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TWO NEW BOOKS: Hashimoto’s: Taming the Beast & Updated Revision STTM book.

One of the most important steps we have to do, as hypothyroid patients no matter the cause, is to be INFORMED, which the Stop the Thyroid Madness books aka STTM books, provide you.  

We have to look at the experiences and wisdom of patients before us who GOT WELL, which STTM gives you!

And we have to be prepared to guide our doctors with the information in the Stop the Thyroid Madness books…or fire them. 

Why? Because 1) the medical profession simply doesn’t get it 2) their training is awful  3) they accept the dark-ages bad information they are fed without questioning.

Thyroid treatment should have NEVER been about…

  1. putting us on only one of five thyroid hormones like T4-only (backfires sooner or later with growing problems)
  2. the insane use of the TSH lab test and range for diagnosis or treatment (keeps us hypothyroid)
  3. falling anywhere in those ridiculous “normal” ranges (keeps us hypothyroid)
  4. “doing nothing” and “letting it run its course” for those with autoimmune Hashimoto’s (which increases inflammation and the risk of other autoimmune diseases)

And all the while we have had continuing problems, we are told…

2019 updated revision of the classic Stop the Thyroid Madness

You are normal
It’s not your thyroid
You need to eat less
You need to exercise more
You need to see a therapist
You need to be on an anti-depressant, or this med, or that med

PRESENTING…..

1) The “updated revision” of the world-renowned STOP THE THYROID MADNESS BOOK (info below)

2) HASHIMOTO’S: TAMING THE BEAST (a companion book to the above updated revision) See below.

About the updated revision STOP THE THYROID MADNESS: A Patient Revolution Against Decades of Inferior Thyroid Treatment, @2019

Same chapter titles. A continuation of former good info. Yet now, you have updates throughout the book. 

  1. This world-renowned “bible of patient experiences” which is now updated, continues to have the life-changing information that it always has had with the same chapter titles…no matter your cause of hypothyroidism…
  2. …but it now has numerous updates throughout where needed, and out-of-date information removed. 
  3. Both adrenals chapters 5 and 6 have been updated, and there’s now details about the use of Adrenal Cortex (ACE), while still having info about hydrocortisone (HC). Chapter 6 now mentions what information applies to either ACE or HC, or BOTH.
  4. The T4 chapter now mentions Tirosint, but continues to explain the problem of forcing the body to live for conversion alone. T4-only is T4-only.
  5. There are now light gray rectangular boxes throughout the book, meant to highlight certain important sentences. 
  6. Emphasis is now on serum iron. i.e. the former book would mention both iron/ferritin, but we now know that it’s far more about serum iron as far as what to make “optimal”. The emphasis about ferritin is more about its ability to reveal inflammation, but can reveal a methylation issue when low with good or high iron.
  7. There is updated information about
    1. different kinds of iron products
    2. better explanations in areas alongside those which were already good
    3. some new tidbits at the end of some chapters
    4. some updates to the list of thyroid meds, etc.
  8. Throughout the book are many more mentions about being “optimal”, not just “on” NDT or T4/T3. It’s also explained often what optimal means in those several places in the book.
  9. There are great additions to the list of supplements as well as certain foods. 
  10. The chapter on Natural Desiccated Thyroid now has a little photo of an antique bottle of NDT--that’s to show that having T3 in our treatment has been helping patients a long time and safely! This book also mentions the alternative treatment with synthetic T4/T3. Plus various updates throughout while keeping what was always IMPORTANT.
  11. And there is more.

About HASHIMOTO’S: TAMING THE BEAST…
A “companion book” to the updated revision Stop the Thyroid Madness above

  1. “Taming the Beast”, a companion book to the updated STTM book shown below, has purposely been put together as concise, yet comprehensive. That means it purposely gets to the point about key information related to Hashimoto’s, while avoiding chattiness or long pages of stories to help those of you with brain fog and concentration problems. 🙂
  2. Some of the information you may have read before, while some is very unique to this wonderful book! 
  3. FOUR chapters fully pertaining to reported patient experiences and wisdom which can help change your life and reveal that you are NOT alone as a Hashi’s patient!
    1. Why and how Hashimoto’s patients go years without help or awareness of what is going on
    2. Patient-reported foods which were and are problematic for some and all the symptoms
    3. 43 most frustrating aspects of having Hashi’s as expressed by patients (especially about doctors)
    4. 95 short testimonies on what patients are using or doing to successfully lower their antibodies!
  4. Like research? You will see a total of 241 footnotes throughout this book that will send you to research articles, or just good information for further reading. Additionally, one chapter simply summarizes 46 research articles pertaining to Hashi’s in one (or two) sentences. And as intended, YOU can choose what you want to further read…or not.
  5. You will be made aware of, or reminded about, a variety of environmental triggers that can either birth autoimmune Hashi’s in the first place, or make one’s current antibodies worse. (Chapter 4)
  6. There is a chapter totally focused on Hashimoto’s inflammation--what it can do to you, inflammation labs, what to do about inflammation, supplements and foods to consider to counter inflammation, and short summaries of three ways to eat to counter inflammation. (Plus of course, good footnotes, and added URL’s in the body if needed)
  7. Two excellent and informative chapters on different gut health problems to explore, or be reacquainted with, including symptoms, types under each category, ways to treat, and more.
  8. Other examples of patient experiences inserted throughout many chapters
  9. Different lists of patient-reported symptoms within different chapters to help identify your issues, for example:
    • a chapter with symptoms from the autoimmune attack
    • another chapter highlighting symptoms of adrenal problems
    • more about hypothyroid symptoms that appear while on T4-only or being underdosed due to a doctor’s reliance on the lousy TSH lab test,
    • inflammation symptom list…etc.
  10. Each chapter has a lighthearted small drawing, pertaining to the subject, to send a friendly message about a serious topic, all drawn by Janie A. Bowthorpe, who is an artist.
  11. There is a blank “NOTES” page at the end of each chapter where you can put page numbers to remember, or additional information you have gleaned in this book or others! That way, you don’t have to flip through all the pages to find what was important to you.

AND SO MUCH MORE!! This book encourages you to underline, highlight, dog-ear, paper clip, and use the NOTES page at the end of each chapter. This is YOUR book.

Laughing Grape Publishing (LGP) now has a brand new, high-end ordering system for the Stop the Thyroid Madness books!! 

ORDER: http://laughinggrapepublishing.com 

74 replies

TV personality Dr. “Drew” Pinsky is SORELY misinformed about desiccated thyroid!

YOU GOT IT WRONG DR. DREW!Note: though this STTM blog post will be mentioning a US presidential candidate, we will NOT approve comments that make political comments in any form.  We DO invite you to comment about the problem of medical professionals like Dr. Drew Pinsky being completely ignorant about the efficacy of Natural Desiccated Thyroid! SPEAK YOUR MIND!!

Recently, Dr. David Andrew “Drew” Pinsky (also known in the media as Dr. Drew) while being interviewed on KABC’s “McIntyre in the Morning,” made a ridiculously misinformed comment about the fact that Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is on natural desiccated thyroid to treat her thyroid condition.1

The Washington Times stated that Dr. Drew and another doctor came to some “startling conclusions“ and were “gravely concerned“. The Times quoted Dr. Drew as saying

“Both of us concluded that if we were providing the care that she was receiving, we’d be ashamed to show up in a doctor’s lounge. We’d be laughed out,” he added. “She’s receiving sort-of 1950-level care by our evaluation.”

The article narrowed it down with this quote from Dr. Drew:

“She also has hypothyroidism, and she’d been treated for hypothyroidism with something called Armour Thyroid, which is very unconventional and something that we used to use back in the ‘60s,” Dr. Drew said. “And by the way, wow, Armour Thyroid sometimes has some weird side effects.”

Here are SIX REASONS Dr. Pinsky is exactly the kind of doctor that informed thyroid patients report avoiding like the plague

1) To the contrary to what Dr. Drew stated, this so-called “unnconventional” medication from “back in the 60’s” was being used on thyroid patients starting in the 1890s…and was clearly successful for six DECADES as the primary treatment for hypothyroidism, and as medical reports reveal.

2) This so-called “unconventional medication” was only substituted with Synthroid starting in the 1960’s (which is synthetic and only ONE of FIVE thyroid hormones) because money-eyed Knoll Pharmaceuticals promoted it as a way to make moola….and doctors stupidly fell for it. See Chapter 1 and 2 in the revised STTM book for verified history about the introduction of Synthroid followed by the successful use of NDT for decades.

3) The “conventional medication” of using only one of five thyroid hormones (aka Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothyroxine, etc) has caused a multitude of problems for thyroid patients for over 50 years, as they have reported. The body does NOT force us to live for a storage hormone alone. Read //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work  i.e. the use of Synthroid, Levoxyl and Levothyroxine has been the treatment producing “grave concerns” for too many patients. 

4) Natural Desiccated Thyroid has changed lives ten-fold, report patients who started back on it around the turn of the 21st century! The results have been clearly superior to T4-only for all-too-many thyroid patients. Read //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101

5) Any “weird side effects” from Natural Desiccated Thyroid has explainable and correctible reasons for most of us, ranging from misinformed doctors using the lousy TSH lab test to dose by, to keeping patients on low doses far too long, to the fact that NDT will reveal either inadequate iron levels or cortisol issue (the latter two which by the way, Dr. Drew, are due to the lousy and inadequate treatment with T4-only for most). Study this: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ndt-doesnt-work-for-me

6) As far as Dr. Drew’s comment about being laughed out of the doctors lounge….that is exactly why informed patients are disgusted with, have so little respect for, feel immense frustration by, and run as fast as they can from doctors who would do that.  

All of YOU are the reason we are yelling “Stop the Thyroid Madness!”

Thyroid patients worldwide are sick and tired of the robotic way medical practitioners worship the TSH lab test, the complete and biased ignorance many have about Natural Desiccated Thyroid or even T3 in one’s treatment, the blindness to obvious clinical symptoms of a poor treatment with T4, and the failure to understand how a healthy thyroid works and why!

It’s NOT about a “conventional” storage hormone alone any more than it’s simply about a pituitary hormone!

To Doctors: LISTEN TO THYROID PATIENTS! OPEN YOUR MINDS!

We are not brainless little peons who walk into your offices: we do live in our own bodies and thus have some wisdom about what works and what does NOT; we DO know that our lives have changed thanks to Natural Desiccated Thyroid and going by the free T3 and free T4, NOT the TSH. //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/things-we-have-learned

To Thyroid Patients: WANT TO TELL DR. DREW HE’S WRONG ABOUT NDT??

Go here: https://www.facebook.com/drdrew/ Also share this link to this blog post: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2016/08/18/tv-personality-dr-drew-pinsky-sorely-misinformed-desiccated-thyroid/

 JanieSignature SEIZE THE WISDOM

 

 

 

 

 

REMINDER: Note: though this STTM blog post mentions a US presidential candidate, we will NOT approve comments that make political comments in any form.  We DO invite you to comment about the problem of medical professionals like Dr. Pinsky being completely ignorant about the efficacy of Natural Desiccated Thyroid! Speak your mind!!

  1. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/aug/18/dr-drew-pinsky-gravely-concerned-about-hillary-cli/

STTM graphic HEY DR. DREW....

85 replies

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

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“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!

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

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200 replies

Survey by Thyroid Patients as to How They View Their Doctors — not a pretty picture!

Screen Shot 2014-04-03 at 11.42.37 AMRecently, Stop the Thyroid Madness LLC implemented a survey to discern thyroid patient observations and opinions about the medical professionals they have used. And the results of this poll present alarmingly negative opinions by 1,870 thyroid patients about doctors they have used.

Of course, most informed thyroid patients aren’t surprised by the findings of this survey. But to see the responses, and especially the comments made in response to questions 2 – 5, it all certainly underscores how deep the problem is.

As far as which doctors gave the worst treatment according to patients, Endocrinologists led the pack with MD’s following in second. Conversely, Naturopaths gave the best treatment, even though they barely got 1/3 of the responses.

Comments made by patients in response to Question 3 (see below–actions which would have raised the opinions of patients of doctors) were the most enlightening. They ranged from having better knowledge about T3 or desiccated thyroid, understanding the right lab work instead of the TSH, listening to their patients (stated frequently), better understanding of thyroid symptoms, ceasing to tell patients to eat differently or exercise more, not being so afraid of higher doses of NDT, understanding nutrition, stop with the labeling/dismissiveness/arrogance/patronizing, respecting educated patients…and a great deal more which you can read under #3 in the linked page below.

The survey’s five questions with responses were:

Question 1: How satisfied have you been with the way the majority of medical professionals you have seen over the years have treated your thyroid problem? (Choose one response only)

1) VERY SATISFIED — Most medical professionals have helped my thyroid issues.

2) MODERATELY SATISFIED — Some have done well; others have not done as well

3) NEUTRAL — I have no opinion one way or the other

4) NOT SATISFIED — the vast majority of my experiences with doctors have been
negative when it comes to helping me

Question 2: If you chose #1 above, why do you feel very satisfied about your thyroid treatment by the majority of medical professionals you have seen over the years? (Choose any that apply)

1) I feel much better than I did before

2) I have no more symptoms that I understand are related to hypothyroidism.

3) The majority of those doctors were good listeners

4) The majority of those doctors seem to know what they are doing.

5) The majority of those doctors respect my opinions and see me as a partner in my healthcare.

6) Their fees were affordable

7) Other (133)

Question 3: If you chose either 2, 3, or 4 in the first question above: which of the following actions by medical professionals would have raised your opinion of the thyroid care you had gotten? (Choose any that apply)

1) Paying more attention to my symptoms rather than putting focus solely on lab results.

2) Understanding how to read lab results

3) Being offered Natural Desiccated Thyroid or T3 rather than T4-only

4) Going more by the Free T3 and Free T4 plus symptoms, not the TSH

5) Understanding the reality of cortisol problems, plus saliva testing and treatment

6) Understanding the problem of low iron, reading iron labs, treatment

7) Being more open-minded about non-traditional therapies

8) Understanding that my depression could be related to my hypothyroid state.

9) Other (395)

Question 4: When thinking about the types of health care providers you have used over the years, please choose one type that you feel did the WORST job in your treatment.

1) Endocrinologists

2) MD’s (Medical Doctor)

3) DO’s (Doctor of Osteopathy

4) NP’s (Nurse Practitioners)

5) PA’s (Physicians Assistants)

6) Naturopaths

Comments (122)

Question 5: When thinking about the types of health care providers you have used over the years, please choose one type that you feel did the BEST job in your treatment.

1) Endocrinologists

2) MD’s (Medical Doctor)

3) DO’s (Doctor of Osteopathy

4) NP’s (Nurse Practitioners)

5) PA’s (Physicians Assistants)

6) Naturopaths

Comments (565)

TO SEE THE RESULTS OF THIS SURVEY, head on over the SURVEY: Hypothyroid patients view of their doctors page.

Seize the wisdom!!

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2013 presents the INTERNATIONAL FLAT STTM campaign! Come join the fun…and serious message!

739736_10151336286077170_1389100373_oHAPPY NEW YEAR 2013, THYROID PATIENTS AND FRIENDS FAR AND WIDE!

Stop the Thyroid Madness is pleased to present the FLAT STTM campaign–a way to have fun while sending a serious message from all over the world. 

Here’s how it works…

THE FUN PART: You’ll need to create a flat representation of the words STOP THE THYROID MADNESS. It can be on a poster board, or the back of a pizza box, or even on your hand. Then put yourself and the “Flat STTM” in front of a landmark anywhere around the world. You could be standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, or in the middle of the Arizona crater, or in front of the Greek Parthenon, or standing next to the Kremlin, or in front of the the Statue of Liberty, or next to Prince Charles in the Wax Museum, or by your state monument, or to the side of your town sign, or in Times Square in New York City,  or on top of a particular mountain…you name it. Just make it something recognizable to confirm where you are.

You will then upload your photo here: http://flatsttm.com  REMEMBER to include your location details, plus your name.  This URL will be spread all over the Stop the Thyroid Madness website–a site visited by hundreds of thousands of individual hits monthly (seriously)…including doctors!

THE SERIOUS PART:  This new visual campaign by thyroid patients worldwide will send a strong message that patients are sick and tired of decades of the poor use of the TSH lab test, inadequate treatment with the wrong thyroid medications, ignorance about the problems associated with adrenals, low iron and more….and want medical professionals to be more open-minded about the efficacy of natural desiccated thyroid or T3, better labwork and how to read it, and successful patient experiences which just may go against what was taught in medical school.

JOIN US IN THE SERIOUS FUN WITH THE NEW “TWENTY THIRTEEN” CAMPAIGN, FLAT STTM!

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