LOW BODY TEMPERATURE

Around the beginning of 2010, I took notice of the fact that I was cold a great deal. My hands and feet were like ice much of the time and I seemed to have trouble getting warm in the winter. It really was unusual because my body temperature has been 98.6 degrees for years. When I start having trouble with my allergy to dust, I usually run a mild temperature of about 99.0 degrees, just four tenths of a degree. So when I had an allergic breakout and started feeling bum, I would take my temperature. To my surprise, my body temperature was in the 97-degree range. The next time I went to my doctor for a monthly check-up, I asked her about it and she said it wasn't normal. I chalked it up to the allergies and let it go for a few days.

In March of 2010 I started a search on the Internet for "Effects of Low Body Temperature". Right away a website came up entitled "Wilson's Temperature Syndrome". (From this point on I will refer to it as WTS.) I decided to read the Patient's Manual online and found a whole explanation of how this particular syndrome affects the thyroid SYSTEM. I capitalize this because there is no known medical test for finding out the condition of the thyroid system, just the thyroid gland. And there was a list of over 50 symptoms of WTS. At this point in time I started keeping track of my daily temperature. It became obvious in the first ten days that there was something abnormal going on as most of the temperature readings ranged from 96.6 degrees to 97.9 degrees. I also noticed that temperatures in the 98-degree range were usually associated with a sinus infection.

I then went through the list of symptoms and found that I had twenty (20) of them. This really rang a bell because since the 2005 heart attack followed eight weeks later by Hurricane Katrina, I've had a lot of weird health symptoms that come and go without too much of an explanation. I'm not one to complain so I didn't think too much about it but this WTS really intrigued me.

In cases like this, the patient mentions it to his or her doctor and the doctor says, "Sounds like a thyroid problem to me, let's run a thyroid test." Almost invariably the test comes back negative and the doctor makes noises about it being psychosomatic, not enough rest, too much stress, etc., etc., etc. In other words, it's all in your mind. The WTS patient's manual cleared all that up.

I ordered the Doctor's Manual. After it arrived, on the next visit to my primary physician, Dr. Rebekah Robinson, I discussed it with her. She agreed to read the manual because she knows that the thyroid is one of the most difficult glands in the body to understand. A couple of days later I went to her office and dropped off the manual. By the next visit in May she told me that she would be finished with the manual around the 18th of May and that she would then be ready to prescribe for me.

The prescription you have to have is a special, compounded prescription that is not covered by insurance. As a consequence, I have been paying full price for every one. They run somewhere between $40 and $50. I've had four prescribed for me so far. The protocol is simple but very demanding. You start taking two capsules a day twelve hours apart. They must be taken TO THE MINUTE! Sounds weird but you have to follow the instructions to get good results. The capsules start out at 7.5 micrograms (mcg) and increase every day by another 7.5 mcg. Since I get up early and have an alarm with two different settings, I set the alarms for 5:45 A.M. and 5:45 P.M. so that I could take one capsule at 6:00 A.M. and another at 6:00 P.M. You have to take your temperature three times a day so I did it at 9:00, 12:00 and 3:00 and graphed the average.

Now keep in mind that since March, my temperature had been running steadily in the 97.0 to 97.9 degree range for most of the time. As soon as I started this regimen on May 24, 2010 I kept track of the temperature every day. It was 97.5 on May 24, 98.1 on May 25, 98.2 on May 26, and 98.3 on May 27. I was amazed! It really was working! Then on the evening of May 27, I missed the 6:00 p.m. medication by NINE minutes. The next day the temperature average was back down to 97.3, very discouraging. But Dr. Rebekah encouraged me to continue saying it would probably come back up. She was right. By the tenth of June when I reached 75 mcg twice a day, the temperature was up to 98.6

Now the weaning process starts. You take the amount that you had reached when the temperature reached 98.6 and you continue that level for three weeks. At the end of three weeks you start reversing the procedure by lowering the dosage 7.5 mcg every three days until there are no more capsules. At that time you take a break for a couple of days and then start round two. This time I got to 98.6 on July 31 when I reached 60 mcg. Now I'm just finishing up the weaning process. The most astounding thing about this protocol is that the routine seems to reset the thyroid system and even when you stop the medication you temperature stays at 98.6! I'm three days away from finishing up round two and I don't think that I'll need another. Since August 2nd I've only had one temperature reading below 98.0 - most of them have been 98.6, a far cry from six months ago.

To me the most important thing about your temperature is the fact that enzymes do not digest properly and cannot be absorbed by the body correctly unless the body temperature is 98.6! I was amazed by that fact since it explains a lot of minor health issues I've had for several years. Considering what Dr. Wilson says in the manual about WTS being triggered off by severe trauma I think I qualify with a heart attack followed by a storm that wiped out 99% of our belongings in our home in New Orleans and forced us to move away. In addition, since there is no medical test for WTS the only way you can be sure you have it is if your temperature starts to go up when you start to take the medication. I would definitely say that under the present circumstances I have Wilson's Temperature Syndrome.

I urge anyone reading this who suspects that they might have a thyroid problem, go to http://www.wilsonstemperaturesyndrome.com and read the online patient's manual. It is well written and very easy to understand. Taking the self-administered test for symptoms associated with WTS is very easy. Then all you have to do is find a doctor that will cooperate with you. Dr. Rebekah is my hero! The icing on the cake? She communicates with me by e-mail when I need some info. That's First Class! I try very hard not to abuse the privilege, as she is such a great doctor she is extremely busy.

Note: If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to e-mail me or call.