Whassup with the hypothalamus?

Discussion in 'Fibromyalgia Main Forum' started by Khalyal, Nov 1, 2007.

  1. Khalyal

    Khalyal New Member

    It seems to me that the hypothalmus controls all the stuff that's wrong with us. Hypothalmus dysfunction would explain thyroidism, adrenal insufficiency, nervous system dysfunction, brain fog, and more.

    This is from Encarta:

    III Function

    The hypothalamus controls a wide range of functions.

    It directs the “fight or flight” response of the autonomic nervous system. Fear or excitement causes signals to travel to the hypothalamus, which triggers a rapid heartbeat, faster breathing, widening of the pupils, and increased blood flow.

    The hypothalamus monitors blood glucose levels and the body's water content to regulate appetite for food or drink. It regulates sleep and sexual behavior.

    The hypothalamus plays an important role in regulating feeding behavior. Experiments performed on rats demonstrate that if the middle of the hypothalamus is damaged, the rat overeats and becomes obese; damage in the lower part causes the rat to refuse to eat and starve. The role of the human hypothalamus is less important than in rodents because conscious decisions play a greater part in human processes such as eating and drinking. For example, it has been shown that custom and habit have a greater influence over the amount eaten than actual hunger.

    The hypothalamus has an effect on the cardiovascular system and the rest of the autonomic nervous system. This effect is vital for the coordination of mind and body; for example, it is responsible for the physical changes required before exercise.

    The hypothalamus can be regarded as the thermostat controlling the temperature of the body. It initiates shivering and contraction or expansion of blood vessels. The hypothalamus triggers behaviors such as putting on or removing clothes, turning on the heat, or moving into the shade.

    IV Endocrine Functions of the Hypothalamus

    The hypothalamus is responsible for controlling the hormones released from the pituitary gland. Two of these hormones are oxytocin and vasopressin (also called antidiuretic hormone or ADH).

    Oxytocin plays a role in uterine contractions during childbirth. It also has a role in starting and maintaining the birth process. Breastfeeding also triggers the secretion of oxytocin via a nervous pathway that connects the nipple and the hypothalamus; oxytocin stimulates the flow of milk from the breast to the infant. Oxytocin secretion can also be caused by the sound of a baby crying—an example of the connections the hypothalamus has with the other parts of the brain.

    The hormone vasopressin acts on the kidneys to increase reabsorption of water from urine, thereby maintaining the water level within the body. When the hypothalamus senses that blood concentration has increased, it stimulates the pituitary gland to produce more vasopressin. Likewise, if blood concentration is too dilute, the hypothalamus instructs the pituitary gland to release less vasopressin.

    A part of the hypothalamus is involved in the regulation of circadian rhythms in the body. These rhythms are caused by hormone fluctuations in the bloodstream that occur during each 24-hour period, usually correlating with periods of light and darkness. These fluctuations ensure that the appropriate hormones are elevated when most needed in the body. Cortisol hormone levels, for example, routinely rise in the morning just before waking. This increases blood glucose levels to counterbalance the potentially harmful effects of not eating or drinking while asleep overnight.

    Damage to the hypothalamus can result from surgery, trauma (such as accident or stroke), degeneration due to old age or disease, or a tumor. The results of damage can be varied and depend on the areas of the hypothalamus involved.
    [This Message was Edited on 11/01/2007]
  2. Catseye

    Catseye Member

    You're absolutely right about the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is responsible for the lack of an adequate dynamic hormone response in the body. This means that hormones that should rise and fall according to signals or demands from the body do not respond accordingly. The hypothalamus' major function is to control dynamism.

    From what I can tell, the only way to fix it is: hope it fixes itself, the use of adaptogens (ie ginseng, ashwaghanda, maca, etc.) or the use of human growth hormone. I am doing all 3 now and waiting to see what happens. I realize that it may take a long time. My hormone response is definitely improving, but slowly.

  3. Khalyal

    Khalyal New Member

    Thanks for the validation. How did you get on board with the human growth hormone? Is this something you are doing on your own, or with a doctor? What kind of doctor helps you with all this, if any? Sorry for the barrage of questions! lol!

    I feel like the solution lies in the hypothalamus. My brain is so dysfunctional, though, I'm having a hard time educating myself on what to do about it. The big words are messing me up.

    hugs and thanks
  4. Catseye

    Catseye Member

    Hi Khalyal,

    I live in the Dominican Republic where there isn't alot of bureaucratic crap to have to deal with. If you want something, you're smart and you have the money, you can get it. I got a doctor to authorize my supplier to get me the hgh and I've been dealing with it myself according to recommendations I've read on the internet from other doctors and how they are treating CFS.

    I'm just getting over dengue fever, so I laid off it for a few weeks. I'll be starting injections again soon, though. I have decided on a daily nighttime dose of .2 mg in the abdomen using a diabetic needle, a U100. It is totally painless and costs me about $50 per week. I'm not having anything monitored by any doctor. What's the point? I've been seeing doctors for 5 years (about 20 of them) and only a couple of them were of any use to me. Now, when I suspect I have a problem, I go to the doctor and get the tests done I want.

    Every regular blood test I've had has come up within normal ranges, anyway, so I don't see the point in paying doctors to continue to tell me there's nothing wrong with me. Even when I tell them I know it's a dynamic hormone response issue based on damage to the hypothalamus because of a hepatitis c infection, they look at me like I've just spun my head around like Linda Blair. Now I know more than they do about CFS and my own condition, but when I try to convey this knowledge to a doctor, they have no clue what I'm talking about. I should have gone to med school; it's apparently a lot easier than I ever thought it was. But then, I wouldn't be able to treat myself!

    At least here, they actually prescribe alot of natural remedies like certain plant extracts. That's because the locals can't afford expensive drugs so alot of the time, doctors need to prescribe stuff that is cheap and actually works. The only drug I take daily is dilantin. Here, it costs 1/3 the price as the generic did up in the US. That's why the hgh is so cheap, too. It's the real deal, somatropin vials that you have to mix, but carefully. The hgh molecule contains 191 amino acids in a single polypeptide chain that will break apart if it is not refrigerated or if it is agitated too strongly. Hgh is supposed to help all the other hormones work better, too. You have to be in pretty good shape to try it, though, otherwise you'll crash. It makes the liver produce insulin growth factor and that takes energy. I waited 2 years after first reading about it before I was in good enough shape to try it. I had to fix up my liver and adrenal glands to a certain point, first.

    I discovered the hypothalamus problem months ago and I read everything I could on how to fix it. The only things that I have found are adaptogens, plants that help the body regulate things, and hgh. There's just no easy fix for the hypothalamus, unless it's messed up from a tumor - then you have surgery. All you can do is take the adaptogens, (I think I've posted on them at some point) and the hgh and try to keep your body as healthy as possible with diet and nutritional supplements. Dr. Cheney, CFS expert, seems to think the hypothalamus can come around and so do I.

    best wishes,

    [This Message was Edited on 11/01/2007]
  5. grace54

    grace54 New Member

    I too believe the hyp- has a lot to do with our various symptoms. I just read a book by a brain Dr. Carolyn Leaf called Who switched off my brain. I found her research explains why our system can get so off balance. She states that the hypothalamus is the heart of the endocrine or hormonal system which responds to your thought life.

    This dynamic pumping gland releases the chemicals related to the emotions attached to the thought. For example if you feel a sudden jolt of fear your hypo- secretes a hormone called CRH which Dr's have dubbed the negative emotion hormone. Autopsies on suicide cases have shown 10 times more CRH than is present in brains of people who die of natural causes.

    CRH travels to the pituitary gland ( also in the brain) and stimulates the release of another stress hormone called ACTH. ACTH then races down to the adrenal glands and stimulate them to release the biochemicals cortisol and adrenalin. This is not good news.

    When cortisol and adrenalin are allowed to race unchecked through the body, they begin to have adverse effects on the cardiovascular system causing high blood pressure, heart palpitations and even aneurysms or strokes. They also attack the immune system, making it less able to do what it is naturally designed to do: protect you from infection and disease.

    The hormones are not yet done on their destructive path. Next, the cortisol bathes the brain's nerve cells causing memories to literally shrink, affecting the ability to remember and think creatively. This destructive path continues until the body begins to suffer total system break down..

    Thus the hypo- can claim to be a true responder to your emotional state. It is the reason a toxic thought life can affect your emotional and physical state. The hormones it releases can destabilize your brain and create a frenzy of broken feedback loops, disrupting the natural flow and balance of chemicals in your brains. Fascinating :)
    [This Message was Edited on 11/01/2007]
  6. Khalyal

    Khalyal New Member

    Not that I think I have a tumor, but to rule it out would be nice.

    Fight or flight stressors - Jam, what's that? I know that sounds ignorant, I can kind of guess what it is, but just making sure.

    Sounds like I have a lot of difficult reading to do. Seems like the right path, though. It's the only thing I've come across that "explains" this crud.

  7. annaviva

    annaviva New Member

    I heard that somebody used Calm and Calmer as their first step in recovery from CFS. The goal was to support the adrenals. The main component of Calm and Clamer is Relora, which can be found as a supplement on its own. This is an excerpt from Relora's official website as related to stress hormones:

    "Elevated cortisol levels and depressed DHEA levels are associated with chronic stress. A two-week regimen of Relora® caused a significant (P= 0.003) increase in salivary DHEA (227%) and a significant (P = 0.01) decrease in morning salivary cortisol levels (37%). Cortisol and DHEA levels were returned to normal in all subjects during the course of Relora®."
  8. mammabek

    mammabek New Member

    by way of miripex is how my doc is treating...100% convinced hypo is responsible for "my" disease.seems to be getting much better immediately then a little better every so often. waiting to see how long it lasts.cheapest meds to try to regulate. all i can afford anyway.
  9. Khalyal

    Khalyal New Member

    Yes, I get it. My last 10 years have been a series of that kind of thing. I work hard these days to eliminate stressors. Unbelievable how unhealthy negativity is.

    Love ya!
  10. Khalyal

    Khalyal New Member

    I hear you on the doctor response or lack thereof. I don't know why a rheumatologist wants to insist it's a joint/muscle issue, a neurologist wants to call it a nerve issue, an endo wants to insist it's a thyroid issue. Then when your blood tests or mri or xrays don't line up with what they think should be wrong, you are pronounced to have a psychological issue and given Paxil or Effexor. Nobody seems to have an overview. What one organ/gland/system has control or at least heavy input over all of these systems?

    I truly believe this is the right path.

  11. Khalyal

    Khalyal New Member

    That sounds like a book I want to read. And thank you for your very understandable description of what happens. I know you guys have already come to the hypothalmus conclusion. I feel like a giant gong went off in my head over this - like, YES, this explains what nothing else has been able to explain.

  12. Khalyal

    Khalyal New Member

    Thank you for the Calm and Calmer tip. I will definitely check this out.

  13. Khalyal

    Khalyal New Member

    What kind of doctor are you seeing? Did your doctor bring up hypothalamus or is that something you had to suggest?

  14. Renae610

    Renae610 New Member

    Yes, the hypothalymus, or the HPA axis (hypothalymus, Pituitary, Adrenal) is the core problem.

    Khalyal, please keep us updated how your treatments work. Your determination to seek wellness with or without doctors is heroic. I believe you're on the right track, and I pray you will be blessed with renewed health!

    My 20 yr. old daughter has this HPA problem and much more.
    Once her current ear allergy/infection clears up, I hope to take her to Life Force Therapies in Plymouth, MN to do Hyperbaric Oxygen treatments (HBOT), which could cure IBS, kill pathogens, etc.

    I am 46 and taking Dr. James L. Wilson's Adrenal products, a Wellness Resources multi-vitamin, and bioidentical hormones made by a compounding pharmacist. Someone said if we fix the adrenals, energy and memory gets better. I have made some progress, but not well yet. Is it true that low adrenal function is not only because we've been over-stressed, but also about nutritional deficiency?? One clinic told me to eat more protein, which helps. I take Serotonin drops occasionally. When the hormones are off, it pulls the neurotransmitters down too.

    When my daughter got viruses a year ago and nearly lost her life, my weight suddenly jumped up with the stress; nothing I've tried fixes this. I see Kevin Trudeau's infomercial, in which he talks about the hypothalymus controlling weight. I didn't get his book. Does he know how to fix the hypothalymus??

  15. Khalyal

    Khalyal New Member

    That Standard Process Hypothalamus PMG - the website says you can only get that through a qualified health care professional. I don't think there are any where I live! loL! Is that something you are getting through your DO, or is it actually available at a nutrition store?

  16. Khalyal

    Khalyal New Member

    You bring up some good questions. I don't know the answers myself, as I am just now arriving at the hypothalamus conclusion. Maybe someone else here can answer?

    And dear woman, thank you, but this is not heroicism. This is desparation. I'm a whiny mess and I'm done with this crud.

    hugs to you!
    [This Message was Edited on 11/02/2007]
  17. mammabek

    mammabek New Member

    i frequently see a nurse practitioner (the she i call doc) she is under the supervision of a family practitioner who first fiqured out i had the DD. he consults with a specialist from new orleans (i am in mississippi) we read a lot and just try to fumble our way thru what works. this hypothamus issue is a new one they brought up based i believe on a study dr pelligrino (of this sites fame) is into, studying dopamine and its cause/effect of this disease.its just, to me, another one of those things that is "so similar" to our symptoms, but may well come to naught. it is an interesting theory..i do hope it plays out like we need...leads to a cure. still its just another path to follow
  18. Khalyal

    Khalyal New Member

    I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get you in trouble! I didn't know that, either.

    Thank you, Jam, You are a dear soul

  19. munch1958

    munch1958 Member

    This is why our hypothalamus no longer works properly:

  20. Katy47

    Katy47 New Member

    Thanks for the reminder about insidious infections being a precursor to thinking/hypothalamus dysfunction.