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	<title>Stop The Thyroid Madness™ &#187; synthroid</title>
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	<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com</link>
	<description>Thyroid Treatment Scandal and Hypothyroid Mistreatment</description>
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		<title>10 THYROID TIDBITS that just may enlighten you!</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/08/25/10-thyroid-tidbits-that-just-may-enlighten/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/08/25/10-thyroid-tidbits-that-just-may-enlighten/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:57:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[+Audience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[adrenal fatigue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alzheimerdisease]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ashwaganda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ashwagandha]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bipolar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chocolate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coconut oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cortisol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[desiccated thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dr lowe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eggs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[elderly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flu shot]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grass fed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Green powder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leptin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new zealand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reverse T3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RT3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[salmonella]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[synthroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thyro-gold]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thyroid patients]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vitamin d]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=5817</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thyroid tidbit #1 COCONUT OIL: Thyroid patients continue to report that the daily use of Coconut Oil (extra virgin is good) caused an increase in metabolism and even weight loss in  somewho wanted the latter. How much daily? It varies from 2–4 T. but be careful, as too much can cause diarrhea.  
Thyroid tidbit #2 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/IMG00012.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5836" title="IMG00012" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/IMG00012.jpg" alt="" width="220" height="167" /></a>Thyroid tidbit #1 COCONUT OIL:</strong> Thyroid patients continue to report that the daily use of Coconut Oil (extra virgin is good) caused an increase in metabolism and even weight loss in  somewho wanted the latter. How much daily? It varies from 2–4 T. but be careful, as too much can cause diarrhea. <strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Thyroid tidbit #2 GRASS FED DESICCATED THYROID: </strong> Are you worried what the pigs were eating before the thyroids became desiccated?? If so, try Dr. Lowe’s Thyro-Gold, which is actually from cow who are pasture-fed. Then report back to STTM on the <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/contact">Contact Me</a> page and tell us how it works for you as a treatment, or not work. I will compile information and report it here.</p>
<p><strong>Thyroid tidbit #3 ALZHEIMERS DISEASE:</strong> Improving your thyroid function just may lessen your chance of getting dementia. But research has also found a Leptin connection: <a href="http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20091215/more-leptin-may-mean-less-alzheimers">http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20091215/more-leptin-may-mean-less-alzheimers</a></p>
<p><strong>Thyroid tidbit #4: ASHWAGANDHA:</strong> If you have sluggish adrenals and are on cortisol, adding the herb Ashwagandha can be an excellent and natural additional support for your adrenals. Even without adrenal fatigue, it’s also good in the face of excess emotional stress, and is an anti-inflammatory.</p>
<p><strong>Thyroid tidbit #5 REVERSE T3–IS YOURS TOO HIGH?</strong> The body naturally converts T4 to RT3 as a way to clear out excess T4. But you can also make too much when your ferritin is too low, your adrenals are stressed, B12 is low, in the presence of diabetes, and other chronic issues. High levels of RT3 can cause a pounding heartrate, continued hypo, and just a feeling that you aren’t feeling great yet. To learn more, go <a href="http://www.thyroid-rt3.com/">here</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Thyroid tidbit #6 BI-POLAR:</strong> Have you been diagnosed with bi-polar disease? If so, you might want to do the <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/recommend-labwork">right tests</a> for hypothyroidism, since there can be a strong connection between the two, and you can either be undiagnosed thanks to the wrong test, or undertreated thanks to Synthroid, Levoxyl, Eltroxin or other <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work">T4-only medications.</a> Read more <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/thyroid-depression-mental-health/">here</a> plus more detail in the STTM <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/book">book</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Thyroid tidbit #7 GREEN POWDER and CHOCOLATE: </strong>Don’t like green veggies but want to be healthy? Look into the different varieties of “Green Powder” that you can stir into your favorite juice or water. Read the labels, tho, and avoid those with soy. Like chocolate?? They now make CHOCOLATE FLAVORED GREEN SUPERGREEN POWDERS and I am a huge fan. Just google what is all in caps before this.</p>
<p><strong>Thyroid tidbit #8 YOUR GRANDMA</strong>: Thyroid function will naturally go downward in the elderly.That’s why grandma starts wearing that purple sweater in weather you are sweating in.  But putting those over 65 on T4-only thyroxine is not the answer, as <a href="http://www.endocrinetoday.com/view.aspx?rid=67723">a recent study</a> showed.  That’s why YOU AND I are lucky to be on <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101">desiccated thyroid</a> with its direct T3, or even those of you who are on T3 only.</p>
<p><strong>Thyroid tidbit #9 EGGS ARE A BIT SCARY RIGHT NOW</strong>: Not necessarily for thyroid folks only, but you should be aware that with the recent recall of huge amounts of eggs in the US, there are <a href="http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/08/egg_update3.html">reports</a> of a four-fold increase in Salmonella Enteritidis infections since May 2010 because of eggs and health officials fear the worst may be yet to come. Why? Because the same eggs have been used in other products. Scroll down <a href="http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/08/egg_update3.html">this page</a> to see list of recalled eggs. <em>P.S. if you get salmonella and are on cortisol for adrenal fatigue, you should discuss with your doctor about using OTC cortisol cream, since you may not be able to hold down the pills. 1/4 tsp equals 10 mg cortisol.</em></p>
<p><strong>Thyroid tidbit #10 FLU SHOTS vs. VITAMI</strong><strong>N D:</strong> Just when you are making progress treating your hypothyroidism and/or adrenal fatigue comes the season for the flu. And if you google the same same title of this tidbit, you’ll see numerous articles about the efficacy of taking Vit. D rather than the flu shots.  How much? General recommendation are 1000 IU’s daily at the minimum. Others point to more. Do your research.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>A continuing MEDICAL SCANDAL which is just too close to home and I grieve. WAKE UP DOCTORS!!</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/08/19/a-continuing-medical-scandal/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/08/19/a-continuing-medical-scandal/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Aug 2010 04:56:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[+Audience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Janie's experience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Related conditions due to hypo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thyroid treatment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[desiccated thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[t4]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[acid reflux]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aerobic walking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eltroxin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[high blood pressure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypothyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[levothyroxine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[levoxyl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[medical scandal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oroxine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pacemaker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[synthroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[T4-only]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[white fence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=5772</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Tonight was a beautiful night to do my aerobic walking. It had poured this afternoon for 30 minutes, so the early evening air was slightly cool and very clean.
And on the last leg of my journey, I stopped and said to Carlin as she was walking out of her front door “Where you have been [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/WhiteFence.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5783" title="WhiteFence" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/WhiteFence.jpg" alt="" width="195" height="130" /></a>Tonight was a beautiful night to do my aerobic walking. It had poured this afternoon for 30 minutes, so the early evening air was slightly cool and very clean.</p>
<p>And on the last leg of my journey, I stopped and said to Carlin as she was walking out of her front door <em>“Where you have been lately? I haven’t seen you out walking with your husband.” </em></p>
<p>Carlin and her husband Clint are probably in their late 70’s–both vibrant individuals and frequent walkers in the same area.</p>
<p><em>“Well”, </em>she said wistfully as she glanced down the street I had just walked, <em> “I have to go in Monday for a Pacemaker.”</em></p>
<p>Turns out she has fibrillations and other heart issues, and even walking from her bedroom to her living room can exhaust her.  I told her how well my mother-in-law has done with her pacemaker. She told me she’d be in the hospital for at least 3–4 days for the surgery and observation.</p>
<p>And as we were chatting over the low white fence, I couldn’t help but notice the scar on her neck–the same scar my own mother had from the removal of her thyroid years ago.  And the rest of Carlin’s story, and the reality of her story, <em>made me want to punch the nearest electrical pole in disgust.</em></p>
<p>Carlin’s thyroid was removed over 40 years ago.  She remembers being on “2 grains of something”–clearly it was <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101">desiccated thyroid</a>. And she says she felt really good. But she wasn’t on it long, as her doctor removed it and put her levothyroxine over 30 years ago. You know, that “new and modern” <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work">T4-only</a> CRAP which doctors fell for like the blind following the blind beginning in the 1960’s until today.<em> (The story behind the introduction of T4 onto patients in the early 1960’s </em><em>is in Chapter One of the STTM </em><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/book"><em>book</em></a><em>)</em></p>
<p>So I knew. Her heart troubles could be one of the many <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/long-and-pathetic">side effects</a> of the inferior treatment of T4-only medications (which also include Synthroid, Levoxyl, Eltroxin, Oroxine…all of them). My own mother suffered the same fate while on Synthroid her entire life. And patients chat about this all the time on thyroid groups–heart issues while on T4.</p>
<p>I started probing. She has had issues with high blood pressure. Another typical side effect of the crap T4-only medication, and which is removed with desiccated thyroid. She has had issues with depression–another typical side effect of the crap T4-only medication, and which is removed with desiccated thyroid. She talked bitterly about the slew of medications she’s had to be on for years to counter all her problems, and which had given her bad side effects.</p>
<p>And the next worse thing she told me? She had acid reflux so bad a few years ago that they did surgery on her stomach. <em>She had surgery for a condition which is VERY common with thyroid patients who are on T4 meds–low stomach acid from a lower metabolism, which causes acid reflux. </em>i.e. a symptom of continued hypothyroidism which is CORRECTED when on desiccated thyroid.</p>
<p>It was hard to contain myself. Here was this vibrant, life-loving, intelligent woman who has been on T4-only for over 30 years and has endured health problems, surgeries, side effects from all sorts of money-grubbing pharmaceutical pills, and now, has to go in Monday for a pacemaker. And in all probability, most of what she has gone though could have been prevented if some doctor had been WISE enough to keep this woman on desiccated thyroid.</p>
<p>I am livid and sick to my stomach.</p>
<p>****************************</p>
<ul>
<li>Are you chewing up your Armour or Naturethroid? It will make the treatment far better, as it will release the desiccated thyroid from the excess cellulose.  If you are on compounded, you need to tell the pharmacist to stop using cellulose as a filler. On Erfa? You can do it sublingually.</li>
<li>If you are reading this right on STTM’s blog, and would like to be notified of each blog post, just sign up to the left and under the links.</li>
<li>Have you done labs and found yourself with high RT3? Get off Selenium for the time being, as it can help convert T4 to the RT3 along with the other reasons you make too much.</li>
<li>Want to spread the word about far better treatment? T-shirts and bumper stickers are <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/t-shirt">here</a>.</li>
</ul>
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		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Janie and Jimmy of The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/07/23/janie-and-jimmy-of-the-livin%e2%80%99-la-vida-low-carb-show/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/07/23/janie-and-jimmy-of-the-livin%e2%80%99-la-vida-low-carb-show/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:48:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[+Audience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[low carb]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[adrenal fatigue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[desiccated thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypothyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypothyroidism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jimmy moore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livin' la vida low carb]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[synthroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[t4]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weight gain]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=5688</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I had a fun interview by the vivacious and interesting Jimmy Moore of the Livin’ La Vida Low Carb Show. If you haven’t yet heard it, you can listen to Jimmy and I by clicking right here. 
Jimmy Moore is a living success story about the benefits of a low carb diet–losing 180+ pounds in [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/Jimmy-Moore.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5690" title="Jimmy Moore" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/Jimmy-Moore.jpg" alt="" width="110" height="152" /></a><strong>I had a fun interview by the vivacious and interesting Jimmy Moore of the Livin’ La Vida Low Carb Show. If you haven’t yet heard it, you can listen to Jimmy and I by clicking <a href="http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/shownotes/2179/janie-bowthorpe-ep/">right here</a></strong><strong>. </strong></p>
<p>Jimmy Moore is a living success story about the benefits of a low carb diet–losing 180+ pounds in 2004 and regaining his health and vitality.  As I do about far better thyroid treatment,  Jimmy has been on a one-man mission to tell the whole world what <em>livin’ la vida low-carb</em> can do for them.</p>
<p>Eating low carb can be a very important strategy for those with hypothyroidism, especially while on <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101">desiccated thyroid</a> and seeking to reverse the damage of being on <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work">T4 meds</a> like Synthroid, et al.</p>
<p>And for those of you with<a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info"> adrenal fatigue</a>, following Jimmy’s low carb life style can be very beneficial when you need to be on cortisol, which can cause weight gain for some, but is an important treatment for your low cortisol situation.</p>
<p>Have a great day!</p>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why you, as a hypothyroid patient, need to be aware of the Epstein Barr Virus</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/06/27/be-aware-of-the-epstein-barr-virus/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/06/27/be-aware-of-the-epstein-barr-virus/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Jun 2010 04:22:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[+Audience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[epstein barr virus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[adrenal fatigue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[adrenals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[autoimmune disease]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[celiac]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ebv]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eltroxin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ferritin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fibromyalgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[garage sale]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[herpes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[homeopathic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypothyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[immune system]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lupus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[multiple sclerosis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural desiccated thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oroxine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rheumatoid arthritis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[synthroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[T4-only]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=5613</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This past Saturday, while browsing at the next-to-last garage sale (one of my favorite Saturday morning events), my ears perked up like a bunny when I heard a gal chatting with the owner of the house.  I heard things like “sick for 5 years…fibromyalgia…a lot of pain all over my body…had to quit my job [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/garagesale1.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5631" title="garagesale" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/garagesale1.jpg" alt="" width="116" height="81" /></a>This past Saturday, while browsing at the next-to-last garage sale (one of my favorite Saturday morning events), my ears perked up like a bunny when I heard a gal chatting with the owner of the house.  I heard things like “<em>sick for 5 years…</em><em>fibromyalgia…a lot of pain all over my body…had to quit my job and live with my parents…in bed for two years…they had to bath me.</em>..” and more miserable images of something she was clearly glad to be over.</p>
<p>So, while my husband sat in the car with the patience of a saint, I lingered. When she finished chatting and was heading to her car, I walked towards her and said gingerly<em> “I overheard your conversation. Can I ask you about the fibromyalgia and your experience??”</em> I couldn’t help myself.</p>
<p>As a Thyroid Patient Activist who has stood up to the <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/doctors-need-to-rethink/">inane allopathic failure in the diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism</a>, I knew that the majority of cases of “fibromyalgia” were due to undiagnosed or poorly treatment hypothyroidism, as well as the accompanying hell of adrenal fatigue,  thanks to the garbage can<a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/tsh-why-its-useless"> TSH lab test</a> or the stupidity of <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work">T4-only treatment</a> like Synthroid.  Yet, here was a young woman, Mel, who was now the picture of health. What was her story??</p>
<p>Mel’s story was a tale of sudden onset followed by five years of misery, all over body pain,  immense fatigue, utter helplessness, debilitation, and neck lymph nodes SO swollen that they looked like two huge goiters–right and left. It was also a scenario of no firm diagnoses, yet no hesitation by doctors to make stabs– from fibromyalgia to an unknown chronic fatigue disorder.</p>
<p><strong>But I knew right away what she probably had: acute Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) reactivation.</strong></p>
<p>I knew because I had the exact same malady which once took away more than a year of my life (as compared to Mel’s horrific five years).  And like her, with the use of meditation (and in my case, intense imagery and homeopathics), I got well as if it never happened.</p>
<p>And we also shared a reason why the EBV virus became activated in our bodies in the first place: STRESS.  For Mel, it appeared to have nothing to do with anything thyroid-related, but an <em>extremely </em>stressful helping-vocation that was eating her alive. For me, it was the stress of having to be where I didn’t want to be, feeling overtly powerless…and on top of being on the lousy Synthroid.</p>
<p><strong>And for thyroid patients all over the world, <em>including you</em>, the risk of reactivation of the Epstein Barr Virus is a constant threat.  It can result from one or more of the following biological stresses:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>being undiagnosed thanks to the </strong><strong><a title="Why the TSH lab test sucks!!" href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/tsh-why-its-useless">inadequate TSH lab test</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>being on a <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work">T4 medication</a></strong><strong> like Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothyroxine, Eltroxin, Oroxine, etc</strong></li>
<li><strong>falling into low cortisol from </strong><strong><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info">adrenal fatigue</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>having chronic side issues pulling your body down such as gluten intolerance or <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/celiac">celiac</a></strong><strong>, low <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ferritin">ferritin</a></strong><strong>, poor digestion, or making <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/mistakes-patients-make">mistakes</a></strong><strong> in your treatment</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong><em>Even worse, add life’s stresses as icing on the cake, and you’re a sitting duck for the risk of reactivated EBV.</em></strong></p>
<p><strong>What is EBV? </strong> Epstein Barr Virus,  also called human herpesvirus 4 ( HHV-4) is an opportunistic virus that actually lies dormant in at least 95% of all adults over their 30’s. It’s what causes mononucleosis, aka “mono”, as a teenager,  but you don’t have to have had mono to carry the dormant virus. Wikipedia <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epstein-Barr_virus">states</a> that it also probably has a primary role in many autoimmune diseases, including ” dermatomyositis, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren’s syndrome, and multiple sclerosis.” i.e. this is one nasty virus!</p>
<p><strong>Why do so many thyroid patients find themselves with it? </strong>Millions of thyroid patients live their lives compromised due to being on T4-only meds like Synthroid, Levoxyl, levothyroxine, Eltroxin, Oroxine, and other T4 med brands.  Additionally, patients find themselves with poorly functioning adrenals, poor digestion and other conditions related to a poor treatment–all adding to a lowered immune system, which allows the opportunistic EBV virus to take ahold, especially in the face of extreme or chronic life stress.</p>
<p><strong>What are symptoms of a reactivated EBV?</strong> It can vary from patient-to-patient, but can include easy and excess fatigue, achiness, joint pain, all over body pain, swollen lymph nodes, slight fever, ringing in the ears, and a general I-don’t-feel-well. When my EBV antibodies were acute, I would be in bed for 2–3 days after pulling weeds for just twenty minutes while seated.  I couldn’t grocery shop; I couldn’t do housework. Nothing. Nada. I also had constant ringing in the ears and achiness.</p>
<p><strong>How do I find out if I have it?? </strong>Ask your doctor to send you to a lab to be tested for it.   Or you can use <a href="http://blog.healthcheckusa.com/stop-the-thyroid-madness/">Healthcheck USA</a>–scroll down on the latter link to find the test. Put STTM10 in the form to get a discount.</p>
<p><strong>How do I treat it?? </strong>It’s not easy. I personally benefitted from taking a prescribed anti-virus medication. Though that lessened my symptoms by 50%, it wasn’t enough. I then moved to homeopathic medications and some dedicated mental imagery to finally get rid of it, as well as lots of rest and the immune enhancing support of vitamins, minerals, supplements plus healthy strategies i.e. whatever it takes to nourish your immune system. Nourishing supplements include high dose Vit. C (2000 mg minimum),  Vit E as mixed tocopherals,  selenium (200 — 400 mcg), mushroom extracts, CoQ10, high dose B-vitamins, minerals plus plenty of healthy and raw foods.  And ultimately as a thyroid patient, being on a MUCH better hypothyroid treatment with <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101">natural desiccated thyroid</a> is the key, besides treating one’s adrenal fatigue, gluten or digestive issues, low ferritin, and all other related conditions.</p>
<p>Bottom line, once you are adequately treating your thyroid problem (see the current <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/options-for-thyroid-treatment">Options for Thyroid Treatment</a>), addressing potential adrenal fatigue, low ferritin, gluten issues, low B12, for example,<em> and using good stress management in the face of pressures within your life, </em>your risk of having a reactivation of the dormant EBV virus is very low.</p>
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		<title>What do Jeffrey Dach MD and John O Wycoff DO have in common??</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/06/20/dach-wycoff/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/06/20/dach-wycoff/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Jun 2010 21:14:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[+Audience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Doctors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Information]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[florida]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hollywood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jeffrey dach]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jimmy moore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[john wycoff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livin' la vida]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[low carb]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[magnesium]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michigan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mitral valve prolapse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mvp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural desiccated thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stop the thyroid madness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[synthroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TrueMedMD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wycoff wellness center]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=5552</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[They both GET IT.
Jeffrey Dach, MD, who is founder of  TrueMedMD clinic in Hollywood,  Florida, has recently written just one more brilliant article titled Why Natural Thyroid is Better than Synthetic on OpEdNews. And patients can only derisively agree when Dach says “This nonsense really makes my blood boil and my eyes pop out of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>They both GET IT.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/JeffryDach1.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5562" title="JeffryDach1" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/JeffryDach1.jpg" alt="" width="82" height="96" /></a>Jeffrey Dach, MD</strong>, who is founder of <a href="https://truemedmd.com/"> TrueMedMD</a> clinic in Hollywood,  Florida, has recently written just one more brilliant article titled <em><a href="http://www.opednews.com/articles/2/Why-Natural-Thyroid-is-Bet-by-Jeffrey-Dach-100618-442.html">Why Natural Thyroid is Better than Synthetic</a></em> on OpEdNews. And patients can only derisively agree when Dach says<em> “This nonsense really makes my blood boil and my eyes pop out of head”</em> in response to articles on medical websites which still purport that synthetic T4 is a better treatment  than natural desiccated thyroid.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/Wycoff.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5563" title="Wycoff" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/Wycoff.jpg" alt="" width="82" height="102" /></a>John O. Wycoff DO</strong> graciously had me on his radio program a week ago, called <a href="http://www.wycoffwellness.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/site.content/mode/dtl/type/25503/post/24464.cfm">Health and Wellness Solutions</a> radio, which runs each and every Saturday morning in Michigan or live streamed. And I couldn’t help but be impressed by this warm, friendly, and caring doctor who runs the <a href="http://www.wycoffwellness.com">Wycoff Wellness Center</a> in East Lansing, Michigan. He definitely seemed to understand the use of desiccated thyroid and adrenals. Michigan patients are lucky to have this man.</p>
<p><strong>And frankly, there seems to be a growing body of doctors who are GETTING IT, making the large body who still don’t look like medical cavemen and health ostriches.  <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101">Natural desiccated thyroid</a></strong><strong> is a FAR better treatment, and millions of <a title="Just a sampling of stories of changed lives" href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/stories-of-others">changed lives</a></strong><strong> prove this over and over. <img src='http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' />  </strong></p>
<p>Both Dach and Wycoff will go down in history as being part of the founding members of doctors who really GOT IT in the first decade of the 21st century and have played a huge role to <em><a title="STTM home page" href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/">STOP THE THYROID MADNESS</a></em><em>!!</em></p>
<p><em>**********************************</em></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/LowCarbebook.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5569" title="LowCarbebook" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/LowCarbebook.jpg" alt="" width="78" height="100" /></a>UPCOMING PROGRAM with Janie</strong>: You will be able to listen to me on<strong> Jimmy’s Moore’s </strong><a href="http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/"><strong>Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb</strong></a><strong> program on Thursday July 22nd, 2010</strong> for what Jimmy has dubbed<em> “The Truth About Thyroid Week.”</em> As I see it, each time I’m on a variety of radio and internet podcasts like this, it’s going to mean reaching MORE folks about why they have depression, rising cholesterol or blood pressure, fatigue, hair loss, dry skin or hair, osteoporosis and more as a result of either the TSH lab test, or being on T4 meds like Synthroid!  I’ll announce this closer to the event, as well.</p>
<p>******************************************</p>
<p><strong>MORE ABOUT MAGNESIUM:</strong> As I wrote about recently <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/05/19/magnesium/">here</a>, I found myself very low in my RBC Magnesium levels–the very bottom of the range. I am even lower than a friend who has Celiac disease, which affects digestion!!  No wonder I’ve had issues with muscle cramps for so long, as well as what I saw as a worsening of my MVP (mitral valve prolapse).   Since then, I’ve been on Magnesium Oil and a particular brand of buffered Vit. C which contains a good amount of magnesium. And lo and behold, I have found out that taking magnesium when you are deficient is like drinking water when you are dying of thirst–your body TAKES IT IN faster than you can give it to yourself.  So it’s important to take as high a dose as you can take in, and be patient for it all to level out.  And by the way, I’m already noticing an improvement in my huffin’ and puffin’ when I go out walking.  I do it less!!</p>
<p><em><br />
</em></p>
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		<title>Pauline Dakin of CBC Radio in Canada is going to do a report TODAY on desiccated thyroid!</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/04/04/pauline-dakin-of-cbc-radio/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/04/04/pauline-dakin-of-cbc-radio/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 04 Apr 2010 16:32:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[+Audience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[desiccated thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anti-depressant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[canadian broadcasting corporation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cbc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[depression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[medical scandal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural desiccated thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pauline dakin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[radio one]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stop the thyroid madness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[synthroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[T4-only]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=5083</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ 
(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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/CBClogo.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5088" title="CBClogo" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/CBClogo.jpg" alt="" width="144" height="135" /></a><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>(Monday April 5th Postscript to my blog post below: </strong>One of the patients interviewed by this reporter states the following:<strong> </strong><em>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.)</em></p>
<p><strong>Finally.</strong></p>
<p><strong>After years of </strong><strong>near-complete silence by the mass media about the profound 60-year medical scandal of <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work/">T4-only treatment</a> like Synthroid, as well as lives changed due to <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101/">natural desiccated thyroid</a>, <em>we have some progress.</em> </strong></p>
<p>A few weeks ago, I was <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/contact">contacted</a> 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.</p>
<p><strong>And, Pauline Dakin’s report on desiccated thyroid will be presented TODAY, Easter Sunday, on CBC Radio One on <em>“The World This Weekend”</em> 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.</strong></p>
<p><strong>And even if you aren’t in Canada, you can listen to this program on CBC Radio One live at <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/worldthisweekend/" target="_blank">http://www.cbc.ca/worldthisweekend/</a></strong> <strong>,  or you can download the podcast (which may require free subscription).</strong></p>
<p>HIGH FIVE to Pauline Dakin and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.</p>
<p>The 60-year use of T4-only medications like Synthroid, Levoxyl, Eltroxin and other brands <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work/">has NOT worked</a> for hundreds of millions worldwide, resulting in each patient’s amount and degree of <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/long-and-pathetic/">lingering symptoms</a> of hypothyroidism as well as the added misery of <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info/">adrenal fatigue.</a></p>
<p>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 <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/tsh-why-its-useless/">TSH test</a> says so.</p>
<p>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 <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/12/01/suffering-on-synthroid/">here</a>.</p>
<p>Stop the Thyroid Madness™!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/EasterEggs.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5099" title="EasterEggs" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/EasterEggs.jpg" alt="" width="143" height="125" /></a> 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.</p>
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		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
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		<title>Sock it to ‘em, Sheila of TPA-UK! She has asked some STRONG questions!</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/03/30/sock-it-to-em-sheila-of-tpa-uk/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/03/30/sock-it-to-em-sheila-of-tpa-uk/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:51:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[+Audience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Around the world]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[desiccated thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypothyroidism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[uk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[British Thyroid Association]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eltroxin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[endocrinologists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypothyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural desiccated thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Royal College of Physicians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sheila turner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stop the thyroid madness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sttm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[synthroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[t3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[T4-only]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thyroid Patient Advocacy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thyroid patient advocate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tpa-uk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tsh]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=5053</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(Side note: I feel so stupid. If you have signed up to receive notification of STTM’s blog posts (see signup on left below links), I have inadvertently failed to check a particular box for the emails to go out. I won’t make that mistake again. See the two posts below, which you weren’t notified about [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>(Side note: I feel so stupid. If you have signed up to receive notification of STTM’s blog posts (see signup on left below links), I have inadvertently failed to check a particular box for the emails to go out. I won’t make that mistake again. See the two posts below, which you weren’t notified about when they came out. ) </em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/buttingheads.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5060" title="buttingheads" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/buttingheads.jpg" alt="" width="177" height="151" /></a>I recently chatted with Sheila Turner, a thyroid patient advocate in the UK who runs the website <a href="http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/">Thyroid Patient Advocacy–United Kingdom.</a></p>
<p><strong>And she has become absolutely disgusted at what is happening in the UK–disgusted enough to stop being polite and to ask direct and pointed questions on the <a href="http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/">home page</a> of her TPA-UK website.</strong></p>
<p>What spurred her tough new stand?  Says Sheila, <em>“The RCP (Royal College of Physicians), BTA (British Thyroid Association) et  al are doing everything they can to boycott all T3 containing products and their latest ‘Statement’ on the diagnosis  and management of primary hypothyroidism is banning  general practitioners from prescribing T3 at all.</em>”.</p>
<p>And, explains Sheila, it’s gotten to the point where most any General Practitioner is completely afraid to prescribe T3 or any T3-containing product like natural desiccated thyroid for fear of being reported. <em>“The ONLY people allowed to recommend that T3 be prescribed are “accredited endocrinologists”</em>, says Sheila. (And how many patients have experienced how close minded Endo’s can be towards desiccated thyroid.)</p>
<p>And here are her brilliant, in-your-face questions with links, which are pertinent for ALL of us, whether in the UK or not:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>WHY </strong> do the GMC, the RCP, the BTA et al.  deliberately choose to ignore the scientific <a href="http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/why.php" target="_blank">evidence that  has been available for over 40 years</a> ?</li>
<li> <strong>WHY </strong> are medical associations ignoring the  13% failure rate of T4-only therapy for the past 50 years? <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2265.2002.01654.x" target="_blank">Why are patient’s complaints dismissed</a>?</li>
<li><strong>WHY </strong> has there been no correction to the  RCP statement when there are <a href="http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/popper_falsification.html" target="_blank">patients who are counterexamples </a>to the validity of  T4-only therapy?</li>
<li> <strong>WHY </strong>is the confusion of <a href="http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/pritchard1.pdf" target="_blank">two  definitions for ‘hypothyroidism</a> allowed to continue?</li>
<li> <strong>WHY </strong> are <a href="http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/why.php" target="_blank">guideline  authorship</a> and <a href="http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/why.php" target="_blank">concise guidance to good practice protocols</a> ignored?</li>
<li> <strong>WHY </strong> are individual symptoms of  hypothyroidism stated to be “non-specific” when Baisier found <a href="http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/why.php" target="_blank">groups of these  symptoms may be quite specific</a>?</li>
<li><strong>WHAT </strong><a href="http://www.british-thyroid-association.org/news/Docs/hypothyroidism_statement.pdf" target="_blank">further investigations for non-thyroidal causes</a> are  recommended as relevant to the symptoms of hypothyroidism when  pituitary and thyroid GLAND function tests are biochemically normal –  Levels of fT3, rT3 and adrenal levels?</li>
<li><strong>WHY </strong> are the studies by Das (2007) and  Lewis (2008), which found that patients could be<a href="http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/why.php" target="_blank"> successfully  treated with thyroid extract</a> being ignored?</li>
<li><strong>WHY </strong> is medicine ignoring <a href="http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/why.php" target="_blank">false negative  test results</a>?</li>
<li><strong>WHY </strong> do doctors refuse to explain and/or  justify their decisions, thereby <a href="http://www.gmc-uk.org/static/documents/content/Consent_2008.pdf" target="_blank">withholding information</a> necessary for valid consent  to treatment?</li>
<li><strong>WHY </strong> does the NHS refuse to take steps<a href="http://www.library.nhs.uk/healthmanagement/ViewResource.aspx?resID=267515" target="_blank"> to protect human rights</a> when sufferers are put at  risk through a disregard of the demand that patients should be treated  with fairness, respect, equality, dignity and autonomy?</li>
<li><strong>WHY </strong>are <a href="http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/why.php" target="_blank">laboratory  discrepancies</a> in serum testing being ignored?</li>
</ol>
<p>I appreciate the tough stand Sheila is taking. We HAVE to take a strong stand in light of the worldwide ignorance about 60 years of patient suffering on <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work/">T4 meds</a> like Synthroid, Eltroxin et al, about better treatment with <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101/">natural desiccated thyroid</a> and T3 products, and about the <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/tsh-why-its-useless/">lousy TSH lab test</a>!</p>
<p><strong>In fact, in light of practically NO mass media attention to this huge worldwide thyroid treatment scandal, we have to shout it wherever we can and hope that some WISE reporter or media personality gets this and will shine a media light at the idiocy going on out there towards thyroid patients. <em>Stop the Thyroid Madness!™</em><br />
</strong></p>
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		<title>The 2009 FDA Ombudsman report, and why you need to contact the FDA</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/03/28/the-2009-fda-ombudsman-report/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/03/28/the-2009-fda-ombudsman-report/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 29 Mar 2010 03:55:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[+Audience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CDER]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Center for Drug Evaluation and Research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[desiccated thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FDA-approved]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ferritin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural desiccated thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[naturethroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ombudsman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[synthroid]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=5026</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Good or interesting news is kinda slack right now.
But last week, the ombudsman of the FDA’s  Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), came out with their 2009 report that I found interesting. The Ombudsman are those who receive and impartially look at any communications from patients to the FDA about medications.
On the fourth page, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/CDER.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-5039 alignleft" title="CDER" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/CDER.jpg" alt="" width="177" height="69" /></a>Good or interesting news is kinda slack right now.</p>
<p>But last week, the ombudsman of the FDA’s  <em>Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER)</em>, came out with their <a title="2009 report by the FDA CDER Ombudsman" href="http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/CDER/ContactCDER/CDEROmbudsman/UCM205281.pdf">2009 report</a> that I found interesting. The Ombudsman are those who receive and impartially look at any communications from patients to the FDA about medications.</p>
<p>On the fourth page, you find this under the heading Drug Shortages: <strong><em>Desiccated Natural Thyroid does not have FDA approval and it’s availability became quite limited in 2009. Many consumers complained to the ombudsman because of their preference of desiccated natural thyroid as thyroid replacement medication over the FDA approved synthetic versions.</em></strong></p>
<p>Of course, the above gives a potentially false impression that the shortages were due to the lack of FDA approval–and reasons for this stupidity concerning “FDA-approval” are explained <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/desiccated-thyroid-unapproved-drug/">here</a>.</p>
<p>To the contrary, last years shortages may be explained by production issues with the North American producer of desiccated thyroid powder, as well as demand being greater than supply thanks to patients finding out about the superiority of <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101/">desiccated thyroid</a> over T4-only meds like Synthroid.  The STTM website and book is working, as are numerous good patient groups and forums!</p>
<p><strong>But the above reveals that they are hearing thyroid patients speak.</strong></p>
<p>So with this being a somewhat silent period, waiting to see when the FDA will require RLC (Naturethroid) to do ridiculously expensive clinical trials to prove what patients have already known for 110 years–<em>that desiccated thyroid is safe and effective–</em><strong>it can be a GOOD time to continue communication with the FDA. How? By reporting YOUR EXPERIENCE AND PROBLEMS </strong><strong>with T4 for their 2010 report next year. <em>i.e. it will serve to cement why so many did call to state their preference. </em>Here’s how:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Call or fax them and report what happened to you on T4: </strong>1–800-332‑1088</li>
<li><strong>Fill out their form:</strong> <a href="http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Safety/MedWatch/DownloadForms/UCM082725.pdf">http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Safety/MedWatch/DownloadForms/UCM082725.pdf</a> and fax or mail to MedWatch; 5600 Fishers Lane; Rockville, MD 20852–9787</li>
<li><strong>Contact the FDA rep for your state:</strong> <a href="http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/ConsumerComplaintCoordinators/default.htm">http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/ConsumerComplaintCoordinators/default.htm</a></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>If you had depression or other <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/thyroid-depression-mental-health/">psychological issues</a> while on T4, report it. </strong></p>
<p><strong>If you have rising cholesterol, low <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ferritin">ferritin</a>, and/or low B12 because of T4, report it. </strong></p>
<p><strong>If you had dry skin or hair, digestive issues, or aches and pains, report them. </strong></p>
<p><strong>If the quality of your life was lowered on T4, report it, outline it, detail it. </strong></p>
<p><strong>If you got <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info/">adrenal stress</a> because of being on T4, underscore that lousy truth to them. </strong></p>
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		<title>100 things to do with your bottle of Synthroid…</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/03/10/100-things-to-do-with-your-bottle-of-synthroid/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/03/10/100-things-to-do-with-your-bottle-of-synthroid/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:14:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[synthroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abbott labs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[big pharma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[john mccain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[McCain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[supplement bill]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[T4-only]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tsh]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=4925</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/HoldingPillBottle.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-4929" title="HoldingPillBottle" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/HoldingPillBottle.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="101" /></a>Well, I just can’t let this go by the wayside, says I with a cheesy grin.</p>
<p>When I did the lighthearted <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/03/05/something-positive-associated-with-the-makers-of-synthroid/">post</a>, 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”:</p>
<blockquote><p><em><strong>I have found a couple of uses for a bottle of Synthroid:</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>A. Doorstop<br />
B. Prop for DSL modem (so it won’t overheat)</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>However, I do not recommend it to be taken internally. Ever.</strong></em></p></blockquote>
<p>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. <strong>So now it’s <em>your</em> 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.</strong></p>
<p>***********************************</p>
<p>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 <a title="Why Synthroid or other T4 meds do NOT work" href="/t4-only-meds-dont-work/">T4 meds</a> and/or the inane<a title="Why the TSH lab test is useless" href="/tsh-why-its-useless/"> TSH</a> 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.</p>
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		<title>Gee golly: something positive associated with the makers of Synthroid??</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/03/05/something-positive-associated-with-the-makers-of-synthroid/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/03/05/something-positive-associated-with-the-makers-of-synthroid/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:31:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[hypothyroidism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abbott laboratories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abbott labs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Armour]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[endocrinologists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forest labs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grace groner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypothyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[naturethroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RLC labs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[secret millionaire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[synthroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thyroid patients]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=4880</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/AbbottLabs.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-4889" title="AbbottLabs" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/AbbottLabs.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="97" /></a>A large and growing body of hypothyroid patients have found out the hard way why they have felt like<strong> patooey crap</strong> for years…or at the very least, why they had pesky <a href="/long-and-pathetic/">lingering symptoms</a> of hypothyroidism:  <em>being on Synthroid or any other <a href="/t4-only-meds-dont-work/">T4-only med</a>. </em> <strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>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: <em>Abbott Laboratories</em>.</strong> Abbott Labs has put hundreds of millions of dollars in what patients deem “brainwashing” of doctors, especially Endodrinologists, about Synthroid for years.</p>
<p>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:   <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8o-e-iLsUM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8o-e-iLsUM</a> Hope you enjoy the irony of it the way I did.  lol. Her name was Grace Groner, the secret Millionaire.</p>
<p>**********************************************  <strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>Getting older and becoming hypothyroid:</strong> 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 <a href="/tsh-why-its-useless/">TSH lab test</a>, 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 <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/03/01/getting-older-and-hypothyroidism/">here.</a></p>
<p><strong>FDA and shortages:</strong> I also mention above about a recent statement by the FDA:  <em>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.</em> 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.  <strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>Naturethroid: </strong><a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/02/20/heres-the-skinny-about-the-new-naturethroid/">Here</a> 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. <em>Thyroid patients do not care to be treated like buffoons. </em>I suspect that pharmaceuticals are guided to say so little because of legal advice. It’s still aggravating.  <strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>Why do I rarely mention Armour anymore?</strong> Because it doesn’t seem worth my time since it was reformulated. Too many patients <em>continue</em> 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.  <strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>Another reason to improve your Vit. D levels: </strong>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 <a href="http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/59/1/242.abstract">Diabetes Journal</a>.</p>
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