Wilson's Temperature Syndrome - Do you have these symptoms?

For years, I have believed that I had a sub-clinical thyroid problem but the blood tests by conventional standards was always reported as normal so I couldn't get any treatment for all of my many symptoms! If you can find a doctor that is open to or knows about Wilson's Syndrome, this could really improve your life if you do have Wilson's Syndrome. I was thrilled yesterday when my doctor confirmed that I have it and is putting me on compounded T3. Typically the treatment is only for a couple of months and then you can go off it. I am freezing cold all the time and have quite a few of the symptoms listed below. The doctor says that I can expect more energy during the day and better sleep at night and improved mental concentration and clarity just to name a few. I know many of you experience fatigue and poor sleep so I wanted to share this information with you. Measure your temperature and write it down for at least 6 days as described below and also check off which symptoms you have.

Wilson's Temperature Syndrome Symptoms
The symptoms of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome are classic low thyroid symptoms. A patient doesn't have to have all the symptoms to respond well to T3 therapy. You can click here for a more complete, printable checklist. You may need to download the free Acrobat Reader in order to view and print the checklist)
In fact, you may only have one. Low body temperatures can affect people differently, and can be the cause of many different symptoms:

Fatigue
Headaches
Migraines
PMS
Irritability
Fluid Retention
Anxiety & Panic Attacks
Hair Loss
Depression
Decreased Memory & Concentration
Heat and/or Cold Intolerance
Abnormal Swallowing Sensations
Insomnia
Constipation
Easy Weight Gain
Low Motivation & Ambition
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Muscle and Joint Aches
Dry Skin & Hair
Hives
Asthma
Allergies
Brittle Nails
Slow Healing
Sweating Abnormalities
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Raynaud’s Phenomenon
Itchiness
Irregular Periods
Acne
Low Sex Drive
Easy bruising
Unhealthy Nails
Ringing of the Ears
Flushing
Bad Breath
Dry Eyes/Blurred Vision And Others…

How are Body Temperatures Measured?
Since Dr. Wilson believes that low body temperatures cause the symptoms and since most patients complain of symptoms they are having during the day, Dr. Wilson recommends that the temperatures be measured during the day.

Body temperatures are normally lower in the morning, higher in the afternoon, and lower again in the evening. So if the temperatures are low during the day when they're supposed to be at their highest, that's better evidence that there's a problem.

Temperature patterns are also important and illuminating. How patients feel can be affected not only by how high or low their temperatures are but also on how steady their temps are. This is especially important during T3 therapy. One temperature reading a day is not enough to see how widely the temperature is fluctuating, but more than three a day can be too time consuming.

For these reasons Dr. Wilson recommends measuring the temperatures By mouth with a thermometer:
Every 3 hours
3 times a day, starting 3 hours after waking
For several days (not the 3 days prior to the period in women since its higher then) for diagnosis.
Every day during treatment.

For each day, add the 3 temperatures together and divide by 3 to get the average.

If your temperature consistently averages below 98.6 then you may be suffering from Wilson's Temperature Syndrome.

Note: Some people believe that moving the thermometer around in the mouth very much can increase blood flow to the area and affect the temperature reading. It seems prudent to be mindful not to move the thermometer unnecessarily much.

What kind of thermometers should be used?
Digital thermometers are very fast and convenient but can easily become inaccurate from:

dropping them from 4 inches or more
low batteries
exposure to water or humidity

When they become inaccurate they can still give a reading, it just won't be right. There's no way of knowing whether the reading is correct or not. Sometimes, a digital thermometer will show one reading one minute and another the next.

Mercury Thermometers are very consistent and they hold their readings. If patients are too busy to read their thermometers (while driving, for example) when it's time, they can take the thermometers out and read them later.

Mercury thermometers can take longer (it's good to leave them in for around 7 minutes). They are also being phased out of the market because of environmental legislation and are becoming harder and harder to find. The concern is that when the thermometers are broken the liquid spills out and some mercury vapor gets into the atmosphere, finding its way into the food chain. When broken thermometers are thrown in the trash and then incinerated, that apparently puts even more mercury into the air. One doctor believes that some mercury can make it through the glass of intact thermometers. She believes that some of her patients are especially sensitive to mercury and have noticed episodes of acute depression, headaches and malaise just from measuring their temperatures with a mercury thermometer.

We recommend some great new Liquid metal thermometers (not mercury). We think they're better than mercury thermometers ever were. For one thing, they provide accurate readings in only 3 minutes!

Glass Alcohol thermometers are very consistent but frequently don't hold their readings. They usually contain a red liquid. These thermometers are fine as long as you read them right away.

The Big Picture
No matter what thermometer you choose, no matter how new, it may still not be perfectly accurate. There is always some variation among thermometers, some small, some large. The important thing is for patients to be able to see the changes in their temperatures with proper T3 therapy. Therefore it would make sense for patients to try to take their temperatures in the same way each time with the same thermometer for comparison's sake. The Mercury, Galistan, and Alcohol thermometers are especially good for this since they are so consistent. The liquids they contain are going to expand with warming the same way every time (make sure to shake down the Mercury and Galistan before each use to reset them). So even if a patient has a Mercury or Galistan or Alcohol thermometer that is a little inaccurate, at least it will be consistently inaccurate and in that way still useful (in showing the improvement in temperature with treatment).

By the same token, if your story is consistent with Wilson's Temperature Syndrome and you find your temperature is normal, by all means check it with another two or three thermometers! Many patients have found that their thermometers were wrong and their temperatures were low and they have responded well to treatment. In fact, if your history is classic for Wilsons Temperature Syndrome your chances of having a normal temperature are only about 1 in 200. There's a lot better chance that your thermometer is wrong than there is that your temperature's normal.

These issues of thermometer accuracy don't come up very often but they come up often enough that doctors and patients would be well served to know about them. For the most part, patients are easily able to see that their temperatures are low before treatment, that they come up with treatment, and that their complaints begin to disappear as their temperatures improve.