Off and on, I hear about a par­ti­cu­lar indi­vi­dual who has cri­ti­ci­zed this site for being a “self-treatment” site. I can only chuc­kle in dis­may at that kind of hollow cri­ti­cism and misin­for­ma­tion. So I want to explain what this site is, and what it is not.

This site is here to tell the world that patients have figu­red out that T4-only treat­ment does NOT work (any­more than an ele­va­tor in a 50 story buil­ding, which only rises to the 5^th floor, “works’), and neither does dosing by the TSH. It is here to tell hypothy­roid patients that they are not crazy for fee­ling awful on thy­ro­xine treat­ment – that their depres­sion, lack of sta­mina com­pa­red to others, cons­ti­pa­tion, dry skin and hair, high cholesterol.…and SO many other symp­toms, is due to a lousy medi­ca­tion and a poor adhe­rance to a bad lab called the TSH and total T4.

Addi­tio­nally, this site is here to tell patients, and hope­fully doc­tors who are willing to lis­ten, what we have lear­ned! We are pas­sing along INFORMATION, which I would say is the MAIN empha­sis of this site.

This site also makes it clear that patients here are only expres­sing opi­nions, and the infor­ma­tion pre­sen­ted is NOT inten­ded to replace the rela­tionship and per­so­nal medi­cal advice bet­ween the patient and his/her doc­tor. It is meant to coun­ter BAD infor­ma­tion out there, and to pro­vide YOU the patient with infor­ma­tion to bring to your doc­tor so you can receive BETTER care.

Addi­tio­nally, this site con­ti­nually refers to the page called HOW TO FIND A GOOD DOC. We want you to find a good doc!

And here’s what we are NOT: we are not a “self-treatment site”. Does that mean that folks who choose to self-treat can’t get good infor­ma­tion here? Nope. They can. Because this is a site of infor­ma­tion to empo­wer thy­roid patients. But this is not a site that pushes patients to self-treat. If anyone uses this infor­ma­tion to self-treat, that is THEIR choice, and is at their OWN risk.

And I will state that I totally unders­tand why some patients turn to self-treatment. They do it because they can’t find a doc­tor who will put them on Armour; or, they can’t find a doc­tor who will pay atten­tion to their screa­ming symp­toms when labs are “nor­mal”; they can’t find a doc­tor who will stop dosing them by the TSH alone: they can’t find a doc­tor who will pay atten­tion to the free T3; they can’t find a doc­tor who unders­tands about slug­gish adrenals.….….and so on. Thy­roid patients are sick and tired of being sick and tired at the hands of par­ti­cu­lar doc­tors who haven’t, and don’t unders­tand what is going on!! And I CANNOT, and WILL NOT, cri­ti­cize that. This site will sup­port those who want to find a doc­tor, and will sup­port those who make the per­so­nal choice to self treat!

So, we are doing our best here to spread the word about a MUCH bet­ter medi­ca­tion and a bet­ter treat­ment for doc­tors to use with their patients, to help patients be MUCH bet­ter infor­med when they enter the door of their doc­tors, and to help patients find a MUCH bet­ter doc­tor through the page men­tio­ned above. Here’s rai­sing my glass to PATIENTS, and to DOCTORS willing to lis­ten, because we have wal­ked a path to a much bet­ter life..and we are hoping you are LISTENING.