On the heals of the bat-guano Thyroid Tidbits just a few days ago, here are more for your reading pleasure and enlightenment:
Well, well, well…Endocrinology underscores what we already know!
In a March 2013 article titled “Subclinical hypothyroidism predicts cardiovascular mortality in NHANES”, it states “Subclinical hypothyroidism is a strong independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality in a healthy population at baseline, a national study indicated.”
A good realization about hypothyroid and heart health, but we have to wonder if they really understand what “subclinical hypothyroidism” is, because we, as informed thyroid patients, know it’s NOT waiting until the pituitary hormone TSH rises to 3 or 5 or above, since MANY of us are hypo years before the TSH rises high enough to reveal it…and some report NEVER having a raised TSH even though their symptoms scream hypothyroid for years!
And do they yet understand that thyroxine is NOT going to make that much of a difference in our heart health…as exactly happened to my Synthroid-treated mother?? *See*https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/healthy-heart-with-t3/
B12 Dots may be a better treatment for some!
Thyroid patient Marilyn emailed me the following interesting information:
I had a B12 level of 189 five years ago. In the beginning, I tried the mega-doses of B12, but they did nothing for me, and I had to take the monthly shots. My thyroid specialist recommended B12 Dots (found in health food stores or organic sections of stores). Put under your tongue, they are absorbed into the blood stream directly. One a day and I am back to normal. No more shots and no more big pills to take. I use the 500 mcg dot, but I know they also make a 5000 mcg dot.
And by the way, an important discovery patients made years ago: mid-range B12 is not adequate. They needed to get to the upper quarter of the range to fully rid themselves of B12-related symptoms.
Costco has it ALL WRONG!
From thyroid patient Florence who emailed me:
I received The Costco Connection magazine in the mail for April 2013. There is an article on underactive Thyroid that refers to the TSH as the “gold standard” and states if someone continues to have symptoms on T4 medication when the TSH is within the desired range then the amount of medication isn’t the problem. Please contact The Costco Connection magazine and let them know why the information the author received from an Endocrinologist at the Diabetes Center at Mercy Medical Center (Baltimore) is incorrect. 1-800-955-2292
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: the world-is-flat syndrome
Have you ever been told you have CFS, ME (Myalgic Encephalopathy), or CFIDS? Because It’s past time to lay this out on the table, because Chronic Fatigue Syndrome just may be one more bungling diagnosis by our medical community for more than twenty years! So it’s time to have an open mind, carefully considering history and facts.
Yes, there are always exceptions to everything, but overall, there are strong clues as to what most cases of CFS spring from—a hypothyroid state. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/chronic-fatigue-syndrome
2013 study: direct evidence about the efficacy of Vitamin D!
This newest study, just reported in Science News, is said to provide direct evidence that optimizing your vitamin D levels plays a large role in improving your immune system, besides lowering your risk for a host of diseases! That is good news for thyroid patients, especially Hashimotos patients, who are always working to optimize their poor levels due to low stomach acid.
It states that the “vitamin D status of healthy adults significantly impacts genes involved with a number of biologic pathways associated with cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases.”
Why you need to go to bed when your body says NOW!
Dr. Lam has always stated that we need to go to bed by 10 pm. Why? He explains that “This is because our adrenal glands kick in for a “second wind” to keep us going from 11 pm to 1 am. This puts tremendous stress on the adrenals.”
And we now have proof by patient reported experiences as to how important going to bed at the right time is! One gal with adrenal fatigue and low cortisol, and who was working with the T3CM, stated she went on vacation with her family. The vacation was to an area that had no TV, and definitely no stress. And the family just went to bed by 10 pm-ish…and they all slept well. Lo and behold, she stated she did SO much better with the T3CM, getting far better results.
The message was clear: going to bed at a reasonable time can do wonders for your adrenals.
Important notes: All the information on this website is copyrighted. STTM is an information-only site based on what many patients worldwide have reported in their treatment and wisdom over the years. This is not to be taken as personal medical advice, nor to replace a relationship with your doctor. By reading this information-only website, you take full responsibility for what you choose to do with this website's information or outcomes. See the Disclaimer and Terms of Use.
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16 Responses to “More Spring 2013 Thyroid Tidbits!”
Susan sobolik
Look Up holtorf medical group for Lyme deases it sounds like you have it
Sarah
The site you listed to check vitamin D and magnesium is not working. Any other suggestions?
Marie
HELP!
I am writing on here today in a desperate state of mind! I have been to about 10 doctors in the past five years and two endocrinologists trying to get an answer as to what is wrong with me! I am a 22 year old woman who feels like she is going on 82. And no one can seem to give me an answer, nor do they think anything is seriously wrong with me. It always ends with my blood work being normal, and then them prescribing me anti depressants or anti anxiety medication. None of which has worked! I have tried changing my diet, a persistent sleep schedule, bottles upon bottles of anti anxiety medication, depression medication, excersizing, yoga, a vegan lifestyle, natural remedies and anything else you could possibly think of, I have tried! And still nothing…
It all started when I was a junior in high school and has progressively gotten worse since. This year has been the most debilitating. I gain weight much faster then other people and work twice as hard to get it off, I sweat constantly, I am chronically fatigued to the point where I feel physically sick. I forget things easily, I have to write everything down, I have insomnia, zero energy, heart palpitations, anxiety, dry skin to the point of lotion not doing anything, it’s hard to catch my breath sometimes, I am always on edge snapping at others and feeling moody, dry mouth, sore throat… the list goes on! My biggest battle I face is convincing myself to get up in the morning. There have been times where I have laid in bed all day long because the energy to even move my arm was just not there. I have no motivation to go to class, and have to convince myself that I must go. So I chug down two red bulls and am okay for about thirty mins. Then I am back to where I started. I have turned down many social functions and made up excuses not to go out so that I could instead lay in my bed like a zombie. As I write this tears are welling up in my eyes because I am unrecognizable! This is not the person I was five years ago. I was always full of energy and life. My friends would tell you that I was very outgoing, spontaneous, and care free. I was very active in sports, and was very dedicated to my studies. I feel like a huge part of me has died, and has been replaced with someone who is angry all the time, chronically tired, anxious, overweight, easily confused, and scared. I am worried that this is something that I am just going to have to live with for the rest of my life. And I honestly don’t know how I can do that. Two years ago I got a scholarship to attend Berklee college Of Music in Boston. I am a singer and have dedicated my life to making this my career. But this career requires a lot of energy and motivation, both of which I have been running on empty for several years. Singing and performing is something I love more than anything in the world, but this past year it is something I have been doing less and less because I am so tired. It doesn’t matter how much sleep I get, I always wake up feeling the same as I did. I have had my thyroid tested many times, every time it was a little high, but still “within normal range”. I have read many articles regarding the blood work and thyroid testing. I have seen many success stories where patience have been given a low amount of thyroid and have felt much better. I have been to two “specialist” both of which think this is not the solution and instead tell me to try yoga, or lighten my stress. Whatever that means! I have taken every ounce of their advice and have done everything they have asked me to try. Nothing has worked.
So now, here I am asking you guys to help me! If you know any kind of specialist located in Boston or NYC that would take my symptoms seriously, and would at least give me a trial run of thyroid. I would be forever grateful! The worst part of this whole thing other than not being able to live my life as a normal person is the response to my symptoms. Or lack of. No doctor will take me seriously; this is both alarming and exhausting. I am so frustrated and feel like I have no options left, and no where to turn for help. I know something is wrong with me, and it’s not stress, or anything else they have told me. I am 22 years old and other wise healthy; I should be out living my life, and planning my future… Instead I sit in my bed and write down how I am going to get through the next day. This is not normal. This is Hell.
Please help me.
Ivy
Marie,
It is my advice that you first begin with the website http://www.vitamindcouncil.org. A severe Vitamin D deficiency can definitely give you a thyroid problem. Once you are there read about Vitamin D it is not a vitamin! Their recommendation is to take 5000 units of D3 a day and reach a blood level of a minimum 50ng/ml. Beware it may take a lot more then the 5000 units to get your blood level to 50ng/ml. You will notice on their website that taking 10,000 units is also ok. It is not until you reach 40,000 units a day that you may “overdose”. PAY CLOSE attention to the Magnesium section and click on the link that will send you out to another website explaining how much magnesium you need a day and what magnesium to get. (Some are better absorbed than others.) If you take the “D” without enough magnesium it can cause you to feel worse. If you do all this and still feel bad then it’s back to this website for more research to help with a thyroid problem. I think they explain everything very well here.
Amy
Hello Marie, sounds like you have all the symptoms of fibromyalgia. Have you see a rheumatologist yet?
Janie
I would read this first before assuming you have some unique problem called fibromyalgia: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/fibromyalgia
Toni Zalud
Marie, your story is nearly identical to my own. I began having all sorts of crazy symptoms while teaching phys. ed., playing all sorts of sports and training for the Marine Corp marathon. It took 8 years, a dozen experts-in-their-field drs., 1,000s of $s worth of tests until finally a women dr. in Fairfax, VA diagnosed me with Lyme disease and several co-infections. Having never seen the tick nor gotten the bull’s eye rash drs. did not consider this. Hypothyroidism and adrenal fatigue came on the heels of the 8 years that my system was trying to fight the disease on its own. Some diagnosis I received: lupus, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, condramalacia of the patella, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic idiopathic urticaria and angeoedema, and more. It might be wise to find a “Lyme literate” dr. to rule out Lyme disease and its co-infections.
Candace Adkins
Hi I was wondering if you have had a tilt table test to rule out postural orthostatic tachycardia. It is very debilitating and many dr have not heard of it. I was diagnosed in 20. It might be worth checking out
Catherine
I can only agree with Jennifer; keep up the good work, Janie :-)!
Suzanne Adair
In 2008, I had coronary artery spasms (Prinzmetal angina) from acute, untreated hypothyroidism. Doctors misdiagnosed it as a heart attack and pumped me full of heart drugs, which had little effect. I continued to have the angina until I got on thyroid medicine in 2010, when I figured out that I was a thyroid patient, not a cardiac patient. I have NO heart problems today,and I’m not taking any heart medicine. But doctors continue to claim that I’m a heart patient because they don’t want to admit they were wrong.
Going to bed by 10 p.m. — YES, I have noticed that when I get to bed much later, I sleep poorly and don’t feel well the next day. I can tell that it’s screwed up my Circadian rhythm.
Thanks for these great nuggets of information, Janie.
Kerse
Janie, I hope you can help me. I was reading through your site, and your blog, and came across your “How To Find A Good Doctor” article.
I’m going to be moving to Houston soon, and I have been advised by my current endocrinologist to see a particular Endo.
Do you think you could take a look at his site and see if you think he’s above board?
Do you happen to have a list of recommended endocrinologists?
Janie
Hi Kerse. I removed the name of that Endo, and would rather see you ask patients in private groups what their experience was. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/talk-to-others And by the way, most patients find that non-Endo’s do better for them than Endo’s.
Zorica Vuletic
This is a great article. Yup with thyroid issues and/or adrenal it’s always a bigger picture than even the correct usage of NDT and/or T3.
I’m happy to know all the pieces. I now use dessicated liver in order to get good iron levels, since for some reason I’ve always shied away from iron supplementation. I was a bit ‘scared’ (yet I got hog wild over other supps lol). Iron and vit A are the two I am ‘careful’ with. The rest I am all over it—and with great results. 🙂
I was getting so bad in November, but I have since been using various supps, of course good diet, etc. since then and I’ve really made great improvements.
This also means I can eat more types of foods too without getting ill. I think this is huge, since being able to eat more variety of food is beneficial for a person and less depressing. 😀
I wish I could chose a ‘favourite’ supplement that I take, but it’s too hard, since I’m happy with all of them. I guess a year in research and self experimenting finally allows me to know which will help me best.
Thanks!!
Ardena
Janie, I was so glad to see your heart health article. In my battle for diagnosis and treatment of my overall adrenal/thyroid picture I developed heart issues needlessly. Don’t stop the valuable work you’re doing
Jennifer
Thank you Janie once again for all the valuable info that we thyroid patients need to keep up on. It’s reassuring and keeps me motivated and informed. You do great work.
(You’re very welcome! :))
Jennifer
B-12 Dots: Check the form of B-12 offered in these products. The ones I found via Amazon contain B-12 as cyanocobalamin. According to the book, Could It Be B-12?, this form is not recommended due to the cyanide piece of it, among numerous other compelling reasons. Methylcobalamin is the form recommended.