Parathyroid, #Parathyroidism, #Hyperparathyroidism, #Lithium
December 16, 2012 2 Comments
Glands and Moods
I am continuing to research the links between glands and mood. We have a lot of glands in our bodies and each one has a role to play in helping us to have the right mood for each situation and life event. Any gland failing to work as it needs to may manifest as a mood disorder and these days this is likely to be labelled as bipolar disorder.
At this time I have a special interest in the parathyroid glands. We have four of these tiny glands in the back of our necks. It only needs one of the four to be producing too much parathyroid hormone to impact on our energy levels and impact on our moods. The parathyroid glands are just part of our endocrine system. It is unlikely to be the main factor in mood control for most people, but if you have one or more faulty parathyroid glands, will your doctor know about this? It is more likely at this time that you will labelled with a mood disorder, meaning that the physical causes are unknown. For most parts of the NHS this results in focus on mental health with almost no further consideration of any diagnosis or treatment for physical health.
Some people have more than one faulty parathyroid gland. The cure is simple: remove the faulty glands which for a surgeon are easily recognized as these are the enlarged ones. Size is pretty well everything when it comes to the parathyroid glands.
At www.parathyroid.com there are many photographs of faulty parathyroid glands that have been removed. In this example all four glands have been removed from one patient. The smaller/least-faulty gland was returned to allow the patient to recover from many of their physical and emotional troubles.
From www.parathyroid.com
55-year-old female
Parathyroid Hyperplasia
Pre-op Calcium 11.3
Pre op PTH 116
Having three out of four parathyroids affected is rare, although the chances of more than one parathyroid gland being faulty increases if you have ever taken lithium tablets.
We need to know about the causes, else the mood disorder returns.
If you have been labelled as bipolar, please do not do what I did and spend 14 years working on understanding and eliminating triggers, while ignoring the causes.
In this article I only mention one physical health issue that can lead to mood problems. There are hundreds of other possibilities and it is important to at least rule them out. If you quickly want to find out more about parathyroidism then I can say the site I found most useful in 2011 and in 2012 has been: http://www.parathyroid.com/diagnosis.htm
About Roger Smith (in the UK)
Roger Smith (in the UK)
Rethinking Bipolar 
Which comes first: the chicken or egg? Many bipolar people take lithium. But could the hyperparathyroidism caused the bipolar rather than the lithium causing the hyperpara thyroidism? Looks like there is a correlation in hyperparathyroidism, bipolar therefore also lithium, but correlation is not necessarily causation.
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Hi Wendy,
My interest in hyperparathyroidism came from a time not long after I’d finished with all prescription medications and my weight was going down regardless of what I ate. It was a GP who suggested I get my parathyroid hormone checked out. My thinking on this subject these days is:
1) the weight loss was natural considering the stress I was experiencing at that time.
2) I simply did not have enough vitamin D in my blood and so there was a lot going wrong because of that.
A lot of what I am doing these days relates to encouraging people with mood disorder to have blood tests for at least vitamin D, vitamin B12 and HbA1c.
Perhaps I should post something more about why I am sure these are fundamental to bringing moods in order. What do you think?
Roger
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