Skip to content

Month: January 2015

THYROID CANCER IS AN EASY CANCER?? Patients are appalled!

Screen Shot 2015-07-08 at 11.58.29 AM

“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” ~ Nelson Mandela

It’s not uncommon when perusing the internet to see the word “easy” associated with “thyroid cancer”, or described as “the best kind of cancer to get”… as if of all cancers, this one is somehow less difficult, less arduous, a walk in the park or a piece of cake cancer.

Nor is it uncommon for thyroid cancer patients to be told something in a similar vein by their doctors. And of course, many of those doctors will use the “one little pill” pronouncement about the treatment afterwards. Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy!!

So where is the truth? Do you have reason to be nervous about your surgery? About your cancer? Is it that easy? What will your life be like after surgery?

One side of the story

Many thyroid cancer patients do report that all went well in many ways. They caught it early enough. It didn’t spread to their lymph nodes. Some didn’t even have to use pain medications after their surgery. If some did, it was short-lived. Others moved over to Tylenol after going home. Or ice packs. Drains were removed smoothly. Recovery went smoothly. Energy returned in several weeks. And they report that the cancer remained gone.

But here’s the other side of the story which completely dispels the myth that thyroid cancer is easy or the “best” cancer to get.

1) No matter where the cancer is, the emotional reaction is the same.

Many a thyroid cancer patient will tell you about their fears, depression, aloneness or anxiety when they were told. Or the denial, anguish, anger and stress they feel. Or the numbness. Or the fears of it returning. Or the unknown.

2) No surgery is fun, and that includes thyroid removal

Who wants to endure the pre-op or the aftereffects of surgery. No matter if some do better than others, it’s not fun to be in a hospital, be put to sleep, the waking up, the drains, the recovery, the discomfort, the time away, and the cost.

3) Many thyroid cancer patients have to endure RAI treatment after surgery and the side effects

RAI stands for Radioactive Iodine Ablation, also called I-131, given in either in liquid or capsule form. Since the thyroid easily absorbs iodine, and the radiation is strong, it serves to destroy any remaining tissue or cells that might still have thyroid cancer in them.

And side effects are far from pleasant and can include isolation, stomach problems, heart palps, neck tenderness, all over achiness, changes in taste, salivary inflammation and parotitis, facial or neck redness or “sunburns”, peeling skin, fatigue, fogginess, nausea, dry eyes, irregular period or other reported problems.

Then comes the reported risks that can come later in life due to having RAI, which include “bladder, breast, central nervous system, colon and rectum, digestive tract, stomach, pancreas, kidney (and renal pelvis), lung, or melanoma of skin”. Keep in mind this is about “risk” rather than a definite outcome, but it’s not fun to consider.

You can read of one patient’s opinion and experience with RAI titled Why have million of patients been treated with RAI?

4) The fear of recurrence always lingers!

Life-long monitoring is a sure bet when one has had thyroid cancer. The itchy reminder that it “could” come back never goes away when one has to have neck examinations, certain thyroid blood tests or neck ultrasounds.

5) The “one little pill” mantra of easiness is foolhardy

That one little pill is a reference to T4-only, aka thyroxine or levothyroxine, also commonly known as Synthroid or other brand names. And reported patient experiences for all too many reveal continual problems, sooner or later.  Equally as silly, that one little pill leads to the use of many other pills to treat the symptoms of continued hypothyroidism that many report finding themselves with while on the T4-only, one little pill. Those include statins, anti-depressants, anti-anxiety or pain meds, to name a few.

The conclusion?

You are not alone. Thyroid patients know that thyroid cancer is not as “easy” as they make it sound, nor is it the “better” cancer!  We are with you! Join the group below for camaraderie, wisdom and support!

This page was brilliantly updated July, 2015 to reflect even better information. Enjoy!

**************

1-Screen Shot 2015-01-31 at 8.23.50 PM

200 replies

12 WAYS YOU CAN BE MAKING YOUR THYROID TREATMENT WORSE!

STTM 12 waysA healthy thyroid makes five hormones, of which T3 is the most powerful. T4 is the storage hormone, meant to convert to the life giving T3.

But sadly, there are a variety of reasons why conversion of T4 to T3 my be inhibited, and which especially makes being on Synthroid or any other T4-only medication a risky choice in the treatment of hypothyroidism.

Even if you finally found the right treatment for you (which is adding direct T3 (the active hormone) to that T4 (a storage hormone)…or moving over to Natural Desiccated Thyroid…it’s important to learn the following reasons why you may not be converting that T4 to T3 in the most optimal way.

1) GETTING OLDER: Just as getting older can influence even the production of thyroid hormones, it can affect your ability to convert the storage hormone T4 to the active hormone T3! i.e. deiodination decreases.  www.hormones.gr/205/article/thyroid-hormones-and-aging.html

2) EXCESS GOITROGEN FOODS EATEN DAILY (broccolli, soy, etc) CAN GET YOU INTO TROUBLE!  www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/goitrogens

3) GOING THROUGH HIGH STRESS DAY AFTER DAY RAISES CORTISOL, WHICH IN TURN INHIBITS CONVERSION of T4 to T3! www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ps/

4) CERTAIN SUPPLEMENTS OR FOODS NEED TO BE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOUR THYROID MEDS Calcium, iron and estrogen are examples. Though this talks about levothyroxine (which patients are moving away from all over the world), the information is solid: www.peoplespharmacy.com/2010/08/26/taking-thyroid-medicine-properly/

5) NUTRIENTS ARE NEEDED TO HELP CONVERT T4 to T3!!  Are you low in Selenium? If so, it negatively affects the conversion of T4 to T3! So do low levels of zinc, B12, B6 and more. http://www.naturalthyroidchoices.com/ThyroidNutrients.html And why do we, as thyroid patients, find ourselves with low nutrient levels?? Besides having Celiac, here’s the most common reason for all: www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/stomach-acid 

6) CHEMOTHERAPY and RADIATION CAN NEGATIVELY AFFECT YOUR T3 LEVELS:   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9204611

7) THOSE WHO FIND THEMSELVES WITH HIGH LEVELS OF HEAVY METALS DUE TO MTHFR CAN ALSO SEE THYROID HORMONE PROBLEMS!  www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/mthfr

8) MORE THAN MODERATE EXERCISE CAN DECREASE CONVERSION OF T4 to T3!  www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18539729

9) LOW IRON IS A KNOWN INHIBITOR OF T4 to T3!  Just as low thyroid can cause low levels of iron due to low stomach acid, conversely, that low iron can inhibit conversion of T4 to T3!! www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ferritin

10)  CHRONIC INFLAMMATION IS NOT YOUR FRIEND WHEN IT COMES TO CONVERSION OF T4 to the ACTIVE T3! Just as undiagnosed or undertreated hypothyroidism can cause inflammation, the latter in turn can negatively effect conversion! www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/inflammation

11) LIVER HEALTH IS KEY TO GOOD CONVERSION of T4 to T3! Since your liver is the main component in conversion, any kind of liver stress (fatty liver disease, hepatitis, heavy metals and more) will see reduced conversion to T3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC301912/

12) ESPECIALLY IN MEN, LOW TESTOSTERONE MAY INHIBIT CONVERSION! And like the two incidences about, undertreated or untreated hypothyroidism can lower testosterone, and low testosterone can further inhibit production of T4 to T3. http://www.allthingsmale.com/community/threads/interesting-testosterone-d1-increase-and-gh-increase-t4-to-t3-conversion.17213/

NOTE: you will sometimes see Diabetes listed as an inhibitor of T4 to T3, yet studies are not conclusive and some see higher T3 with diabetes, not lower.

1-1-Screen Shot 2015-01-20 at 10.44.50 AM

 

 

****************


1-Screen Shot 2015-01-20 at 12.41.23 PM Have you liked thepatient-to-patient FACEBOOK STTM THYROID PAGE? You’ll get excellent information and inspiration daily based on patient experiences and wisdom worldwide! 

www.facebook.com/StoptheThyroidMadness

 

1-20141203_180233

CHECK OUT BOTH STTM BOOKS HERE: www.laughinggrapepublishing.com

 

 

1-Screen Shot 2015-01-20 at 1.39.33 PM

 

 

CHECK OUT STTM’s PINTEREST!
www.pinterest.com/therealSTTM/ Lots of graphics you can repin or post on your Facebook page to help your friends and family! 

114 replies