tsh tags

(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. )

I recently chatted with Sheila Turner, a thyroid patient advocate in the UK who runs the website Thyroid Patient Advocacy–United Kingdom.

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 home page of her TPA-UK website.

What spurred her tough new stand?  Says Sheila, “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.“.

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. “The ONLY people allowed to recommend that T3 be prescribed are “accredited endocrinologists”, says Sheila. (And how many patients have experienced how close minded Endo’s can be towards desiccated thyroid.)

And here are her brilliant, in-your-face questions with links, which are pertinent for ALL of us, whether in the UK or not:

1. WHY do the GMC, the RCP, the BTA et al. deliberately choose to ignore the scientific evidence that has been available for over 40 years ?
2. WHY are medical associations ignoring the 13% failure rate of T4-only therapy for the past 50 years? Why are patient’s complaints dismissed?
3. WHY has there been no correction to the RCP statement when there are patients who are counterexamples to the validity of T4-only therapy?
4. WHY is the confusion of two definitions for ‘hypothyroidism allowed to continue?
5. WHY are guideline authorship and concise guidance to good practice protocols ignored?
6. WHY are individual symptoms of hypothyroidism stated to be “non-specific” when Baisier found groups of these symptoms may be quite specific?
7. WHAT further investigations for non-thyroidal causes 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?
8. WHY are the studies by Das (2007) and Lewis (2008), which found that patients could be successfully treated with thyroid extract being ignored?
9. WHY is medicine ignoring false negative test results?
10. WHY do doctors refuse to explain and/or justify their decisions, thereby withholding information necessary for valid consent to treatment?
11. WHY does the NHS refuse to take steps to protect human rights when sufferers are put at risk through a disregard of the demand that patients should be treated with fairness, respect, equality, dignity and autonomy?
12. WHY are laboratory discrepancies in serum testing being ignored?

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 T4 meds like Synthroid, Eltroxin et al, about better treatment with natural desiccated thyroid and T3 products, and about the lousy TSH lab test!

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. Stop the Thyroid Madness!™

I am amazed.

The Society for Endocrinology in the UK recently reported that taking higher doses of thyroxine (which will lower the TSH lab result) may be safer than has been purported for decades.

And how low a TSH lab result did they find to be safe? As low as 0.04-0.4, the research found, is still safe enough to not cause an increased risk of  “heart disease, abnormal heartbeat patterns and bone fractures”, aka HYPERthyroid symptoms.

And those of us worldwide who know about the superiority of natural desiccated thyroid can also use these research results in our fight to be on enough desiccated thyroid with TSH-obsessed doctors, who view research as the end-all to the truth rather than solid clinical presentation, sadly. Because when we are on enough desiccated thyroid to feel fabulous again with all symptoms removed (in the presence of good cortisol levels, adequate ferritin, B12 and digestive issues), our TSH lab result is always low, aka suppressed, and without one iota of hyper symptoms.

Patients have experientially known this truth about the lousy TSH lab test, without research, for years!

But here’s what’s missing from their research:

1. Those “safe, low levels of an “ink spot on a piece of paper” do not mean the 16,426 patients they followed will be without numerous issues related to being on a storage hormone.  i.e. the body is not meant to live for conversion alone! A healthy thyroid will convert T4 to the active T3, but it will also provide direct T3 in addition to the T2, T1 and calcitonin…none of which a T4-only med provides directly.
2. Additionally, the TSH lab test only reveals the action of a pituitary messenger hormone called the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH).  The lab test does NOT measure whether your tissue is receiving enough thyroid hormone, which is why so many patients on T4 end up with depression, rising cholesterol, high blood pressure, low B12, low ferritin and many symptoms, as well as adrenal fatigue thanks to the inadequate treatment of T4.
3. Raising T4 often encourages an excess production of Reverse T3 over time, which will block cell receptors and increase the very symptoms the researcher state is avoided, as well as far more hypothyroid symptoms.

But on the positive side: this is just one more research study that ends up being on our side in our quest in teaching our doctors about far better treatment protocols. I have also included mention of this study on the following page on STTM, where I keep a ongoing list of  research which supports what patients already know by their experience and clinical presentation:  http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/medical-research/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yup, we’re all heading in the same direction—being just a tad older every single year and getting that first mailing from AARP.  Yup.

And getting older increases the incidence of thyroid disease.

Even worse, those who acquire it at an older age are probably going to go through the same bunk and bull those younger have gone through–having depression, rising cholesterol, osteoporosis or ostepenia, weight gain, easy fatigue, couch potato syndrome, dry skin and hair, plus more–-all classic symptoms of undiagnosed or undertreated hypothyroidism.

But older folks are told it’s all just part of aging so here’s your latest tablet for your handy-dandy Wal Mart pill box.

I recently found a great blog by Pam whose Feb. 23rd, 2010 post is titled Older Women and Low Thyroid. She turned 65 in 2009 (and she looks a lot younger) and writes how she found herself with hypothyroid at a later age as well.  And Pam is WAY ahead of the game in her knowledge. She understands that most older folks are put on Synthroid (which can be a lousy way to treat hypothyroidism for many), that getting older means conversion from T4 to T3 can be more difficult,  that being on desiccated thyroid or T3-only just might be the better treatment, and you can get adrenal fatigue at an older age as well (thanks to poor treatment with T4, the TSH lab test, or being underdosed even on desiccated thyroid).

You can read Pam’s post here, as well as about the phone call from her friend who is 50 lbs overweight, has brain fog, is out of work, has no energy…and voila–is on Synthroid so it can’t POSSIBLY be her thyroid. Sad. In fact, what has happened to Pam’s friend is what I keep stating to those who feel they are just doing peachy on T4: watch out, because as you age, the truth about T4 will reveal itself!

Pam, I love your blog posts, and I’m going to hope to see more of those in the “venerable age range” be just as wise as you are!!

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FDA HAS MADE A STATEMENT ABOUT NATURAL DESICCATED THYROID: Just before I was going to plop into my bed for the evening, I checked my notifications to discover that right on the FDA website and their 2010 Drug Shortages page (3rd column up from bottom), it states: Forest reports manufacturing issues involving the raw material and RLC reports increased demand. FDA has not ordered Forest or RLC to remove these thyroid (desiccated) tablets from the market. BINGO. I’ve been waiting for this for months, because though websites and groups were formed last year as if we needed to “rescue” desiccated thyroid from being banned, I couldn’t join the fearful rally of a few because my gut was telling me something quite different.  And a few others, I discovered, had the same feeling.  And hooray! Our guts were right on!

Does this mean the FDA “gets it” about desiccated thyroid? Maybe, or maybe not. Yes, their timing WAS awful last year with Time Caps Labs, right when we were starting a shortage. And there does appear to be some kind of future requirement “proving” the safety and efficacy of dess. thyroid–two things we ALREADY KNOW from 110 years of safe and effective use. Duhhh on the FDA. But it’s FAR more hopeful now, and realistic, and will hopefully promote more reasonable thinking from now on.

Onward and upward, folks.

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Naturethroid is coming back in pharmacies all over the US! See the blog post below or here for information about  the “new” Naturethroid.

(If you are reading this via the Newsletter email notification, just click on the title of this blog post to come directly to the site where you can Comment).

If you read my recent blog post about it (click on link below or just scroll down on the STTM blog), or if you saw NBC’s Today Show, you’ll know that Dr. Kent Holtorf correctly diagnosed a clearly-hypothyroid woman, Nurse Practitioner Eola Force, by not going just by the TSH, and changed her life. He was criticized by an Endocrinologist as having “no real scientific basis”  for what he does in his practice, and it was equivalent to the “laying on of hands”.  (chuckle)

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2010/01/28/endocrinologists-tsh-lab-test/

Well, it’s time to hear what Dr. Holtorf has to say!

Join us as I chat with him about this incident next WEDNESDAY, FEB. 17th at 6 pm Pacific, 7 pm Mountain, 8 pm Central, and 9 pm Eastern, right on your computer’s audio on STTM’s Talkshoe Call webpage (below). Call in to ask questions, too. MARK YOUR CALENDER! SET YOUR CELL PHONE ALARM! This is one introduction that I’m going to have fun with, don’t ya think??

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

***Note that we moved it to Wednesday nights. That should help with any dropped calls that were happening on busy Thursdays.

By the way,  Dr. Holtorf recently launched his new website, called The Non-Profit National Academy of Hypothyroidism in an attempt to reach doctors about appropriate diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism, which patients know does NOT include just the lousy TSH lab test.  Will doctors, and especially Endocrinologists, ever figure out this clear and easy truth?  Don’t we hope so.

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