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	<title>Stop The Thyroid Madness &#187; tsh</title>
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		<title>Oprah leaves her show behind in 2011, and also leaves millions of thyroid patients in the dust</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/11/20/oprah-leaves-her-show-behind/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/11/20/oprah-leaves-her-show-behind/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:21:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Reverse T3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[naturethroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oprah]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=4001</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The news this morning about Oprah made me pause.
Yes, it&#8217;s being announced today that there will be no more Oprah Winfrey Show on CBS after Fall of next year.  She&#8217;s saying goodbye. And the rumor is that she will move her talk show to The Oprah Winfrey Network, which replaces the Discovery Health Channel. We&#8217;ll [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-4009" title="opraharmsup" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/opraharmsup1.jpg" alt="opraharmsup" width="150" height="113" />The news this morning about Oprah made me pause.</p>
<p>Yes, it&#8217;s being announced today that there will be no more Oprah Winfrey Show on CBS after Fall of next year.  She&#8217;s saying goodbye. And the <em>rumor</em> is that she will move her talk show to The Oprah Winfrey Network, which replaces the Discovery Health Channel. We&#8217;ll see when she formally announces it today on her show.</p>
<p><strong>But the change sure does shine a bright spotlight on a <em>colossal</em></strong><span> </span><strong><em> and complete failure by Oprah and The Oprah Winfrey Show for hundreds of millions of thyroid patients. </em> </strong>Though she had her own bout with thyroid disease (and may still be dealing with it when you consider her weight issues), we all winced a year ago when she stated that a month long Hawaiian vacation and eating fresh foods with <a href="/goitrogen/">soy milk</a> (a goitrogen) were a great way to treat her thyroid condition. Yikes.   We equally squirmed in our seats when Dr. Christiane Northrup made the <a href="http://www.drnorthrup.com/womenshealth/healthcenter/topic_details.php?topic_id=59">comment</a> that our thyroid problems were due to an<em> “energy blockage in the throat region, the result of a lifetime of ’swallowing’ words one is aching to say.” </em> Double yikes.</p>
<p><strong>And since then, we have watched <em>nothing, zilch, zero</em> from Oprah and The Opray Winfrey Show about a horrendous 55-year medical scandal of thyroid treatment that has negatively affected the lives of hundreds of millions of thyroid patients worldwide.</strong> <a href="/t4-only-meds-dont-work/">T4-only meds</a> like Synthroid, the darling medication of the medical community for hypothyroidism treatment, has left hundreds of millions sick.  The <a href="/tsh-why-its-useless/">TSH lab test</a> has equally sent us to hell.  Because we have been forced to live with <a href="/long-and-pathetic/">continuing symptoms of hypothyroidism,</a> we&#8217;ve endured much more testing and have been put on many other medications to bandaid our continuing symptoms. And a majority of us have had to deal with the additional burden of <a href="/adrenal-info/">adrenal fatigue</a> thanks to all the above.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s been hell, Oprah. But you never listened.  So for me personally, I could care less what you do now. You&#8217;ve let millions of us down.</p>
<p>********************************</p>
<p><strong>On a far better note:  Last night&#8217;s Thyroid Patient Community Call on Talkshoe was excellent.</strong> From thyroid/adrenal patient Valerie Taylor, who is absolutely one of the most knowledgeable patients in the world about adrenals and RT3, we gained good information how it raises its ugly head when you have high or low cortisol, low B12, low ferritin and other untreated issues, and how to treat it. You can go back to Talkshoe and listen to the broadcast, which was Episode 7.  See my blog post right below this. As far as future Talkshoe Community Calls: they will always be announced here first.</p>
<p>Below that, you&#8217;ll read how cellulose as a filler just may be a huge problem in natural desiccated thyroid meds. <strong>But we are also discovering that a good desiccated thyroid like Naturethroid, even with its cellulose, can seem even worse if we have undiscovered and untreated issues like low B12, low Vit. A, low ferritin, low Vit. D and other conditions common with hypothyroidism.  Make sure you have tested for these.</strong></p>
<p><strong>**************************************</strong></p>
<p><em>*Want to be infor­med of these ‘fringe web­site’ blog posts?   <img src="../../wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif" alt=";-)" /> Curious what’s on radi­cal Janie’s mind? Just use the Noti­fi­ca­tions on the left below the links.</em></p>
<p><em> </em><em>* The extre­mely hip and sophis­ti­ca­ted <a href="../../2009/09/t-shirt/">STTM t-shirts</a> are half price! I love sales! Spread the word!<br />
</em></p>
<p><em> </em><em>* Pre­fer STTM in book form with more detail? You can read about it <a href="../../book/">here</a>.</em></p>
<p><strong><em>*Need options for thy­roid treat­ment during the current shor­ta­ges due to demand being grea­ter than supply? Go <a href="../../options-for-thyroid-treatment/">here</a>.</em></strong></p>
<blockquote><p><strong>*<span style="color: red;">HO</span><span style="color: green;"> HO</span><span style="color: red;"> HO!</span> Have a STTM book sent to someone  you care about as a <a href="http://www.laughinggrapepublishing.com/send-a-book/">CHRISTMAS or HOLIDAY present.</a></strong><strong> All the work is done for you!</strong></p></blockquote>
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		<item>
		<title>Is there a genetic reason many of us do lousy on T4?</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/10/28/is-there-a-genetic-reason-many-of-us-do-lousy-on-t4/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/10/28/is-there-a-genetic-reason-many-of-us-do-lousy-on-t4/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:10:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Research studies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[desiccated thyroid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[endocrinology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[5'-deiodinase]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[l-thyroxine replacement might not be enough: a genetic rationale]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[levothyroxine]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=3825</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last May, a very interesting article appeared in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, titled For Some, L-Thyroxine Replacement Might Not Be Enough: A Genetic Rationale and presented by Endocrinologists in Bristol in the UK. It&#8217;s accompanied with an editorial by Endocrinologists Brian W. Kim and Antonio C. Bianco.
This [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3835" title="deiodinase2" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/deiodinase2.jpg" alt="deiodinase2" width="135" height="101" />Last May, a very interesting article appeared in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, titled <strong>For Some, L-Thyroxine Replacement Might Not Be Enough: A Genetic Rationale </strong>and presented by Endocrinologists in Bristol in the UK. It&#8217;s accompanied with an editorial by Endocrinologists Brian W. Kim and Antonio C. Bianco.</p>
<p>This is the same article referred to by Endocrinologist Dr. Gary Pepper on the last Thyroid Patient Community Call on <a href="http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=62603&amp;cmd=tc">Talkshoe</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Basically, the article states that a genetic variation in the enzyme that converts T4 to T3, <em>deiodinase D2</em> (also called Type 2 Deiodinase, or 5&#8242;-Deiodinase), may be responsible for why so many thyroid patients don&#8217;t do well on Synthroid, Levoxyl, levothyroxine, etc, and in turn, do so much better on <a href="/natural-thyroid-101/">natural desiccated thyroid</a> like Naturethroid, Erfa&#8217;s Thyroid, or the combined synthetic T4 and synthetic T3 (Cytomel). </strong></p>
<p>In other words, where some may have a strongly functioning deiodinase D2 enzyme which converts T4 to the active T3 well,  others may have a modified deiodinase D2 enzyme, causing less optimal conversion.</p>
<p>In the Editorial, the two Endos  Kim and  Bianco explain the reality of &#8220;polymorphism&#8221;&#8211;a condition in nature in which changes or variations occur, and in one patient from another,  a change in the DNA.  As related to conversion of T4 to T3,  some thyroid patients have a less effective deiodinase D2 enzyme in the conversion of T4 to T3.  Specifically, there is a  common variant of the gene, threonine (Thr)<sup> </sup>92 alanine (Ala), and it results in  decreased<sup> </sup>D2 enzymatic activity.</p>
<p>The study proposes that this alteration from polymorphism  occurs in 16% of those studied, and concludes that the majority don&#8217;t have this problem, and thus, &#8220;most do fine on T4-only medications&#8221;. But 16% do have this problem and need the combined therapy of T4 with T3.</p>
<p>Bristol was also mentioning this reality in 2004 <a href="http://www.endocrinology.org/education/resource/EndocrineNurseCourse/ent04/ent04_day3.htm">here</a>, even if they thought it was as low as 5%.</p>
<p><strong>As Dr. Pepper hinted, this study could do wonders to open the eyes of Endocrinologists about the use of desiccated thyroid, or at the very least, about combined hypothyroid treatment with synthetic T3 added to synthetic T4.  And I&#8217;m glad for that when so many patients have found Endocrinologists to be narrow-mindedly stuck on Synthroid or other T4-only thyroxine products.</strong></p>
<p>Of course, informed thyroid patients know this is only a baby step in the right direction, even if a good one! So we&#8217;ll rejoice for this study, and watch for more progress from the medical community and Endocrinology in general.  For example, saying that &#8220;most do fine on T4&#8243; simply because they have may a non-variation might be proven wrong as physicians take the time to really look at those &#8220;fine&#8221; patients, especially as they age and <a href="/long-and-pathetic/">symptoms of an inferior treatment</a> do pop up. And though the combination of synthetic T3 with synthetic T4 definitely gives better results, thyroid patients who then moved to desiccated thyroid with it&#8217;s T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin report even better results and clinical presentation!  We&#8217;ve also learned that the TSH lab test absolutely sucks when it comes to diagnosis and treatment.  Read <a href="/tsh-why-its-useless/">TSH Why It&#8217;s Useless</a>, or see even more detail in Chapter Four of the <a href="/bookj/">STTM book</a>, titled Thyroid Stimulating Hooey.</p>
<p>And finally: do thyroid patients really believe that problems with T4-only treatment is  simply due to a genetic abnormality or variation? Maybe. But isn&#8217;t it funny that a healthy human thyroid does NOT depend solely on conversion, but also gives direct T3. hmmmmmm</p>
<p>P.S.  Patients also know that the use of the supplement Selenium helps with conversion, by the way, but has never stopped our first-hand knowledge that desiccated thyroid rocks!</p>
<p><em>*Want to be infor­med of these ‘fringe web­site’ blog posts?  <img src="../../wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" /> Curious what’s on radi­cal Janie’s mind? Just use the Noti­fi­ca­tions on the left below the links.<br />
</em></p>
<p><em> </em><em>* The extre­mely hip and sophis­ti­ca­ted <a href="../../2009/09/t-shirt/">STTM t-shirts</a> are half price! I love sales!<br />
</em></p>
<p><em> </em><em>* Pre­fer STTM in book form with more detail? You can read about it <a href="../../book/">here</a>.</em></p>
<p><strong><em>*Need options for thy­roid treat­ment during the current shor­ta­ges due to demand being grea­ter than supply? Go <a href="../../options-for-thyroid-treatment/">here</a>.</em></strong></p>
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		<item>
		<title>Doctor questions if adrenal fatigue is real</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/07/20/doctor-questions-if-adrenal-fatigue-is-real/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/07/20/doctor-questions-if-adrenal-fatigue-is-real/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:39:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[hypothyroidism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[accepted medical diagnosis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[addison's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[adrenal fatigue]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=2947</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Louis Neipris, M.D., a staff writer who has written many fine articles for myOptumHealth.com, recently wrote one article titled Adrenal Fatigue: Is it for real? It appeared on Upper Michigan News, TV 6 website on July 16th and is making the rounds on other sites. His answer to his own question?  &#8220;Not really&#8221;. He adds  [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Louis Neipris, M.D., a staff writer who has written many fine articles for myOptumHealth.com, recently wrote one article titled <strong>Adrenal Fatigue: Is it for real?</strong> It appeared on Upper Michigan News, TV 6 <a href="http://www.connectmidmichigan.com/news/story.aspx?id=325382">website</a> on July 16th and is making the rounds on other sites. His answer to his own question? <strong> <em>&#8220;Not really&#8221;</em></strong><strong>. </strong>He adds  <strong>&#8220;<em><span>it&#8217;s not an accepted medical diagnosis.&#8221;</span></em></strong></p>
<p><em><span>Oops.<br />
</span></em></p>
<p><strong>Dr. Neipris, thyroid patients all over the world beg to differ, as do a growing body of colleagues in your profession. </strong><a href="/adrenal-info/">Adrenal fatigue</a>, aka low cortisol, has been discovered on the back of a huge body of thyroid patients, wearing them down with  irritability, anxiety, shakiness, feeling dizzy or lightheadedness, sleep issues, sweating, salt craving, nausea in the face of stress, and a host of other <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info/symptoms-low-cortisol/">symptoms</a> unique to each individual with adrenal fatigue. My personal observation, as a thyroid patient activist, is that up to 50% of millions of thyroid patients all over the world, may have adrenal fatigue, or at the very least, a sluggish feedback loop.</p>
<p>Even worse, the widespread occurrence of adrenal fatigue, especially in thyroid patients, has caused problems when they try raising a far superior thyroid medication called <a href="/natural-thyroid-101/">desiccated thyroid</a>. Because cortisol is needed to facilitate the move of thyroid hormones from the blood to the cells, the direct T3 in desiccated thyroid pools in the blood, causing low-cortisol-induced hyper symptoms like a pounding heartrate and irritability. The first-pass treatment then has to start with hydrocortisone like prescription Cortef from their doctors.</p>
<p><strong>Why have such a large body of thyroid patients found themselves with adrenal fatigue and its low cortisol?</strong> It&#8217;s clear. The <a href="/tsh-why-its-useless/">TSH lab test </a>sucks, giving one a &#8220;normal&#8221; reading for years in spite of obvious clinical presentation of hypothyroid symptoms, and pushing one&#8217;s adrenals into overdrive with high cortisol and adrenaline to keep the patient going, and ultimately leading to adrenal fatigue.  On page 65 of the Stop the Thyroid Madness <a href="/book/">book</a>, you&#8217;ll read about a 44 year old woman who went 15 years with a &#8220;normal&#8221; TSH result, in spite of obvious clinical presentation of hypothyroidism, and which led to her own low cortisol. This is <em>not</em> uncommon.</p>
<p>Second, the risk of adrenal fatigue is high due to the inadequate treatment of <a href="/t4-only-meds-dont-work/">T4 medications</a> like Synthroid, Levoxyl, levothyroxine, Eltroxin and other T4-only meds. They all leave patients with their own brand and intensity of <a href="/long-and-pathetic/">lingering symptoms</a> of a poor treatment, forcing the adrenals to kick in too long for many.</p>
<p>Even William Mck. Jeffries MD., who wrote the medical classic <a href="http://www.ccthomas.com/details.cfm?P_ISBN13=9780398075002">Safe Uses of Cortisol</a> around 1984, understood the preponderance of adrenal fatigue even without the diagnosis of Addison&#8217;s, and the need for physiologic doses of cortisol treatment, or the amount needed by each individual.  <em>And he would certainly be amazed by the explosion of adrenal fatigue that has occurred since then in thyroid patients thanks to the lousy TSH and synthetic T4-only &#8216;affaire de coeur&#8217;</em><em> with doctors. </em></p>
<p><strong>Adrenal fatigue may not be an <em>&#8220;accepted diagnosis</em>&#8221; by many.  But medical professionals and doctors who think it&#8217;s <em>not real or an acceptable diagnosis</em> will have to face a huge body of patients globally who DO have real live adrenal fatigue. And adrenally-fatigued patients can get <em>realllllly</em> hostile and angry because of low cortisol, and be very impatient when you deny their reality.  (You&#8217;re going to see a lot of comments to this post which I highly suggest reading.)</strong></p>
<p>P.S. Even desiccated thyroid like Naturethroid and the pre-reformulated Armour are not considered to be the <em>standard of practice for treating hypothyroidism</em>, yet thyroid patients all over the world are having lives CHANGED thanks to it.</p>
<p><em>***Want to be informed of my blog posts? Curious what&#8217;s on my mind? Use the Notifications to the left and right below the links.</em></p>
<p><em>***Read below why thyroid patients are not happy with Armour and switching to brand names like Naturethroid. </em></p>
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		<title>Yes, Jessica Terry, it&#8217;s weird to have to self-diagnose, but thyroid patients have had to do the same thing!</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/06/15/yes-jessica-terry-its-weird-to-have-to-self-diagnose-but-thyroid-patients-have-had-to-do-the-same-thing/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/06/15/yes-jessica-terry-its-weird-to-have-to-self-diagnose-but-thyroid-patients-have-had-to-do-the-same-thing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:13:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Patients]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=2455</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Jessica Terry is an 18 year old student at Washington State high school in the Bay Area who had years of problems which doctors couldn&#8217;t figure out: vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss and stomach pains.  Doctors said she had irritable bowel syndrome or colitis, and said her intestinal tissue was just fine according to slides.
Yet, she [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Jessica Terry is an 18 year old student at Washington State high school in the Bay Area who had years of problems which doctors couldn&#8217;t figure out: vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss and stomach pains.  Doctors said she had irritable bowel syndrome or colitis, and said her intestinal tissue was just fine according to slides.</p>
<p>Yet, she just knew that wasn&#8217;t correct.</p>
<p>So she took some of her own intestinal tissue to her Biomedical Problems class, and voila&#8230;she diagnosed her own problem:  granuloma, and specifically, Crohn&#8217;s disease, an inflammation of her intestines.</p>
<p><strong>Sound familiar??</strong></p>
<p><strong>Yup, thyroid patients have had to do the exact same thing&#8211;self-diagnose&#8211; for almost ten years because of <a href="/long-and-pathetic/">continuing symptoms of hypothyroidism</a> which doctors have routinely dismissed, pooh-poohed or blamed on something else.  It&#8217;s all been a horrific, wide-reaching and damaging 50 year medical scandal by the medical establishment upon thyroid patients.</strong></p>
<p>And why has this calamity occurred? Because doctors have always been hoodwinked by their medical school training, continuing education and Big-Pharma-financed-research in believing that <a href="/t4-only-meds-dont-work/">T4-only thyroxine medications</a> like Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothyroxine, Eltroxin, et. al. were from God Almighty, and the <a href="/tsh-why-its-useless/">TSH lab test</a> was just as holy.</p>
<p>And thanks to thyroid patients around the world who had the gall to use the internet and join patient groups, we figured out it&#8217;s all because those medications and labwork have not worked, and <a href="/things-we-have-learned/">what has worked.</a> Additionally, it was <em>patients</em> who discovered they had <a href="/adrenal-info/">adrenal fatigue</a> and/or low <a href="/ferritin/">ferritin </a>and how to treat it, and <em>patients </em>who have succeeded in beginning a wave of change around the world in the treatment and diagnosis of hypothyroidism (except for the UK, who has gone backwards to the dark ages).</p>
<p><em>You can read Jessica&#8217;s story first reported in the <a href="http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/iss-s/news/45722467.html">Sammamish Reporter</a>,  and only recently reported to a wider audience in the <a href="http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/us_world/Teen-Outsmarts-Doctors-In-Sciene-Class.html?yhp=1 ">Bay Area News</a> newspaper. She also spoke to a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/11/teen.self.diagnosis/index.html#cnnSTCText">CNN</a> affiliate.</em></p>
<p>Thanks to Kem on NTH for informing me of this news.</p>
<p><strong>P.S. Do ya think that any newspapers or major news outlets like CNN are going to finally get what a huge story thyroid patients have given them?? We&#8217;re still waiting&#8230;&#8230;</strong></p>
<p><em>*Want to be informed of Janie&#8217;s blog posts? Curious what&#8217;s on her mind? Just use the Notification link to the bottom left of the links.</em></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Thyroid Patients sending a big KISS to this British Doctor!</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/06/10/us-thyroid-patients-sending-a-big-american-kiss/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/06/10/us-thyroid-patients-sending-a-big-american-kiss/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:51:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[About this site]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=2401</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-2409" title="kiss2" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/kiss2-150x139.jpg" alt="kiss2" width="150" height="139" /></p>
<p><strong>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.</strong></p>
<p>And his most recent and humorously brilliant post is titled <a href="http://thejobbingdoctor.blogspot.com/2009/06/hairy-legs-are-better-than-blood-tests.html">Hairy legs are better than blood tests!</a> He describes his occasional confusion when blood tests don&#8217;t agree with the patients symptoms.</p>
<p>Says the UK doc: <em>&#8220;The textbooks teach that the level of circulating thyroid hormones (which are called T3 and T4) are inversely related to the <strong>Thyroid Stimulating Hormone</strong> (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&#8217;s easy, huh!&#8221;</em></p>
<p>But his confusion sprang forth when a patient&#8217;s labs showed <em>&#8220;a highish TSH, T4, and a normal T3.&#8221; </em> Yet apparently her symptoms didn&#8217;t imply there was any problem, so he chose to do nothing as far as changing her treatment.</p>
<p>A month later at her next appointment, this patient expressed her approval that he didn&#8217;t change anything&#8230;because her leg hair and eyebrows were coming back.</p>
<p><em><strong>And his conclusion? <em> &#8220;Pah! Who needs blood tests!&#8221; </em></strong></em></p>
<p>Jobbing Doctor, you are discovering what thyroid patients have been learning over and over for years:<strong> it&#8217;s SYMPTOMS (or lack up) which need to pull the cart, NOT labwork.</strong> Sure, we love our <a href="/recommended-labwork/">labwork</a>. They can give clues to areas where our bodies are screaming for help.  But they definitely do NOT tell the whole story.</p>
<p><strong>Look at the ignoramus <a href="/tsh-why-its-useless/">TSH lab test</a>.</strong> <span> Countless patients have walked into their doctors offices with clear and obvious hypothyroid symptoms&#8211;and desperate for a diagnosis&#8211;yet the ink spot on the office piece of paper called the TSH lab result proclaims they are &#8220;normal&#8221;. And that dubious &#8220;normal&#8221; diagnosis can go on for years before it rises high enough to reveal what was already there by SYMPTOMS.<br />
</span></p>
<p><span>Or, while on thyroid medication, patients will have a lamebrain &#8220;normal&#8221; 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&#8230;.or just &#8220;something else&#8221;. Uh huh.</span></p>
<p><span>In fact, Jobber Doctor, <a href="/things-we-have-learned/">patients have learned</a> 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 &#8220;normal&#8221; range&#8212;anywhere in the normal range&#8211;can be mean squat.</span></p>
<p><strong><span>Thanks for a great post,  UK Jobber Doc. <em>And P.S.  Desiccated thyroid is an even better treatment than thyroxine. <img src='http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </em></span></strong></p>
<p><em><span>*Want to be informed of these blog posts? Curious what&#8217;s on my mind? Just use the Notifications at the bottom left of the links. </span></em></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>The irony of the Oprah debacle for thyroid patients</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/06/07/the-irony-of-the-oprah-debacle/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/06/07/the-irony-of-the-oprah-debacle/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:47:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[oprah]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=2370</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been sitting back silently, reading all the backlash that started with Newsweek&#8217;s Best Life or Risky Advice May 30th article, a critical analysis of Oprah&#8217;s multiple program topics of Wish Away Cancer! Get A Lunchtime Face-Lift! Eradicate Autism! Turn Back The Clock! Thin Your Thighs! Cure Menopause! Harness Positive Energy! Erase Wrinkles! Banish Obesity! [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2395" title="opraharmsup" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/opraharmsup.jpg" alt="opraharmsup" width="150" height="113" />I&#8217;ve been sitting back silently, reading all the backlash that started with Newsweek&#8217;s <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/200025">Best Life or Risky Advice</a> May 30th article, a critical analysis of Oprah&#8217;s multiple program topics of <em>Wish Away Cancer! Get A Lunchtime Face-Lift! Eradicate Autism! Turn Back The Clock! Thin Your Thighs! Cure Menopause! Harness Positive Energy! Erase Wrinkles! Banish Obesity! Live Your Best Life Ever!</em></p>
<p><strong>And granted, some of the criticism seems justified</strong>.</p>
<p>Even thyroid patients <em>winced and squirmed</em> when Oprah stated that a month long Hawaiian vacation and eating fresh foods with soy milk were a great way to treat her thyroid condition.  Uh huh.   Patients equally gagged at her support of Dr. Christiane Northrup who made the the nutty insensitive <a href="http://www.drnorthrup.com/womenshealth/healthcenter/topic_details.php?topic_id=59">comment</a> that our thyroid problems were due to an<em> &#8220;energy blockage in the throat region, the result of a lifetime of &#8217;swallowing&#8217; words one is aching to say.&#8221; </em><em> </em></p>
<p>But the ensuing array of blog posts and articles following in the footsteps of the Newsweek criticism of Oprah has presented quite an irony for thyroid patients whose lives have been changed thanks to <a href="/natural-thyroid-101/">natural desiccated thyroid</a>. <strong>Adjectives and/or descriptions of Oprah in these blogs and articles have included:</strong></p>
<p><strong>* dangerous</strong></p>
<p><strong>* peddling alternative treatments that are ineffective</strong></p>
<p><strong>* failing to present scientific evidence</strong></p>
<p><strong>* failing to listen to bona fide, medical school trained,  medical professionals</strong></p>
<p><strong>* being too gullible about the so-called wisdom and knowledge of certain patients (ala Suzanne Somers)<br />
</strong></p>
<p><strong>* failing to give more attention to science-based, status quo, mainstream medicine</strong></p>
<p>Any of the above sound familiar? Yup, it sure does.</p>
<p>How many times have thyroid patients been told that desiccated thyroid like Armour or Naturethroid was <strong>dangerous</strong>, or raising it by symptoms rather than the TSH was <strong>dangerous</strong>. Or it&#8217;s <strong>dangerous</strong> to use because you&#8217;ll get heart problems and osteroporosis. Yet thyroid patients on desiccated thyroid have their lives CHANGED, with stronger hearts and increased bone density.</p>
<p>How many patients have had their doctors tell them that desiccated was <strong>ineffective</strong> as an <strong>alternative</strong> out-dated product, yet these same patients started to LIVE again with relief from old symptoms from this <strong>ineffective </strong> <strong>&#8220;alternative&#8221;</strong> medication that grandma once used.</p>
<p>How many articles by medical professionals are there who claim that there&#8217;s no <strong>scientific evidence</strong> to prove that desiccated thyroid is effective, in spite of CLEAR observation and reports of a huge and growing body of thyroid patients and certain doctors around the world about relief from depression, lowered cholesterol, better blood pressure, weight maintenance, hair regrowth, better stamina, less sickness and a myriad of other improvements!</p>
<p>How many <strong>bona fide, medical school trained,  medical professionals </strong>told us ad nauseum that our symptoms were not thyroid related (when they were), that we are &#8220;normal&#8221; because the TSH lab test says so (when we were far from it), that desiccated thyroid is outdated, unreliable, <strong>ineffective</strong>, and a ten ton load of other <a href="/give-me-a-break/">ridiculous comments </a>from <strong>bona fide, medical school trained,  medical professionals. </strong></p>
<p>How many doctors have told patients that they should NOT listen to other patients on the internet or Stop the Thyroid Madness because <strong>patients can&#8217;t possibly have any wisdom or know what they are talking about. </strong>Yet, lo and behold, it&#8217;s been <strong>patients </strong>and <a href="/things-we-have-learned/">what they have learned</a> who have started a wide-reaching revolution for better thyroid treatment that works, and a growing body of doctors are listening!</p>
<p>And how many times has <strong>science-based, status quo, mainstream medicine </strong>completely ruined the lives of thyroid patients because many doctors are too lazy to dare question or think outside the pharmaceutical, medical school box.</p>
<p>Yup, Oprah has made some blunders, gaffes and <span>misjudgments</span> as outlined in the Newsweek article.  She has gushed too quickly when Northrup opens her mouth or Oz walks in with his surgical garb.  But isn&#8217;t it a bit ironic that some of the criticism by others towards Oprah are the same blunders, gaffes and misjudgments which most any thyroid patient has heard about their use of desiccated thyroid, and which has all been COMPLETELY wrong.</p>
<p><strong>Bottom line, for every mistake and misjudgment Oprah has made&#8211;and CLEARLY she has done so in her understanding of thyroid treatment&#8212;she just might be opening the doors to medical truth, somewhere, somehow, between it all.</strong></p>
<p>Janie</p>
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		<title>UK celebrities with thyroid cancer or disease</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/05/31/uk-celebrities-with-thyroid-cancer-or-disease/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/05/31/uk-celebrities-with-thyroid-cancer-or-disease/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 31 May 2009 20:14:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Celebrities with hypothyroidism]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=2318</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thyroid problems have become rampant.
And it&#8217;s not just in the US with individuals like Oprah, fitness guru Jillian Michaels, Sex and the City&#8217;s Kim Cattrall, George and Barbara Bush, Kelly Osbourne  and others.  A recent article in the Daily Mail-UK highlights the saga of  Clare Balding, the BBC TV sports presenter in the UK [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-2328" title="clareblading1" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/clareblading1-150x150.jpg" alt="clareblading1" width="150" height="150" />Thyroid problems have become rampant.</p>
<p>And it&#8217;s not just in the US with individuals like Oprah, fitness guru Jillian Michaels, Sex and the City&#8217;s Kim Cattrall, George and Barbara Bush, Kelly Osbourne  and others.  A recent article in the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1189716/Dont-worry-Clare-soon-voice-just-like-me.html">Daily Mail-UK</a> highlights the saga of  <strong>Clare Balding, the BBC TV sports presenter in the UK</strong> whose thyroid was gladly removed due to a malignant tumor.</p>
<p>Even the gal who wrote the well-written article about Clare, <strong>Pippa Jolly</strong>, reports having gone through the same removal 13 years previous due to an extreme case of Hashimotos and a nodule pressing against her trachea.</p>
<p><strong>But within the informative and hopeful tone of the article are a few Rodney Dangerfield <em>thuds</em></strong><strong> of the continuing SCANDAL and idiocy of a particular thyroid treatment which even the most innocent of article writers can be fooled.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Thud #1:</strong> The very first sentence of the article says: <em>Some good news for Clare Balding, the BBC TV sports presenter, is that her recent operation to remove her cancerous thyroid gland &#8211; a thyroidectomy &#8211; should be the end of the matter.</em></p>
<p>End of the matter? Only if she had been put on desiccated thyroid like <a href="/armour-vs-other-brands/">Naturethroid, et al.</a> Because it appears she&#8217;s on the delightfully enchanting synthetic &#8220;<a href="/t4-only-meds-dont-work">thyroxine</a>&#8220;, the darling of most UK doctors and which serves to leave almost everyone with their own brand and intensity of <a href="/long-and-pathetic/">continuing hypothyroid symptoms</a>.  You can listen to my audio <a href="/audio-shorts/">here</a> about T4.</p>
<p><strong>Thud #2: </strong><em>Diagnostic rates are on the increase, says Professor Monson, as thyroid tests are now done routinely at GP surgeries. &#8216;As a result there is a higher detection rate and the disease can be tackled earlier and if necessary followed up by surgery.</em></p>
<p>Right. Those increasing diagnostic rates, some which are based on <a href="/tsh-why-its-useless/">the lousy TSH lab</a> test, are overridingly catching someone&#8217;s hypothyroid state <em>years</em> after it started, which leaves a certain percentage with the misery of adrenal insufficiency and host of other problems from being undiagnosed so long.  And if one is treated after surgery based on the same holy TSH, you will only continue to have your brand of continuing symptoms. You can listen to my audio on the TSH <a href="/tsh-why-its-useless/">here</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Thud #3: </strong><em>If the thyroid is removed or not functioning properly, thyroxine will need to be taken in drug form for life. </em></p>
<p>You and millions of others have been hoodwinked into thinking it&#8217;s <em>thyroxine </em>you will need the rest of your life, aka Eltroxine, Synthroid, or levothyroxine,  et al.  But those T4 meds force you to depend on conversion alone, a process not well done in many, and you miss out on what natural desiccated thyroid would be giving you as <a href="/natural-thyroid-101/">a much wiser treatment</a>&#8211;exactly what your own thyroid gives: direct T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin. Or even at the VERY least, giving yourself synthetic T4 with synthetic T3.</p>
<p><strong>Thud #4: </strong><em>Now I have to have my hormone levels checked every three months and make sure I take my medication, but otherwise I feel fine. </em></p>
<p>I completely believe Pippa when she says she feels fine. But I want to warn her:  some CAN feel fine on a T4-only medication, but eventually and especially as she ages,  she&#8217;s going to have to watch out for those pesky little demons of being on an inferior, inadequate medication, which can include rising cholesterol, chronic low-grade depression, rising high blood pressure, or a <a href="/long-and-pathetic/">host of other symptoms</a> which are individual to each person on thyroxine.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s hoping Clare and Pippa join the growing body of patients all over the world whose lives are being changed thanks to natural desiccated thyroid.</p>
<p><em>*Want to be informed of these blog posts? Curious what I&#8217;m ranting about now? Use the Notifications on the lower left of the links. </em></p>
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		<title>UK&#8217;s Royal College of Physicians continues to be deaf, blind and royally dumb.</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/05/23/uks-royal-college-of-physicians-continues-to-be-deaf-blind-and-royally-dumb/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/05/23/uks-royal-college-of-physicians-continues-to-be-deaf-blind-and-royally-dumb/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 24 May 2009 00:48:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Armour]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Doctors]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=2239</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Funny how things work.
I had been wondering what the heck was going on with thyroid patients in the UK after the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) came out with their dim-witted, cuckoo&#8217;s- nest February 6th guideline stating that 1) thyroxine was the only medication needed for hypothyroidism, 2) &#8220;natural&#8221; medications were dangerous and 3) the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2248" title="throwingup1" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/throwingup1.jpg" alt="throwingup1" width="125" height="112" /><strong>Funny how things work.</strong></p>
<p><strong>I had been wondering what the <em>heck</em> was going on with thyroid patients in the UK after the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) came out with their <a href="http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Royal-College-of-Physi-by-Janie-Bowthorpe-090210-698.html">dim-witted, cuckoo&#8217;s- nest<span> </span>February 6th guideline </a>stating that 1) thyroxine was the only medication needed for hypothyroidism, 2) &#8220;natural&#8221; medications were dangerous and 3) the only labs needed are the TSH and T4. </strong></p>
<p>Equally a part of this B-grade horror movie is the <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/03/27/the-three-stooges-of-belief-of-the-british-thyroid-association/">three-stooges stand</a> taken by the British Thyroid Association (BTA).</p>
<p>And UK-TPA thyroid patient advocate Sheila Turner began to go through her own hell when her Armour was taken away, which you can read about in the February 20th blog post <a href="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/02/20/uk-taking-armour-away-from-patients/">here</a>.</p>
<p><strong>And suddenly, I get an email from Sheila, informing me that the RCP is as stupid as they were three months ago. </strong></p>
<p><strong></strong>Sheila states: <em>This is absolutely unbelievable that out of the hundreds of references we sent to the Royal College of Physicians to show their guideline to be flawed, they have taken no account of one single one of them. They are publishing their previous guidance without one since change. The world has gone mad.</em></p>
<blockquote><p>Dear Sheila,</p>
<p>Further to my email of 6 April, the comments and materials received by the College have been reviewed. This position statement or guidance (not a guideline) was produced on behalf of the Royal College of Physicians, in particular its Patient and Carer Network and the Joint Specialty Committee for Endocrinology and Diabetes; the Association for Clinical Biochemistry; the Society for Endocrinology; the British Thyroid Association; the British Thyroid Foundation Patient Support Group and the British Society of Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes and is endorsed by The Royal College of General Practitioners.</p>
<p>The President has asked me to let you know that this review has not resulted in any changes to that statement.  It should be noted that it is about the treatment of primary hypothyroidism and does not preclude other treatments for exceptional cases by specialist endocrinologists who can make clear to patients any associated risks.</p>
<p>References supporting the statement are listed below.</p>
<p>Yours sincerely,</p>
<p>Catharine Perry<br />
Administrator</p>
<p>•   Diagnosis and treatment of primary hypothyroidism. BMJ 2009;338:b725<br />
•   Vaidya B, Pearce S. A Clinical Review of the management of hypothyroidism in adults. BMJ 2008;337:a801. This contains references for 35 articles and states that Armour thyroid is of no proved additional benefit to levothyroxine.<br />
• The Lancet Volume 363, Issue 9411, Pages 793 &#8211; 803, 6 March 2004.  This covers the history, epidemiology, pathophysiology, and clinical diagnosis and management of hypothyroidism and is written by Caroline GP Roberts and Paul Ladenson of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.  This review, which references 164 clinical articles, states that the treatment of choice for hypothyroidism is levothyroxine sodium (thyroxine) and does not refer to Armour thyroid.<br />
•  Baloch Z, Carayon P, Conte-Devolx B, et al. Laboratory medicine practice guidelines. Laboratory support for the diagnosis and monitoring of  thyroid disease.Thyroid 2003;13:3-126.<br />
•  Association of Clinical Biochemists BTA, British Thyroid Foundation. UK Guidelines for the use of thyroid function tests. http://acb.org.uk/docs/tftguidelinefinal.pdf<br />
•  Surks MI. Ortiz E, Daniels GH, et al. Subclinical thyroid disease: scientific review and guidelines for diagnosis and management. 2004;291:228-238.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>And as your peruse the six references above which they use to defend their tunnel-visioned, moronic position, you realize that YOU, YOUR WORDS, AND YOUR POSITIVE-OUTCOME EXPERIENCE ON DESICCATED THYROID IS ABOUT AS IMPORTANT TO MOST PHYSICIANS &amp; ORGANIZATIONS IN THE UK AS IS DIRT ON THE BOTTOM OF A RUSTED BUCKET IN THE MIDDLE OF A EMPTY FIELD IN NOWHERE. Yup.</strong></p>
<p>Or as Harold Shipman <a href="http://www.news-medical.net/news/47496.aspx">stated</a> about the RCP&#8217;s guidelines: <em>What a brilliant wheeze.</em></p>
<p><em>*See below on the potential importance of potassium in your health and well-being. And on the May 7th post about the party being over with Forest Pharmaceuticals, comments continue to come in about experiences with the &#8220;new&#8221; Armour. Have you read the <a href="/book/">STTM book</a>? Patients are stating they like it even better than this HUGE website. lol.<br />
</em></p>
<p><em>*Want to be informed of my blog posts? Curious what&#8217;s on my mind? Use the Notification on the lower left of the links. </em><strong><br />
</strong></p>
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		<title>Another reason to shun T4 meds&#8212;your liver</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/05/09/your-liver/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/05/09/your-liver/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 09 May 2009 23:51:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[doctor]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=2125</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
I&#8217;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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2140" title="liver6" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/liver6.jpg" alt="liver6" width="123" height="125" /></p>
<p>I&#8217;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: <em>another strong reason to play basketball with your trashcan using your lousy Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothroxine or Eltroxin bottles </em>while being replaced with <a href="/natural-thyroid-101/">desiccated thyroid</a>. <em><br />
</em></p>
<p><strong>In other words, continued hypothyroidism (being on the <a href="/t4-only-meds-dont-work/">lousy T4 meds</a>) and undiagnosed hypothyroidism (because of the inadequacy of the <a href="/tsh-why-its-useless/">TSH lab test</a>) can potentially promote the development of <em>nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, </em>a more severe Fatty Liver disease.<em> </em>The next progression is liver cancer, aka hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).</strong></p>
<p>Even worse, the study revealed that women who had been hypothyroid for more than 10 years had a <em>threefold higher risk of liver cancer compared to women without a history of thyroid disorders.</em> This will make you pause when you consider how many reports there are of patients having hypothyroid symptoms for YEARS with a normal TSH&#8230;and a clueless, TSH-worshipping doctor.</p>
<p><strong>And if reading this bores you, understand that your liver is a HIGHLY important gland that you can&#8217;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&#8230;then death.</strong></p>
<p>The solution?<strong> </strong>Run from TSH-kissing doctors, get on desiccated thyroid like Naturethroid et. al.  and avoid the most <a href="/mistakes-patients-make/">common mistakes </a>of dosing while ceasing to smoke, curtailing the alcohol, and eating healthy (except for the daily dose of chocolate I gotta have. haha). <strong><br />
</strong></p>
<p>P.S. The original report came out in the May journal issue of <a href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/106570044/home?CRETRY=1&amp;SRETRY=0" target="_blank">Hepatology</a> (published by John Wiley &amp; 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.</p>
<p><em>Want to be informed about my blog posts? Curious what I&#8217;m ranting about? Just use the Notifications on the left at the bottom of the links. </em></p>
<p>See below about my disappointment in Forest Pharmaceuticals. <img src='http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif' alt=':(' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>Multiple sclerosis, Dysautonomia, you name it&#8230;ALL made worse from hypothyroidism or being on a T4 med</title>
		<link>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/04/14/multiple-sclerosis-dysautonomia-you-name-itall-made-worse-from-hypothyroidism-or-being-on-a-t4-med/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2009/04/14/multiple-sclerosis-dysautonomia-you-name-itall-made-worse-from-hypothyroidism-or-being-on-a-t4-med/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:27:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Janie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Armour]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/?p=1931</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ Before my thyroid disease of hypothyroidism was discovered, I had horrific and debilitating consequences from exercise or any activity.  You can read about it all here or even more detail in the Introduction of the patients-to-patients Stop the Thyroid Madness book.
When my so-called &#8220;borderline hypothyroid&#8221; was discovered by age 30, I thought whoo-hooo, I&#8217;ll [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1939" title="waterripples" src="http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/wp/../images/waterripples.jpg" alt="waterripples" width="140" height="50" /> Before my thyroid disease of hypothyroidism was discovered, I had <em>horrific</em> and <em>debilitating </em>consequences from exercise or any activity.  You can read about it all <a href="/my-story/">here</a> or even more detail in the Introduction of the patients-to-patients Stop the Thyroid Madness <a href="/book/">book</a>.</p>
<p>When my so-called &#8220;borderline hypothyroid&#8221; was discovered by age 30, I thought whoo-hooo, I&#8217;ll finally get rid of this strange nightmare whenever I tried to do ANYTHING.  I was put on Synthroid and my anticipation for a better life was profound.</p>
<p>But my hope was dashed. Not only did my body continue to overreact to activity, it got worse over time.  Horribly worse.  Nearly twenty years after I had started on a T4-only medication, and was told by one doctor after another that my problem was not my thyroid, I was going to apply for social security disability.</p>
<p>But they were all dead wrong. Sure, turns out I have a form of Dysautonomia, a malfunction and overreaction of my autonomic nervous system, causing my body to far overreact to stress. But remaining hypothyroid, as we all do on the sucky t4-only medications, had made it far worse. And I proved it. When I switched to Armour desiccated thyroid in 2002 and raised it according to what <a href="/things-we-have-learned/">patients have learned</a>, a miracle occurred.  My severe autonomic reactions made an almost <em>complete </em>turnaround.</p>
<p><strong>And my experience of change or improvement when it comes to other diseases or conditions has been shared by others.</strong></p>
<p>Last week, I received an email from a man whose brother has MS&#8211;Multiple Sclerosis.  And though Armour has not taken his MS away, it allowed him to move from this wheelchair to a walker! That is impressive.</p>
<p>So I am left wondering:  what other conditions or diseases, which are unique in themselves, are worsened being undiagnosed thanks to the lousy TSH lab test or the inadequate treatment of Synthroid, Levoxyl, levothyroxine, Eltroxin and all other T4-only medications? It&#8217;s awful to think about it.</p>
<p><em>Want to be informed of my blog posts? Curious what&#8217;s on my nind? Just use the Notification on the bottom of the links to the left. </em></p>
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