synthroid tags

Well, I just can’t let this go by the wayside, says I with a cheesy grin.

When I did the lighthearted post, two posts below his one, about a woman who got filthy rich thanks to her old stock with Abbott Labs (the makers of Synthroid),  it got a humorous and creative comment from “Elizabeth”:

I have found a couple of uses for a bottle of Synthroid:

A. Doorstop
B. Prop for DSL modem (so it won’t overheat)

However, I do not recommend it to be taken internally. Ever.

hahahaha.  You get a blue ribbon for that gem, Mz. Elizabeth.  And I think Elizabeth’s creatively-funny reply deserves expansion and a party of fun-lovin’ contributors. So now it’s your turn, fine reader of the STTM blog,  to list your own innovative and hilarious ideas for that bottle of a T4-only medication.  Just use the Comment below this post and let ‘er rip.

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Below this post you’ll see information on the current failure of McCain’s cockeyed anti-supplement bill, which if it had passed, would have negatively affected every single thyroid patient out there who is trying to undo the damage done by T4 meds and/or the inane TSH lab test.  So though we all won right now with this failure, you betcha we’re going to have to keep our eyes and ears open for the money-grubbing Big Pharma to influence someone else about supplements.

A large and growing body of hypothyroid patients have found out the hard way why they have felt like patooey crap for years…or at the very least, why they had pesky lingering symptoms of hypothyroidism:  being on Synthroid or any other T4-only med.

And the anger many have felt about missed years of our lives because of such a lousy treatment has also translated to ill feelings towards a particular pharmaceutical: Abbott Laboratories. Abbott Labs has put hundreds of millions of dollars in what patients deem “brainwashing” of doctors, especially Endodrinologists, about Synthroid for years.

But I recently found a little news piece, in the form of the following video, which at least puts just a slight positive note to the term “Abbott Laboratories”, even if the name conjurs up a bit of nausea in the guts of informed thyroid patients:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8o-e-iLsUM Hope you enjoy the irony of it the way I did.  lol. Her name was Grace Groner, the secret Millionaire.

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Getting older and becoming hypothyroid: Below this post, you’ll see information that can affect your parents, relatives, spouses and friends and how they may face the same run-around we have all had to deal with—the lousy TSH lab test, being put on all sorts of band-aid drugs like statins, anti-depressants, blood pressure meds and more, or being put on a T4 med like Synthroid.  Go here.

FDA and shortages: I also mention above about a recent statement by the FDA:  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. A few patients are suspicious enough of the FDA to feel it means nothing.  Others, and I am one, have honestly felt like we simply had a shortage of desiccated thyroid, not a conspiracy by the FDA to remove it.  So I found that statement confirming, even if there can be more to the story. But time will tell.

Naturethroid: Here you can read information about this med returning to pharmacies around the country, and what might have changed in the tablets. Once again, pharmaceuticals are not telling us what is going on ahead of time, and it’s aggravating when we discover changes in our medications. Thyroid patients do not care to be treated like buffoons. I suspect that pharmaceuticals are guided to say so little because of legal advice. It’s still aggravating.

Why do I rarely mention Armour anymore? Because it doesn’t seem worth my time since it was reformulated. Too many patients continue to report lingering symptoms, even occurring months after they thought they were doing great on it.  And too many report that after they switched to Erfa’s “Thyroid”, Naturethroid or compounded with acidolpholus as a filler,  they saw a resolution of those lingering symptoms.

Another reason to improve your Vit. D levels: Research shows that low levels of Vit. D in your blood can result in increased fat deposits around your waist and other areas.  From the Diabetes Journal.

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).

Just one more reminder here: this Wednesday night on Talkshoe, I’ll be interviewing a courageous doctor, Kent Holtorf, MD, who is making a stand for far better hypothyroid treatment that goes beyond the TSH lab test and T4 alone like Synthroid, et al.  He is also a medical professional who has played a huge role in educating us about RT3 , aka Reverse T3. This is a man you’ll want to get to know, because I have a strong feeling he’s going to gain even more media attention because of his courageous stands!

Join us as I chat with him about the recent Today Show piece where an Endo said he was simply “laying on of hands”, this WEDNESDAY, FEB. 17th at 6 pm Pacific, 7 pm Mountain, 8 pm Central, and 9 pm Eastern, right on your computer’s audio on STTM’s Talkshoe Call webpage (below). Call in to ask questions, too. MARK YOUR CALENDER! SET YOUR CELL PHONE ALARM! This is one introduction that I’m going to have fun with, don’t ya think??

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=62603&cmd=tc

Want to learn more about him to better appreciate this Community Call?

• His clinic’s website: http://www.holtorfmed.com/
• About him: http://www.fibro360.com/dr-kent-holtorfs-story.htm
• His new website targeted to doctors: http://nahypothyroidism.org/
• His info about RT3: http://www.holtorfmed.com/topics/thyroid/reverse-t3-is-the-best-measurement-of-tissue-thyroid-levels

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Have something to say? Use the Comment function at the bottom of this blog post. If you are reading this via the Newsletter email notification, just click on the title of this blog post to take you directly to the actual blog post.

I’ve been distracted the past week, having to do extensive research and traveling to find the perfect “new used car”.

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.