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Year: 2007

The FDA is improving T4’s potency….but it won’t change one particular FACT…

Is this akin to “improving” cardboard?

The FDA announced today that they are tightening the potency specifications for levothyroxine sodium (aka Synthroid, Levoxyl, etc) “to ensure the drug retains its potency over its entire shelf life” rather than what often occurs with any T4 med: the deterioration of T4 before it’s expiration date. They state that this tightening will improve the quality of the product.

Cough.

Let me give you some history. After it was isolated, T4 was first produced as a treatment substance over 80 years ago. The T4 did result in some improvement in patients they tried it on at the time. But guess why they never gave it to patients beyond the early experiments? BECAUSE THEY KNEW IT WASN’T STABLE. They knew that fact 40+ years before it came back on the market in the 60’s due to the heavy and moronic pharmaceutical promotion.

And the irony of this so-called improvement is that it’s NOT going to stop the deterioration of T4. They are only attempting to stop it before “the expiration date”.

Sorry FDA. You can improve the tensile strength of cardboard, but you can’t improve the FACT that T4-only meds are about as effective as giving a hypothyroid patient CARDBOARD…whether it’s stable or not.

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01717.html

(Thanks Stephanie)

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Count on it: your doctor is going to ignore your symptoms

At the heel of Oprah’s revelation that she has a thyroid condition (see my blog post below) comes this article on September 13: Statins: Doctors ignore patients’ complaints of reactions to drugs

Boy howdy, doesn’t THAT sound familiar!

Sure, it’s about a non-thyroid drug called a statin, which has an advertised purpose of lowering your high cholesterol. But the information MIRRORS the experience of ALL thyroid patients!! Namely, the article shows that doctors rarely believe that the pill you are on is to blame for your “real – or imagined reactions”.

The article outlines a study that involved 650 patients who had complained of particular reactions after taking their statin. And the problems these patients observed are COMMON to being on statins – muscle problems, cognitive loss, and nerve pain called peripheral neuropathy (and my dear mother-in-law, who is on a statin, has all three). And what they got across the board is that their doctors either denied or barely considered that the statin could be causing the problems which the patient complained about!

And there’s a huge double whammy irony here. Namely, not only do thyroid patients have this exact experience when we are on T4-only meds and continue to have hypo symptoms that our doctors dismiss, but WE ARE A CERTAIN BODY OF THOSE ON STATINS because of one of the key continuing hypo symptoms that our doctors dismiss–high cholesterol.

Clinical presentation has gone by the wayside in favor of a lazy worship of the infallibility of pills.

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Oprah…you can save yourself a lot of problems….

….if you will take the time to read here of what thousands of patients have found out about the medication you will PROBABLY be put on, and about the lab you will PROBABLY be dosed by.

For those who haven’t heard, Oprah announced on September 10th during her Good Morning America interview that she “blew her thyroid out”. Now that also sounds suspiciously like she also has adrenal fatigue, but time will tell.

And Oprah will now join the club of an estimated “billions” worldwide with thyroid disease. But even worse, she may also be joining the club of those who for nearly 50 years, have been put on the lousy T4-only medications (Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothyroxine and others) and who have been terrorized with the TSH lab and it’s dubious and pathetic “normal” range.

Yes Oprah, beginning in the 1960’s, doctors starting putting ALL of us on T4-only meds, and in the early 1970’s, dosing by the TSH lab. And NEITHER have worked. Sure, some will state they felt better. But many will tell you that NOTHING changed. And ALL, to one degree or another, have been left with a variety of hypothyroid symptoms while doctors have been proclaiming that those VERY symptoms had nothing to do with hypothyroid since we were now “adequately” treated.

But we have NEVER been “adequately” treated, Oprah. Doctors became cattle in the chutes of their pharmaceutically-financed medical schools, blindly believing that T4-only meds were working and that the man-made TSH was the gold standard of diagnosis and dosing…and ignoring clinical presentations which showed the opposite.

And when we still complained of symptoms, we have been put on anti-depressants, statins, anti-anxiety meds, and a variety of other pills to bandaid our continuing hypo symptoms.

And we finally fought back Oprah. For the last 7+ years, patients like myself found out that there has always been a MUCH better treatment (desiccated thyroid), MUCH better labs (free T3 and free T4) and much better dosing strategy (by symptom elimination). Our lives have become far better because of what we have learned.

This website represents the knowledge of a large and constantly growing body of patients worldwide, and some wise doctors, which goes totally COUNTER to nearly 50 LOUSY years of pitiful thyroid treatment.

You, Oprah, are a megaphone of influence. And if you can take the time to read this website, you might play a huge role in helping to change MILLIONS of lives. Because right now, the vast majority of the medical community does NOT get this, and is continuing to keep patients SICK and TIRED and/or with continuing hypothyroid symptoms of some kind. And YOU are going to be one, with your own continuing list of symptoms, if you don’t consider what thyroid patients are trying to tell you by nearly 50 years of LIVING it.

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What happens to you….just happened to me

Last week, after hours, I called the office of the Nurse Practitioner I have used as my doctor for 5 years. I left my message–that I have had rising blood pressure and was curious what she would recommend. (And yes, I like her.)

I mentioned that I was slightly lowering my Armour, just in case the iodine I had been giving myself for a year was now causing my Armour amount to be too much (and contributing to my BP). I also mentioned that I had found many articles on the net about the benefit of taking CoQ10 for rising blood pressure…plus the fact that low levels of potassium and magnesium may place a role in at least 50% of those with rising blood pressure. I also asked if I could be sent lab papers so I can test my potassium and magnesium levels. I was curious.

Last Monday, the office called. It was the nurse under the physician that my NP works under, and whom I was FAR less impressed by. She explained that I would now be under his care, since blood pressure doesn’t fall under her specialty–female hormones. (first inner alarm).

Next, she says that the doc feels there is “no strong research” that CoQ10 will help me. (second inner alarm) I replied that there’s “no strong research” that Armour turns the lives around of thyroid patients, yet it does. Cough.

Finally, she stated that she doubts he will feel “comfortable” with letting me test my potassium and magnesium (final alarm). Excuse me…HE would not feel comfortable for me to know what my levels were? HE would not feel comfortable?? WHO’S BODY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT HERE?!?

And today…I received the lab papers I was to use…and all he checked were electrolytes….and TSH. Thud. Granted, there is a relationship between electrolytes and blood pressure…but I was appalled that he gave no respect to my request to know my potassium and magnesium levels….and wanted to test the WORST and most unreliable “thyroid” test there is.

I have tossed those lab papers…and I am making an appointment with a new doctor…one I have heard about from another patient….and who has a reputation of listening, not simply dictating.

p.s. I’m back on my regular amount of Armour. And..my blood pressure has fallen to a respectable level: 125/74 tonite…and 105/69 the other night. What did it? Probably the release of stress from letting go of some responsibilities. I’m also making sure I take a full spectrum of minerals, CoQ10, and I’m back to walking aerobically at least 4 times a week. And finally, I’ve been using a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (acv) daily with 1/4 tsp baking soda for over two weeks. The acv has done wonders for my husband’s FORMERLY poor digestive issues….and there’s evidence it helps control blood pressure in two weeks!! (Remember: these blog posts are ONLY for comments. Want to talk to others? See the TALK TO OTHERS link on any STTM page.)

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A personal note

I have waited to post again on my blog until the forums became officially closed, and today is that day. To read the full story, go here. And after you read that, you can rest assured! I have replaced the forums link, which was on the left side of any page, with this one, called TALK TO OTHERS. You will see other alternatives, from another forums similar to what we had here (with some of the same mods), to groups that are excellent for patient-to-patient information (and with some of the same mods–lol). Enjoy! And I will add more as I find them–groups that have an excellent understanding of what thyroid patients have learned.

Am I sad at the closing? Very. But with me being freed from the responsibility of the forums, I now have time for my private life, AND I have time to do other things for this site, and for thyroid patient advocacy.

But do NOT think that STTM’s heart has ceased to beat simply because our forums are gone!! What propelled me to create STTM is still the ENERGY of this website: namely, a place to educate patients as to WHY they feel lousy on T4-only meds, why certain labwork has NOT worked, and other issues that a large body of thyroid patients have had to face: adrenal problems. It was also created to STOP the thyroid madness of hundreds of millions of thyroid patients!

You will continue to see new articles, updates to old ones, and other activity in the future. 🙂 And by the way, check out the SITE MAP for our new category: FAQ pages. We have an excellent one for adrenals, another one for hypopituitary, and one coming as I write this…for B-12.

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