I often wonder how many celebrities MUST have hypothyroidism, yet we don’t know it. Tonite, I just found out that Jillian Michaels, the tough and muscular fitness buff on the TV show Biggest Loser, has hypothyroidism.
And you’re left to wonder: is she, and are others, on Armour, Naturethroid, Westhroid?? Have they found out about the superior treatment of desiccated thyroid over a T4-only treatment with Synthroid, Levoxyl, et al?
Other celebrities with hypo include Kim Alexis, Linda Ronstadt, Kim Cattrall, Kelly Osbourne, Oprah Winfrey and others. We can only hope that one day, someone will figure out that desiccated thyroid is a superior treatment, and help us spread the word. So far, Oprah has let us down. Maybe…maybe…someone with the ability to spread the word will step up to the plate. 
p.s. Prefer a book to a website? STTM is now in book form, with even more information than you can find on this site, and waiting to be in your hands.
This entry was posted on Sunday, September 21st, 2008 and is filed under Patients. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Jessica said:
Sep 24, 08 at 5:52 pmI have to say that I have wondered the same thing. I watched a bit of Oprah today with Jenny McCarthy on it and she has been fighting the makers of vaccines because she believes they cause the onset of autism in some children. And Oprah let her speak out about that and how she has helped reverse her son’s autism on the show. I just wonder why something like this isn’t making the news.
Being an advocate for a genetic picky eating condition that the doctors ignore, I know how frustrating this can be. But I just wanted to say thank you so much for keeping up the good work. Were it not for you, I would still be listening to my doctor who has been telling me that my blood tests mean I just have very early signs of possible later in life thyroid disease. And even though, at 30 years old, newly married, and very happy, I feel like complete and total crap every day, my doctor says that it is just depression (since I have a history of chronic low grade depression) and put me on an anti-depressant ( even though of course, there is absolutely NO blood test to indicate which of those one should be on). And he refuses to do anything but monitor the thyroid condition. So, thanks for this website, the book, and giving people like me hope that I don’t have to feel like this for the rest of my life.
Anne said:
Sep 29, 08 at 5:02 pmGod Bless this book…What a breath of fresh air. Thank you, to all of you who contributed to the fine collection of personal stories of triumph. I too am thankful for the us of the website/book and forums. Someone cares!!!!
alexandra said:
Oct 05, 08 at 10:38 pmFinally there are more websites to help us that are afflicted with this terrible medical condition. I have finally found a GP who is also a naturopath so he is actually interested in helping me naturally. Not like my last GP, he put me on anti-depressants which actually made me feel DEPRESSED! I became flat like I was a nothing. So if anyone out there has hypothyroidism and their GP is not listening to you then get a new one. Don’t wait, it is your health not theirs that is at risk!
Again thank you for your informative site!
Tori said:
Oct 06, 08 at 2:32 pmJanie, now that you have the book published, you will become a star! I just know it! No, really, what I wanted to say is PLEEEASE contact Jillian from Biggest Loser, and all these other skinny, active, healthy looking stars and find out what gives? You may now start to get recognized, and if not now, you will soon, with your great book, so use that to get your foot in some celebrity doors!! I want to know what others have done, and if they just started T4 only meds, so the madness hasn’t caught up with them or what? It didn’t catch up with me now that I think about it until a couple years after I’d been taking only T4, but then again, I thought it was everything else BUT thyroid problems. After all, I was diagnosed, and on medication that should solve it right? I didn’t know then what I know now today thanks to you. This is an ever interesting topic to pursue.
gina said:
Oct 09, 08 at 9:21 amwell, oprah still looks pretty fat (despite trainers, chef,
bodyshaper, flattering camera angles, etc.), so maybe we’ll
just have to wait for the other shoe to drop. on the other
hand, she was recently complaining about “menopausal
insomnia”, so no doubt she blames any unresolved hypo
symptoms on that. (does anybody else remember a few years
ago, she mentioned her palpitations — after several know–
nothing docs tested her for cardiac problems, etc. — to then-trainer bob greene, who said it might be the “big M”?
she thought that was brilliant; hey, bob and oprah, maybe
it was the “big T” trying to get your attention!) her pal,
dr. mehmet oz, is at least somewhat unconventional — he’s
recommended yoga, neti pots, and rhodiola on her show — maybe emails should be directed to him, instead.
ibeji said:
Oct 17, 08 at 6:44 amThe famous brazilian soccer player Ronaldo had been suspected of being hypothyroid in the German thyroid forum (http://www.ht-mb.de/forum/) long before it was announced in the press that he in fact was hypothyroid.
It was the way he had become fat and lethargic, which became apparent during the world championship, which led other hypothyroid patients to suspect he was hypothyroid, too.
I wonder what kind of treatment he gets?!?!
Liz said:
Oct 17, 08 at 7:14 amhttp://thyroid.about.com/od/newscontroversies/ig/Celebrity-Thyroid-Patients. – 02/
Here’s a list of celebrities with thyroid problems. It’s too bad they aren’t more vocal advocates. We need people to speak up for the illness. The only thing I hear people speaking about (well, besides Oprah) is thyroid Cancer. And anyone with Hypothyroidism knows that cancer is not the only problem people have.