below 36 consistently then I'm probably undermedicated, even if I havent registered that I'm cold. And if it's below 35 I'm feeling poorly.

And before I ever knew I had thyroid problems my pulse could be as low as 46, and was usually around 50-low50s. And no, I bear no resemblance to an athlete 😂 Once I was on thyroid medication, and feeling warm, my pulse has gone up considerably, in the 60s or even the 70s.

It's all about self-monitoring, to know your best and stay in the 'sweet spot'.

[thyroid-warrior]

When I was under medicated, my pulse rate went down to as low as low 60s, almost similar to my sleeping rate which was about low 50s. After I get my dosage closer to the right dosage, my pulse rate ranges more between 70-80s when I’m not active

[radd]

ainslie,

I’m a big fan of the temps, pulse, delayed achilles tendon reflex checks after Dr P diagnosed me as under-replaced using these techniques. Each has its own science.

The achilles tendon reflex test (aka Woltmans sign) is interesting as due to low levels of Myosin ATP activity (converting ATP into mechanical energy for muscle contraction) and happens in every hypo case. Thyroid hormone blood levels can be text-book but if it’s not 'happening-within-the-cells' we have no energy. This test can also be applied to any deep tendon reflexes such as the bicep muscle.

‘Stable DATS’ used to be a big topic on the forum but appears to have gone out of fashion. Years ago I read of a method involving BP where the bottom number was subtracted from the top and then multiplied by pulse rate. If over 3000 then thyroid meds dose was too high.

[sparkly in reply to radd]

Yep, slow ankle reflexes secured my diagnosis as my blood results, a tsh of 4.27 didn't correlate to how slow my reflexes were, or how ill i was. Also felt how cold I was and counted breathing rate amongst other physical signs. Old school needs to come back but then more people would be diagnosed so it will never happen sadly.

[arTistapple in reply to radd]

I wonder if that calculation DATS still is useful when on HBP meds?

[arTistapple in reply to arTistapple]

radd just calculated and honestly. No good to me.

[radd in reply to arTistapple]

Well, to be honest arTistapple I'm not sure if that calculation is exactly correct 😆. It was a long time again and I can't reference the article.

I'll try mine ... 😁

[radd in reply to radd]

arTistapple

Nope, no good for me either as came out at 3,200 🤷‍♀️.

It is known thyroid hormone influences the force/speed of our pulse and BP, and long term un/mis-managed hypo may result in a slowed your heart rate making the arteries less elastic and BP to raise to circulate properly, and possibly elevated cholesterol that may or may not be hardening the arteries.

I still have raised BP controlled by pills so wonder if this equation ironically only works for ‘healthy’ people.

[helvella]

Pulse could be very misleading.

For me, my heart rate varies so much that it might as well be entirely unrelated to thyroid.

There are a broad changes over a long, long time - weeks and months. But looking at my instantaneous rate is of absolutely no value.

So far, just today, it has been between 48 and 130.

Might work better for some people.

And one of the biggest problems with temperature is measuring it accurately and consistently. So that any variations are real and not figments of environment, technique and technology.

[radd in reply to helvella]

Yes, I guess it's only really applicable to those without heart issues to muddy the waters.

My heart is very much in tune with the thyroid meds I take, and not just the amounts but the T4;T3 ratio.

[sparkly]

I've always kept a check on my morning temperature, and finally, after 12 years of being on medication, my basal temperature is almost there. It was always 35.81 ish and knew my metabolism and all my symptoms would never be normal till I could raise my temperature. Finally, since November, I am turning a corner and getting there. All these are important signs of both hypo and hyper but sadly not taken seriously in the medical profession anymore like it was years ago. More people would be diagnosed if physical signs were taken into account.

I was fortunate that my diagnosis was done on a physical examination, and ankle reflexes helped secure my diagnosis.

I knew for years my morning basal temperature was too low, heart rate low, breathing rate low, my body cold to touch in a boiling hot summer. These are just some of the physical signs that point to low thyroid that would have been used to diagnose low thyroid before the dreaded tsh test was introduced. 8 years it took for my tsh it finally tip over range and be diagnosed but mainly due to my endo physically examining me.

[tattybogle]

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu... a-critical-evaluation-of-the-tendonreflex-measurement-as-an-index-of-thyroid-function

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu.... pulse-pressure-how-they-used-to-check-for-overmedication-before-blood-tests.

radd arTistapple sparkly

[radd in reply to tattybogle]

Hey girl, you like a library!!!! 😊

Thank you, especially for the BP/pulse thing as I was struggling there 😁

[arTistapple in reply to tattybogle]

Thanks tatty. However I do think HBP medications (and others) are very likely to remove you from ‘normally’ being able to use this system as the BP is artificially held - nothing natural about it.

[tattybogle in reply to arTistapple]

i don't think the pulse pressure thing works very reliably , even for those of us not on blood pressure meds ~ i've had wildly differing numbers come out when trying that on same dose... can't remember which offhand , but i know i came to the conclusion that minor changes in one result can skew the whole calculation significantly..