TPV Podcast Episode 214, Test, Don’t Guess

In this episode, Stacy and Sarah discuss testing your suspected ailments instead of just guessing based on symptoms.

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The Paleo View (TPV), Episode 214: Test, Don’t Guess

• Intro (0:00)
• News and Views (0:40)
  • Apparently, there are rules to jinxing.
  • So apparently the theory of menstrual synchrony is hard to actually verify and might not actually exist.
  • The topic of today’s show is “Don’t Self-Diagnose!” It could be dangerous!
  • Example: Adrenal Fatigue
    • The symptoms for over active adrenals and under active adrenals can be very similar.
    • You need to test cortisol to see what kind of problem you have. Don’t guess based on symptoms
    • There are many Adaptogens, but you need a testing practitioner to figure out exactly what you need.
    • And the cortisol test is a neat spit test as well.
  • Another example: SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth)
    • There is a breath test and a stool test to determine if you have SIBO
    • Current thinking says that you can’t treat it just with diet, you need to kill the overgrowth with antimicrobials.
    • It seems that many people diagnosed with candida (a yeast) overgrowth based on symptoms actually have a bacterial overgrowth.
  • Another example: Hormone Imbalance
    • The symptoms of estrogen excess look very similar to testosteron excess. You need to actually figure out what your levels are!
  • Food sensitivities may be the exception
    • People want the answer on a test to prove they should eliminate a food entirely.
    • You can still be sensitive even if a test doesn’t flag something. There are also foods with no tests at all.
    • If you still react to a food when a test says you don’t have an issue, why would you continue to eat it?
• Question from Hanna (18:33): “Do you strongly recommend blood tests for figuring out what you should and should not eat? I follow a Paleo diet but I don’t know if I should adhere to anything else like AIP.”
  • If you have a leaky gut, then you likely have multiple food sensitivities that will be hard to sort out by food journaling
  • In this case, a sensitivity panel might be very useful as guidance.
  • But if you’re self-diagnosing and diet combining without real evidence for why you should, you’re probably going to have a difficult time.
  • Maybe you’re not feeling your best because of what you’re not eating. Try adding more nutrient density to your diet.
  • Once you remove all these foods, you no longer have a health promoting diet.
• Question from Dani (26:29): “Asked for my thyroid to be tested by my PCP bc I had concerns I was dealing with a potential Hashi’s situation (my mom has it, plus hand and finger numbness, hairloss, anxiety) but my Free T4 and TSH#s came back in the middle of normal range. B12 in the middle of normal but vitamin D is deficient (no surprise). For my anxiety my PCP Rx’d me an SSRI. Considering I’ve had hand tingling in the night, hair loss, and anxiety could this not be just vitamin D but really a thyroid issue despite my test results? Trying to figure out what next steps should be and what I should push back on my PCP for. You ladies are my faves…never miss a podcast!”
  • It would be best to get a full thyroid panel. This site lists what should be on the panel
  • Sarah covers her thyroid saga in this post.
  • You can also have conversion disorders that are different from thyroid issues. Hormones are converted in other organs and problems with that can cause thyroid symptoms
  • Search for functional range of thyroid panel to find the optimal ranges. Such as here.
• Sarah will have finish her sleep challenge by next week. Check out her challenge here.
• Outro (38:20)