January 2010 - Stop The Thyroid Madness Skip to content

Month: January 2010

Endocrinologists and the looney tune TSH lab test

“It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” –Dr. Carl Sagan

You may have seen the segment on NBC’s Today Show this morning, January 29th, 2010, or you may have heard about it on the internet. But in case you didn’t, the Today Show had a rare short piece about hypothyroidism and diagnosis which presented a Nurse Practitioner, Eola Force, with clear symptoms of hypo, including extreme tiredness, feeling like she’s dying, huge weight gain, depression, and brain fog, to name a few.

Yet, she had a so-called “normal  “TSH” lab test. The explanation for her symptoms?? She’s FAT, HORMONAL and FEMALE, of course!

And because she is under the care of a wise and knowledgeable doctor named Dr. Kent Holtorf and his clinic, which uses additional tests besides the TSH, he diagnosed her clearly, put her on thyroid hormones, and changed her life.

And the response by Dr. Singer, an Endocrinologist? There is “no real scientific basis” for what Holtorf does in his practice, and it was equivalent to the “laying on of hands”.

Well my dear Dr. Singer sir, if hundreds of millions of patients all over the world waited on “science” to prove what they know by decades of miserable experience because of the TSH, we’d all still be sick as dogs. The mutually accepted delusion by the Endocrinology field about the TSH lab test has left millions of thyroid patients undiagnosed and undertreated for nearly 40 years of its existence.

Other than to potentially diagnose a pituitary problem, no, the TSH lab test is NOT the gold standard for thyroid screening anymore than reading tea leaves tells me what kind of day I’m going to have.

Read more about the TSH lab test here, or find even more detail in Chapter 3 in the book called TSH: THYROID STIMULATING HOOEY.

See much better labwork than simply the TSH here.  Find what your results mean here. And here‘s how to find a much better doctor.

P.S. Thyroid patient Lynn Dunning emailed me about talking about the craziness of current thyroid treatment at her work, and one of her colleagues put this up on the work website:
http://www.spunout.ie/health/Healthy-body/Thyroid-madness Good for Lynn and the SpunOut website!

22 replies

Gee golly bazooka: guess who started a conversation with me?

SumoWrestlersYesterday, I was meandering through a small biking/river runners store, exchanging a vest I got my son for Christmas that turned out to be too large, and looking intently for a replacement gift he’d like.

The only other shopper left—a tall, dark and handsome young man. And almost as quickly, he re-entered,  approached me, and asked if that was my car out there.

“My car?” I replied. “Yes, why?”

“I’m curious about the sticker you have on your back window,” he stated with a friendly but curious smile.

The sticker is of Calvin peeing on the word of a particular T4-only medication.  I give these away free if someone requests it with their current order of the STTM book.  And this was not the first time I’ve been asked about that attention-getting sticker.

So I proceeded to tell him that I’m a Thyroid Patient Activist, owner of Stop the Thyroid Madness, about the history of T4, how lousy many patients have reported doing on it for nearly 60 years with their own variety and intensity of lingering hypo symptoms, and how much better natural desiccated thyroid has been for patients all over the world.

I then innocently asked: “Are you on Synthroid?” I just knew I had one more victim of this treatment who needed enlightenment.

“Nope”,  he said with a confident and defiant air.  “I have until recently been a pharmaceutical rep with Abbott Labs.”

THWACK.   Standing before me stood a mighty well-trained Big Pharma champion for Synthroid who was going to reveal and defend his propaganda like a master. And that led to the most heated and piercing give-and-take I’ve ever experienced, right in front of the chagrined and wide-eyed sales person at the checkout desk. We were like sumo wrestlers butting our words against each other.

When I explained the slew of continuing symptoms reported by patients worldwide who have been on T4, and no matter how high they raised it…his response?  “Those symptoms can be the result of many issues other than hypothyroidism.”

I responded: “Well isn’t it odd that those who are hypo and on Synthroid, and who get on desiccated thyroid, find those symptoms completely removed.”

His reply?? “Heroin can do the same thing”.  Groan. I simply had to laugh at him. How many times have we heard the same kind of baloney.

He proceeded to tell me in great detail with each point he made that:

  1. He has worked with many patients and they do well on Synthroid (A rep has worked with many patients? And what in the world does “well” mean?)
  2. Clinical trials have proven that Synthroid works. (Ah! You mean those financed by Abbott Labs and which are contrary to the reported experience of millions of patients around the world? Those??)
  3. The TSH lab test gives proof about the efficacy of T4 (Funny how patients all over the world have proven by their continuing symptoms that the TSH lab test for the diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism belongs at the bottom of a trash heap)
  4. There are many differences in the efficacy of T4 brands to explain any issues in patients (Funny how not ONE brand of T4 has been exempt from leaving continuing symptoms according to the global rexperience of a huge body of patients) 
  5. Blaming T4 for the amount of adrenal fatigue that “supposedly” some T4-treated patients find themselves with is silly since there can be other reasons for it. (Another laugh on my part.  Clearly, when someone isn’t adequately treated on T4, something has to kick in to keep them going, and voila–it’s those trusty dusty adrenals which eventually just poop out thanks to T4 and the TSH.)

There were much more machine gun stances between us, but that would make this blog post far too long.

One truth we did agree on? That “some” patients do get benefit from using T4. He specifically referred to the elderly. And my quick response? Why accept “some” when patients all over the world report getting rid of that “some” with desiccated thyroid (and especially for certain ones who also treat their low cortisol, low ferritin, and other issues most likely related to an inferior treatment.)

Clearly, we were each deadlocked in our positions.  And he concluded, looking at the sales associate, that neither of us were wrong; we just represented two sides.

And I turned my head, looked him straight in the eye, and said:  Uhhh, no. YOU are completely and totally wrong.

P.S. After he left, the sales gal said she was totally in tune with what I was saying, and wrote down the name of this website. lol lol

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See the blog post below about favored Canadian pharmacies, plus many more comments by patients.

What the heck is going on with desiccated thyroid and current shortages? Read about it here.

28 replies

Are online Canadian Pharmacies cutting it with US thyroid patients on desiccated thyroid?

pills2-1(Though this post was originally written in 2011, it has been updated to the current day and time. Enjoy! At the end of this post, you’ll see more updates to read on this topic.)

When the shortages hit the United States for natural desiccated thyroid in 2009, we all had to figure out which way to turn, since the 110-year-old natural desiccated thyroid has been a far, far better treatment for our hypothyroid state than levothyroxine T4-only such as Synthroid, Levoxyl, Eltroxin, Oroxine, etc.

Additionally, Armour thyroid by Forest Labs was reformulated in early 2009, and patients worldwide reported a return of symptoms as well a stress on their adrenals.  So patients started an exodus away from Armour.

Luckily, the FDA loosened restrictions and allowed us to order the Canadian brand by Erfa Canada Inc, called simply “Thyroid”.   Erfa’s Thyroid proved to be an excellent desiccated thyroid for most, especially if they raised high enough once again to rid them of symptoms.  And since it contains sucrose, patients have been able to do it sublingually–a method which is not necessary for benefits, but is preferred by many.

I gathered a list of known Canadian online pharmacies, which you can view on the Options for Thyroid Treatment page.

And just recently (2010), I sought opinions from patients about the pharmacies they have used:

Universal Drugstore aka Canadian Pharmacy Online: This pharmacy received the greatest kudos from US patients and with the best prices.

  • Awesome – good prices and fast, friendly service. Will call your drug store and get your Armour script transferred.
  • Faxed my prescription and it was mailed the next day. I believe it took a week and a few days to arrive to Florida.
  • Great customer service, easy ordering, and was cheaper than paying the co-pay with my insurance. It takes about 10 to 14 business days to get your prescription, according to the company, but mine came sooner than that and it was the holiday mail rush season!
  • Rapid service, excellent customer service, email reminders to refill, coupons
  • They had the best price and were very professional and efficient.  My order arrived within ten days.
  • I paid $43.25 for 200 60 mg pills (2010)
  • Online forms were easy. I faxed my prescriptions and received my Thyroid in twelve days for $7 shipping

Pharmacies Online:

  • Easy to register and the customer service was excellent. I faxed my prescription. A pharmacist called me to see if I had any questions. I paid $45.63 including shipping for 100 60mg pills (2010)

Cross Border Pharmacy:

  • Excellent customer service, great prices, two week arrival from date of order, wish pharmacies here were this good.

Canada Online:

  • Good experience, prompt (7-10) days service getting my Erfa thyroid

What has been your experience with online Canadian Pharmacies? Do I need to remove any from the Options for Thyroid Treatment for any reason? Do I need to add any?

UPDATES TO ALL THE ABOVE:

Check out how Canadians felt about their healthcare situation as well as thyroid treatment on this October 2015 blog post: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2015/10/20/canadian-thyroid-patients/

Though written in Sept, 2014, comments continued through 2016 about BAD batches of Erfa: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2014/06/12/part-ii-erfa-canada-says-new-thyroid-pills-are-fine-thyroid-patients-worldwide-exclaim-hog-wash/

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Other blog posts worth reading:

Read a guy’s email to me about his experience with doctors being afraid of HC, which patients know is safe and WORKS!

Will the FDA be more transparent for thyroid patients on desiccated thyroid with their new initiative?

Listen to the second interview, Episode 9, I had with Dr. John C. Lowe. What a brilliant man!

63 replies

A guy’s story: scaring the hell out of him about being on HC cortisol!

FEAR

(This page has been updated to the present day and time. Enjoy!)

Several years ago, a large percentage of thyroid patients on yahoo groups like NTH were figuring out that they had adrenal fatigue, aka low cortisol, from years of adrenals working overtime due to the inadequate TSH lab test, or being on the lousy T4-only medications like Synthroid, Levoxyl, levothyroxine, Eltroxin, etc.

Not only does low cortisol keep desiccated thyroid from working well, it also causes all sorts of angst with paranoia, depression, anxiety, easy anger, sensitivity to light and/or sounds, reclusiveness, sleep issues and more.

First, patients discovered the importance of using the 24 hour adrenal saliva test rather than blood or urine. Blood cortisol measures both bound and unbound cortisol, and we noticed in some, it could cause levels to look high (when saliva proved it was low as did symptoms), or vice versa.

When low cortisol was confirmed via saliva testing and symptoms, the treatment was using cortisol, aka hydrocortisone, to give themselves back what their adrenals were no, to allow thyroid hormones to reach the cells. If saliva results showed only moderately low cortisol, adrenal cortex was used. The right amounts of cortisol was achieved via doing one’s Daily Average Temps.

And success was achieved!

When all other issues were discovered and treated, ranging from being on a better thyroid treatment, to bringing iron and B12 back up to optimal levels, to bringing high heavy metals down, to treating Lyme…on and on….patients were finally able to wean off, and be successful in their continued treatment with desiccated thyroid and/or T3! That success continues today!

But ignorance abounds in the medical profession

Yet in spite of clear success in the treatment of low cortisol with supplemental cortisol in the correct amount for each individual (which can range from 15 to 40 mg generally–men often need the higher end), as well as excellent books on the subject by Wilson, Peatfield, Jeffries and the STTM book, patients like RD below still encounter doctors who fill their minds with all sorts of fear and warnings:

I bought your book and later on I discovered your website which are both great. They are a superb source of information and support for thyroid and adrenal fatigue sufferers. Thank you so much!

Personally I got adrenal fatigue by a sustained lack of sleep for several years (crying babies).  I found a doctor who prescribed Hydrocortisone (17.5 mg/day, 5-5-5-2.5), Fludrocortisone, DHEA and Testosterone. Symptoms disappeared in about 2 weeks.

A first attempt to wean off after 6 months made some serious symptoms reappear very quickly, so I returned to the original dose.

It is very stressful that many established doctors (our family doctor, and my wife’s thyroid-endocrinologist) are scaring me like hell that I am taking HC. They are saying I am destroying my body and I will never succeed in weaning off HC.

My wife is a T4-only thyroid-patient with low-cortisol symptoms. She also has been scared about dessicated thyroid and HC. Reading your book I was however convinced she could benefit a lot from a better treatment…

Keep up the good work, as patients we are really left alone in the dark by our doctors…

And unfortunately, it’s true. Thyroid and adrenal patients are left in the dark by many doctors about either the adrenals issue so many of us face, or how to correctly treat it.

What you can do

Here’s where you can read more, and in turn, take this important information into your doctors offices:

Click on the graphic above to order an excellent saliva cortisol test.

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Dr.JohnCLowe

If you missed the excellent Part 2 with researcher Dr. John C. Lowe last Thursday evenings, you can listen to the recording, here.

26 replies

Will the FDA be more transparent for thyroid patients? We’ll see.

TransparencyFDAA press release just came out stating that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has “unveiled the first phase of its Transparency Initiative which is designed to explain agency operations, how it makes decisions, and the drug approval process.”

Of course, this doesn’t mean thyroid patients can stop what seems like an inane decision to require makers of desiccated thyroid to “prove” , via expensive clinical trials, that it’s a safe and effective medication. RLC Labs, for example, the makers of Naturethroid and Westhroid, will be affected.  Over 110 years of patient use, with 70 years by RLC, certainly reveal it’s a safe and effective treatment. But at least this transparency initiative will “potentially”  give us better information about the process. We’ll see.

About the upcoming Part 2 with Dr. Lowe (see the blog post right below this): Some folks were booted off last Thursday and had to quickly get back on. The problem is when you get back on, you may lose your ability to chat.  i.e. the system stops the chat ability once there are 300 individuals already on the chat.  You can listen, but you can’t chat after 300 are on.

So there are three things you can do to prevent being booted off and having to get back on:  first, make sure you have closed anything else on your computer–i.e only Talkshoe should be up. Second, make sure no other programs are running in the background, or will come on, like your anti-virus, and 3) ahead of time, download Live Pro from Talkshoe and use that. It’s more stable.

I, in turn, will be doing a strategy to strengthen this call from boots.  Additionally, if necessary, some who aren’t chatting out of the first 300 will have their option changed to no-chat to allow those who came in latter to do it.  It’s not personal because I don’t know who a lot of you are. It’s just spreading the ability into the call.

Do you take regular aspirin? Just as we warn about swallowing your meds when you have just eaten anything with calcium, iron or estrogen (they bind the thyroid hormones), you need to be aware that aspirin can have a negative affect on your thyroid levels, as well.  i.e. though it may help lower high thyroid levels, it’s not good for your thyroid treatment if you regularly take it.

How did we get to where we are with the FDA’s actions towards desiccated thyroid today? Go here.