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Questions and Answers Segment
Your questions answered
every 2 weeks. If you have a question for Dr Elstein,
click here.
QUESTION 1:
I am on these meds: water pill 25mg./celexa
40mg/1 whole aspirin/folic acid 1mg/ and pravachol 20mg.
I began the pravachol about 5 months ago and have found
myself gaining weight ever since. I looked up the
medicine and the name for it has sodium next to it.
Besides the regular treadmill I do at home, I have now
joined a gym. I am so beside myself. My
clothes are getting tighter and I am not doing anything
different. I have looked up side effects of
pravachol and I don't see anything about weight gain,
but I have this feeling this is what is doing it.
Answer: It
would probably be a good idea to go off this medication
and see what happens.
It may be that pravachol does not agree with you
and you could be retaining fluid as a consequence which
would be exacerbated by the sodium content of this
medication. It
is also possible that you liver function is compromised
further complicating you weight gain predicament. Please
report back on your progress.
QUESTION 2: I am 25 year-old
good-looking man. I don’t have satisfactory and strong moustache and beard.
It’s growing but the rate is really slow as
I’m 25 yrs old. The
hair on my face is thin as compared to others and having
blanks between them.
Are there any homeopathic remedies for growing a
strong beard and moustache?
Answer: This
is probably a constitutional/genetic problem and there
probably aren’t any remedies to correct this.
You could have your hormone levels checked and
corrected if these are abnormally low.
QUESTION 3:
My daughter has lupus, 4 children; she is aged 32 years,
stubborn, very busy lifestyle and suffers in silence. I worry about her, as she is my only surviving child.
Can lupus be controlled by other means than
steroids?
Answer: There
is some evidence that eliminating diary and adopting a
more vegetarian style of diet can yield positive
results. In fact it would be a good idea to have your
daughter’s food allergies explored.
Nutrients that might help manage this condition
include the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish or
flaxseed oil, vitamins B3, B12, pantothenic acid,
vitamin E and selenium.
Phytosterols and the hormone DHEA might also
impact positively on your daughter’s condition.
Exploring heavy metal toxicity and increased
intestinal permeability by means of the appropriate
tests would also provide information that can be
utilised to improve your daughter’s condition.
QUESTION
4: I have been experiencing severe hot
flashes and am interested in your HRT program.
What would you recommend?
Answer: There
are natural remedies for managing hot flashes including
the herbs black cohosh and red clover.
Avoiding coffee and spicy foods would also be a
good idea. If this does not work you might have to look
at bio-identical hormone replacement, which would
necessitate consulting with a physician who is familiar
with this kind of treatment.
QUESTION 5: The
pigment around my eyes has been changing for the last 12
months very slowly.
It is getting very light. I have seen 7 doctors, three
dermatologists, three opthalmologists and a GP.
No one can tell me what is causing it.
I had a ton of blood work done, all normal
including my immune system.
I have had blepharitis for 10 years controlled,
but it flared up in Sept and would not go away with the
conventional treatment as before, (i.e., antibiotic
ointments, lid scrubs, antibiotics.) My face started
feeling very warm and getting red very easily, so I was
told I had a form of rosacea and ocular rosacea and that
was why my eyes felt bad. I have been on oral
antibiotics for many months and metrogel on my face for
6 weeks. I was told it takes three months for the
rosacea to get under control, but I am worried about the
whiteness. Can
vitiligo around the eyes cause the lids to burn and will
it go away on its own.
Should I have a gluten test done? What
foods should I try staying away from?
It really scares me and I just want all this to
go away and feel better. I take a lot of vitamins for
the eyes and supplements including borage oil, flaxseed
and evening primrose oil.
Can any of these cause whitening? I am
post-menopause and on HRT for years.
Answer: There
is a fungus associated with rosacea known as demodex
folliculorum, which can be treated with crotamiton 10%
or permethrin 5% cream. Failing this you might need to use a medication called
stromectol. There
is also a bacterium called helicobacter pylori, which
resides in the stomach that has a connection with
rosacea and you would need to undergo a breath test to
verify the presence of this organism.
As far as the loss of pigment is concerned I
suggest you explore the HRT you are on and consider
changing this regimen as you might have the culprit
right there. Having
your thyroid hormone levels checked would be a good idea
as a deficiency of these hormones can cause problems.
Food allergy might be implicated and here you can
have tests for gluten intolerance and the presence of
candida overgrowth in the bowel.
If these are negative you might try avoiding all
grains for a while and observing whether your condition
improves. Natural
remedies that might help include the nutrient
para-aminobenzoic acid applied to your skin together
with vitamins B6, C and zinc.
QUESTION 6:
At age 38, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 low-grade small
lymphocytic B cell NHL (bone marrow compromised), which
is not being treated at this time - watchful waiting
approach adopted by haematologist.
I also have recently been diagnosed (finally!!)
with hypothyroidism and will know if it's Hashimoto's
Syndrome following more tests. I have lost
confidence in my ability to judge what's out of whack
with my own body due to years' of stupidly accepting my
GPs indifference and fobbing off with scripts for
anti-depressants (which I elected not to take as I
believe they mask the real cause of my symptoms.)
1.What further/maintenance tests would you recommend for
thyroid?
2.Should I obtain a referral to an endocrinologist?
3. Will addressing thyroid problem with supplements make
the lymphoma worse?
4. Once on a synthetic thyroid hormone, am I on it for
life?
5. How do I get my new GP to act on my health concerns
and advice without sounding like a raving lunatic?
Answer:
It would be a good idea to know whether you
are suffering from an autoimmune condition, which can be
assessed by having blood tests for anti-thyroglobulin
and anti-microsomal antibodies.
If you do have an autoimmune condition then you
could have tests, which might tell you why your immune
system is attacking your own tissue. Here tests for gluten allergy would be appropriate, as would
an assessment of your hormonal status, intestinal
function specifically addressing the presence of
abnormal germs in your bowel as well as a condition
called ‘leaky gut syndrome,’ and the presence of
heavy metal toxins via a hair mineral analysis.
Insulin resistance, which is evaluated by means
of blood tests that measure your glucose and insulin
levels before and after a sugar drink can have a
negative effect on your immune system.
In other words there are a number of factors that
could cause your immune system to go out of balance if
this is what you are suffering from.
You would need to find a doctor who is
sympathetic to this kind of approach as not all
physicians embrace the above hypotheses.
As far as treating low thyroid function is
concerned taking extra zinc, selenium, vitamin A, B
vitamins, essential fatty acids and tyrosine should not
have any adverse effects on the condition you describe.
It might be a good idea to consult with an
endocrinologist. Whether
you need to take thyroid hormone supplement for life
depends on the underlying cause of your underactive
thyroid.
QUESTION
7: I recently started taking 3mg of
Melatonin at night for sleep instead of Restoril.
I have also started SAME-E 200-400mg/day. I have
had a hair loss problem for 2 years now. Will the
melatonin or SAME-E increase my hair loss?
Answer: The
short answer is no.
I can’t see this causing further problems.
I suggest you have you DHEA levels measured as
excessive stress might be a contributing factor to your
hair loss and you can get some idea about this from
assessing DHEA. In
fact having all your hormones measured including
dihydrotestosterone would be useful.
Iron deficiency might also be implicated, as
might gluten intolerance
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