Additionally, as I write this, Naturethroid and Westhroid by RLC Labs are still hard to get–making too slow a return on pharmacy shelves which may not improve until 2010. You can read details and a good summary about this on about.com.

But there’s been a silver lining to this situation: Canada’s “Thyroid” by Erfa.

Many patients made a switch to this desiccated thyroid product, using online pharmacy websites and their prescriptions from their doctors. And overall, the experience of patients with Erfa’s Thyroid has been extremely positive.

I had a wonderful chat this week with Dr. Henri Knafo, the Director of Medical Affairs at Erfa Canada Inc.  My first and most important question: Is there enough Thyroid for all your patient customers?? And I got an unequivocal “Yes” from Dr. Knafo.  He explained there are no concerns with running out and they have plenty in stock, now and in the future. He stated that if their stock gets low from sudden demand, they can easily get more and quickly.

I also asked: Is shipping timely? Definitely yes, Dr. Knafo stated. But he also qualified that Erfa is overloaded with orders. And though they are keeping up, your prescription order can take time to process. But, he stated “Be Patient. It will arrive!”

What is going on with the FDA and Erfa? He underscored that the FDA is cooperating completely, and they see a good future with the FDA.  They are completely tolerant, said Dr. Knafo, because they seem to understand the shortages. Erfa’s Thyroid is also completely approved and regulated by Health Canada. As far as the future and the FDA, Dr. Knafo strongly feels that once the FDA is reassured about desiccated thyroid, things will only get better for US patients with brands and availability. He feels that issues with the FDA are far more positive than many thyroid patients and leaders seem to get or want to see.

Do you see changes towards opinion of desiccated thyroid?  Definitely, yes. Dr. Knafo recently attended a European medical conference with over 50 specialists and he saw many doctors not satisfied with Synthroid and noticing the better treatment with desiccated thyroid. “It’s booming in Europe”, he underscored about Erfa and desiccated thyroid  “Even Endo’s are noticing”.  He also said that Belgium was experiencing a huge medical trend away from T4 and towards desiccated thyroid.

Why has the cost of Erfa’s Thyroid gone up even more than 50%?? His explanation was three-fold:  it was first a financial decision, since they have never made much of a profit on desiccated thyroid. Second, Health Canada requires a lot of expensive testing from Erfa on products. And third, since they buy their powdered desiccated thyroid from Europe, an increase in Euros meant they needed to increase the price.

Any final comments? Dr. Knafo clarified: Erfa has been making Thyroid for 30 years and not only will that continue, they will not change the formula. He thinks the sugar in Thyroid is what makes absorption so good, and that will continue as an ingredient just as it is.  Nothing will change! To see ingredients of Erfa’s Thyroid and other brands, go here.

You can read more about Erfa from my September 2nd post.   Thank you to Dr. Knafo for being so candid and informative!

See my post below about my mother, who lived her entire adult life undertreated on T4 with depression and electric shock treatment and had no internet to compare notes. If you have a relative from the past with a similar story, add the story to the Comments.

*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!

Here’s a chance to ask questions about shortages of desiccated thyroid, options to talk to your doctor about to treat your hypothyroidism during this shortage period, how to find a good doctor, and more.

Times are 7 pm Pacific, 8 pm Mountain, 9 pm Central and 10 pm Eastern. Just go here: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=62603&cmd=tc

You can make two choices: just listen to the Audio of the podcast talk show, or call in. Phone number will be right on the bottom.  You can register with Talk Shoe and pick a user name, or come in as a Guest.

You’ll also note a chat box.  The handy and beautiful gals Darla and Diane will usually be there to guide you. If you want to line up to talk in the queue, you’ll be asked the topic of your conversation in the chat box.  As you wait for me to get to you, you’ll be able to hear the talk through your phone, and will need to MUTE your computer sound.

You’ll be seeing guests join us, as well, so watch for each Community Call announcement on the above link. And even without a scheduled guest, you just never know who is going to pop in and chat.

Come join us! And remember: we are all just patients chatting with patients. This is not to replace the relationship with your doctor in your treatment or for treatment advice. Stick with your doctor for that.

*Want to be informed of these blog posts? Curious what’s on Janie’s mind? Just use the Notifications on the left below the links.

* STTM t-shirts are half price! I love sales!

Unfortunately, patients who want to switch to desiccated thyroid from T4-only meds like Synthroid et al, or those already on desiccated thyroid who want to fill their next prescription, are going to find it difficult. There are widespread shortages in desiccated thyroid like Armour, Naturethroid and Westhroid. (see my posts below).

But there’s good news, and it comes in the form of “Thyroid”  by Erfa.

Erfa’s “Thyroid”  is an excellent natural desiccated thyroid product according to the experience of patients who use it. It contains:

• Dried Thyroid
• Mag­ne­sium Stearate
• Corns­tarch
• Talc
• Sugar

**Note the “sugar”. Patients also report they are able to do this brand of medication sublingually! That is good news.

The Erfa website states you can obtain their desiccated thyroid medication outside of Canada via a special access program and follow their steps:

For patients outside Canada and the US:

For patients in the US:

1. get a valid prescription of Thyroid from your local doctor
2. your doctor has to fill FDA form 1572 (e-mail us a request at info@ERFA.net
3. Fax or e-mail us the documents at 1–514-931‑7330 or info@ERFA.net

Thank you Erfa from Stop the Thyroid Madness and thyroid patients all over the world who KNOW what a superior treatment desiccated thyroid really is!

No, they are not ceasing to make desiccated thyroid. They just weren’t prepared for the high demand due to the reformulation of Armour and problems it caused.  And they aren’t keeping up and won’t for several months.

So, if you can’t last with your current prescription for several months, you will probably need to talk to your doc about getting a generic version by Major Pharmacy, or get some over-the-counter like NutriMeds, or even the “Hypo Support Formula” made by RLC Labs, but expect to take much more of either.  Many patients are also mentioning Thyroid-S by Greater Pharma as a backup until RLC catches up.  But it’s by mail order and will take a few weeks to arrive.  Google any of the above. Finally, you can move a slight step backwards and talk to your doc about doing synthetic T4 and synthetic T3.  It’s not going to be quite a good as being on desiccated thyroid, but it’s certainly better than being on T4 alone, don’t you agree?? Keep connected to your doc.  And hang in there. This will pass.

Janie

P.S. I’ll be adding more information to this post tomorrow. Check back.

*Want to be informed of these posts? Curious what’s on Janie’s mind? Use the Notifications on the left and below the links.

Below is the actual release by RLC Labs:

For any patients experiencing difficulties in attaining either Nature-ThroidTM or WesthroidTM through their pharmacy, RLC Labs, Inc, asks these individuals to have their pharmacy contact us directly at 877–797-7997 to place an order, or have their pharmacy request a drop-shipment through their wholesale supplier.

RLC Labs’ products are only available through wholesalers, pharmacies and or their doctors; thus all confirmations and/or tracking information will only be available through the wholesaler, pharmacy, or doctor’s office that placed the order.

RLC Labs is experiencing a substantial increase in orders for Nature-ThroidTM and WesthroidTM. The recent unexpected influx has inundated our customer service and shipping departments, thus causing delays and depleting our current stock. We are working around the clock to fulfill all current orders; however, we cannot guarantee that
any future orders will be fulfilled until our stock is replenished.

RLC Labs will continue to accept orders from our customers, however as of Friday August 14th, we are backordered on all strengths of Nature-ThroidTM and WesthroidTM. Shipment is expected to resume within 90 days.

We regret to inform you of this situation; however, we can assure you that we are working diligently to replenish our stock and will resume shipping as soon as possible. Please accept our sincerest apology for any inconvenience.

We do understand how much of an impact this has as most of us employed @ RLC Labs, are hypothyroid and take our own product. Thus, we know and understand how important it is to get product back into the market place. We are grateful for your continued patience, patronage and support!

Feel free to contact our customer service department with any questions concerning this matter @ 877–797-7997.

Thank you from all of us @ RLC Labs, Inc.

I recently discovered a very humorous and appropo medical blog on the net, written by a United Kingdom General Practitioner who wisely stays incognito. His blog is called The Jobbing Doctor.

And his most recent and humorously brilliant post is titled Hairy legs are better than blood tests! He describes his occasional confusion when blood tests don’t agree with the patients symptoms.

Says the UK doc: “The textbooks teach that the level of circulating thyroid hormones (which are called T3 and T4) are inversely related to the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH). If your T3 and T4 are low, your TSH will be high: this suggests an underactive thyroid gland. If the T3 and T4 are high and the TSH is low, then you have an overactive thyroid gland. That’s easy, huh!”

But his confusion sprang forth when a patient’s labs showed “a highish TSH, T4, and a normal T3.” Yet apparently her symptoms didn’t imply there was any problem, so he chose to do nothing as far as changing her treatment.

A month later at her next appointment, this patient expressed her approval that he didn’t change anything…because her leg hair and eyebrows were coming back.

And his conclusion?  “Pah! Who needs blood tests!”

Jobbing Doctor, you are discovering what thyroid patients have been learning over and over for years: it’s SYMPTOMS (or lack up) which need to pull the cart, NOT labwork. Sure, we love our labwork. They can give clues to areas where our bodies are screaming for help.  But they definitely do NOT tell the whole story.

Look at the ignoramus TSH lab test. Countless patients have walked into their doctors offices with clear and obvious hypothyroid symptoms–and desperate for a diagnosis–yet the ink spot on the office piece of paper called the TSH lab result proclaims they are “normal”. And that dubious “normal” diagnosis can go on for years before it rises high enough to reveal what was already there by SYMPTOMS.

Or, while on thyroid medication, patients will have a lamebrain “normal” TSH lab result, yet will continue to have their own brand and degree of continuing hypothyroid symptoms which the clueless doctor dismisses as an hysteric female interpretation, motherhood, stress, a need for psychological help.…or just “something else”. Uh huh.

In fact, Jobber Doctor, patients have learned that when they are optimal (on desiccated thyroid), along with optimal ferritin and cortisol), they will generally have a free T3 in the upper part of the range, and a SUPPRESSED TSH, with no symptoms of hyperthyroidism.  That is general, and there can be some exceptions, but overall, it has spoken volumes to patients on how inadequate thyroid lab tests can be.  i.e. being in the “normal” range—anywhere in the normal range–can be mean squat.

Thanks for a great post,  UK Jobber Doc. And P.S.  Desiccated thyroid is an even better treatment than thyroxine.

*Want to be informed of these blog posts? Curious what’s on my mind? Just use the Notifications at the bottom left of the links.

I’ve been noticing several articles coming out the past week about a strong association between hypothyroidism and a twice the risk of liver disease and liver cancer, especially in females. And then it dawned on me: another strong reason to play basketball with your trashcan using your lousy Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothroxine or Eltroxin bottles while being replaced with desiccated thyroid.

In other words, continued hypothyroidism (being on the lousy T4 meds) and undiagnosed hypothyroidism (because of the inadequacy of the TSH lab test) can potentially promote the development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a more severe Fatty Liver disease. The next progression is liver cancer, aka hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Even worse, the study revealed that women who had been hypothyroid for more than 10 years had a threefold higher risk of liver cancer compared to women without a history of thyroid disorders. This will make you pause when you consider how many reports there are of patients having hypothyroid symptoms for YEARS with a normal TSH…and a clueless, TSH-worshipping doctor.

And if reading this bores you, understand that your liver is a HIGHLY important gland that you can’t live without. It plays a key role in detoxifying the toxins you ingest and breath in daily (including smoking), besides being a major fat burner.  Make the liver diseased, and you become a breeding ground for toxins, the rise of other diseases…then death.

The solution? Run from TSH-kissing doctors, get on desiccated thyroid like Naturethroid et. al.  and avoid the most common mistakes of dosing while ceasing to smoke, curtailing the alcohol, and eating healthy (except for the daily dose of chocolate I gotta have. haha).

P.S. The original report came out in the May journal issue of Hepatology (published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases).  Similar results were also reported in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 2005.

Want to be informed about my blog posts? Curious what I’m ranting about? Just use the Notifications on the left at the bottom of the links.

See below about my disappointment in Forest Pharmaceuticals.

Why? Well look at it this way. This is a man of stature. He is an MD, an Adjunct Professor of Medicine, the director of Public Citizen’s health research group which promotes drug safety and public health, and editor of the newsletter Worst Pills, Best Pills, and since August of  ’08, a member of the Drug Safety Committee.  He also has a resume a mile long.

Yet in spite of his seemingly caring activism for our health and well-being, and his immense experience and education, he is clearly and completely off-base about Armour and other desiccated thyroid prescription drugs.

For example, as as editor of the Worst Pills, Best Pills newsletter,  Wolfe declared Armour desiccated thyroid as a “Do Not Use” product because it is not adequately guaranteed to provide appropriate blood levels of thyroid hormone and reliable alternatives are available”. (Gee, funny how our experiences are completely otherwise.…)

Then in the May 2003 issue (of which you have to have a paid prescription to read), he wrote an article titled  “Do Not Use! Natural or Desiccated Thyroid (ARMOUR THYROID) For Thyroid Hormone Replacement Therapy.” In that article, the clueless Wolfe stated that he supported The American Thyroid Association’s statement “There is no evidence that desiccated thyroid, a biological preparation, has any advantage over synthetic thyroxine.” (I guess millions of us and our improved heartrate, stamina, cholesterol, depression and more…aren’t evidence?)

He then proposes that Armour is mostly prescribed for weight loss, is a niche market for the unscrupulous, and concludes with “if you are offered natural thyroid hormone replacement treatment for any reason, this is a red flag and you should get a second opinion.” In a letter to consumers, Wolfe and Public Citizen state that that T3 is only needed from conversion and is predictably found from conversion, that the T2 and T1 also found in desiccated thyroid has essentially no activity, that desiccated thyroid is an unpredictable mixture, that is has no predictable biological activity…plus so many more complete and total inaccuracies based on “intellectual head chatter” not on observation and experience.

Thud.

Mary Shomon, in 2003, did a bang-up job trying to communicate with Wolfe, Worst Pills, Best Pills, and Public Citizen about the inaccuracies of their beliefs and statements…basically to no avail. The TRUTH is here, and in more detail in Chapters 1 and 2 in the STTM book which are enlightening those reading it all!

So we are left wondering, six years later, what his four-year appointment to this committee will mean. But let’s make a few things quite clear to contrast some of the fears going on and expressed on thyroid groups:

1) Armour is not being banned.
2) Wolfe is one of a current 9 members of this committee. Wolfe is not “the committee”.
3) Wolfe and seven others currently have voting rights. He is the only “Consumer Representative”.
4) There are still six more vacancies.
5) The committee is NOT the power. They simply make recommendations. And historically, the FDA can be slow to act on their recommendations, or doesn’t follow them at all (which is a GOOD thing when it comes to a SAFE and EFFECTIVE medication like desiccated thyroid).

So what can you do? I challenge you to follow and act on the below, which puts our energies into communication, not feeding the ego and power of a misguided man with our overtly expressed fears as if they have actually come to pass :

1) Remember 1–5 above. Armour is fully available. Keep the facts straight, and fear-mongering down.

2) STTM has a powerful and growing page of testimonies of those who switched to desiccated thyroid.  Are you in there? If not, you need to be. This website currently has a huge audience. It’s noticed by doctors all over the world, as is the STTM book, which is YOUR book of YOUR experiences,  which is also being ordered by doctors. Use the Contact Me form at the bottom of that page.

3) Tell your experience with Synthroid or other thyroxine medications at the following websites:  www.rateadrug.com,  www.drugs.com,  www.askapatient.com They don’t include any of the desiccated thyroid meds yet, but you can tell of the negative experiences with all the T4-only drugs, including adrenal fatigue if you fell into that, and all your lingering thyroid symptoms.  The above links will take you to their Synthroid page–you can search for the other T4 meds.  Remember to mention Armour or other desiccated thyroid meds and how they have helped you!! Update: thyroid patient Gina found the drugs.com Armour page: http://www.drugs.com/comments/thyroid-desiccated/armour-thyroid.html

4) Report your T4-only experience to MedWatch, the FDA’s  program for reporting problems.  You will see an Online Reporting Form to download. Don’t fail to mention which problems were removed or greatly improved when you switched to Armour, or the fact that you now have to deal with adrenal fatigue thanks to the inadequacy of T4-only treatment. You can also call 1–800-FDA-1088, but remember: your call is not to draw attention to Wolfe’s opinions! It’s to draw attention to how lousy a treatment T4 is as compared to how much better Armour has been.

5) Go to my article titled Synthroid Sucks: the Rallying Cry of Thyroid Patients vs. Clueless Doctors and comment on this article, including mentioning what Armour, Naturethroid or other desiccated thyroid did for you. Rate it as well. Both keep this article in the media and in the eyes of others.

6) Go to www.medications.com where patients ask questions and YOU can answer, mentioning YOUR experience and how much better desiccated thyroid has been. Clicking on that will take you to the Synthroid patient questions. Answer them. Be careful with links–they may not catch them at first, but will remove them if they do.  You can mention website names, tho, like Stop the Thyroid Madness.

7) Send people here to follow all these steps. Power is in numbers!

8 ) Use the following website to email or write your senators and representatives: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ THEY DO READ THEM. And they will remember this!  Here’s a template letter you can use:  www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/template-letter-to-your-senator-or-representive/

If you have other ideas and places to write or call, add your comment to this post. Remember,  put your power in communication! LOTS of communication.

P.S. Did you know that the American Thyroid Association, in cooperation with the American Association of Endocrinologists, together support January as “Thyroid Awareness Month”…which is supported through an unrestricted grant from Abbott Laboratories, the makers of Synthroid?? Major UGH.

And a slew of thyroid patients around the world, as well as a growing body of doctors,  would completely disagree with this post.

Namely, a DO explains the problem of patients arriving in doctors offices with “innumerable possible symptoms of hypothyroidism” including “fatigue, cold intolerance, decreased energy, weight gain, depression, hair loss, low libido, menstrual irregularity and others.”

Yet, he bemoans, these patients have a “normal TSH” which is “well within the normal laboratory reference range.” He also refers to their normal free T3 and free T4, and states there is no history to suggest pituitary dysfunction or that the TSH is unreliable.”

He then proceeds to pat himself on the back because he 1) will treat some patients with a high-normal TSH and other clinical features,  2) he will treat to a low-normal TSH of less than 2.0, but like the good-boy-doctor, “still within the normal laboratory reference range” and 3) he will not induce iatrogenic hyperthyroidism, even if symptoms persist. (yikes)

“Iatrogenic hyperthyroidism”??  Since “iatrogenesis” refers to harmful medical procedures, he’s probably referring to a TSH below the range, which in his mind, equates to hyperthyroidism.

***Then comes the observation that has made many thyroid patients shiver, since so many doctors have said it: because he feels that adding T3 to T4 has more negative results than positive, he explains to his patients “that there may be causes of their symptoms besides the thyroid.”

THUD.

So here is my 6-point response to any doctor who might share these beliefs:

1) There’s hardly a thyroid patient around who hasn’t had a so-called “normal” TSH in spite of clear and obvious hypothyroidism.  The TSH lab test frequently lags behind what is reality in the body, and has been doing so since it’s creation in the early 1970’s (see Chapter 4 in the Stop the Thyroid Madness book for history).

2) Having a “normal” free T3 and free T4 means nothing. It’s “where” the result falls in that range that means something. i.e. patients all around the world are noticing that having a free T3 mid-range or lower in the presence of hypothyroid symptoms is usually a BINGO lab result pointing to hypothyroidism.

3) Exactly because doctors tend to dismiss clear hypothyroid symptoms as “something else” thanks to a lousy TSH reference range, a burgeoning number of thyroid patients are falling into adrenal fatigue with its low cortisol, which serves to mess them up even more.

4) A huge body of thyroid patients who are on desiccated thyroid hormones (aka Armour, Naturethroid, etc), and who finally have a complete removal of symptoms with a normal temperature and heartrate, also have a suppressed TSH lab result, and not one iota of “iatrogenic hyperthyroidism.”

5) When it appears that adding T3 to T4 is having negative effects, the problem is most likely adrenal fatigue that needs correction, and/or low ferritin, NOT deciding that the symptoms must be from another cause or T3 doesn’t work.

6) “Fatigue, cold intolerance, decreased energy, weight gain, depression, hair loss, low libido, menstrual irregularity and others” may be shared in other conditions, but you are most likely missing CLEAR symptoms of hypothyroidism, both in the undiagnosed patient with a so-called normal TSH, or with a patient treated with the lousy thyroxine, which leaves most everyone with continuing hypothyroid symptoms.

“I’m sorry. It IS your thyroid” is exactly what patients need to hear.

]]> http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2008/12/30/doctors-have-a-long-way-to-go/feed/ 0 http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2008/12/15/holiday-weight/ http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2008/12/15/holiday-weight/#comments Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:45:41 +0000 Janie http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=798 With recent news of Oprah’s continuous weight gain (currently partially due to her failure to properly treat her hypothyroidism and probably Hashimotos (see post below this), it can make us all shudder as we deal with the holidays and all that great food!

I admit it: At Christmastime, I LOVE the easy Gingerbread Boy Cookies recipe I used when the boys were little, the Microwave Fudge recipe to die for, my world famous Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies which I color red and green, my mother’s wonderful Pralines which I occasionally try to make myself,  and Grandma’s Fruit Cake–yeah an actual fruit cake I LOVE, which I order EVERY SINGLE YEAR at this time.

And it’s hard not to gain weight! Is that you, too?? So let’s go over 6 HOLIDAY FACTS about thyroid treatment with desiccated thyroid:

1) Armour, Naturethyroid, Westhroid, or any other desiccated thyroid medication is not meant to be a Christmas weight loss pill. Desiccated thyroid medications consist of thyroid hormones: T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin. They simply give you back what your own thyroid is not giving you…the same five hormones which give you back a stronger immune system, a normal body temperature & improved metabolism, better energy, healthier hair and skin, less aches & pains, emotional happiness, better lipid profiles like cholesterol, stronger bones…and on and on.  But even with all that benefit, and even though it does improve your metabolism, desiccated thyroid is not meant to be a weight loss pill.

2) Armour et. al. can only do its holiday job if you have strong adrenals or adequate cortisol treatment. Because cortisol is needed for thyroid hormones to move from your blood to your cells, you can only benefit optimally from desiccated thyroid during the holidays if you are lucky enough to have strong adrenals, or if you are giving yourself back the cortisol you need based on stable temps, blood pressure, and removal of most low cortisol symptoms.  So don’t forget that cortisol right now, and definitely consider adding a stress dose of cortisol if things get rough with the in-laws. (See Chapter 6 in the STTM book for even more details about stable temps, blood pressure, and stress dosing)

3) Don’t drink that Armour down with Egg Nog! Calcium is a known binder of thyroid hormones in your stomach, keeping you from benefiting from some of those health-giving thyroid hormones.  So if you swallow your desiccated thyroid, get the water.  Or even better, do it sublingually.

4) Don’t expect Armour to keep you from looking like Santa Claus: you still gotta exercise & watch what you eat! It’s true: the optimal use of desiccated thyroid does raise your metabolism and eats those extra calories up like PacMan.  But if you’re like me, you can still have a tendency to put on those love handle butter pounds if you eat your fill of holiday foods.  ho ho ho. To curtail the gain, add exercise to your holiday regime, or increase what you already do. I try to aerobically walk a LOT during the holidays. And when I’ve eaten a Christmas stocking full of goodies, my next meal will be nothing but high protein, like  turkey, cheeses and nuts. Or, you can also balance your intake by choosing one meal a day to be low glycemic to somewhat balance out the high glycemics you know you are going to eat later. For example, I make my breakfasts only eggs and nitrate-free bacon, or plain yogurt with berries, nuts, and Stevia.

5) Building a holiday snowman outside?  Consider an extra 1/4 grain of Armour. It’s a fact that prolonged exposure to cold increases your demand for energy, which in turn can increase your demand for more thyroid hormones. As a result, many patients find that adding an extra 1/4 grain of desiccated thyroid to one’s daily amount helps meet the demands of Frosty the Snowman or that holiday sprinkling of lights all over your house in the cold air.  Talk to your doctor.

6) Give a gift of the STTM book to a loved one. There are other good thyroid books on the market, but unlike all of them, this is the bible of patient experience on successful thyroid treatment. You’ll find volumes of information that patients all around the world have learned. A true patient-to-patient guide to feeling wonderful again.  Go here to order.  And the publishing company is extending the time you can order a book to be sent DIRECTLY to your loved one.

Adipex and Adderol are both central nervous system stimulants, and I can’t comment one way or the other. But the mention of Armour thyroid as “not indicated” is potentially worrisome, especially with similar disciplinary actions brought upon well-liked and wise doctors like Peatfield and Skinner of the UK, Derry of Canada, and  Springer in the US–all who dared to make obvious symptoms more important than ink spots on a piece of paper.

Take Kymm, a 45 year old woman.  She has manifested hypothyroid symptoms for 15 years since the birth of her daughter.  Yet during those entire 15 years, her TSH lab result has been completely “normal”…i.e. hypothyroidism has never been “indicated” based on the typical and widespread gold standard of diagnosis: the TSH.  But she has never, ever been normal with 15 years of easy weight gain, chronic depression, thinning hair, rising cholesterol, and other clear hypothyroid symptoms. And she has in fact started on Armour…and is soaring.

Kymm is not an oddity.  Thyroid patients on internet groups report going years with a normal TSH, no diagnosis, yet clear symptoms which are ignored by their TSH-obsessed doctors.   So their doctors may have avoided disciplinary action, but did they truly practise the art and science of healing??