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Year: 2010

As a hypothyroid patient, you might want to think twice about drinking water out of plastic bottles

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

As a hypothyroid patient, do you think you are fine drinking that purely fine mineral water from a plastic bottle?

Think that fluoride and chlorine are the only substances we need to worry about when it comes to our thyroid health?? Think again.

Thyroid patient Amy McMullen, who has contributed before on STTM’s blog as a GUEST POSTER (Confessions of a Undercover Thyroid Advocate) and has a passion about human rights, has written another important article below which should be of keen interest to all of you.

BPA–A POWERFUL ENDOCRINE DISRUPTER THAT AFFECTS YOUR THYROID

Perhaps you have read recently about how the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) is found to be prevalent in our food and water. As a hypothyroid patient, I was surprised to see that not all articles about this harmful substance adequately describe the connection between thyroid function and BPA. This is an oversight that should be addressed since hypothyroidism is estimated to affect over ten million people in the US and this number is growing. It makes perfect sense to look to environmental toxins as a likely culprit in this serious health epidemic.

BPA is a synthetic estrogen and an endocrine disrupter that causes multiple health problems.

There are over 200 studies linking it to breast cancer, obesity, attention deficit disorder, early puberty in girls, genital abnormalities in boys and girls alike, polycystic ovary disease and infertility in women and prostate cancer in men. Studies indicate that up to 92% of Americans have BPA in their urine. Also BPA doesn’t leave the body quickly; fasting adults still had BPA levels in their bodies after 24 hours.

BPA comes from many plastic sources. It’s used as a hardener in plastic manufacturing. Many tin cans have plastic linings that contain BPA including soup and tomatoes, and it’s also in plastic water bottles, some infant formulas and canned juices. BPA is also found in PVC water supply piping.

How does BPA relate to thyroid disease?

According to a several good studies, BPA is a thyroid receptor antagonist. This means that BPA will interfere with the binding of the thyroid hormone T3 with cell receptor sites. This will cause hypothyroidism, not only with people with under-functioning thyroids but also for those who are currently taking medications for hypothyroidism or even those who have normally functioning thyroids. BPA was found to accumulate in many organs when injected into rats including the lung, kidneys, thyroid, stomach, heart, spleen, testes, liver, and brain. In this way, BPA has the potential to interfere with thyroid hormones in each organ that has accumulated the substance. A study also indicates that the levels of BPA that are considered safe (upper limit of emission is set to 2.5 ppm [µg/liter], which is more than 90 µM) are high enough to inhibit thyroid hormone receptors. Yet another study shows that BPA appears to accumulate in rat fetuses in significantly high levels and disrupts thyroid function in baby rats.

There’s also evidence that BPA may influence the metabolism of endogenous steroids, which may be a factor in adrenal fatigue and its treatment, as well as and its treatment, as well as dysautonomia stemming from adrenal problems. Many with hypothyroidism also suffer from co-morbid adrenal fatigue and BPA may be a contributing factor in this.

What this means for everyone, but especially for thyroid patients, is every effort should be made to remove BPA from food and water supplies.

For those who are not able to get properly optimized on their thyroid meds or who are finding they are suffering from hypothyroid symptoms despite normal levels of TSH, free T3 and free T4, consider BPA as a possible source of the problem.

Steps you can take to minimize you exposure include:

  • Avoid all canned foods with plastic liners and avoid bottled water. Buy your canned tomatoes in glass jars, not metal cans or stick to using fresh ingredients. Most other canned foods use BPA as well, especially green beans (Here is a list of BPA-free canned foods).
  • Drink water out of glass or stainless steel containers (and make sure there’s no plastic liner or lids that have BPA) or BPA-free plastic. Low density polyethylene bike bottles contain BPA.
  • Do not microwave foods in plastics or use plastic wraps when microwaving. Avoid polycarbonate (“PC” or #7 and #3) plastic food containers altogether.
  • Since most municipal water piping is PVC and some houses have it as water supply lines, consider installing a reverse osmosis system for your drinking water. This will also remove fluoride and chlorine (other thyroid disrupters) and many other harmful substances from drinking water.

Most importantly we need to make our voices heard that BPA is not an acceptable substance and that its use in our food and water supply must cease. Recently Senator Feinstein introduced a ban on BPA to the Food Safety Modernization Act but this was modified to remove the ban due to pressure by industry groups. Senator Feinstein still has an effort underway to ban BPA from child drink bottles and toys and several states have enacted such bans but this does not go far enough.

Contact your representatives today and let them know that a national ban on BPA must be enacted. If they don’t listen then I suggest you make yourself heard at the ballot box this November.

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  • Have you cut down on your exposure to Fluoride? Buy non-fluoridated toothpaste as a first step.
  • Cut down on more chemicals by using baking soda under your arms rather than commercially-made underarm deodorants. Note that the baking soda may at first cause redness, but it will go away within days and is a great way to kill odors.
  • Have a pounding heartrate that you can’t explain? You may be making too much RT3 or have an adrenal issue.
  • Check out typical Questions and Answers about thyroid treatment and related issues.
  • Want to write a GUEST BLOG POST on STTM? Go here.
  • Join the STTM Facebook page for daily tips and inspiration. 
9 replies

A continuing MEDICAL SCANDAL which is just too close to home and I grieve. WAKE UP DOCTORS!!

Tonight was a beautiful night to do my aerobic walking. It had poured this afternoon for 30 minutes, so the early evening air was slightly cool and very clean.

And on the last leg of my journey, I stopped and said to Carlin as she was walking out of her front door “Where you have been lately? I haven’t seen you out walking with your husband.”

Carlin and her husband Clint are probably in their late 70’s–both vibrant individuals and frequent walkers in the same area.

“Well”, she said wistfully as she glanced down the street I had just walked, “I have to go in Monday for a Pacemaker.”

Turns out she has fibrillations and other heart issues, and even walking from her bedroom to her living room can exhaust her.  I told her how well my mother-in-law has done with her pacemaker. She told me she’d be in the hospital for at least 3-4 days for the surgery and observation.

And as we were chatting over the low white fence, I couldn’t help but notice the scar on her neck–the same scar my own mother had from the removal of her thyroid years ago.  And the rest of Carlin’s story, and the reality of her story, made me want to punch the nearest electrical pole in disgust.

Carlin’s thyroid was removed over 40 years ago.  She remembers being on “2 grains of something”–clearly it was desiccated thyroid. And she says she felt really good. But she wasn’t on it long, as her doctor removed it and put her levothyroxine over 30 years ago. You know, that “new and modern” T4-only CRAP which doctors fell for like the blind following the blind beginning in the 1960’s until today. (The story behind the introduction of T4 onto patients in the early 1960’s is in Chapter One of the STTM book)

So I knew. Her heart troubles could be one of the many side effects of the inferior treatment of T4-only medications (which also include Synthroid, Levoxyl, Eltroxin, Oroxine…all of them). My own mother suffered the same fate while on Synthroid her entire life. And patients chat about this all the time on thyroid groups–heart issues while on T4.

I started probing. She has had issues with high blood pressure. Another typical side effect of the crap T4-only medication, and which is removed with desiccated thyroid. She has had issues with depression–another typical side effect of the crap T4-only medication, and which is removed with desiccated thyroid. She talked bitterly about the slew of medications she’s had to be on for years to counter all her problems, and which had given her bad side effects.

And the next worse thing she told me? She had acid reflux so bad a few years ago that they did surgery on her stomach. She had surgery for a condition which is VERY common with thyroid patients who are on T4 meds–low stomach acid from a lower metabolism, which causes acid reflux. i.e. a symptom of continued hypothyroidism which is CORRECTED when on desiccated thyroid.

It was hard to contain myself. Here was this vibrant, life-loving, intelligent woman who has been on T4-only for over 30 years and has endured health problems, surgeries, side effects from all sorts of money-grubbing pharmaceutical pills, and now, has to go in Monday for a pacemaker. And in all probability, most of what she has gone though could have been prevented if some doctor had been WISE enough to keep this woman on desiccated thyroid.

I am livid and sick to my stomach.

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  • Are you chewing up your Armour or Naturethroid? It will make the treatment far better, as it will release the desiccated thyroid from the excess cellulose.  If you are on compounded, you need to tell the pharmacist to stop using cellulose as a filler. On Erfa? You can do it sublingually.
  • If you are reading this right on STTM’s blog, and would like to be notified of each blog post, just sign up to the left and under the links.
  • Have you done labs and found yourself with high RT3? Get off Selenium for the time being, as it can help convert T4 to the RT3 along with the other reasons you make too much.
  • Want to spread the word about far better treatment? T-shirts and bumper stickers are here.
9 replies

Sue’s remarkable and shocking story about cellulose as a filler in our thyroid meds

(This page has been updated to current date and time. Enjoy!)

I received in an email from Sue in Australia.

Sue’s son has complex difficulties with a diagnosis of sarcoidosis, an inflammation disease that can occur throughout your body. From the disease, says Sue, he was fairly emaciated, which is common with Sarcoidosis (emaciated means he was basically “skin and bones”).

He was also born without a thyroid. So he’s been on compounded natural desiccated thyroid–the way thyroid is made in Australia–and of course, the filler has been cellulose.

When she read from STTM (see here) about the problems with cellulose and the way it binds the desiccated thyroid–making the compounded thyroid less effective–she approached a biomedical doctor to have the filler changed to acidophillus as suggested. He instead suggested glycine powder. Glycine is a non-essential amino acid and neurotransmitter which helps with digestion, central nervous system health, besides create muscle tissue and convert glucose into energy.

And, says Sue, “the immediate reaction was startling as my son who had been suffering from emaciation for years with a diagnosis of sarcoidosis put on over a kilo in much needed weight in the space of little more than a week.” In fact, she now wonders if much of his problems has been related to his lack of thyroid, and the cellulose filler making the medication less effective, all along!

Says Sue, “His case is a complex one, having been born without a thyroid gland, but the removal of cellulose ( or the addition of glycine or both) have certainly heralded some exciting changes”.

She also added, “There must be more to this than meets the eye. I did have to reduce his thyroid extract dose as I’m assuming that the binding effect of the cellulose meant he was on a higher dose than necessary to get a reasonable result and/or perhaps glycine enhances absorbtion. I’m sorry there are still quite a few questions to be answered and the results of a  blood test in a few weeks time will be interesting. I’ll keep you updated.”

Bottom line: adding cellulose as a filler with desiccated thyroid has been a disaster, as patients discovered after both Armour by Forest Labs and Naturethroid by RLC Labs were reformulated in 2009 and early 2010, respectively.

One thing anyone can try is chewing up their Natural Desiccated Thyroid which can release the thyroid from the binding cellulose. You can also choose to use a mortar and pestle to pulverize the tablets, and add a touch of honey or sugar, which helps with digestion. There are some NDT’s which do not have cellulose. 

If you are on compounded desiccated thyroid, ask the pharmacist to change the filler to acidophilus. Or ask about Glycine (or L-Glycine) to see if it is good for your particular situation.

All good alternatives for thyroid treatment are found here.

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** Have you Like the STTM FACEBOOK PAGE? It gives you daily information, tips, and inspiration. 🙂

** Thank you!! A hearty thank you goes to those who have contributed to the hosting fees for STTM–a patient-to-patient educational site! I can’t do it alone, so you are VERY appreciated. And if you would like to contribute to the hosting fees (which I do not get: the host server does), go here.  Stop the Thyroid Madness is YOUR site.

** Vitamin and mineral deficiencies:  It’s common for thyroid patients to be low in iron/ferritin, Vit. D, magnesium, potassium and more. Have you checked your levels lately?


17 replies

The dark ages in the United Kingdom–don’t think it might not happen where YOU live!

I have lived in the United States my entire life.

And there are other countries I have felt were similar to my own as far as being modern, forward-thinking, and intelligent. The United Kingdom is one.

But there is one area in the UK that is as close to the Dark Ages as it gets: the treatment of all forms and degrees of hypothyroidism.

Because of the British Thyroid Association (BTA) and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) ‘guidance’ on the Diagnosis and Management of Primary Hypothyroidism, most UK doctors refuse to prescribe any form of  T3, whether adding synthetic T3 to one’s T4, or using natural desiccated thyroid, either because they have fallen in line like ducks in a row, or they fear for their job.

Why? Because “overwhelming evidence supports the use of Thyroxine (T4) alone in the treatment of hypothyroidism, and we do not recommend the prescribing of additional Triiodothyronine (T3) in any presently available formulation, including natural thyroid extract, as it is inconsistent with normal physiology, has not been scientifically proven to be of any benefit to patients, and may be harmful”.

Anybody puking yet??

And, says thyroid patient advocate Sheila Turner of TPA-UK, “never has the RCP, BTA  produced any of the ‘overwhelming evidence’ they claim as supporting the use of T4-only, even though they have been asked to do so on numerous occasions. Overwhelming evidence supports the use of synthetic T4/T3 and natural thyroid extract.”

And don’t think it won’t happen where YOU live. Stupidity can abound.

What to do about it?? Answer a short questionnaire, created by Sheila and TPA-UK, which is for those with symptoms of hypothyroidism when treated with T4-only, who then tried a T3 thyroid hormone product with success. “The results of this questionnaire will enable us to create the first ‘World-wide Register of Counterexamples to Levothyroxine (T4) – only therapy'”, underscores Sheila. “The objective is to draw attention to the dire need for an urgent re-examination of the existing protocol for the diagnosis and management of the symptoms of hypothyroidism.”

Don’t wait until stupidity and narrow-mindedness comes to where you live, as it also has in the country of Columbia, where Cynomel (T3) was retired more than 10 years now.  Give this a voice NOW to head it off at the pass.

P.S. While you are at it, sign up with Dr. Skinner’s World Thyroid Register.

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The STTM patient-to-patient website needs your help! I had to move the website to a far larger server in order to handle the immense amount of visits this site gets. And a larger server means higher yearly costs to host it. I can’t do it alone, as my money tree was killed by pine beetles and my husband won’t tell me what his Swiss Bank Account number is. So your donations can help keep Stop the Thyroid Madness up and running for yourself and other patients just like you! If you appreciate STTM, please go here to make a donation to the hosting fees. I do not get it! The hosting company does.

The large size STTM t-shirts are now gone. If you can wear an X-large or XX-large and want to spread the word to others, go here. And the bumper stickers REALLY catch attention!! I am stopped in parking lots because of mine. YOU could change someone’s life!

The Contact Me page on STTM hasn’t been working for weeks. And I didn’t know it. 🙁  But it’s fixed now.  Remember: it’s not to ask questions about your personal treatment. Those need to go here.

The STTM book helps in your doctor’s office. Have brain fog? Many patients are telling me they take the book right in the office, bookmarked. I can’t promise how your doctor will respond, but it’s been positive for most when a book is referred to right in front of the doc. I hope it helps you, too.  P.S. Only books ordered directly from the publishing company get a bookmark of updated info. That’s also true if you have a book sent to a relative or friend.


10 replies

God bless an electrical engineer: why the TSH lab test needs to be suppressed!

I always know that when I get an email from Dr. John C. Lowe, it’s going to contain excellent information. And he didn’t let me down.

Dr. Lowe is Editor-in-Chief of Thyroid Science, an “open-access journal for truth in thyroid science and and thyroid clinical practice”.  And in the recent issue, there is a remarkable and precise TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) hypothesis by none other than a brilliant UK  electrical and electronics engineer, Mr. Peter Warmingham.  In fact, his hypothesis about the TSH lab result when treating one’s hypothyroidism exactly corresponds to the successful experience of thyroid patients all over the world.

To quote Dr. Lowe in his introduction about Warmingham’s paper (FYI: “exogenous” refers to the thyroid hormone you give yourself;  “endogenous” refers to what happens naturally in your body):

Mr. Warmingham’s hypothesis is straightforward: When a hypothyroid patient (whose circulating pool of thyroid hormone is too low) begins taking exogenous thyroid hormone, a negative feedback system reduces the pituitary gland’s output of TSH. This decreases the thyroid gland’s output of endogenous thyroid hormone, and despite the patient’s exogenous thyroid hormone’s contribution to his or her total circulating thyroid pool, that pool does not increase–not until the TSH is suppressed and the thyroid gland is contributing no more thyroid hormone to the total circulating pool. At that point, adding more exogenous thyroid hormone will finally increase the circulating pool of thyroid hormone. The increase must occur for thyroid hormone therapy to be effective. The patient’s suppressed TSH, then, does not indicate that the patient is over-treated with thyroid hormone; instead, it indicates that the patient’s low total thyroid hormone pool will finally rise to potentially adequate levels.

In other words, when your doctor says no to an increase in your desiccated thyroid simply because your TSH lab result is, or would become, below the so-called normal range (and in the presence of continuing symptoms or a low temperature), he will usually end up keeping you hypothyroid! i.e. making an ink spot on a piece of paper more important than clinical presentation is just one reason why the current thyroid patient revolution represented by Stop the Thyroid Madness exists!

You can read Warmington’s entire paper here on Dr. Lowe’s site. For further information on the fallacy of the TSH lab test, go here or read Chapter 4, aka Thyroid Stimulating Hooey, in your copy of the STTM book for more detail.

P.S. Dr. Lowe is probably right on when he says he expects criticism to flow for the fact that Warmington is not an Endocrinologist and “how in the world can anybody but an Endo make a logical hypothesis about the TSH lab test”. Read more on Lowe’s thoughts about this here.   But enlightened thyroid patients around the world are collectively shouting “GOD BLESS AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER!”

14 replies