And getting older increases the incidence of thyroid disease.

Even worse, those who acquire it at an older age are probably going to go through the same bunk and bull those younger have gone through–having depression, rising cholesterol, osteoporosis or ostepenia, weight gain, easy fatigue, couch potato syndrome, dry skin and hair, plus more–-all classic symptoms of undiagnosed or undertreated hypothyroidism.

But older folks are told it’s all just part of aging so here’s your latest tablet for your handy-dandy Wal Mart pill box.

I recently found a great blog by Pam whose Feb. 23rd, 2010 post is titled Older Women and Low Thyroid. She turned 65 in 2009 (and she looks a lot younger) and writes how she found herself with hypothyroid at a later age as well.  And Pam is WAY ahead of the game in her knowledge. She understands that most older folks are put on Synthroid (which can be a lousy way to treat hypothyroidism for many), that getting older means conversion from T4 to T3 can be more difficult,  that being on desiccated thyroid or T3-only just might be the better treatment, and you can get adrenal fatigue at an older age as well (thanks to poor treatment with T4, the TSH lab test, or being underdosed even on desiccated thyroid).

You can read Pam’s post here, as well as about the phone call from her friend who is 50 lbs overweight, has brain fog, is out of work, has no energy…and voila–is on Synthroid so it can’t POSSIBLY be her thyroid. Sad. In fact, what has happened to Pam’s friend is what I keep stating to those who feel they are just doing peachy on T4: watch out, because as you age, the truth about T4 will reveal itself!

Pam, I love your blog posts, and I’m going to hope to see more of those in the “venerable age range” be just as wise as you are!!

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FDA HAS MADE A STATEMENT ABOUT NATURAL DESICCATED THYROID: Just before I was going to plop into my bed for the evening, I checked my notifications to discover that right on the FDA website and their 2010 Drug Shortages page (3rd column up from bottom), it states: Forest reports manufacturing issues involving the raw material and RLC reports increased demand. FDA has not ordered Forest or RLC to remove these thyroid (desiccated) tablets from the market. BINGO. I’ve been waiting for this for months, because though websites and groups were formed last year as if we needed to “rescue” desiccated thyroid from being banned, I couldn’t join the fearful rally of a few because my gut was telling me something quite different.  And a few others, I discovered, had the same feeling.  And hooray! Our guts were right on!

Does this mean the FDA “gets it” about desiccated thyroid? Maybe, or maybe not. Yes, their timing WAS awful last year with Time Caps Labs, right when we were starting a shortage. And there does appear to be some kind of future requirement “proving” the safety and efficacy of dess. thyroid–two things we ALREADY KNOW from 110 years of safe and effective use. Duhhh on the FDA. But it’s FAR more hopeful now, and realistic, and will hopefully promote more reasonable thinking from now on.

Onward and upward, folks.

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Naturethroid is coming back in pharmacies all over the US! See the blog post below or here for information about  the “new” Naturethroid.

(If you are reading this via the Newsletter email notification, just click on the title of this blog post to come directly to the site where you can Comment).

Then I caught a cold from hell–rare for me.  I was taking zinc and Vit. C. But a good friend reminded me about Vit. D and it’s immune enhancing effect. OMG, I forgot about it!  So later last night, I took what I thought was 12,000 IU on the first night of being sicker than a dog.  They say to take 1000 mg per 10 lbs of weight. Turned out the gel caps were not 1000 IU each, as I thought, but 2000 IU each. So I ended up taking 22,000 IU.  lol. But the long and short of it is this: though I woke up this morning quite tired and weak, I’ve slowly gotten better all day!! My congestion has hugely improved.  Read this: http://pandemicsurvivor.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/eliminate-the-common-cold/

Love your green powder drink? Just a word of caution: much of what is in many of those powdered greens are goitrogens, which inhibit thyroid production, such as wheat grass, barley grass, broccoli, spinach,  cabbage, maca and spinach, plus much more. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use the green powder. You’ll just have to be sure to use it in moderation, and not consume too many other goitrogen foods each and every day. Or, raise your thyroid meds.

Dr. Peter Gott can give even better information to readers. I noticed that a column on the Tulsa website by Peter Gott, MD of the Newspaper Enterprise Association  could have given different information to a distressed reader who couldn’t find Armour anywhere.  He recommended to this reader, who already stated that Synthroid is not a well-handled treatment, to see if her physician could “alter the Synthroid dosage to find a level”  that could be tolerated.  Actually, there are far better options during this backordered time, which I have compiled here, and includes Erfa’s Thyroid and more.

Naturethroid is appearing in pharmacies! Yup, patients are reporting it! No, it’s not all pharmacies. But you might want to call and see if YOUR local pharmacy has it. Otherwise, it’s coming.  For options during the current natural desiccated thyroid shortages, go here. To see why we are where we are today, read this.

Is there research to prove having a free T3 in the upper quarter of the range when on desiccated thyroid?? A gal emailed me, wanting studies to show her doc. But unfortunately, the answer appears to be no. Instead, this is what patients all over thyroid groups discovered from their lab results when they were feeling fabulous again with no lingering symptoms.  So we simply spread the word. Patient experiences DO count for something.  P.S. Here’s an ongoing list of research that DOES prove some things patients KNOW first hand.  And by the way, when you have a high free T3 and continuing symptoms, time to do labs for ferritin and adrenal fatigue.

By using a code, you can save on labs from HealthcheckUSA. I was informed from HealthcheckUSA that many patients were forgetting to mention the discount code. So look again, and be sure and use it from the Recommended Labwork page.

Janie on radio shows, and a great guest for the upcoming Talkshoe Thyroid Patient Community Call. Can’t say much more, because it’s in the works. Watch for announcements soon.

A new way to be informed of these thyroid posts. The former Notifixious notifications went out of business. But we have a new and GOOD one, referring to the notification as a newletter, and you can sign up free and with no strings attached.  See on left below on the links.   Also, there are many more important posts right below this.

The only other shopper left—a tall, dark and handsome young man. And almost as quickly, he re-entered,  approached me, and asked if that was my car out there.

“My car?” I replied. “Yes, why?”

“I’m curious about the sticker you have on your back window,” he stated with a friendly but curious smile.

The sticker is of Calvin peeing on the word of a particular T4-only medication.  I give these away free if someone requests it with their current order of the STTM book.  And this was not the first time I’ve been asked about that attention-getting sticker.

So I proceeded to tell him that I’m a Thyroid Patient Activist, owner of Stop the Thyroid Madness, about the history of T4, how lousy many patients have reported doing on it for nearly 60 years with their own variety and intensity of lingering hypo symptoms, and how much better natural desiccated thyroid has been for patients all over the world.

I then innocently asked: “Are you on Synthroid?” I just knew I had one more victim of this treatment who needed enlightenment.

“Nope”,  he said with a confident and defiant air.  “I have until recently been a pharmaceutical rep with Abbott Labs.”

THWACK.   Standing before me stood a mighty well-trained Big Pharma champion for Synthroid who was going to reveal and defend his propaganda like a master. And that led to the most heated and piercing give-and-take I’ve ever experienced, right in front of the chagrined and wide-eyed sales person at the checkout desk. We were like sumo wrestlers butting our words against each other.

When I explained the slew of continuing symptoms reported by patients worldwide who have been on T4, and no matter how high they raised it…his response?  “Those symptoms can be the result of many issues other than hypothyroidism.”

I responded: “Well isn’t it odd that those who are hypo and on Synthroid, and who get on desiccated thyroid, find those symptoms completely removed.”

His reply?? “Heroin can do the same thing”.  Groan. I simply had to laugh at him. How many times have we heard the same kind of baloney.

He proceeded to tell me in great detail with each point he made that:

1. He has worked with many patients and they do well on Synthroid (A rep has worked with many patients? And what in the world does “well” mean?)
2. Clinical trials have proven that Synthroid works. (Ah! You mean those financed by Abbott Labs and which are contrary to the reported experience of millions of patients around the world? Those??)
3. The TSH lab test gives proof about the efficacy of T4 (Funny how patients all over the world have proven by their continuing symptoms that the TSH lab test for the diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism belongs at the bottom of a trash heap)
4. There are many differences in the efficacy of T4 brands to explain any issues in patients (Funny how not ONE brand of T4 has been exempt from leaving continuing symptoms according to the global rexperience of a huge body of patients) 
5. Blaming T4 for the amount of adrenal fatigue that “supposedly” some T4-treated patients find themselves with is silly since there can be other reasons for it. (Another laugh on my part.  Clearly, when someone isn’t adequately treated on T4, something has to kick in to keep them going, and voila–it’s those trusty dusty adrenals which eventually just poop out thanks to T4 and the TSH.)

There were much more machine gun stances between us, but that would make this blog post far too long.

One truth we did agree on? That “some” patients do get benefit from using T4. He specifically referred to the elderly. And my quick response? Why accept “some” when patients all over the world report getting rid of that “some” with desiccated thyroid (and especially for certain ones who also treat their low cortisol, low ferritin, and other issues most likely related to an inferior treatment.)

Clearly, we were each deadlocked in our positions.  And he concluded, looking at the sales associate, that neither of us were wrong; we just represented two sides.

And I turned my head, looked him straight in the eye, and said:  Uhhh, no. YOU are completely and totally wrong.

P.S. After he left, the sales gal said she was totally in tune with what I was saying, and wrote down the name of this website. lol lol

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See the blog post below about favored Canadian pharmacies, plus many more comments by patients.

What the heck is going on with desiccated thyroid and current shortages? Read about it here.

Not only does low cortisol keep desiccated thyroid from working well, it also causes all sorts of angst with paranoia, depression, anxiety, easy anger, sensitivity to light and/or sounds, reclusiveness, sleep issues and more.

First, patients discovered the importance of using the 24 hour adrenal saliva test rather than blood or urine. When low cortisol was confirmed, the treatment was using cortisol, aka hydrocortisone, to give themselves back what their adrenals were not, to allow thyroid hormones to reach the cells, and to give the pooped out adrenals a rest.

And success was achieved! When all other issues were discovered and treated, patients were finally able to heal their adrenals with cortisol use, wean off, and be successful in their continued treatment with desiccated thyroid! That success continues today!

Yet in spite of clear success in the treatment of low cortisol with supplemental cortisol in the correct amount for each individual (which can range from 15 to 40 mg generally–men often need the higher end), as well as excellent books on the subject by Wilson, Peatfield, Jeffries and the STTM book, patients like RD below still encounter doctors who fill their minds with all sorts of fear and warnings:

I bought your book and later on I discovered your website which are both great. They are a superb source of information and support for thyroid and adrenal fatigue sufferers. Thank you so much!

Personally I got adrenal fatigue by a sustained lack of sleep for several years (crying babies).  I found a doctor who prescribed Hydrocortisone (17.5 mg/day, 5-5-5-2.5), Fludrocortisone, DHEA and Testosterone. Symptoms disappeared in about 2 weeks.

A first attempt to wean off after 6 months made some serious symptoms reappear very quickly, so I returned to the original dose.

It is very stressful that many established doctors (our family doctor, and my wife’s thyroid-endocrinologist) are scaring me like hell that I am taking HC. They are saying I am destroying my body and I will never succeed in weaning off HC.

My wife is a T4-only thyroid-patient with low-cortisol symptoms. She also has been scared about dessicated thyroid and HC. Reading your book I was however convinced she could benefit a lot from a better treatment…

Keep up the good work, as patients we are really left alone in the dark by our doctors…

And unfortunately, it’s true. Thyroid and adrenal patients are left in the dark by many doctors about a variety of issues related to better thyroid treatment, adrenal issues, low ferritin, and more.  So here’s where you can read more, and in turn, take this important information into your doctors offices:

• All about the problem of adrenal fatigue
• How to treat
• Symptoms of having an adrenal problem
• The STTM book, which not only has more detail, but can be taken right into the doctor’s office
• Talk to other patients, including a group targeted for adrenal fatigue

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If you missed the excellent Part 2 with researcher Dr. John C. Lowe last Thursday evenings, you can listen to the recording, as well as sign up to be a Follower of the Thyroid Patient Community Call, here.

He is the author of an exhaustive book on Fibromyalgia called The Metabolic Treatment of Fibromyalgia, which explains how the proper diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism is a good choice in the treatment of fibro. He also owns drlowe.com and the research website Thyroid Science.

I already knew he was great. He’s listed in the Acknowledgements of the Stop the Thyroid Madness book as one of a handful of medical professionals who played a huge role in educating and empowering patients all these years.  He, like the others, was a springboard for patients to move forward in gaining far better information about thyroid treatment and everything else we have have learned over the years!

And he has agreed to come back, since we had many more questions to ask him! I’ll announce that when we secure a date.

Below are some highlights from our talk with Dr. Lowe:

1. The use of high dose B-vitamins is very important for the thyroid patient, and even more so when you are feeling better in your treatment. Thyroid increases the production of protein, which drives energy, and you’ll need the B’s to help this higher energy production.
2. Sadly, it’s economics which dominant science and and researching, and it’s all for marketing purposes instead of the pursuit of truth and the real health of patients.
3. What drives your medical investigations? To gain wealth, or to help patients?
4. 75% of the time, if a doctor uses the TSH to either diagnose hypo or treat it, he will be wrong.
5. In the 1980’s, the top of the TSH range was 7.5.
6. Abbott Labs, the makers of Synthroid, gives one million dollars in an unrestricted educational grant to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologist (AACE) i.e. no wonder Endocrinologists have a love affair with Synthroid, a medication like other brands which has left the vast majority of us undertreated. You can read more details from Lowe on this subject here.
7. Isocort, an OTC treatment for low cortisol, is protected by the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act.
8. HC, aka hydrocortisone, is water soluble. Isocort is fat soluble. People need bile so the lipase enzymes are able to work on it.
9. There are no studies to compare Isocort to HC, and should be.
10. If swallowing, take thyroid one hour before eating for best absorption. If meal will have a lot of fat, 3-4 hours before eating.
11. Elderly people have less Hydrochloric Acid and do a worse job absorbing nutrients. (And so do undertreated hypo patients, reminded Diane)  Betaine is a good supplement to help.
12. Why it can be a bad idea to swallow thyroid with meals: we never know how many compounds are in the food that will bind it, like calcium and iron.  T4 is the most badly absorbed.

To hear more, just click above and listen to the recorded call. Thank you for being you, Dr. John C. Lowe.

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BRRRRR. In the US and many other countries,  we are having one of the coldest winters we’ve seen in a long time. And if you are out in it alot, you may need a tad more thyroid meds to keep yourself optimal.

I found her story below as an undercover advocate fascinating,  and think Amy is caring and committed,  in spite of severe restrictions! Bless you, Amy.

I spend an inordinate amount of time these days contributing to a well-known online thyroid disorders forum I’ll call “Thyroid Health Forum” (not its real name).

It’s a tricky forum with draconian rules: they don’t allow you to post any links to resources, talk about where you get your online labs done, include quotes from studies, or post any names of thyroid advocates. You can’t use a username you’ve used on any other forums and you can’t mention using their personal messaging system.

I’ve received a few “infractions” from the ever-vigilant board “administrators” and “moderators” (never could color inside the lines, I guess) and have been warned to never, under any circumstances, use the words “Stop the Thyroid Madness” or any references to this website or book in my posts.

At more than one point I was ready to walk away and just give up on it.  How can you share your experiences when there were so many rules that seemed designed to inhibit a free flow of information, to the point of not being allowed to mention the title of a good book by name or type in the word Google?

But I would read the following posts submitted by desperate people and this would keep me coming back to try, somehow, to help:

• “Hi, my doctor says my labs are all normal but I’ve got so many symptoms, I can hardly function…”
• “My doctor says that free T3 and free T4 testing is not useful, that my TSH is normal and that unless my TSH is high he won’t order any antibody tests…”
• “My doctor says that my TSH is too low and wants me to cut back on my thyroid hormones, but I know I will start feeling bad if I do this… Help!”
• “I am taking Synthroid but I feel terrible and my hair is falling out and now my doc wants me to take an antidepressant…”

You see, I was in this very same boat for far too many years. About 20 years back I started noticing symptoms:  fatigue, depression, menstrual irregularities, and dizzy spells. I went to see my doc who did the usual TSH test and when it came back “normal”, prescribed antidepressants. The antidepressants did help, but my menstrual problems intensified and other symptoms increased until I finally underwent a hysterectomy for dysfunctional uterine bleeding. Shortly thereafter, I collapsed with heart irregularities and autonomic nervous system dysfunction in the fall of 2006.

I went to over 10 different specialists spending thousands of dollars for medical bills with no real answers–just a lot of shrugged shoulders and a fibromyalgia diagnosis.

It wasn’t until my mother was hospitalized and routine blood testing came back with a TSH of over 6 that I looked again at my own thyroid. My TSH was never above 3. I had one free T4 test done following my initial collapse but, again, all tests were flagged “normal” and thyroid was passed over once again.

But a search about TSH lab ranges led me to Mary Shomon’s About.com articles, and while she seemed to be stuck on the idea that 3 was an acceptable number for the top of range for TSH, based entirely on the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists recommendations, I finally found the Stop the Thyroid Madness site and learned otherwise.

It was here that I learned about other testing like free T3, free T4, thyroid antibodies, vitamin and ferritin levels and, very importantly, that the TSH should be the LAST test done for diagnosing hypothyroidism instead of the ONLY test. I finally caught on to how the medical establishment has failed miserably to adequately diagnose and treat hypothyroidism. I felt both incredibly empowered and very, very angry.

I quickly delved into the thyroid forums to share what I’d learned and to learn from others. The first forum I found was the aforementioned  “Thyroid Health Forum”, and since this is one of the best-known, it is where many of the newbies, like me, find themselves. There were both natural and synthetic hormone proponents on the board and the advice ranged from very good to quite bad. I soon found there were better forums like Realthyroidhelp and the natural thyroid hormone Yahoo groups that had really smart people who were happy to share resources and information that was truly useful. I spent a lot of time on these and learned a great deal.

But for some reason I couldn’t seem to leave the “Thyroid Health Forum”. The people who stumbled on there seemed so lost and I felt compelled to impart what I had learned to them. I would offer alternatives to the synthetics and explain why natural desiccated thyroid (NDT) was a superior treatment option and, more importantly, that they did have an option for their treatment, despite what their doctor told them. I’d relay what I had learned from other boards about access to NDT during the shortages.

When I figured out I had adrenal fatigue and later thyroid hormone resistance as a result of being undiagnosed for so long, I started relaying information about these issues to the many who were having difficulties getting optimized on their hormone replacement therapy. I found it to be both rewarding and enormously educating for myself as I would spend time researching questions that were asked about supplements, lab tests, and studies. I was not allowed to post links so had to summarize things I had learned and this taught me even more. The main messages I pushed were (and are):  get the right labs done, learn how to interpret them correctly, be your own advocate, know your treatment options, and don’t implicitly trust doctors.

I will continue to contribute what I’ve learned to the “Thyroid Health Forum”. So far I’ve managed to fly under the radar and play, however grudgingly, by their rules. I figure if I can get just one or two people to question the present thyroid clinical guidelines, as written by our friends at big pharma, I’ll be more than satisfied. I actually believe that by getting good information out there to as many sufferers as possible, we may create a groundswell of people who will no longer accept being dismissed as depressed complainers by their healthcare providers. And this is one more way we can help enact real change to the currently abysmal medical practice of thyroid diagnosis and treatment. Well worth it in my book!

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Latest news from RLC: Shipments of Naturethroid are beginning Monday, January 4th and the first two weeks with backorders going out ASAP.  Medco should have some by the end of January. Their Patient Information Line: Naturethroid/Westhroid: 877-600-4752

Thyroid  patient guest posts can be read about here: /writing-a-guest-blog-post-on-sttm/

Want to honor someone who has helped you?? See the blog post below and thank someone.

NOTE: if you were receiving email notifications about these posts,  the company doing them is out of business. Instead, use an RSS Feed.

But I was wrong. There really is a difference in our journeys–even if we both end up with hypothyroidism—and four strong ones:

1. It’s no picnic to lose one’s thyroid. Surgical removal, called a thyroidectomy,  can come with neck soreness, loss of one’s voice, and other complications. including the loss of parathyroids.  Treatment with RAI, or Iodine 1-131 to kill the thyroid, has it’s own lifelong side effects, including gastrointestinal issues, parotid salivary gland problems, and more.  A good website about the controversy of RAI is atomicwomen.org.
2. The stress of surgery and/or RAI can do a number on one’s adrenals. I suspect that there is a high percentage of those who had surgery and/or RAI who also have adrenal fatigue with it’s nightmarish side effects, whether simply from the physical stress of removal and/or treatment, or having a Synthroid, T4-only obsessed doctor.  Being on T4 is the number one predictor of adrenal fatigue.
3. Some have a unique anguish about their vulnerability. No one can live without a thyroid.  And that thought with the absolute lifelong dependency on thyroid meds is not a comfortable state.
4. Life long regret can be huge. Many patients came to realize, after removal, that they may not have needed the removal at all if they had known about the fallacy of the TSH lab test, or the idiocy of T4-only meds, or potential benefits of iodine, or natural desiccated thyroid like Naturethroid, compounded, or Erfa Thyroid.

Read the latest personal and gut-wrenching blog post by thyroid cancer Stephanie Buist, who is thyroidless after treatment for thyroid cancer nearly 10 years ago.  Also see the Talk to Others link below to find the Thyroidless yahoo group.

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Curious what’s going on with Naturethroid or Westhroid production and availability? RLC Labs has a Patient Information Line you can always call for the latest information on Naturethroid and Westhroid availability: 877-600-4752.

Want to write a post for the STTM blog?? Beginning in 2010, I will be reviewing and accepting “thyroid patient guest posts” on the STTM blog in between my own. You can read about it here: www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/writing-a-guest-blog-post-on-sttm/

Want to honor someone who has helped you?? See the blog post below and thank someone.

NOTE: if you were receiving email notifications about these posts,  the company doing them is out of business. Instead, use an RSS Feed.

You might have already known about her, but it was only a few days ago when I found out that the effervescent Jane Pauley, former host of the The Today Show and Dateline NBC, has had certain medical struggles in her lifetime. They have included hives (treated with steroids), depression (treated with an anti-depressant), a bip0lar disorder (treated with lithium), and the autoimmune thyroid disease called Hashimotos (treated with Levoxyl).

Hives are sudden small raised bumps which can mass into patches, and are often itchy and miserable.  Bipolar, also called Manic Depressive Disorder, involves swings between extreme mania (excited, energetic) followed by depression (extreme sadness or lowered response to life).

And all the above four issues made me pause.  Consider the following:

1. Hives have not only been linked to hashimotos disease, they have both been successfully treated with the most brilliant medication for hypothyroidism ever created: natural desiccated thyroid. That healing connection was revealed by the beloved Dr. David Derry of Canada here.  Hives is also mentioned as a lingering hypothyroid symptom while on T4 meds which went away with desiccated thyroid.

2) Depression is all too common for those with undiagnosed hypothyroidism (thanks to the lousy TSH lab test) or undertreated thyroid disease (thanks to the lousy T4-only meds like Levoxyl which promotes depression and other lingering symptoms). Many patients report a resolution of their depression with desiccated thyroid.

3) Bi-polar can often be a misdiagnosis for Hashimotos disease, since the latter can cause the same swings. Even without Hashi’s, bipolar and other mental health issues can be a common manifestation of low cortisol aka adrenal fatigue, also caused by undiagnosed hypo because of the TSH, or undertreated hypothyroidism with T4.  At the very least, bipolar can be a common manifestation of a hypothalamus-pituitary–adrenals (HPA) axis dysregulation, again common with those undiagnosed or undertreated hypothyroidism.

4) Lithium, ironically, is a known cause of hypothyroidism, only making one’s thyroid situation worse, as well as promoting potential adrenal fatigue and low cortisol.

Now granted, Jane’s big four of hives, depression, bipolar, and thyroid disease could be coincidental.  But there’s so much connection in one way or another between them that you are left wondering if she’s been a victim of misdiagnosis and undertreatment just like hundreds of millions of us thanks to labs and medications which do not work. And she may need a good doctor to be reevaluated, besides put on desiccated thyroid and discover what patients have learned about better treatment.

And on another note: I fear it’s going to take someone just as powerful, and as stricken with health issues which could be related,  as Jane Pauley is, to FINALLY break open the profound and destructive media silence about this scandal of thyroid treatment diagnosis and treatment which has left hundreds of millions SICK with profound stories,  and is the very reason Stop the Thyroid Madness exists. Do we dare hope? We’ll see.

Do you have a similar story of mental health issues that ended up being connected to your thyroid and/or adrenal state? Use the Comment form and let’s talk. Who knows–maybe Jane will see this, ponder, and become far better educated like we’ve had to become!

*HO HO HO! Have a STTM book sent to someone  you care about as a CHRISTMAS or HOLIDAY present. A card will be included, and the book will be in an envelope with a red bow!! Save money the more you buy!

Yes, it’s being announced today that there will be no more Oprah Winfrey Show on CBS after Fall of next year.  She’s saying goodbye. And the rumor is that she will move her talk show to The Oprah Winfrey Network, which replaces the Discovery Health Channel. We’ll see when she formally announces it today on her show.

But the change sure does shine a bright spotlight on a colossal and complete failure by Oprah and The Oprah Winfrey Show for hundreds of millions of thyroid patients. Though she had her own bout with thyroid disease (and may still be dealing with it when you consider her weight issues), we all winced a year ago when she stated that a month long Hawaiian vacation and eating fresh foods with soy milk (a goitrogen) were a great way to treat her thyroid condition. Yikes.   We equally squirmed in our seats when Dr. Christiane Northrup made the comment that our thyroid problems were due to an “energy blockage in the throat region, the result of a lifetime of ’swallowing’ words one is aching to say.” Double yikes.

And since then, we have watched nothing, zilch, zero from Oprah and The Opray Winfrey Show about a horrendous 55-year medical scandal of thyroid treatment that has negatively affected the lives of hundreds of millions of thyroid patients worldwide. T4-only meds like Synthroid, the darling medication of the medical community for hypothyroidism treatment, has left hundreds of millions sick.  The TSH lab test has equally sent us to hell.  Because we have been forced to live with continuing symptoms of hypothyroidism, we’ve endured much more testing and have been put on many other medications to bandaid our continuing symptoms. And a majority of us have had to deal with the additional burden of adrenal fatigue thanks to all the above.

It’s been hell, Oprah. But you never listened.  So for me personally, I could care less what you do now. You’ve let millions of us down.

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On a far better note:  Last night’s Thyroid Patient Community Call on Talkshoe was excellent. From thyroid/adrenal patient Valerie Taylor, who is absolutely one of the most knowledgeable patients in the world about adrenals and RT3, we gained good information how it raises its ugly head when you have high or low cortisol, low B12, low ferritin and other untreated issues, and how to treat it. You can go back to Talkshoe and listen to the broadcast, which was Episode 7.  See my blog post right below this. As far as future Talkshoe Community Calls: they will always be announced here first.

Below that, you’ll read how cellulose as a filler just may be a huge problem in natural desiccated thyroid meds. But we are also discovering that a good desiccated thyroid like Naturethroid, even with its cellulose, can seem even worse if we have undiscovered and untreated issues like low B12, low Vit. A, low ferritin, low Vit. D and other conditions common with hypothyroidism.  Make sure you have tested for these.

*HO HO HO! Have a STTM book sent to someone  you care about as a CHRISTMAS or HOLIDAY present. All the work is done for you!

But in every individual, a thyroid also converts T4 to the inactive RT3 (reverse T3) as a way to clear out excess T4 that the body doesn’t need.  It’s natural and necessary. It will especially happen if you go through surgery or a diet.

Unfortunately, many thyroid patients make far too much RT3, and patients have been making cutting edge discoveries about this fact and how to treat it with their doctors.  High levels of RT3 can be found if you have high cortisol, low cortisol, low ferritin, low B12 and other undiscovered and untreated underlying issues that can go hand-in-hand with being hypothyroid.

Why is a high level of RT3 is problem? That excess RT3 is making itself lazily comfortable on your cell receptors, preventing T3 from gaining access to your body.  It becomes like a clogged up drain to your body. So you stay hypo and symptomatic, in spite of seemingly normal labwork.

This coming THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19th (tomorrow as I write this) on the TALKSHOE THYROID PATIENT COMMUNITY CALL, we’re going to talk about the Reverse T3 problem with thyroid patient advocate Valerie Taylor. She not only owns the NTH Adrenals group (and is considered the most knowledgeable patient on adrenal fatigue in the world), she also created the RT3/T3  group on Yahoo, which you will find on the Talk To Others page.

We’ll talk about excess RT3, symptoms that can go along with it, how to do labwork to determine if you have this problem, how to treat it with T3-only, and more. There’s a Chat Box you can participate in while the show is going on. Audio will come directly out of your computer, and you can call in and ask Valerie or Janie a question. Times are 6 pm Pacific, 7 pm Mountain, 8 pm Central and 9 pm Eastern.

Want to read more? Thyroid patient Nick Foot, who also moderates the RT3/T3 group, has created an excellent Question and Answer RT3 website. This will make you even more informed before this Talkshoe event. Note that the website is still work-in-progress, so expect to see more as he works on it.

For those with the Stop the Thyroid Madness book, there is also more good detail in Chapter 12 called T3 is the Star of the Show, page 155. This is all good information to take into your doctor’s office.

Update: cellulose in our desiccated thyroid meds may be much more of a problem than we ever imagined. See my blog post below.

*HO HO HO! Have a STTM book sent to someone  you care about as a CHRISTMAS or HOLIDAY present. All the work is done for you!