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Month: September 2008

My mouth fell open when she told me! “THE” Broda Barnes?? Really??

dr-broda-barnesThough the below blog post was originally written in 2008, it has been updated to the current date and time as far as links and some info, and is just as enjoyable today. 

I called Rhea on the phone today.

Rhea is my 90 year old mother-in-law’s hair dresser. And Rhea is the ONLY one in her salon doing hair–a one woman show, even though she might be balancing two customer’s at the same time i.e. one women would be getting her gray hair dried while the other women was getting her grayer tresses rolled.

And as conversations go in beauty salons, it always turns to personal topics (which can range from one’s marital happiness to whether Mrytle’s boobs are real or expanded.) But earlier today, says my mother-in-law, the topic in the salon was about Rhea’s hypothyroidism as well as her daughter’s.

And, said my mother-in-law, she mentioned the  STTM book written by her daughter-in-law, me, and handed her a copy. Long story short…Rhea wants me to call her.

So I did.

The phone conversation went into the fact that she used to be on Armour, but then listened to a local doctor several years later who switched her to Synthroid–“a far more stable medication”. (not). Since she switched, she says she’s felt terrible for years, and has recently returned to Armour, and with the vast information in the book, understood now how she needed to raise.

And then came the shocker: THE DOCTOR WHO PUT HER ON ARMOUR WAS BRODA BARNES.

My eyes got as big as fiesta dinner plates and I exclaimed “THE Broda Barnes??”

“Yes,” she replied. “I saw him in Loveland, Colorado and he was a darling man.” She proceeded to tell me that when doctors entered the room back then, you stood. And she remembers his wife being there, and being just as sweet as he. She recalled him saying that when he was in medical school, he was disappointed when the professor assigned him to study the thyroid gland. “Such a little puny gland”, he thought. “But today, 50 years later, I still have so much to learn about that little gland.”

For those who don’t know the name of Broda Barnes, he was the father of the desiccated thyroid movement and an authority on the thyroid. Even back then, he knew of the superiority of natural desiccated thyroid (NDT) treatment and prescribed it for all his patients in the 1950’s and afteward. He also wrote the classic Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness. His book and legacy kept the idea of desiccated thyroid alive all these years later when we, as patients, were paying attention again after years of the lousy Synthroid.

Dr. Barnes is also the reason we know that our morning temperature, before getting out of bed, should be 97.8 – 98.2 if we are NOT hypothyroid. If less, we are hypothyroid. He used a mercury thermometer and so do we, or at the least, a liquid thermometer.

Rhea is now up to 4 grains of NDT and feeling much better, and may have to go a little higher before she’s optimal. Thank you, Rhea, for giving me and anyone reading this a little peek into the wonderful Dr. Broda Barnes.

**Want to understand why Dr. Barnes was so committed to prescribing Natural Desiccated Thyroid? Start right here.

** Learn more from the revised STTM book, and now book II: //www.laughinggrapepublishing.com

8 replies

Addressing folks who do well on T4 aka Synthyroid, Levoxyl, etc.

I received a reply to a post below that I was unable to approve because it mentioned someone by name. And the reply was not particularly friendly, and definitely not accurate. lol. But the reply brought up some good issues, which I have no problem addressing.

Namely, can I agree that there are some people who do well on T4-only treatment such as Synthroid or Levoxyl?? I can…sorta. I have a friend whose husband is one of those seemingly lucky individuals on T4, with no thyroid, who leads a fairly active and happy life. Considering how lousy I did, he amazes me. But I did notice something else about him: he has high and rising cholesterol and is on statins. That’s a classic symptom of a poor treatment and continuing hypothyroid, even if he does have much better energy that I ever did.

And by observing him, and knowing a few others who subjectively feel they do well on T4, I came to the following conclusion: though some may do better than others on T4, I have yet to find anyone on T4 who doesn’t have some kind of side-effect of a poor treatment, whether they are treating it with statins, treating it with antidepressants, or not treating it at all & denying it. Sure, some may do better than others, but the proof is in the pudding if you look deep enough. And, at the very least, I’m just plain suspicious that ANYONE on T4, even doing subjectively well, is going to have symptoms of a poor treatment creep up on them as they age. The body was not designed to live on conversion alone.

Can I agree that some people just canNOT tolerate desiccated thyroid like Armour and need to be on T4? Initially, that may be. The gal that wrote me stated she felt a lot better on T4, and that no matter what she did, she couldn’t tolerate Armour. I believe her. If Armour was that miserable, she should be on T4 for the time being, or even better, a synthetic T4/T3 combination. But I also believe that even if she feels she did everything to a “t” and still couldn’t tolerate it, there was more for her to learn that she didn’t get the first time around when it came to her adrenal fatigue treatment. I see it too many times. And perhaps, over time, it will become more clear.

Do some proponents of desiccated thyroid go overboard in their fervor? I don’t doubt it one bit. We’re human. And we hope you are forgiving. But once you get past however you view are communication shortcoming, do know that our fervor is based on the fact that a huge volume of individuals are having lives changed due to desiccated thyroid (and/or treatment of low ferritin, and/or treatment of adrenal fatigue). And it’s too widespread and global not to have fervor, besides common sense that a treatment that gives us back what our own thyroids would be giving us is just plain remarkable.

So, do know that if you are on T4, and feel well, I’m behind you. It’s your life, not mine, and I believe you. But neither can I stop my belief and too many observations that if you are truly hypothyroid and need treatment, desiccated thyroid is a superior choice, now or later, whether you are lucky enough to have escaped adrenal fatigue, or whether you have a challenging case of adrenal fatigue that can be adequately treated!

5 replies

Celebrities with hypothyroidism–where are you?

I often wonder how many celebrities MUST have hypothyroidism, yet we don’t know it. Tonite, I just found out that Jillian Michaels, the tough and muscular fitness buff on the TV show Biggest Loser, has hypothyroidism.

And you’re left to wonder: is she, and are others, on Armour, Naturethroid, Westhroid?? Have they found out about the superior treatment of desiccated thyroid over a T4-only treatment with Synthroid, Levoxyl, et al?

Other celebrities with hypo include Kim Alexis, Linda Ronstadt, Kim Cattrall, Kelly Osbourne, Oprah Winfrey and others. We can only hope that one day, someone will figure out that desiccated thyroid is a superior treatment, and help us spread the word. So far, Oprah has let us down. Maybe…maybe…someone with the ability to spread the word will step up to the plate. 🙂

p.s. Prefer a book to a website? STTM is now in book form, with even more information than you can find on this site, and waiting to be in your hands.

7 replies

Good grief! Stop the judgment!

Six years ago, when I got involved in thyroid patient advocacy by starting the Natural Thyroid Hormone Users group on Yahoo, I did it because I was amazed and shocked what switching to desiccated natural thyroid did for me! There I was, on the brink of applying for Social Security Disability after YEARS of misery & lack of answers, and simply changing to a different thyroid treatment completely turned my life around. I owe some of that change on what I found out on Mary Shomon’s Thyroid group in early 2002.

And it dawned on me: if desiccated thyroid with its T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin did this for ME, what could it do for others?!I  A group was NEEDED with a direct focus on desiccated natural thyroid.

And over time, as NTH grew and other fine internet patient groups evolved and grew, other patients were just as amazed at what it was doing for them, as well.  This wasn’t coming across at ALL as a treatment only for “some”. It was coming across as a treatment that might just benefit quite a large body on individuals! We also learned by the seat of our collective pants about low ferritin, low cortisol, low B-12, Celiac and gluten intolerance–you name it.

From all the above came the STTM movement: a patient-to-patient compilation of all we have learned–and then the book with even more information.  The STTM movement was created because “internet groups” were NOT enough to get the word out about the efficacy of desiccated thyroid, nor were they enough to change the huge and rigid medical establishment. Change had to come from the bottom up–in other words, educate patients, who in turn can take the new information into their doctor’s offices.

But sadly, with the success of patient information about the amazing results of desiccated thyroid treatment has come veiled criticism and overblown misconceptions within our own ranks. And it’s a sad thing to behold!

Namely, we can now read a September 10th internet blog “conversation” by so-called thyroid patient advocates who imply that it is “dogma and narrow-minded” if anyone dares state there just might be a thyroid treatment which JUST MIGHT BE better for most all thyroid patients. IMAGINE the audacity!! I guess it was just as “dogmatic and narrow-minded” when it was first suggested there were better ways to deal with certain health conditions than bloodletting. I can hear it now: “To deny bloodletting is just boxing people in!” “Offering bloodletting as a choice is helping people expand.”

And contrary to the self-righteous tone, condescending misrepresentations, and veiled criticisms towards certain patient groups, this patient movement is not a one size fits all movement.  Instead, it’s a “one size JUST MIGHT BE a better alternative” than the other available alternatives, and we strongly encourage that each patient consider finding a doctor to help them give it a try.  And, if something about desiccated thyroid isn’t working, we strongly encourage patients to look at particular reasons that can underlie problems.

If you think T4 is working for you, go for it! The same goes for the use of T3 only, or synthetic T4/T3, or certain ratios of T4 and T3.  Choice is a blessing we can all respect.  Just keep an eye out for depression, rising cholesterol, less stamina than others, adrenal issues and/or a myriad of other continuing hypo symptoms that just might creep up on you as you age on these treatments.  Or, consider that we’ve seen many people on these treatments, who, when they switched to desiccated thyroid like Armour, Naturethroid, Westhroid, etc, they reported even better results. (The use of T3-only for high RT3 is a different issue and is where T3-only may be absolutely needed and good. We also respect those who have ethical issues with animal products.)

Finally, I encourage others who consider themselves thyroid patient advocates to TAKE A BIG BREATH and TAKE THE TIME to be in open-minded dialogue with all patients, including me and all of us over here, instead of openly ignoring our existence or deciding what we promote is simply narrow-minded dogma.  You might find that direct communication and kindness is a far better method to help thyroid patients instead of the underhanded veiled bashings and misrepresentations within this recent blog conversation.

5 replies