depression tags

Reading and responding to my daily emails is a huge job that takes a lot of time. My 92 year old mother-in-law thinks I’m obsessed with my computer. ha!  If only she knew.  But some of those emails stand out in my mind.

As a recent example, one gal wrote to tell me she had suffered from depression for so many years due to her poorly diagnosed and inadequately treated thyroid condition. And because her use of desiccated thyroid had hugely improved her mood, she was inspired by and had purchased the STTM bumper sticker about depression. You can see it here.

And unbeknown to her innocent husband, the bumper sticker went on HIS car.

And just two days later, she explains what happened:  My husband was coming from his cardiac rehab exercises to the shopping center locally, and when he got out of his car,  another car pulled behind him, blocking the lane.

Turns out that the other driver, a man, jumped out and wanted to know what the bumper sticker means.

She continued: My husband figured the guy meant his Marine Corps stickers but no, he meant the thyroid sticker. So my husband says, bewildered ‘What Thyroid sticker’?

After realizing it was there, the other man explains how his wife has been diagnosed with thyroid disease and her dr. wants her on antidepressants.

She said: “My poor hubby only knew that I feel so much better on Natural hormones and I am not as depressed as I was before. All he could tell him was “she got it off the internet”.

I’ll bet he saw the URL on the sticker, and his wife is going to get some life-changing information from Stop the Thyroid Madness.  So we can never underestimate how little things we say, or show, or do are going to make a difference in someone’s life.

I hope each and every one of you are being “thyroid patient advocates” and spreading the word to others. If you like using bumper stickers or t-shirts, go here.

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ABOUT PROBLEMS WITH THE STTM SITE: There have been numerous problems with folks getting on STTM the last few weeks. The first problem was due to a software installed by my web designer to prevent attacks by spam bots. That was fixed. But if you visited during that time and use IE, just clear your caches. Others may need to use a different browser.  You then may be able to go back to your original browser.

But since then, more problems have creeped up. It’s called GROWING PAINS. i.e. STTM has become so popular that more problems pop up. And since we have limited resources, we just have to deal with them, one at a time. So please announce on all your groups that STTM has not gone away, that we are working to fix problems related to growing pains,  and to try again if they at first can’t get on. If you want to contribute to the hosting fees, go here:  http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=8074

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TWO SITES YOU NEED TO REGISTER WITH:

1)  http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/register_of_counterexamples.php A Register of Counterexamples to levothyroxine-only-therapy, set up by Sheila of TPA-UK.  ”Counterexamples” means all those symptoms which proved that T4-only meds do NOT work.  She will be using this to get the attention of doctors and authorities in order to re-examine the use of T4-only for all forms and degrees of hypothyroidism.

PLEASE NOTE: This questionnaire is only for those prescribed levothyroxine (T4-only) and who failed to get relief for the elimination of their symptoms, and who then started using a T3 containing hormone (either synthetic or natural). It’s also for those who were denied a diagnosis and treatment, and tried a T3 hormone containing product and found your symptoms became less.

2) http://www.worldthyroidregister.com/ A site established by Dr Gorder Skinner to gather as many signatures as possible to establish a Worldwide standard treatment for thyroid sufferers.

It’s been about a year since Armour desiccated thyroid, a very popular prescription natural thyroid product on the market for decades, was reformulated. Forest Labs stated there were two changes: the raising of cellulose, and the lowering of sucrose.

Why did they do this? It could be strongly related to the fact that in late 2007 through 2008, patients who used the 3 grain tablets reported they were suddenly and entirely ineffective. So, many of us surmise that Forest was attempting to “improve” (cough) their product.

Says one of those patients:  I had switched to the 3 grain tablet months before to save money and I used my pill cutter to cut it in half.  Then around November, my work pants were getting tight and I would come home tired, achy and weak. It didn’t take me long to figure out that Armour in the 3 grain was now like a sugar pill!

In the meantime, Forest brought out the newly formulated Armour, & patients who finished their old batch started the new batch. And since then, it appears a large body of patients have run as fast as they could to Naturethroid, or compounded, or T4/T3 or Erfa. The reason: a return of former hypo symptoms on the “new” Armour.

I have completed an informal survey with 24 individuals responding, and asked the following questions. After each question, I give a summary of the answers.

1. How long of doing well occurred on the newly reformulated Armour before you started to notice that you weren’t doing well?

Most answers are in the area of 2-3 months, with three saying a month, one 4 months, and three stating a few weeks. And comparing this to comments we’ve been seeing for the past year on patient groups, it’s common to feel good at first, but to crash within that 2-3 months.

2. What clued you in that you weren’t doing well on the new Armour?

The answers are all over the map: fatigue and exhaustion, hair loss, brain fog, weight gain, sleeping problems, constipation, achiness, depression, hormonal problems, moodiness, dry skin/elbows/thumbs and cracking skin, flaking fingernails, heart irregularity, forgetfulness. Five report skin breakouts similar to poison ivy.  Fatigue and hair loss were the most common answers.

3. Did you try raising it? What were the results?

The majority tried raising it, and results were: no results; barely made any difference: more energy but skin was a mess. The majority said nothing happened. Two doubled it with no significant results.  Two developed fast heart rate with no improvements elsewhere. One had to lower it because of a very low TSH. One stated she raised it to get her labs back up to where they were before…with little improvements.  And one said it made her too hot to continue raising it.

4. Did you try adding T3 to it? What were the results?

All said no. One said she tested here RT3 ratio and it was 11, which is bad.  One stated she asked her doctor for T3; he said no. I’d sure like to find someone who did add T3 who could tell us the results.

5. Did you do anything else to try and make the reformulated Armour work, and did it help?

All reported nothing helped enough.  Many stated their doctors tested for other problems, ranging from heavy metals, low iodine, B12–the latter helped one gal’s tingling. One stated her doc put her on Aprotocol for the digestive tract which helped the constipation but nothing else changed. One added compounded desiccated thyroid to her Armour—it didn’t help. One gal tried Thyro-care, which helped. But she and two others report getting a poison-ivy like skin rash on the new Armour.

Currently, we see newly diagnosed patients put on the new Armour, and veterans can’t help but wonder what will happen to them.

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On my April 17th blog post, read 10 reasons thyroid patients are still frustrated, angry and sick. That is followed by the April 19th blog post Should thyroid patients avoid self-treatment at all costs, with an interesting and strong Guest Post by Sheila Turner of TPA-UK and a good followup to the former 10 reasons post.

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If you appreciate the information you receive from this patient-to-patient website, please consider making a donation to support the hosting costs for this Stop the Thyroid Madness website. The icon is on the lower right.

(Monday April 5th Postscript to my blog post below: One of the patients interviewed by this reporter states the following: The report left the impression that we (desiccated thyroid users) are a teeny little group on the fringes of medicine, rather than a ground swell of well researched patients trying to improve our health (and every aspect of our lives) with rational, common sense alternatives. We are still voices crying in the wilderness, and ignored by the mainstream medical professionals. C’est la vie.)

Finally.

After years of near-complete silence by the mass media about the profound 60-year medical scandal of T4-only treatment like Synthroid, as well as lives changed due to natural desiccated thyroid, we have some progress.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by health reporter Pauline Dakin of CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Radio. She was preparing a report on thyroid treatment and desiccated thyroid, asking for names of Canadian patients and doctors who might speak of their own experiences. Among others, I got her in touch with Canadian thyroid patient Theresa Roberts, who has reminded me of this report.

And, Pauline Dakin’s report on desiccated thyroid will be presented TODAY, Easter Sunday, on CBC Radio One on “The World This Weekend” at 6:00 pm Eastern Time (5 pm Central, 4 pm Mountain and 3 pm Pacific). It’s a comprehensive 1/2 hour news program that airs nationally on weekend evenings and takes an in-depth look at current issues.

And even if you aren’t in Canada, you can listen to this program on CBC Radio One live at http://www.cbc.ca/worldthisweekend/ , or you can download the podcast (which may require free subscription).

HIGH FIVE to Pauline Dakin and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The 60-year use of T4-only medications like Synthroid, Levoxyl, Eltroxin and other brands has NOT worked for hundreds of millions worldwide, resulting in each patient’s amount and degree of lingering symptoms of hypothyroidism as well as the added misery of adrenal fatigue.

We have also been bandaided with anti-depressants, statins, pain meds, high blood pressure meds and more, all the while being told by our clueless doctors that we are schizophrenically ‘”normal” because the also-lousy TSH test says so.

Or, like my own mother, we have been subjected to Electric Shock Therapy because of depression caused by T4 meds and their inadequate treatment.  You can read about my mother here.

Stop the Thyroid Madness™!

P.S. Sign up for the “newsletter notification” of this blog–see right below the links to the left. Or you can use your RSS feed page.

Yup, we’re all heading in the same direction—being just a tad older every single year and getting that first mailing from AARP.  Yup.

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).

Several years ago, a large percentage of thyroid patients on yahoo groups like NTH were figuring out that they had adrenal fatigue, aka low cortisol, from years of adrenals working overtime due to the inadequate TSH lab test, or being on the lousy T4-only medications like Synthroid, Levoxyl, levothyroxine, Eltroxin, etc.

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.