Doctors Archives - Stop The Thyroid Madness

TV personality Dr. “Drew” Pinsky is SORELY misinformed about desiccated thyroid!

Note: though this STTM blog post will be mentioning a US presidential candidate, we will NOT approve comments that make political comments in any form. We DO invite you to comment about the problem of medical professionals like Dr. Drew Pinsky being completely ignorant about the efficacy of Natural Desiccated Thyroid! SPEAK YOUR MIND!!

Recently, Dr. David Andrew “Drew” Pinsky (also known in the media as Dr. Drew) while being interviewed on KABC’s “McIntyre in the Morning,” made a ridiculously misinformed comment about the fact that Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is on natural desiccated thyroid to treat her thyroid condition.1

The Washington Times stated that Dr. Drew and another doctor came to some “startling conclusions” and were “gravely concerned“. The Times quoted Dr. Drew as saying

“Both of us concluded that if we were providing the care that she was receiving, we’d be ashamed to show up in a doctor’s lounge. We’d be laughed out,” he added. “She’s receiving sort-of 1950-level care by our evaluation.”

The article narrowed it down with this quote from Dr. Drew:

“She also has hypothyroidism, and she’d been treated for hypothyroidism with something called Armour Thyroid, which is very unconventional and something that we used to use back in the ‘60s,” Dr. Drew said. “And by the way, wow, Armour Thyroid sometimes has some weird side effects.”

Here are SIX REASONS Dr. Pinsky is exactly the kind of doctor that informed thyroid patients report avoiding like the plague

1) To the contrary to what Dr. Drew stated, this so-called “unnconventional” medication from “back in the 60’s” was being used on thyroid patients starting in the 1890s…and was clearly successful for six DECADES as the primary treatment for hypothyroidism, and as medical reports reveal.

2) This so-called “unconventional medication” was only substituted with Synthroid starting in the 1960’s (which is synthetic and only ONE of FIVE thyroid hormones) because money-eyed Knoll Pharmaceuticals promoted it as a way to make moola….and doctors stupidly fell for it. See Chapter 1 and 2 in the revised STTM book for verified history about the introduction of Synthroid followed by the successful use of NDT for decades.

3) The “conventional medication” of using only one of five thyroid hormones (aka Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothyroxine, etc) has caused a multitude of problems for thyroid patients for over 50 years, as they have reported. The body does NOT force us to live for a storage hormone alone. Read https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work i.e. the use of Synthroid, Levoxyl and Levothyroxine has been the treatment producing “grave concerns” for too many patients.

4) Natural Desiccated Thyroid has changed lives ten-fold, report patients who started back on it around the turn of the 21st century! The results have been clearly superior to T4-only for all-too-many thyroid patients. Read https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101

5) Any “weird side effects” from Natural Desiccated Thyroid has explainable and correctible reasons for most of us, ranging from misinformed doctors using the lousy TSH lab test to dose by, to keeping patients on low doses far too long, to the fact that NDT will reveal either inadequate iron levels or cortisol issue (the latter two which by the way, Dr. Drew, are due to the lousy and inadequate treatment with T4-only for most). Study this: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/ndt-doesnt-work-for-me

6) As far as Dr. Drew’s comment about being laughed out of the doctors lounge….that is exactly why informed patients are disgusted with, have so little respect for, feel immense frustration by, and run as fast as they can from doctors who would do that.

All of YOU are the reason we are yelling “Stop the Thyroid Madness!”

Thyroid patients worldwide are sick and tired of the robotic way medical practitioners worship the TSH lab test, the complete and biased ignorance many have about Natural Desiccated Thyroid or even T3 in one’s treatment, the blindness to obvious clinical symptoms of a poor treatment with T4, and the failure to understand how a healthy thyroid works and why!

It’s NOT about a “conventional” storage hormone alone any more than it’s simply about a pituitary hormone!

To Doctors: LISTEN TO THYROID PATIENTS! OPEN YOUR MINDS!

We are not brainless little peons who walk into your offices: we do live in our own bodies and thus have some wisdom about what works and what does NOT; we DO know that our lives have changed thanks to Natural Desiccated Thyroid and going by the free T3 and free T4, NOT the TSH. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/things-we-have-learned

To Thyroid Patients: WANT TO TELL DR. DREW HE’S WRONG ABOUT NDT??

Go here: https://www.facebook.com/drdrew/ Also share this link to this blog post: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/2016/08/18/tv-personality-dr-drew-pinsky-sorely-misinformed-desiccated-thyroid/

REMINDER: Note: though this STTM blog post mentions a US presidential candidate, we will NOT approve comments that make political comments in any form. We DO invite you to comment about the problem of medical professionals like Dr. Pinsky being completely ignorant about the efficacy of Natural Desiccated Thyroid! Speak your mind!!

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/aug/18/dr-drew-pinsky-gravely-concerned-about-hillary-cli/

August 18th 2016 85 replies

15 Things which Thyroid Patients should teach their Doctors

Many thyroid patients will tell you they have, or have had, doctors they love! I, Janie, have had many of them.

But it doesn’t take away from the fact that those in a medical profession have been sorely lacking for decades about correct knowledge on how to diagnose and treat hypothyroidism or Hashimotos, besides have inappropriate familiarity about all the issues related to being hypothyroid. Even their knowledge on how to correctly read labwork has been lazy.

Because of that poverty of correct knowledge, patients were forced to take the bull by the horns and figure things out for themselves! Stop the Thyroid Madness, the flagship of “patient experiences and wisdom”, represents all that wisdom!

Here are 15 things that any thyroid patient not only has to learn, but needs to teach any medical practitioner the best way they know how:

1) My fatigue and weight gain is not simply because I need to exercise more and eat less.

Granted, we know that exercise and how we eat is important! But being undiagnosed hypothyroid, or poorly treated due to Synthroid or any other T4-only medication, or being held to the TSH, keeps many of us with a low metabolism. The latter results in very easy weight gain, or the failure to do the kind of exercise which would help us!

2) Depression is strongly related to continued hypothyroidism!

We know there can be a variety of reasons for depression, but for most thyroid patients, our depression is a sure sign that we are either undiagnosed due to the lousy TSH lab test, or undertreated due to being on only one of five thyroid hormones like T4-only, or being held hostage to the TSH, a pituitary hormone.

3) The TSH lab test has been a failure for too many years.

Yes, though a seriously low TSH can detect if we have hypopituitary, for most of us, we’ve had a “normal” TSH yet obvious hypothyroid symptoms. Additionally, when we are optimally treated on Natural Desiccated Thyroid, T4/T3 or T3-only, our TSH lab test is always below range without one hint of bone loss or heart problems. We want to go by the free T3 and free T4, plus symptom removal and a good heartrate and blood pressure instead. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/tsh-why-its-useless

4) To figure out if I have Hashimotos, BOTH antibodies labs need to be tested, not just one.

To detect if we have the autoimmune version of thyroid problems, patients saw right away that one antibody could be high, but the other one not. So we need both the anti-peroxidase AND the anti-thyroglobulin lab tests. And by the way, many Hashi’s patients soar on Natural Desiccated Thyroid if they raise it correctly. See #5.

5) Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT) has been changing patient lives for years now, just as it did for decades before Synthroid hit the market.

Though some patients do better on T4-only meds than others…at first..there is simply too many reported experiences by patients for 15+ years that it’s not the way to go. And those same reports show that being on the five hormones that NDT gives makes much more sense. Even adding synthetic T3 to synthetic T4 has produced better results.

6) I can’t wait six weeks before having a raise!

Thyroid patients found out the hard way that if they stay on a starting dose of NDT (which is usually one grain) longer than a few weeks, the feedback loop causes hypothyroidism to come back with a vengeance in some way or another. So we raise every two weeks and start slowing those raises in the two grain area or close to three to start finding our optimal dose. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101

7) My lab results are not about being in the “normal” range.

This was a huge discovery by informed thyroid patients as they kept observing each others lab results for years: it’s about “where” the lab result falls that tells the story…not just because it falls in a suspicious “normal” range based on the testing participants the lab facility chose. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/lab-values

8) If I react poorly to NDT, it’s not because NDT isn’t right for me.

Patients who have had problems with NDT found out that there are five correctible reasons for most of them: a) being kept on lower doses far too long b) not raising high enough because of being held to the TSH range c) having low iron d) having a cortisol problem 5) having Lyme. This page explains: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/ndt-doesnt-work-for-me

9) Yes, there really is such a thing as adrenal fatigue/adrenal insufficiency/hypocortisolism.

Easily more than 50% of thyroid patients end up with a cortisol problem, either due to being undiagnosed for years thanks to the use of the faulty TSH lab test, or being put on only one of five thyroid hormones–T4. And to learn more about it, one of your doctor’s own colleagues has written a brilliant chapter as to biologically why we get low cortisol, found in the Stop the Thyroid Madness II book, chapter 15. And this: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info

10) Saliva testing for cortisol is far more accurate than blood testing

Saliva is said to be testing one’s cellular levels of cortisol, plus it does so at four key times during a 24-hour period, which is important to know. And patients found that the results (from reputable companies) fit their symptoms! Whereas blood cortisol testing is measuring both bound and unbound cortisol, and most of the time does NOT fit the symptoms, showing high cortisol when we are really low, or vice versa. //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info

11) If some or most of my saliva cortisol results are low, there are safe and effective ways to treat it.

The adrenal area is one which thyroid patients took great time and care to learn, based on what we read from experts, plus our repeated experiences and wisdom. This is where our doctor, need to be open-minded enough to learn from Stop the Thyroid Madness, both on the website and in the revised STTM book, chapters 5 and 6.

12) If I have acid reflux or stomach problems, it’s usually due to low stomach acid caused by our hypothyroid state, not the need for Prilosec (Omeprazole). And some of us need to be off gluten, especially if we have Hashimotos.

i.e. what we need is to restore a better level of acid in our stomachs, which our hypothyroid state lowers–the latter which causes problems in absorbing vitamins and minerals. That’s why we need to put lemon juice or apple cider vinegar in the liquids we use to swallow our meds and supplements. And a large body of us with Hashimotos need to be off gluten.

13) I’m not stupid just because I didn’t go to medical school, plus I live in my own body. So I need you to see us as a team.

Because of what Stop the Thyroid Madness gives me, both the website and the books, it’s important to me that you see us as a team–BOTH my knowledge and your own.

14) No, thyroid cancer is not the easy cancer.

Thyroid cancer patients hate their cancer as much as anyone does…plus it’s worrisome, surgery nor RAI is not a picnic, and recurrence is on our minds. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/2015/01/31/thyroid-cancer-easy-cancer-thyroid-cancer-patients-appalled/

**15) My thyroid labwork should be done before I take my thyroid meds for the day.**

Patients discovered that the T3 is NDT will peak about two hours after meds are taken, then a slow fall. If patients are on T3-only, it’s a 4-hour peak. We want to measure what still lingers in us, not the peak or rise.

What else do you think our doctors need to learn?

* Join the STTM Facebook page for daily information, tips and inspiration!
* Get your STTM books here and become INFORMED: //www.laughinggrapepublishing.com You can also consider buying them for your favorite doctor (and perhaps get reimbursed when you check out of his or her office after a visit.)

August 7th 2015 43 replies

Short and Sweet – Listen to latest interview of Janie Bowthorpe

Hello to all my fellow thyroid patient friends!

I, Janie, have taken a break from the STTM blog after the release of the fabulous Stop the Thyroid Madness II book. And it’s time to return!!

Here’s the short and sweet reason I’m writing this blog…

Listen to Kirstin Costello of Wellness Talk Radio interview me!! I think we both did a great job!

And once you do, spread the word by sharing the link below. Send this to your family and friends. Post it on Facebook. Let’s help reach all our fellow thyroid patients who need to learn from over a decade of thyroid patient experiences and wisdom in the treatment of hypothyroidism, adrenal fatigue/insufficiency issues, low iron and so much more.

Go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51-ikKxufgU

Kind regards from…

P.S. Have you read the new Stop the Thyroid Madness II book? You should.

No, this new book does not “replace” the original revised and very detailed STTM book. The latter will always have brilliant details of patient experiences and wisdom found nowhere else.

But the new STTM II book is giving you the following:

1) an excellent companion to the first book.

2) information that only certain medical practitioners can give you.

3) a strong message to all doctors since it’s written by their very colleagues.

In other words, if other practitioners continue to bash Natural Desiccated Thyroid or T3 or refer to it as “poison”, think the TSH is a great diagnostic tool to diagnose or dose by, don’t believe in low cortisol, and more…they will have to be bashing their own colleagues’ wisdom as contained on these pages.

The authors of the new STTM II book include Paige Adams FNP, Geoffrey T. Bouc MD (owner of website I want my T3!), Jeffrey Dach MD (jeffreydachmd.com), Lena D. Edwards MD, Andrew H. Heyman MD (in Virginia), Carla Heiser RDN, Paula H. Luber MD, Benjamin D. Lynch MD (aka Ben Lynch of the MTHFR website), William D. Trumbower MD, Philip L. Roberts MD, Yusuf (JP) Saleeby MD, Laura R. Stone MD, Nguyen D. Phan MD, and James C. Yang, MD.

If you haven’t yet seen or read this wonderful new book yet, go here: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/stop-thyroid-madness-ii

October 25th 2014 46 replies

What do these people have in common: Adams, Bouc, Dach, Edwards, Heyman, Heiser, Luber, Lynch, Phan, Roberts, Saleeby, Stone, Trumbower and Yang?

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER FOR WHEN YOU ARE READING THIS: the fact that each doctor shown below had contributed information to this book does NOT mean someone is the right doctor for you! Always, always do your own research. Ask others. What patients like at one time may be different today, and vice versa.

What do these people have in common: Adams, Bouc, Dach, Edwards, Heyman, Heiser, Luber, Lynch, Phan, Roberts, Saleeby, Stone, Trumbower and Yang?

Answer: Each of them contributed to a chapter in the STTM II book.

Stop the Thyroid Madness II: How thyroid experts are challenging ineffective treatments and improving the lives of patients

Each of them are medical practitioners who strive to….

create a patient-centered practice and personalized method of treatment based on the symphony between the thyroid and all other bodily systems
understand that treatment of thyroid disease is more than the use of a single synthetic medication and a pituitary hormone lab result.
have the courage to question the basic assumptions held by the traditional medical community as to what constitutes good thyroid treatment
listen and learn from their patients.

Why else did I choose these particular practitioners for the book?

First and foremost, it was based on patient reports (at the time. We make not promises if you are reading this later). The majority of these professionals were reported by thyroid patients to be the better cream of the crop in the medical field.

How is this book different than the revised STTM book?

The revised STTM will forever stand out as a compilation of highly important and life-changing experiences and wisdom of thyroid patients worldwide.

The new STTM II book brings the minds and ideas of medical professionals into the mix, not only giving you more details that only a trained professional can give, but the book can also be seen as a practitioner-to-practitioner book, as well. THIS is a book that will end the refrain among certain doctors “Who is Janie Bowthorpe and where is her medical degree?” (i.e. as if only someone with a medical degree can know something important medically!).

THIS is the book that you can give your doctor since it’s written by his very colleagues!

THIS is the book that will play a dynamic role in changing the worldwide medical mindset about the proper treatment of thyroid disease.

What did they write about?

CHAPTER 1 The Integrative and Functional Medicine Approach to Thyroid Diseases by James Yang, MD, MPH and Andrew Heyman, MD, MHSA

CHAPTER 2 Stress, Adrenals, Your Thyroid, and You by Laura R Stone MD, Andrew Heyman, MD MHSA and Carla Heiser MS RD LD

CHAPTER 3 Thyroid Replacement Therapy: Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT) by Yusuf (JP) Saleeby, MD

CHAPTER 4 The Unreliable TSH Lab Test by Jeffrey Dach MD

CHAPTER 5 When Normal Ain’t Normal by Geoffrey T. Bouc MD

CHAPTER 6 Nutrition and Hypothyroidism by William D. Trumbower, MD

CHAPTER 7 Hashimoto’s Autoimmune Thyroid Disease by Jeffrey Dach MD

CHAPTER 8 Why Are Doctors Like That? by Nguyen D. Phan MD

CHAPTER 9 Gluten Intolerance and Thyroid Disease by Paula Luber, MD

CHAPTER 10 Thyroid Toxicity by Philip L. Roberts, MD

CHAPTER 11 Moving Forward with Reverse T3: the Causes and Health Implications by Paige Adams, FNP, B-C

CHAPTER 12 Methylation, MTHFR and Thyroid Dysfunction by Benjamin Lynch, ND

CHAPTER 13 Hypocortisolism: An Evidence-Based Review by Lena Edwards, MD, FAARM, FICT; Andrew H. Heyman, MD MHSA; Sahar Swidan, PharmD

Who wrote the Foreword?

Dr. David Brownstein, MD.

Where can I order the book?

Here: https://laughinggrapepublishing.com/stop-thyroid-madness-ii-book/

Or you can order a set(s) of both the revised STTM book and the STTM II book here: https://laughinggrapepublishing.com/stop-thyroid-madness-books-revised-and-ii/ ALSO NOTE that by snail mail, you can order an amount of each book. There’s an Order Form to print out on the above page.

Want to read more about each author?

Go to the following page and click on their photo: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/stop-thyroid-madness-ii

August 13th 2014 9 replies

An Open Letter to All Physicians from a Nurse about thyroid treatment

A Thyroid patient who is also an RN was shocked to see the contents of a letter that a patient’s doctor had sent out to this patient. It was filled with terrible inaccuracies about thyroid treatment, she exclaimed, and she was horrified. No wonder so many thyroid patients are exasperated with their doctors!

So she compiled this excellent letter, refuting several comments made by this doctor, but directing it to ANY doctor who holds these false views.

Take the time to share this on your Facebook pages, your blogs, to your doctor, you name it. Spread the word as we work to Stop the Thyroid Treatment Madness!!

*******

An Open letter to physicians regarding the use of “Pig Thyroid Hormones”

I am writing this letter in response to any physician’s stance against the use of any forms of Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT) hormones as replacement for inadequate thyroid hormone levels. I will attempt to include links to medical-journal/peer-reviewed/scientific-based information to help you catch up on the latest in thyroid treatment and information.

I know that you, as a physician, have very limited time when it comes to researching various information on treatment protocols. I acknowledge that you were given limited training on thyroid diagnosis and treatments during your medical school programs, as well as in internship and residency programs, and have likely had to rely on the information provided by Pharmaceutical sales reps.

As such, I believe that your views are unfairly skewed and not fully fleshed out towards the use of T4-only medications such as Synthroid, Levoxyl, and others.

1) Regarding your assertion that Synthroid/T4 only medications are “bio-identical” in structure and thus, are an “adequate replacement” for a thyroid that makes 5 hormones (T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin)

Please review the following photos, showing the chemical structure of human thyroxine (T4) and the chemical structures of T4-only medications such as Tirosint and Synthroid: (source: Synthroid Manufacturer’s Full prescribing information). As you can see below, there is a great difference between the molecular structure of Synthroid and human thyroxine.

And below, in the top photo, is the human thyroxine (T4) molecule (Source: Chemical and Engineering news: https://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/83/8325/8325thyroxine.html) Compared that to the T4 molecule found in Nature-throid, bottom photo, which is one of several commonly-prescribed forms of Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT) medication. (source: Nature-throid prescribing information http://www.nature-throid.com/images/Nature-Throid-PI-Rev041121-03.pdf)

As you can see, the molecules are identically formed, and therefore are the ones which are truly “bio-identical in structure”.

2) Regarding your assertion that the TSH is a stable and reliable test which should be looked at first, while T4 and T3 levels fluctuate frequently and are not stable enough to be considered.

Here are several medical journal articles which should make anyone rethink the use of the TSH lab test:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100315230910.htm

http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/90/9/5483

http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/david-derry.htm

http://thyroid.about.com/od/thyroiddrugstreatments/l/blderryb.htm

And not only the above, but there are a large body of thyroid patients who, for decades, have reported having a very “normal” TSH lab test while having very obvious symptoms of hypothyroidism, including a low temperature, fatigue, exercise intolerance, feeling cold, dry skin, depression, hair loss and more.

3) Regarding your idea as to what amount of T4 or T3 a human thyroid produces in a day (such as 100 mcg T4 and about 6 mcg T3 daily).

That information will vary. For example, another source states that a human thyroid makes on average between 3-5 grains of thyroid hormone per day: “Estimates of average normal secretion for euthyroid humans are 94-110 µg T4 and 10-22 µg T3 daily (300). If you need more, it can be due to exogenous desiccated thyroid (giving it to yourself) vs. the superior absorption of natural release of thyroid hormones.”

Source: http://www.thyroidmanager.org/chapter/thyroid-hormone-synthesis-and-secretion/

Either way, it varies according to each individual as to what amount of NDT will remove all symptoms.

4) Regarding your assertion that very few thyroid patients have issues with conversion of T4 to T3:

As you may or may not know, many situations can cause problems with the conversion of T4 to T3 within the body, including a) mineral deficiencies (particularly low iron – a common issue in hypothyroid patients), b) gastrointestinal problems, c) liver problems, d) adrenal cortisol deficiencies (VERY common in T4 only-treated patients due to the inadequacy of being on nothing more than a storage hormone 5) the use of many commonly-prescribed medications including beta blockers or pharmacological doses of corticosteroids.

Source: http://www.naturalendocrinesolutions.com/articles/do-you-have-a-t4-to-t3-conversion-problem/

http://press.endocrine.org/doi/full/10.1210/jcem.84.2.5534

In addition to all the above, there are many thyroid patients who report that their FT3 “looked right” on T4-only, yet they continued to have symptoms of hypothyroidism while on thyroxine.

5) Regarding your assertion that there is no good way to dose Armour and other Natural Desiccated Thyroid Products

The growing body of thyroid patients around the world have frankly not had any issues with dosing NDT. Most dose it twice a day, such as first thing in the morning, and then the early afternoon. And it’s worked well.

Additionally, there are a variety of different strengths to choose from by the manufacturers of Natural Desiccated Thyroid meds such as Armour, NatureThroid, WP Thyroid, NP Thyroid, Erfa etc. For example….http://www.nature-throid.com/available_strengths.php

http://www.nature-throid.com/images/Nature-Throid-PI-Rev041121-03.pdf

6) Regarding the idea that a supposed “high dose of T3” has a stimulant effect…or is like a large dose of caffeine…or makes you feel good…or is addictive…or doesn’t make much sense physiologically…or may actually be dangerous, especially for the heart.

I would hope that any doctor who proclaims to be a hormone-balancing “expert” would have a basic working knowledge of the need for T3 hormone in adequate levels for optimal cardiac functioning. Here are some helpful links which demonstrate the need for adequate T3 in order for cardiac functioning to be considered “optimal.”

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism has reported that long-term levothyroxine replacement therapy in young adults is associated with cardiovascular abnormalities. http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/93/7/2486

And from this article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18221125 “Clinical studies have shown that mild forms of thyroid dysfunction, both primary (subclinical hypothyroidism and subclinical hyperthyroidism) and secondary (low T(3) syndrome) have negative prognostic impact in patients with heart failure. In these patients, the administration of synthetic triiodothyronine (T(3)) was well tolerated and induced significant improvement in cardiac function without increased heart rate and metabolic demand “

From this article: http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/93/4/1351.full.pdf “Altogether, our data indicate that short-term administration of substitutive doses of synthetic L-T3 state reduces activation of the neuroendocrine system and improves LV SV in patients with ventricular dysfunction and low-T3 syndrome”

And this study: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jtr/2011/958626/abs/ “The potential of TH (thyroid hormones) to regenerate a diseased heart has now been tested in patients with acute myocardial infarction in a phase II, randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study (the THiRST study)”

And this statement, from this American Heart Association-sponsored study states: http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/107/5/708.long “…low T3 concentrations are a strong independent predictive marker of poor prognosis in cardiac patients and might represent a determinant factor directly implicated in the evolution and prognosis of these patients. “

To the contrary, hypothyroid patients are not seeking “high doses of T3”. Instead, they seek an amount of NDT that removes their symptoms of hypothyroidism, improves their temperature and metabolism, results in a strong heart and good blood pressure. When we achieve all the latter, we’ve noticed our free T3 in the upper quarter of the range, and the Free T4 around mid-range…and we have no symptoms of excess (if iron and cortisol is also corrected). It’s all the result of adequate, physiologic doses for replacement, not high doses of NDT with its inherent direct T3.

We are NOT stimulant addicts or drug-seekers, and find that offensive. We are only seeking to replace what our thyroids are not giving us, and to regain a non-hypothyroid state as a result.

We are seeking human decency, wisdom and open-mindedness from our physicians. You would not deny a diabetic patient replacement with the hormone insulin, so why would you deny a person without adequate thyroid function all the right hormones, including the T3 hormone which is critical for every cell in the body to function properly? This seems cruel and unusual treatment in my book, and does NOT correlate with the “first, do no harm” portion of the Hippocratic oath!

7) Regarding the idea that patients are full of “bitter, angry, contentious discourse.”

Do try to understand how it feels to live in a body with a damaged or under-functioning thyroid and to have a doctor replace your missing thyroid hormones with nothing more than a storage hormone. We do not see healthy thyroids only producing a storage hormone. Living life without adequate thyroid hormones (particularly direct T3- the “active” thyroid hormone which every living cell in your body needs to function properly) leaves patients frustrated.

Additionally, put yourself in our shoes when you proclaim us “normal” based on a pituitary hormone, in spite of the fact that we continue to have hypothyroid symptoms. The latter test has repeatedly failed to correspond with how patients feel and function on a daily basis.

Imagine being held to a medication such as Synthroid, which then leaves you with inadequate thyroid hormones to obtain functional levels of daily living, optimal heart function and optimal hormonal balance. Imagine living your life in pain, depression, and with high blood pressure and cholesterol, with inadequate adrenal function, and all your sex hormones thrown off balance simply because your doctor is not open-minded or educated enough to grant you the use of natural desiccated thyroid which can make those symptoms disappear (in the presence of good iron and cortisol). Imagine being unable to get out of bed in the morning due to severe unrelenting fatigue and being unable to think properly due to brain fog caused by lack of thyroid hormones. Imagine missing out on the joys of life, and family, and being a functional member of society, simply because your doctor would not allow you to try a better form of medication. Would you not be upset with your physician if you knew there was a simple solution, yet you were repeatedly brushed off, symptoms ignored, and told to go on with living your half-life and to just “deal with it?”

8) Regarding the idea that Natural Desiccated Thyroid has not worked for some patients

Janie Bowthorpe has compiled several reasons why NDT doesn’t seem to works based on over a decade of reported patient experiences: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/ndt-doesnt-work-for-me Can that many patients and their important experiences be unworthy of your open-mindedness and investigation?

In conclusion, I hope that you will read all the above with a more open-mind and rethink your stance on the use of Natural Desiccated Thyroid hormone. It is a proven safe and effective form of treatment for over 122 years and counting. Your patients are counting on YOU to do what is right!

Sincerely,

A Hashimoto’s and Graves patient for over 28 years, Post Total Thryoidectomy 2012. Happily out of heart failure and OFF BP and Cholesterol meds, OFF Cholesterol meds since June 2013- when my thyroid doctor put me on Natural Desiccated Thyroid.

February 18th 2014 66 replies

Category: Doctors