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The walking SILENT SUCKERS of Synthroid, Levoxyl & Levothyroxine treatment

It would make an incredible horror movie. The plot: stunningly convince at least hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide that what has always been obvious, isn’t. That leaves only look green because of alien filters in your eyes. That ripe apples fall because water pulls them down. That fire doesn’t really burn your skin; it’s just your imagination.

And about hundred more schizophrenic ying yangs. Because if those in authority say so, it must be so.

But the horror movie is a reality, and I see it EVERY TIME I come into contact with people and the subject of my thyroid advocacy comes up.

Like today. A couple saw my book and struck up a conversation. She was on Synthroid; he was on Levoxyl. They had each been on their T4-only treatment for 12 and 14 years respectively, felt their hypo was perfectly treated, believed their doctors…and were now dealing with other problems: his rising cholesterol, her depression, his fatigue, and her weight gain. BUT OF COURSE, THOSE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THEIR T4-ONLY TREATED HYPOTHYROID AND SOME OF IT IS THEIR OWN FAULT…leaves aren’t really green, water makes ripe apples fall, and fire doesn’t really burn.

It just struck me. And it’s struck me before. There’s just a LOT of SILENT SUCKERS walking around. I was one; my mother was one; and there are obviously millions out there, still walking around trying to live with the side effects of a treatment that their doctors say are NOT caused by their thyroid.

Sad.

(Has your cholesterol and other lipids improved since you switched to Armour and raised without using the TSH? Your story of success is welcome on the blog post below!)

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My cholesterol is 167…thanks to my more optimal thyroid treatment

STTM cholesterol is good

(This post was updated to the present day and time. Enjoy!)

I was lucky.

My cholesterol hadn’t started to raise yet when I was on Synthroid and later Levoxy for nearly 20 years. But the risk was strong that it was going to, because all-too-many on a T4-only medication report having a climbing cholesterol number, sooner or later, along with potential heart problems and/or elevated CRP (C-reactived protein–a measure of one’s inflammation levels). Yes, it’s individual, but it’s common.

And what do their doctors do next if any of the above occur? Put them on statins with all the lovely side effects: muscle aches & pains, memory loss, and peripheral neuropathy.

My mother is the classic example.

We have absolutely no heart problems in our family history that I know of. Yet, here was my mother who, in her 60’s, was suddenly in the hospital having a balloon procedure on her heart, called an Angioplasty, done to open up a clogged artery to her heart. Huh??

And years later….

It was only years later, when I become a thyroid patient activist, that I could look back and see why that happened to her. She had been on a T4-only medication for the majority of her adult life, aka Synthroid!

Today, as patients are switching to natural desiccated thyroid like Armour, Naturethroid and WP Thyroid and/or others, and as they are allowed by their informed doctors to raise NOT according to the TSH but by the complete elimination of symptoms as well as the free T3 and free T4…VOILA…. their once-high cholesterol….FALLS!!

But guess what else falls? Your CRP if it’s also caused by the rising cholesterol.

CRP stands for C-Reactive Protein, and it becomes elevated in response to certain forms of inflammation. With that elevation comes the heightened risk of heart attacks and strokes. And guess what: continued hypothyroid (as found with T4-only treatment) can result in an increased CRP level, we’ve noted before.

On an optimal amount of desiccated thyroid, which for me was 4 grains for years (3 1/2 grains after menopause), my CRP is 0.9. Ideal is less than one. Bingo.

***Have a story to share about your improved lipid or CRP levels since you became optimal on Natural Desiccated Thyroid? Let us know. Even adding T3 to your T4 is a huge step, thyroid friends!

JanieSignature SEIZE THE WISDOM

  • Proof in research! Check out this study done in 2007–the higher the TSH, the worse your lipids. Ironically, even a TSH IN RANGE does this, according to the experience of MILLIONS of patients!! Thanks Nita for bringing this to my attention!
  • Have you Liked the STTM Facebook page? It gives you daily inspiration and information!

 

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Dumb as boards; blind as bats

I use those phrases often. I can’t help it. Because it’s exactly what doctors are when it comes to thyroid treatment. It’s APPALLING.

Yesterday, I had the first of two book signings. It was announced in the paper, and I wasn’t sure what the turnout would be. I shouldn’t have wondered. It was a great turnout. People are GETTING IT that there is SOMETHING WRONG with their treatment. Around me stood several women, all still on T4 (Synthroid, Levoxyl, et al), and ALL suffering. All but one woman had weight problems. Several had rising cholesterol. Some admitted to being on anti-depressants. Some obviously had adrenal fatigue. And ALL were being told by their doctors that their thyroid treatment was now “normal”. Where can I go beat my head against the wall?????? They were eager to get the book and the knowledge it contained to change their lives!

So far, the book has been sent to Norway, Iceland, Belgium, UK, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Ireland, Australia and Canada, besides all over the US. The STTM website started the wheel to turn, and the book can only move it faster. And add it to other thyroid books which had begun to mention the truth (Broda Barnes being the first) as well as other groups and websites—we’ll eventually knock some SENSE and SIGHT in doctors, don’t you think?

The Stop the Thyroid Madness book, the bible of correct thyroid and adrenal treatment, by patients for patients, can be ordered here.

P.S. I live near one town which serves a population of nearly 35,000 people, and near another of over 4000 people, and there are plenty of doctors around here. Yet, there is not ONE doctor in this area that “gets it”. I sympathize with YOU if you are in the same boat.

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Has progress been made with thyroid treatment??

Sometimes I ponder: the current movement away from Synthroid & Levoxyl and all other T4-only meds to desiccated thyroid like Armour (as well as the understanding of the high prevalence of adrenal fatigue with thyroid patients), has been going on for ALL of the 21st century. In other words, patients were starting to talk about desiccated thyroid like Armour by the year 1999, and Yahoo’s Natural Thyroid Hormones group was started in 2002. Other patient groups sprung up around the same time. The latter group is also where the knowledge about adrenal fatigue in thyroid patients grew, which was further added to on STTM. So….has there there been any changes in the way thyroid patients are treated for their hypothyroid and related conditions?

The YES

Sometimes I can say a resounding yes! There are many doctors around the world who are looking at Stop the Thyroid Madness (STTM) and listening to what is says. STTM is about the real life changing experience of patients! Some doctors tell me outright, either via the Contact Me form or by responding to my blog posts here, that they are reading it and approving the information. Or, I find out about other doctors second hand by patients who tell me their doctor TOLD THE PATIENT to read STTM. The latter definitely makes me chuckle when so many doctors tell patients that information on the internet is DANGEROUS! 😆

I can also say yes when I read the comments of patients on various thyroid patient groups on the internet. Because of the information patients have learned from STTM, which is in turn passed into the groups, patients all over the world are making demands in their doctor’s offices, and some progress is being made all over the world.

And a final yes can be uttered by me when I see a few but growing number of websites promote desiccated thyroid.

The NO

But there are so many situations where I have to say no. 1) When doctors on internet forums TO THIS DAY continue to give lousy advice to thyroid patients, it’s disheartening. 2) When patients on thyroid patient groups TO THIS DAY continue to have doctors state each and every ridiculous give me a break comment, it’s sad. 3) When a famous female talk show host continues to ignore each and every email sent to her for years about the deplorable situation across the world with thyroid patients, as well as seem to misunderstand her OWN thyroid and potential adrenal problem, it’s maddening. 4) And when I can run into patients DAILY when I go to the grocery store, or to the gas station, or to any public place, who are still on Synthroid or Levoxyl and coping with innumerable symptoms of a poor treatment, not excluding adrenal fatigue, it’s scandalous.

So the complete answer? Yes and no. The ball has definitely been rolling for better treatment. Some doctors out there are truly listening. Many patients out there are learning and demanding change. It’s happening. But baby, we have a LONG WAY TO GO. And the power will be in the hand of patients who question their treatment, find answers via STTM and other websites and patient forums, and continue to demand change from their doctors and the entire medical establishment. I just hope to see more change sooner than later, don’t you?!

p.s. Want to spread the word?? Go HERE to order a t-shirt or bumper stickers. You CAN make a difference!

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Count on it: your doctor is going to ignore your symptoms

At the heel of Oprah’s revelation that she has a thyroid condition (see my blog post below) comes this article on September 13: Statins: Doctors ignore patients’ complaints of reactions to drugs

Boy howdy, doesn’t THAT sound familiar!

Sure, it’s about a non-thyroid drug called a statin, which has an advertised purpose of lowering your high cholesterol. But the information MIRRORS the experience of ALL thyroid patients!! Namely, the article shows that doctors rarely believe that the pill you are on is to blame for your “real – or imagined reactions”.

The article outlines a study that involved 650 patients who had complained of particular reactions after taking their statin. And the problems these patients observed are COMMON to being on statins – muscle problems, cognitive loss, and nerve pain called peripheral neuropathy (and my dear mother-in-law, who is on a statin, has all three). And what they got across the board is that their doctors either denied or barely considered that the statin could be causing the problems which the patient complained about!

And there’s a huge double whammy irony here. Namely, not only do thyroid patients have this exact experience when we are on T4-only meds and continue to have hypo symptoms that our doctors dismiss, but WE ARE A CERTAIN BODY OF THOSE ON STATINS because of one of the key continuing hypo symptoms that our doctors dismiss–high cholesterol.

Clinical presentation has gone by the wayside in favor of a lazy worship of the infallibility of pills.

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