Parathyroid Ailments

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Overactive and Underactive Parathyroid, High and Low Blood Calcium, and Healing After Neck Surgery

Understanding the Condition

Tucked against the back of the thyroid, at the base of the throat, sit four tiny glands, each about the size of a grain of rice. These are the parathyroids. They share the thyroid’s neighborhood but not its job. The thyroid sets the pace of the body; the parathyroids guard one thing above all: the calcium in the blood.

Calcium is far more than bone. Every heartbeat, every nerve signal and every muscle that tightens and relaxes depends on just the right amount of calcium in the blood, and so does clotting. The bones are the body’s calcium bank, holding nearly all of it in reserve. The parathyroids decide when to make a withdrawal.

They work like a careful banker (see the picture below). When blood calcium dips even a little, they release parathyroid hormone (PTH). PTH draws calcium out of the bones, tells the kidneys to hold on to calcium and let phosphorus go, and has the kidneys turn on vitamin D, the vitamin we make from sunshine, so the gut can absorb more calcium from food. When calcium is back where it belongs, the glands rest. Dr. Christopher noted that the thyroid works in cooperation with the parathyroids in regulating the mineral salts of the body, especially calcium.

How It Develops

Parathyroid trouble is quiet. Many people feel only tired, achy and foggy, and the first real clue is a calcium number on a routine blood test. It tends to go one of three ways:

• Overactive parathyroid (hyperparathyroidism). Most often one of the four glands grows a small lump that is not cancerous (an adenoma) and keeps sending out PTH even when calcium is already high. Less often several glands enlarge together. The bones are drained to keep the blood loaded, and the extra calcium has to go somewhere. The old saying is “stones, bones, groans and moans”: kidney stones and calcium settling in the kidneys; thinning bones and fractures; belly troubles (constipation, nausea, heartburn, ulcers); and tiredness, weakness, low mood, poor memory and foggy thinking. Great thirst, frequent urination, aching joints and a rise in blood pressure often come with it. It is most common in women after menopause. Radiation to the neck earlier in life, long use of lithium, and family history can play a part, but often no cause is found.
• Glands working overtime for a reason. Sometimes the parathyroids are healthy but are being pushed. Low vitamin D (too little sun), poor absorption from a troubled gut, a diet that robs calcium, or weakened kidneys keep blood calcium low, and the glands work harder and harder to make up the difference. Blood calcium may look normal while PTH runs high, and the bones quietly pay the bill. Here the glands are answering a need, not causing the problem, and the healing is in meeting that need.
• Underactive parathyroid (hypoparathyroidism). The glands make too little PTH, and calcium runs low. By far the most common cause is surgery on the neck, most often removal of the thyroid. The tiny glands can be bruised, lose part of their blood supply, or be removed along with the thyroid. Often they recover over weeks to months as the tissue heals; sometimes the damage lasts. Less often it comes from the immune system or from very low magnesium, which the glands need to work. Low calcium brings tingling around the mouth and in the fingers and toes, muscle cramps and spasms (especially the hands and feet), twitching, tiredness, anxiety, brain fog, dry skin and brittle nails. Severe drops can cause throat spasm, seizures or heart rhythm trouble, which is an emergency.

The blood tests tell the story: calcium, PTH and vitamin D, along with phosphorus, magnesium and kidney function. A bone density scan shows what the bones have lost. These are the best way to know which direction the glands have gone and to measure your progress.

The Emotional Side: the Energy Work

Healing the whole person. We are body, mind and spirit, and all three must heal together. When one part is neglected, the other two cannot find complete healing. A person can follow a perfect herbal program, but if she stays in a life that keeps wearing her down, or never makes time to care for herself, the body will keep losing ground. Healing the body often means facing what is happening in the heart and spirit as well.

The body and the heart are not separate. Long-held feelings settle into the body, and the throat is where we speak up and express who we are. Louise Hay, in her book Heal Your Body, does not single out the parathyroids; they share the throat with the thyroid, and the same patterns apply to both.

• The thyroid and its neighbors: feeling humiliated, held down, always waiting for your turn. Turn it around: I move past old limits and let myself express who I am, freely and creatively.
• Throat problems (a lump, hoarseness, trouble swallowing): not speaking up for yourself, swallowed anger, stifled creativity. Turn it around: It is safe for me to speak up. I express myself with ease and I am willing to change.

Emotional patterns paraphrased from Louise Hay, Heal Your Body (Hay House).

Areas Affected & Opening the Way to Healing

Look at the picture below. The parathyroids sit on the back of the thyroid, close beside the windpipe, the food pipe and the nerve that runs the voice box. Anything done to the thyroid, a swelling, an inflammation or an operation, reaches them too. But their work reaches far beyond the neck: into the bones they draw from, the kidneys that must carry the extra calcium out or hold it in, the gut that absorbs it, and the nerves and muscles that need it to fire and relax.

Why the neighbors matter. When calcium runs high, the kidneys take the brunt: they are flooded with calcium they must carry out, and stones form. A constipated bowel holds waste the kidneys and liver then have to clear. When calcium runs low, the nerves and muscles complain first. So caring for the parathyroids always means caring for the kidneys, the bowels and the bones along with the glands themselves.

Opening the Way: Packs and Warmth

• M&L Salve pack or Gland Formula fomentation. Dr. Christopher’s glandular formula, mullein and lobelia, is food for the glands, and a pack over the front of the throat reaches the parathyroids as well as the thyroid. Spread M&L Salve on flannel, lay it over the throat, cover with plastic wrap and a towel, and add gentle heat. Or soak a flannel in a hot tea of three parts mullein to one part lobelia, lay it over the throat, cover it and leave it on overnight. Six nights a week.
• Gentle hot and cold. Alternating hot and cold compresses over the neck bring fresh circulation and nutrients into the area. Be generous with the warmth and keep the cold brief.
• Keep the bowels moving. Constipation is common when calcium runs high. Bowel cleansing with LBF keeps the waste moving out so the rest of the body can do its work.
• Keep the kidneys clear. With an overactive gland, drink plenty of water every day so the extra calcium is carried out instead of settling into stones, and include kidney flushing in your program. If stones have already formed, see Kidney Disease.

After Neck Surgery: Calming and Rebuilding

When the parathyroids have been bruised or their blood supply disturbed during an operation, the work is to calm the area first and then rebuild the tissue. Begin only once the incision has fully closed, and keep taking any calcium and vitamin D your doctor has prescribed while the glands recover.

• First, calm the inflammation: Healing Salve. Comfrey root, marshmallow root and marigold with rosemary, lavender, frankincense and helichrysum oils, soothing and healing to inflamed tissue and a salve Dara uses over incision and biopsy sites. Make a salve pack over the front of the neck and leave it on overnight.
• Then, rebuild the tissue: BF&C Salve packs. Once the soreness and swelling have settled, switch to Dr. Christopher’s Bone, Flesh and Cartilage formula, led by white oak bark and comfrey root, traditionally used wherever bone, flesh and cartilage need to be restored. Spread it on flannel over the neck, add gentle heat for 30 minutes to an hour, and leave the pack on overnight. Steady, ongoing use is what rebuilds.
• Let the skin breathe. With any salve pack, leave the area open and clear of salves for at least 6 hours each day.
• Rebuild from the inside as well: BF&C extract. The adult dose is 1 teaspoon three times a day, so the tissue is fed from within while the salve works from without.

Feeding the Body

• Calcium the body can use. Dr. Christopher’s Calcium formula (horsetail grass, comfrey root, oat straw and lobelia) gives calcium that has already passed through plant life, so the body can assimilate it without leaving mineral residue for the kidneys. Dara regards ordinary calcium pills as ground-up rock. 1 teaspoon three times a day, taken with a good whole-food blend such as Superfood; it is a food formula and can be used freely. This is the first support when calcium runs low: after neck surgery, when the glands are working overtime, and for the cramps and twitching of low calcium. It is safe with an overactive gland too. The body builds its calcium from these herbs after they are taken in, so the formula does not dump a load of calcium into the blood; when the blood runs high but the bones are still lacking, it feeds the bones.
• For cramps and spasms. While calcium is being rebuilt, the M&L Salve or Lobelia eases any kind of cramping. Rub the M&L Salve into the cramping muscle or lay a salve pack over it; the lobelia in it is the antispasmodic that lets a locked muscle go. Lobelia extract can also be taken by mouth: usually one good dropperful does the job; take up to two, depending on the size of the person and how bad the cramps are. Cramping that will not let go, or tightness in the throat, is an emergency (see the box below).
• Parsley root tea. Dr. Christopher’s food for the parathyroids: the root brings calcium, B vitamins and iron that nourish the glands. Pour a quart of boiling water over a cup of firmly packed fresh parsley, steep 15 minutes, strain and refrigerate. Drink it through the day. Parsley also keeps the urine flowing, a help to the kidneys when calcium runs high.
• BF&C for the bones. When an overactive gland has been draining the bones, the BF&C extract (1 teaspoon three times a day for an adult) helps rebuild them, and it has long been used to help move calcium deposits along.
• Super Kelp and the greens. Super Kelp (Atlantic kelp, Irish moss and dulse) and daily dark greens bring the magnesium and trace minerals the glands need to do their work.
• Sunshine. Vitamin D is made in the skin from sunlight, and without it the gut cannot take in calcium. Get out in the sun regularly, and have your vitamin D checked; if it tests low, ask your doctor how best to bring it up, since calcium cannot be put to use without it.
• Stop the calcium robbers. Soft drinks, coffee, chocolate and junk foods draw on the body’s calcium and leave the glands working harder. Fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds feed the body instead.

Level of Commitment

How much work the parathyroids take depends on which way they have gone and why. Be honest about where you are:

• Gentle support. For glands working overtime because of low vitamin D or a calcium-poor diet, borderline labs, or a mild, temporary drop in calcium after surgery. The Calcium formula with Superfood, parsley root tea, greens and Super Kelp, sunshine, and an end to the calcium robbers.
• Focused cleansing. For a diagnosed overactive or underactive parathyroid, or tissue damaged by neck surgery. Add the M&L Salve pack or Gland Formula fomentation six nights a week; after surgery, the Healing Salve and then BF&C packs with the BF&C extract; bowel cleansing; and weeks of liver flushing alternated with weeks of kidney flushing, so the body stays on top of the healing. Plenty of water when calcium runs high. Have your labs rechecked as you go.
• Incurables Program. For parathyroid cancer, which is rare, or a long-standing, serious case that has already damaged the kidneys or bones. The supports on this sheet continue, while the full Incurables Program, which includes cleansing the bloodstream with HEAL’s Blood Purifying formula, is done hand in hand with your medical team. Blood Purifying contains chaparral, which has long been regarded as one of the strongest blood purifiers in herbal use. It has had years of bad press, but used wisely it supports the body in clearing cancer, and over the years many members have used it to eliminate tumors. Use with care: take Blood Purifying in courses, not continuously: two dropperfuls 4 to 6 times a day for a week at a time, in a few ounces of grape juice, while drinking 64 to 128 oz. of liquid a day. Avoid it during pregnancy or nursing and with existing liver disease. If the skin or the whites of the eyes turn yellow, the urine turns dark, or there is pain under the right ribs, stop and have the liver checked.

A Loose Healing Plan

1. First: know which way the glands have gone. Have calcium, PTH and vitamin D checked, along with phosphorus, magnesium and kidney function, and a bone density scan if calcium has been high. The plan depends on the answer.
2. Weeks 1–2: Build the foundation. Start your Foundational Program (Superfood, Echinacea, Vitamin C, and bowel cleansing with LBF).
3. Feed the body. Begin the Calcium formula with Superfood, whether calcium runs low or high; it feeds the bones without loading the blood. If calcium is high, drink plenty of water. Either way: parsley root tea, greens, Super Kelp, sunshine, and no calcium robbers.
4. Open the way. An M&L Salve pack or Gland Formula fomentation over the throat at bedtime, six nights a week, with gentle hot and cold over the neck.
5. After neck surgery: once the incision has closed, Healing Salve packs to calm the area; when it has settled, BF&C Salve packs overnight with the BF&C extract by day (1 teaspoon three times a day), leaving the area open and clear of salves at least 6 hours each day. Keep taking what your doctor prescribed while the glands recover.
6. Weeks 4 onward: Alternate. A week of liver flushing, then a week of kidney flushing, for as many rounds as your level of commitment calls for, with gentle-support weeks in between. The kidneys matter most when calcium has been high.
7. About 3 months: Check your progress. Have your labs rechecked. If an overactive gland is still pushing calcium up, talk with your doctor about removing it, and keep the supports going before and after. After surgery, recheck as often as your doctor advises, since prescriptions may come down as the glands heal.

More on the Parathyroids

• Thyroid Ailments
• Kidney Disease
• Calcium You Can Actually Absorb
• Knitting Bone, Flesh and Cartilage Back Together
• A Healing Salve to Keep on Hand

This information is for education only. It is not meant to diagnose, treat or replace care from a qualified health professional.