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Sincerity doesn’t equal accuracy–a very bad thyroid website

I have been exchanging polite emails with a webmaster of a large thyroid site of another country. This is a site chock full of information, covering many aspects of thyroid disease and issues. And the webmaster has obviously put a lot of diligence into the site.

BUT…….as you peruse this site, you sadly discover that sincerity doesn’t always equal correct emphasis and accuracy.

This is a site which heavily promotes the use of T4 medications, in spite of the fact that patients have remained obviously sick, in one degree or another, on these medications for more than 40 years, whether they raise them or not!

The website also contains a few yin-and-yang tendencies. It bravely hints in an article and in a flyer that T4/T3 therapy may have benefits, but in the flash of a new paragraph, moves back into promoting T4-only treatment. It gives some slight information on desiccated thyroid, then in another highly misguided article, it recommends against the use of desiccated thyroid products “because they can cause hyperthyroidism” due to the direct T3. 😆

And the criticism given to me about my site’s emphasis on natural desiccated thyroid?? I’m too “narrowly focused”.

And to that I here reply: You betcha! Because the proof is in the pudding. This site didn’t evolve because a “skewed subset” found benefits. It’s here because several thousands of us are finding out that natural desiccated thyroid removed all our symptoms in a way that T4-only never did and never will! And grassroots thyroid internet groups and websites are growing in leaps and bounds to shout that “narrowly focused” fact all over the world! (i.e. IT AIN’T JUST ME!)

And for those who tried desiccated thyroid and didn’t get the same panacea of benefits? It’s most always due to sluggish adrenals and/or low Ferritin, both quite common, and both very treatable and correctable.

It’s called “broad and healthy outcomes from a narrowly focused treatment of choice”—great energy, better stamina, and the removal of all thyroid symptoms in a way that T4-only medications NEVER DID, and NEVER WILL give you………unless you want to stay on those statins, anti-depressants, weight loss diets, blood pressure meds, benzodiazepines , and all the other pills you have to be on to counter the results of an ineffective medication like T4 alone.

I applaud the sincerity and hard work of the folks at this site, and the willingness to briefly mention the benefits of T4/T3 therapy, as well as criticize the rigid dosing by the TSH and the tendency of the medical profession to underdose patients.

But I hope you can also sincerely rethink and reexamine the following stated beliefs:

1) that “more than 80% of hypothyroid patients are adequately treated on T4 alone” (TOTALLY FALSE)
2) that “only a minority of hypothyroid patients (<5%) have superior outcomes with desiccated thyroid extract” (TOTALLY FALSE)
3) that “dose management with the natural extract is also much more complicated because of the fluctuations in potency and T3/T4 ratio between batches” (TOTALLY FALSE)
4) that “comparing adequate dosing with Armour to inadequate dosing with T4 is just a waste of time and energy” (TOTALLY FALSE)

Waste of time and energy??? Hogwash. It’s the “time and energy” of folks on all those internet thyroid support groups, and on FORUMS like THIS SITE and others, who are helping a GROWING MULTITUDE of folks find out WHY they feel so lousy on T4-only meds, or continue to have symptoms which are related to inadequate treatment. It’s that “time and energy” comparing Armour to T4 which is turning lives around, and busting wide open the denial and rigid false beliefs which abound!

Natural desiccated thyroid really works, and T4-only treatment does not. It’s time to pay attention, because you are getting left behind in the dust by the kangeroos.

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I haven’t heard it all after all!

Sometimes when you think you’ve heard it all, you find out–you haven’t.

There are a plethera of puny and particularly pitiful excuses that doctors give for not prescribing Armour:

1) It only works for a few
2) It’s unreliable
3) It’s dangerous
4) It’s not consistent from dose to dose
5) It’s outdated
6) It’s not accepted as a medical standard of practice
7) It’s unregulated

And now….TAH-DAHH…#8: It’s not “mainstream”. Yup, that was said to a friend of mine this week who visited her doctor. It was their excuse for not prescribing Armour at that clinic.

Well gee……this medication that is “unreliable, dangerous, inconsistent from dose-to-dose, outdated, not the medical standard of practice, unregulated and not mainstream“….is saving and enhancing the lives of THOUSANDS of patients who have chosen to ignore your negative and brainless pronouncements.

Armour works. Get over it.

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No, Mr. Johnson, pharmaceutical marketing does NOT benefit patients

In the Feb. 2nd issue of the New York Times given to me, an editorial questioned the practice of doctors receiving gifts from the pharmaceutical industry and medical device manufacturers. The editorial described how an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association clearly stated that current guidelines against gifts, free samples and promotional incentives “are far too weak”, and these practices should be prohibited.

The Times editorial stated that such proposals “are hardly onerous,” and added, “It is long past time for leading medical institutions and professional societies to adopt stronger ground rules to control the noxious influence of industry money on what doctors can prescribe for their patients”.

Sounds good, so far.

But the followup Letter to the Editor by Ken Johnson, a senior vice president at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, was enough to make you puke.

He stated that restricting the free samples given to doctors would be “unfortunate and could negatively affect patients who rely upon the $16 billion worth of medicines distributed each year.”

Uhh, Mr. Johnson, I don’t doubt that there are medications which save the life of many folks, and are beneficial. But the fact that patients “rely” on $16 billion worth of medicines is a crock in itself, since SO many of those prescribed medicines, like the lousy T4-only thyroid medications, DON’T WORK, or cause side effects WORSE than the condition they were treating. Additionally, there are a plethora of natural or safe supplements which can create the same GOOD effect of some medications, WITHOUT the side effects. My husband, for example, used to be on Celebrex, and now gets the same great relief by being on 2 capsules of Ginger Root a day. He also used to be on Statins, but now keeps his Cholesterol down by using ground Flax Seed and Flax oil.

Mr. Johnson continued it his reply: “We believe that pharmaceutical companies should not offer or provide anything to doctors that would interfere with the independence of their prescribing practices,” but, “clearly, pharmaceutical marketing benefits patients.” He concludes, “It also enables doctors to learn about new therapies and diagnostic tools,” and, in the end, “knowledge is the best medicine of all.”

Mr. Johnson, we as patients have seen it CLEARLY demonstrated that your free samples and incentives DO INTERFERE with independent thinking of our doctors. They give us the Synthroid prescriptions which you have so aptly promoted, and we still have hypo symptoms. When we complain of continuing symptoms, they throw out a couple of those free anti-depressants you give them, with a prescription to follow…or they cast out those prescription papers for Statins when our Cholesterol is too high from being on the inferior T4-only meds. Or they toss us a few packets of anti-inflammatory meds when we ache and hurt from being on the inferior T4-only medications you promoted like the ads on your free notepads and pens.

And yes, knowledge is the best medicine of all–knowledge that many medications you blindly promote have toxic side effects, or don’t work, or there are MUCH better alternatives.

Pharmaceutical marketing, Mr. Johnson, has mostly benefitted the linings of your pockets, and has made thyroid patients like us sicker, and has made our doctors robotic-thinking lackeys who seem to think they are “doctoring” when they throw us your latest pills. And that mindless way of practicing medicine is failing the oath to “do no harm”.

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We’re on a roll–how soon will Doctors catch up???

Imagine a softly-lit dance floor, soft and slow music being played by the band, couples intertwined as they move in a dreamy sway, round and round, eyes closed, to the beat of a soothing and easy melody…one song after another…

Then, suddenly, the band decides to pick up their melodious pace to a frenzied and clamorous beat, and a couple decides they too, are ready to move FAST, picking up their speed, hastening their dance movements with great joy…

And as you watch the other couples, they are slow to make the transition—opening their eyes in blinking lethargy, moving slightly away from each other, scanning their eyes left and right, figuring out how to make the transition…

The above scenario describes the patients on Armour who’ve gained enough experience to compile a site like Stop the Thyroid Madness…and doctors. We are the dancers who have made a swift and successful move into the fast and energizing new melody…and doctors are either still moving to the beat of a slow song, or barely starting to blink.

How soon will they catch up?? How soon will they stop listening to the ravenous crows called Pharmaceutical Reps who promote their pills like a sideshow Bob promoting his new tonic??

How soon will they start making PATIENTS and their litany of symptoms more important than black ink spots on a piece of paper called the TSH with it’s erroneous range??

How soon will they realize that thyroid patients CAN know what they are talking about as far as Armour working, and T4-only meds barely doing the job??

How soon will they accept that WE as patients have paved a NEW ROAD by our experiences??

And my pet peeve—HOW SOON will a few certain health website doctors STOP giving out LOUSY advice to the poor thyroid patients who come to their site desperate for help, only to get the same bull that has been dispensed for decades??

Truly, time will tell how many will have the courage to really LISTEN.

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Why this site was created

Welcome to StopTheThyroidMadness.com. You might say I became a fledging thyroid patient advocate in 2002, when I started a site on Yahoo Groups. That site grew and grew, and so did my knowledge along with with everyone else’s. We have all been living guinea pigs and self-educated in the face of doctors who had little to NO insight about Armour, correct treatment, and side issues like Ferritin and Adrenals.

And having a website on the side was something always on my mind. But with the growing Yahoo group, and with my busy private life, it kept being swept under the carpet.

But last year, I started paying attention to a few doctor-to-patient websites. And I was APPALLED at the LOUSY advice a particular doctor was giving desperate patients who came to their site, seeking help. The more I read, the more frustrated and angry I got. Thus, I finally put “the pedal to the metal” in the Fall of 2005, and with the help of a website designer, put all my articles and information together, as well as brought on board a few other knowledgeable thyroid patients whom I knew could offer a lot.

The result: Stop the Thyroid Madness. This site is intended to educate and to give HOPE to the millions of thyroid patients who remain sick due to untreated hypothyroid, or under-treated hypothyroid.

Additionally, this site is dedicated to a young and desperate gal named Miserable Mom, who came to one of these doctor-to-patient sites, got advice which only left her sick, and she never came back again.

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