I tried to get a STTM book published–to no avail
In my advocacy, I noticed that there were potentially millions of women out there who either don’t use a computer, or if they do, they have no clue that the symptoms they experience are due to an inferior medication called T4-only, or compounded by adrenal fatigue. I’ve been shocked how many I come into contact with even in my small little world. And if you multiply that times the large and growing global population who have hypothyroid, it’s potentially millions who walk around clueless.
To reach them, I did the book.
But…because of other thyroid books out there, I’ve been unable to convince either a publisher or an agent that I have a different focus–i.e. STTM is based on PATIENT EXPERIENCE and for that reason alone, provides a totally different focus with unique information! This website proves it!
But sadly, unless you are a thyroid patient who has lived years and years of being told….
1) your symptoms are all in your head
2) you are normal, normal, normal because a TSH lab result says so
3) your high cholesterol, aches and pains, thinning hair, poor stamina and weight gain are normal parts of aging
4) you need to fill this prescription for an antidepressant, statin and pain med to treat those “other” symptoms
5) there’s nothing wrong with your adrenals
…you won’t get the need for the book. And sadly, they haven’t.
So…this website will be providing ways for YOU to spread the word, and hopefully over time, we can reach those millions who either don’t use a computer, or who don’t get that their high cholesterol, aches and pains, thinning hair, poor stamina and weight gain ARE due to an inferior treatment and a doctor who relies solely on the TSH….and there’s a MUCH better treatment.
Right now, STTM has a flyer you can use, and coming soon: t-shirts and business cards.
If I can’t find an agent or publisher wise enough to see the need for the STTM book, they YOU will be the messenger, and we’ll help the best we can. 🙂 STOP THE THYROID MADNESS!
Dear Janie,
Please be persistant in getting published. The information you’ve gained from listening to people actually getting well, is so valuable. Most of us have read most of the books, even at that they are missing something. I get so frustrated knowing that people will, say for instance, try Armour without supporting their adrenals first. They will fail and think it didn’t work. Or, they will incorrectly try Cortef, but never succeed because of the lack of information on how to do it. It’s not rocket science – but it’s tricky. If you want to PM me I can give you my two cents about self-publishing. I’ve worked in self-publishing for years for an author who has sold over a million books, so I have some experience. I’m not so sure it is the way to go these days.
You should try going to your local health food store and writing down the publishers on all the niche-oriented health books. Maybe they will give you a try. I do think your book would be so important, I know completely where you are coming from, and if I were not a stubborn “uppity and throwing her education around” college educated young woman I do not think I would have gotten help for my thyroid and instead would be stuck on psychiatric drugs right now.
I just love that you are such a militant and righteous voice, it’s awesome. We have a right to be angry. Look how much of our lives we have lost. There is a bigger issue I think you should frame your book around if you keep having trouble and that is doctors not taking women seriously when they “complain” about subjective symptoms. It’s not just Thyroid madness…it’s heart attack madness, cancer madness, and it’s about women not getting the care they need at the doctor even if they are trying to get it!!!
Anyway — I suspect I have had Hashimoto’s with transient thyrotoxicosis for 10+ years after puberty and lately my thyroid’s just been giving up the ghost. Having anyone tell me “everything’s in my head” now that I am older just pisses me off. When I was younger my parents were in total control and unfortunately they went along with what the doctors would say.
And the thyroid is a hell of a ride too. Why the hell did I have to wait a year after being severely hyperthyroid for my TSH to rise beyond a “range” to get treated for hypo if they knew I had antibodies and if they also know it will take me months to get back to normal? How the hell am I supposed to work and live all symptomatic in the meantime? I am lucky I guess in that I even got FT4 and antibody tests from what I have been reading, and that they have been testing me every 2-3 months, but I hate that all the info I got on the thyroid from the doc was mailed to me in a 1998 dated pamphlet along with a Synthroid prescription. That’s it. “Take this for the rest of your life” in the damn MAIL. I also hate that every time I go in they bring up that I discontinued the psychiatric medication I was given before everyone found out I was severely hyperthyroid. There is not much else out there on mental symptoms and the thyroid besides this site. A lot of docs still think “correlative but not causative” which is such BS. I know they use that incorrect psychiatric diagnosis to ignore my legitimate, REAL thyroid problems and POOR treatment and after a final followup appt to go get my medical records I plan to find an endo who will consider trying out Armour.
Sorry for the off topic rant. I guess you are probably used to it though. If you need any help I have an Honors English degree I’m not using 🙂
Maybe you haven’t met a publisher that has the cajones to take on Big Pharma. Cause when this news spreads there will be millions perhaps billions of dollars Big Pharma will not be making anymore.
Why not start accepting donations to have the book self-published by a POD publisher? It can cost as little as $400 just to get it in print. Then once it starts selling, you make the money back.
I’ve heard good things about Outskirts Press http://www.outskirtspress.com Give it a shot — you definitely have to get this information out there!
Janie. So many nights I have lay there thinking of how there could be a book published containing the information and personal experiences of the people on this website! A referral source for armour treatment and the hurdles along the way, such as finding a doc, understanding blood tests, anxiety, low cortisol, low ferritin etc… I am yet to find a practical printed guide to getting well with hypothyroidism, but I have looked. This book could help those less web savvy, or less likely to search the web for health questions.
I would be happy to offer my graphic design services for the formatting/layout of your book, should you publish this yourself. It would be an honour to be involved with helping others.
Yours Forever Grateful,
Chantelle Boudreau
Hi, they don’t care do they! You know, the Doctors. Or they skipped a few page’s in their medical schooling!!!!!
Ok, here’s a perfect example you have all experienced. I can go a year sometimes 2 and still get my lousy medication thru the pharmacist calling and getting my THYROXINE filled. I take..250mcg as we all know that is EXTREMELY DANGEROOUSLY HIGH when in fact 300mcg’s is the limit. That’s right, they could care less about bringing me in and checking the T4, T3. And we all know we’ve got that little THYROID DEVIL that keeps telling us it’s fine, just fine. Of course untill you’re so sick like when your 2 years or so are up, and the DR. says ‘oh my, you need to come and get blood work done’. Well by then you haven’t been able to, or your pharmacist hasn’t been able to get (bless his heart) a refill for you. So now you are 30lbs. overweight, hair is falling out, your stool looks like rat turds and you’re either bawling like a baby or you’re ready to kill someone. Somehow you pull yourself together (somewhat) shake off the THYROID DEVIL and crawl to your next appointment to get your FIX. Well I’m 45yrs old and I do have a GOITER. it is great to finally find some help and someone to talk to that knows WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT. Thanks to my sister and to her friend for this information. I am now looking for ARMOUR.
Hi Janie,
Have you thought about making the book available on the stopthethyroidmadness website as an E-book? Everyone on the yahoo groups, myself included, would be standing in line (figuratively speaking) to pay for and download a copy of your book!!
Just a thought 🙂
Teresa in Tulsa
I wanted to add to the encouragement of self publishing. There is another website that I have used for a small project but they also have a merchant section where you can sell it online without any up front cost. You could just advertise the link. This is important information to spread!!! http://www.lulu.com
Have you tried any of the independent publishing houses? Here’s one called Volcano Press that I came across in a quick search: http://www.volcanopress.com. While their focus seems to be domestic violence, they also publish books related to women’s health. There must be other publishers like them out there too. Please don’t give up. We need an STTM book!
I think your book would benefit many, many people. Aren’t the elderly particularly subject to thyroid deficiency? And they are the ones least likely to use the internet and thus have no access to the life saving information from your website. The other group without internet access would be lower-income folks, another group that would particularly benefit from your info. As far as publishers not being interested – Big Pharma and the AMA are powerful, influential, and not always ethical forces.
Over the past two months I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on about hypothyroidism and it’s treatment. STTM gave me more and better information than any other source. IMO, if you can self publish it would become a classic, as another poster already mentioned. I sure hope something works out for you to get this published!
I love that you have attempted to write a book, Janie. What about ‘selfpublishing’? Author and consumer advocate Paula Begoun could not get anyone publish her book about the indecencies in the cosmetics industry — so her first run she self published and soon her books were coveted classics that sold millions of copies. I am sure those publishers who repeatedly turned her down were rattled to say the least.
STTM book would be critical! While indeed patient driven you have much research to rely on from Drs. Peatfield, Jefferies, Brownstein, Shames, and the beloved Broda Barnes.
Hello Janie,
I was excited to see my response posted on this website. I have had in the past nervousness, just weirdness and other side affects from cytomel, armour etc and am trying to keep T3 involved in my treatment because as it seems for some reason Levoxyl alone stopped/does not work for me anymore and involving T3 is giving me some hope of feeling better again BUT it has not been an easy ride taking T3 either.. Just figured I clarify my experiences.. My mother and Sister take levoxyl only and they say they are 100%. Thanks again for having available such good information to help people draw there own conclusions.. Thanks Dominic
FROM MY ORIGINAL POST.
My experience with T3 has been I have Windows where I could say that I feel better than I have in a long time but am working on maintaining that more consistently not always feeling great and if you are already the nervous type its could be interesting at times when taking or starting to take T3
Janie,
Congradulations on a very informative Blog and website. I have a very similar story having a family history of Hashimotos, pre 1999 I had a long list of symptoms walking around for who knows how many years. Finally got a diagnoses in 2002 and cycling through the medications has been an interesting experience. My biggest hurdle was to initially get diagnosed, then finding a compasionate doctor who was willing listen to my laundry list of complaints.
Here’s the bottom line: if you THINK T4- only is not working, stop complaining and get someone medically to support you trying a T3 combo and see how you feel. While taking T4-only, I know I had blood levels that were quote/unquote normal yet had symptoms. I have had certain doctors who looked at the blood levels (lets say TSH 4) and said ‘your blood levels are fine’. When I got diagnosed initially my TSH was 4.3 and I had full blown symptoms and that doctor never tested the antibodies for hashimotos… which wasted more time in me getting help..
Anyway, my personal conclusions are self educating (not self medicating ) is the key. reading about all medication options and do not discount T4-only as being a working option.. IF you are not feeling well, try T3, monitor your blood levels and symptoms and see what happens.. My experience with T3 has been I have Windows where I could say that I feel better than I have in a long time. Good Luck and hope you are feeling well. my Armour by the way is being prescribed by an Endo. Thanks Dominic
The book idea sounds wonderful, so it is a shame that you are not getting any publisher interest. Can you possibly try to go down another route and get a sponsor to cover the publishing costs of a small print run? A business who might have much to gain by being in touch with hypo patients e.g a sea salt manufacturer, cocunut oil producer…forest pharmaceuticals???
Then you could chart your success on this small print run and have some evidence for the publisher, who may later decide to support you. I am sure that many of us at STTM would buy a copy!