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Today I baked a chocolate cake for my son’s birthday. It was excellent. Why? Because it was the result of several important ingredients. Leaving any of them out would have resulted in a cake less than great.

And your health and feel-goods as a thyroid/adrenal patient, including your ability to successfully get off HC,  is like my son’s cake: a combination of ingredients that you have to get right. Below are ten “ingredients” to investigate and find out which may not be right in you for good health and feel-goods.

1) The right amount of cortisol: Too little cortisol or too much cortisol has its consequences. Too little results in thyroid hormone still pooling, continued hypo symptoms, plus hyper in some. Too much can mean easy bruising, rising blood pressure, fluid retention, a round face, etc.  And both can increase anxiety, feeling poorly, etc.  Watch for symptoms and compare your daily averaged temperatures. Also, have you checked your aldosterone?

2) The right amount of desiccated thyroid: I have a friend who was stuck on 3 grains Armour out of habit. But she continued to have hypothyroid symptoms out of habit. I finally convinced her to talk to her doctor. Labs showed her free T3 was just a few points over mid-range, and having a free T3 towards the top seems to work better for most. So she did raise, and it finally did the trick.

3) Optimal B12 levels: Since hypothyroid patients can have digestive/absorption issues, B12 levels can be lower than optimal. Symptoms include fatigue, weakness, feeling faint, breathless, bruising, heart palps or others. Don’t take a chance. Get a B12 test. You want the result to be at the top of the range.

4) Plenty of Ferritin (storage iron): Low ferritin means you have no iron in storage to draw upon. And it also means you are probably anemic.  Additionally, low ferritin adversely affects the conversion of T4 to T3. Symptoms include fatigue, depression, weakness, achiness, breathlessness or others.  Have a ferritin test.  Optimal is 70-90.

5) Good digestion: Hypothyroid patients can have low hydrochloric (HCL) stomach acid levels. That not only contributes to acid reflux because of the overgrowth of bad bacteria, it means you don’t absorb nutrients well (including low B12 mentioned above). As a result, it’s crucial to give that acid back to yourself.  A tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar mixed in water and taken twice day helps many. Or try taking Betaine, which is HCL in pill form, or any other quality HCL or digestive product.

6) Recognition and treatment of Gluten intolerance: Some thyroid patients lack a particular digestive enzyme, intestinal glutaminase, that helps digest gluten in various food products. As a result, they don’t absorb nutrients well. Symptoms include bloating & gas, aches, stiffness, fatigue, burning or numbness in arms or legs, rashs or hives, worsened allergies & others. Your chance of have a gluten problem is higher if you have Hashimotos disease. If you suspect a possible problem, eliminate all gluten from your diet. Also consider having your doctor run a Celiac antibodies blood test.

7) Controlled EBV: At least 90% of adults have the Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) sitting dormant in their bodies. EBV is what causes mononucleosis, but you don’t have to have had mono to carry the virus.  Because hypothyroidism lowers your immune system, it’s not uncommon for thyroid patients to have activated EBV. I did, and my symptoms included extreme easy fatigue, ringing in my ears, achiness and some swelling of my lymph glands. Some may have a sore throat return and other symptoms.  Ask your doctor to test EBV. You’ll then need to ask about treatment options, which include beefing up your immune system.

8 ) Sex hormone balance: When your thyroid or adrenals get out of balance, your sex hormones can follow suit, from estrogen dominance to low testosterone.  When estrogen dominance occurs, you can feel depression, fatigue, and sore breasts.  Low testosterone can equal lower energy and mood. Ask your doctor to test all your sex hormones.

9) Taking plenty of supplements: There are a variety of good supplements everyone with thyroid or adrenal issues should take for good health. They include high potency B-vitamins, Vit. C (1000-3000 mg. or to tolerance), Selenium (around 200 mcg), minerals including magnesium, probiotics, Vitamin D (1000 iu), iodine, and others.  In addition to these, I also take CoQ10 (for heart and blood pressure health), and my favorite: a green powder which I stir in my orange juice.

10) Exercise: If you are a couch potato, you’re going to feel like one. Instead, do what it takes to get moving, which promotes all sorts of good health. If you have adrenal fatigue, keep it very light and easy.  If you just have hypothyroidism, get out and walk.

P.S. My chocolate cake: I think cake mixes are just as good as homemade. I use Devils Food Cake. But the icing is ALWAYS homemade: cream one stick butter, add about 4 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa, then cream or half-n-half.  Shake some sea salt in. Add two tsp. vanilla.  Beat, beat.  Taste. Modify as needed. YUM.

An intriguing thought: what if there were lab packages specifically designed by Stop the Thyroid Madness and all its patient-to-patient wisdom.  Well, there are!

STTM has created lab profiles in partnership with MyMedLab, a direct-to-consumer lab facility which has expanded to provide services to nearly the entire United States

This lab facility promotes the empowerment of patients in their own care, similar to STTM’s focus on educating the patient and expecting a partnership when you walk into the doctor’s office. Empowerment!

You will find a combination of both in-home collected tests (saliva cortisol) and those performed at LabCorp collection sites across the US.   Take a Peak: STTM Lab packages (be sure and click on the green What’s Included icon on the lower right. You get a lot!)

Today, I came across a short summary on recent study findings presented at the 79th Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association in November, 2008.

It states that in a study with thyroid patients 65 and older, there was no improvement in cognitive function when a patient is optimally treated on thyroxine, aka Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothyroxine, Eltroxin, et al.

Gee golly.  What breaking and cutting-edge news!

NOT.

Too bad it takes the results of a research study to reveal what has been blatantly obvious in patients of all ages for 50 years: thyroxine overall does not work and leaves patients with a variety of NON-improvements, as well as worsening symptoms of lingering hypothyroidism as they age.  Duhhhh.

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.

SECOND UPDATE as of Dec. 10th: WHOOPI GOLDBERG has it RIGHT! Today on The View, she stated that Oprah needs to take her thyroid problem SERIOUSLY!! Contact the View about STTM and the seriously correct treatment here.

UPDATE as of Dec. 10: Gail King, Oprah’s best friend, was on the Good Morning America show this morning talking about Oprah’s weight gain and thyroid problem. She also talked about how depressed she looked.  Oprah, a huge and growing body of thyroid patients are all around the world, waiting to tell you what the answer is.  Listen to us.  We have been emailing you for years, and you’re going to see more of those emails. Contact Good Morning America here. (Then contact Oprah below)

Just on the stands, Oprah’s January issue of “O” magazine has an eye-opener: Oprah Winfrey admits that she’s now back up to 200 lbs, a condition that puts her at higher risk of several chronic conditions, including diabetes and heart disease.  She states “When it comes to maintaining my health I didn’t just fall off the wagon. I let the wagon fall on me.”

But what Oprah, a wonderful talk show host and chairman of  Harpo, Inc, doesn’t seem to get is that the “wagon” is probably a “poorly treated” hypothyroid condition, which causes a lower metabolism and easy weight gain.  She even admits in the article that she deals with an out-of-balance thyroid condition which has made her develop a “fear of working out.”

A fear of working out?? Oprah, do you get exhausted from working out? Because there is NOTHING to fear with working out if you are optimally treated with natural desiccated thyroid in the presence of strong adrenals or adequate treatment.

Are you on desiccated thyroid, Oprah?? Are you dosing high enough to remove all symptoms?? Have you learned what patients have learned? And what condition are your adrenals in, Oprah?? Because it’s all too common for thyroid patients to have developed adrenal fatigue from being poorly treated for so long.

And Oprah, when you state that you don’t need to be thin, but do want to be “strong, healthy and fit”…the way to do that is optimally treat your thyroid! We are a large and growing body of patients worldwide who have done just that, and now live “strong, healthy and fit”.

IT IS TIME FOR JANIE TO BE ON YOUR SHOW, OPRAH. (Thyroid patients even have a book you can recommend to others.)

Because in all due respect to your personal trainer Bob Greene and Dr. Mehmet Oz…you have YET gotten someone on your show who can give you GOLD about the right thyroid treatment.  Call me, Oprah.  Email me, Oprah.  I am waiting to tell you how to stop your yo-yo weight problems and fear of working out!  We and I have a LOT to tell you, Oprah, to stop your own personal thyroid madness. Contact Oprah here.

Send a message to Oprah’s best friend, Gayle King, here.  Tell her about desiccated thyroid and YOUR story. Send Gayle to this website so she can understand all this.