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Children with Hashimoto’s disease

Daughters both

I, Janie Bowthorpe, am lucky. My children grew up to be adults without a thyroid problem or Hashimoto’s.

But not all parents and loved ones of children get that lucky. Some children are outright born with a thyroid problem. It’s called Congenital hypothyroidism. The Merck Manual states it occurs in about 1 out of 2000-4000 live births. And about 10 to 20% are inherited.  The usual reasons involve dysgeneis of the thyroid gland (absence or underdevelopment) or dyshormonogenesis of the thyroid (abnormal thyroid hormone production).

Then comes children who acquire a thyroid problem during their childhood years.

For most children, that acquired problem is Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. It’s the autoimmune version of hypothyroidism. Symptoms can be similar to adults, such as vacillating between hypo- and hyper- symptoms because of the attack on the thyroid, dry hair, easy fatigue or poor stamina, weight gain for some, or weight loss for others, constipation and more.

I’d like to introduce you to Cindy Kennedy.

Cindy Kennedy and her daughters

She’s a mother of two young children – both of whom have Hashimoto’s. She’s also the author of Help! My Child Has Hashimoto’s and owner of Nutrition Navigator, a Nutritional Medicine Practice in Grafton, NSW of Australia.  As a qualified Nutritional Medicine Practitioner as well as a mother, she is passionate about raising awareness in the community on the plight of families living with invisible illness and helping people overcome their autoimmune and thyroid disease. She wrote the following just for readers of Stop the Thyroid Madness….

How doctors may not get it

Aching legs?? Oh they’re just growing pains?.
Constipation?? Oh that’s normal in children?.
Food intolerances?? She might grow out of it?.
Fatigue?? She’s probably just about to have a growth spurt?.

Sound familiar?  These were the early warning signs that something wasn’t quite right’ with our daughter, and the ‘excuses’ used to fob us off.  It wasn’t until she ended up in hospital just after her 8th birthday after not passing a bowel movement in over a month that they took my concerns seriously.  That’s when she was finally diagnosed with Hashimoto’s.

How Hashimoto’s finally became common

According to Michael Friedman ND, diseases of the thyroid were not common in 1967. However, by 2015, it’s one of the most common things in medical practice.1

Daughter 2

Hashimoto’s is most prevalent between the ages of 45 and 65 years and is more common in women than in men, with female predominance in a ratio of 10:1 to 20:1.  Although it is primarily a disease of older women, it can occur in children and is a major cause of nonendemic goiter in children.2

Studies by Hunter et. Al. have estimated rates of hypothyroidism in people younger than 22 to be between 0.113% – 0.135% and they note that these values are at least twice those of previous estimates3 showing a marked increase in frequency as is seen among most autoimmune conditions over the past 50 years.

Children with Hashimoto’s

Autoimmune hypothyroidism is still considered relatively uncommon in children, to the point where I had one doctor say to me Oh no, she can’t have Hashimoto’s – children don’t get it.  The look on his face was priceless once he checked her notes to see her pathology and medications! 

This lack of awareness also extends into the community.  While many women have been living with the condition for years, they are often shocked to find out that both of my young daughters, now aged 10 and 13 have it.  This lack of awareness has been our biggest hurdle over the past 2 and a half years, as peer support from other families is vital when you are facing a chronic childhood illness.  While my girls are fortunate in that they don’t have to have daily injections like a diabetic child, they do have to have blood tests at least every 12 weeks, attend a continual onslaught of doctors’ appointments, take medications and supplements and live with the many and varied symptoms on a day to day basis. 

Daughter 1

As with adults, Hashimoto’s manifests in a myriad of ways in children.  Some have weight gain while others struggle to put weight on.  Fatigue, along with joint and muscle pain are common, as is thin, brittle hair and brain fog.

We have been exceptionally fortunate in that we have had full support from both of their schools.  We have actively involved their teachers and principals every step of the way to let them know what is going on – especially with regards to school attendance.  Other families have turned to homeschooling to provide a more individualized and supportive learning environment for their child.

Finding your new normal as a family

As a family, I think the most important thing is to find your new normal.  You need to be able to support their additional needs without fussing too much and smothering them.  They still need their independence and to live a normal childhood – just with a few modifications.  For our youngest, this means only attending school 4 days a week, so that she can stay home on Wednesdays to rest.  For our 13 year old, it means making sure she eats properly, gets adequate exercise, and drinks enough water.  Like anyone living with a chronic illness, it’s about figuring out their individual needs and catering to them.

A book about Hashimoto’s in children

http://amzn.to/1MCYAGG).

If you would like to know more about autoimmune hypothyroidism in children, feel free to check out my book (available on Amazon http://amzn.to/1MCYAGG).  I wrote it to help spread awareness that thyroid disease affects children, and to provide some much needed support to other families walking this journey, It not only tells our story, but I’ve also tried to include all the tidbits of information I wish we had known at the beginning.  All the little things that no-one ever tells you.

Thank you so much to Janie and Stop the Thyroid Madness for allowing me to share my family’s story and to help spread the message that hypothyroid kids and their families need support too!

From Janie Bowthorpe of Stop the Thyroid Madness: I strongly recommend her book if you suspect or know your child has Hashimoto’s disease.

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Hashimoto's: Taming the Beast
Check out the book for adults with Hashimoto’s!!
https://laughinggrapepublishing.com

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10 Gray Areas about Thyroid Treatment and related issues: The Anomalies

Screen Shot 2015-09-01 at 2.34.02 PMEver heard of the word “anomaly“? It means that which deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected. You could also call it the “gray areas”.

And when you’ve observed and compiled thyroid patient experiences and wisdom as long as I have, one thing certainly stands out: though something may be true for the majority of thyroid patients, it may not be true for others.

Here are 10 of those anomalies when it comes to thyroid treatment and issues related – – all based on repeated observations: 

 

  1. HASHIMOTOS and GLUTEN:

    Though the majority of Hashimoto’s patients seem to need to be off gluten to control their antibodies and improve nutrient absorption, there have always been a small percentage of those who have never had problems with consuming gluten….ever.

    i.e. though their once-high antibodies revealed their Hashimotos state, eating gluten didn’t make them worse, nor did gluten consumption bring their antibodies back up after they had gotten them down due to a better thyroid treatment or use of iodine. (Yes, iodine use has helped many Hashi’s patients bring their antibodies down).

  2. SYNTHROID OR OTHER T4-ONLY MEDS:

    Though we’ve observed that the biggest body of Synthroid or T4-only users see the failure of their treatment either from the beginning or within the first few years (in their own degree and kind), there is a small percentage who may not see the failure for 15, 20 years or more, and an even smaller body who feel they never have problems from it (though they usually do and don’t recognize them as problems related to being forced to live for conversion alone).  

    Informed thyroid patients have observed that in fact, some T4-users convert to T3 (the active hormone), better than others…for awhile.  Other T4 users may never have needed treatment at all. My sister-in-law is an example. Her doctor once found her TSH was high, so he put her on Synthroid. She seemed to do fabulously for about 4 years. Then she stopped and was fine. Looking back, there’s a good possibility that chronic stress was pushing her cortisol high, which promotes a hypothyroid state and higher TSH…thus the appearance of thyroid disease. When the chronic stress is resolved, the “hypothyroid state” goes away.

  3. ADRENAL ISSUES:

    Though we’ve observed that at least 50% or more of thyroid patients end up with an adrenal problem due to being on the inadequate T4-only or other stressors to their adrenals, there is another body of patients who never seem to acquire adrenal problems yet had every stressful reason to. 

    Who knows why some escape it. My mother was on Synthroid her entire adult life and paid horrible prices, yet I saw no evidence of an adrenal problem. I was the same–had a million reasons to see my adrenals become sluggish, yet it didn’t happen. Something about our biological or genetic makeup in response to stress? Our way of handling stress? Supplements we took?

  4. HOW MUCH NDT CAN BE TOLERATED WITH LOW CORTISOL

    Though a large body of low cortisol patients can only tolerate “up to” 1 1/2 grains of NDT without having problems, if they go higher, they start to see either pooling of T3 or rising RT3. A smaller percentage can go much higher without noticeable issues, and another small percentage can’t even go as high as one grain without seeing those issues. But they are there.

    When one’s cortisol is a problem, especially when it’s too low, NDT at certain raises will reveal the low cortisol. i.e. NDT is not the problem; it’s revealing the problem via the raises. //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ndt-doesnt-work-for-me

  5. WEIGHT GAIN:

    Though it appears the majority of thyroid patients will either gain easy and/or have trouble losing weight, there is a smaller minority with hypothyroidism who stay thin.

    There are so many possibilities as to why some hypothyroid patients stay thin, ranging from not being one who uses food to treat emotions…to all the genetic differences in how each of us burns fat or what one craves. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/17/food-metabolism-calories-obesity-diet

  6. WOMEN VS MEN AND HYPOTHYROIDISM

    Though the majority of hypothyroid sufferers appear to be women, there are a body of men who will find themselves in a hypothyroid and/or adrenal state, as well. 

    There is speculation that because of women’s hormonal changes, it makes them more susceptible to having a thyroid problem. But men get thyroid problems, too, so the problems of toxins in our environment and/or low iodine may be other issues affecting both males and females, even if females with their hormonal issues get it more often.

  7. OPTIMAL AMOUNTS OF NATURAL DESICCATED THYROID (NDT)

    Though it appears that a large body of thyroid patients, when optimal, end up in the upper two grain area AND HIGHER…there is a much smaller body who are even higher than the 3-5 grain area, and the very minority are optimal less than 2 grains. 

    If a line is drawn with the least amount of NDT on the left, and the highest amount of NDT on the right, and with a dot representing each person on an optimal amount of NDT, the majority of dots start to fall in the upper 2 grain area and into the 3 grain area. A lesser amount of dots fall in the 4-5 grains area, and fewer dots are higher. Same with the other direction, Much lesser dots are in the lower 2 grains area, and even less in the 1-2 grain area. Of course, this observation is only true when participants understand what “optimal” really means (which many do not) and is explained on the Natural Thyroid 101 page.

  8. DOCTORS

    Though patients have reported over the years that the majority of their doctors are overtly clueless about either diagnosing or correctly treating their thyroid disease, there are a small and growing percentage of medical professionals who are bucking the trend and taking the time to listen to informed patients and Stop the Thyroid Madness, both website and books. 

    And honestly, we all play a role in strengthening that trend by politely yet confidently being your own best advocate, learning what patients have learned, and having the courage to explain it to your doctor, besides make it clear that “this” is how you want to do “that”. If a doctor will not listen, we put our money into the hands of those who will. A doctor works for YOU, not you for him or her. Here’s how to find a good doc.

  9. PROGESTERONE

    Though many (not all) females see their sex hormones mess up in conjunction with having hypothyroidism…and thus, can need progesterone supplementation to counter estrogen, there is a risk of having the progesterone convert to too much cortisol and causing miserable symptoms of high cortisol!

    In the hormonal pathway of conversions, there are some who convert progesterone to cortisol far easier than others. So each person has to figure out how much progesterone they can handle, which is probably individual. If cortisol is low, though, progesterone converting to cortisol can be a slight boon! 🙂

  10. ACID REFLUX/GERD

    Though it’s very common for doctors to prescribe acid reducers like Prilosec or over-the-counter antacids like Tums for your GERD or Acid Reflux….in reality for thyroid patients, turns out they have LOW stomach acid causing the reflux, not high. 

    Though antacids will seem to relieve the symptoms, it’s actually making the low stomach acid now worse, which in turn makes your ability to absorb nurtrients worse. Read about this issue right here: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/stomach-acid

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How foods you eat, or don’t eat, can make or break your health!

Headshot StandingWhen you think of doing things that will make you healthy, what do you think of?

But there’s one more way to achieve health: what we eat or don’t eat!  The right food is bigger than we ever imagined for our health and well-being as thyroid patients, especially if you have autoimmune issues. And that is an especially important when the shelves of our grocery stores are filled with rows and rows of over-processed junk!!

The following STTM Guest Blog Post…about FOOD…was written by Jennifer Robins. She was diagnosed with several autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s disease, had chronic infections, plus Lyme disease. Jennifer became gravely ill and mostly housebound. When traditional medical treatments failed to help, Jennifer turned to food for healing! Yes, food. She removed grain, dairy and refined sugars and began eating “predominantly Paleo”. And because of that radical change in the way she ate, she started reclaiming her life, one whole food at a time. Read about her interesting story!

I remember growing up eating a standard American diet, missing little to no school, and having more energy than any one person ever could use. While my family did not eat out or frequent drive-through windows routinely, our home had it’s share of boxed “food”. As a family, we were “healthy.” We felt good and rarely visited the doctor.

It’s funny looking back, how people defined “healthy”. Rarely did we think about what goes into our bodies as defining health. Instead, we tended to gauge our health by how we think we feel, how many prescription drugs we are taking, and whether or not we have made any trips to the emergency room.

However, with autoimmune disease and other chronic ailments growing exponentially every year, diet and food sourcing is becoming increasingly more important.

Eight years ago after giving birth to two babies less than a year apart, I felt miserable.

I chalked it up to the obvious lack of sleep, the stress of having two babies so close together, and to the fact that my husband was preparing to deploy, leaving me behind with our infant and toddler.

Exhausted, frazzled, irritable, lightheaded, and overheated, I finally headed to my general practitioner to seek advice. She ran thyroid labs and they were “normal”, except for my TSH which read 0. Yes, 0. We agreed to follow up several weeks later and when I did, my labs were all in range, including TSH, FT4, FT3, and reverse T3. My low TSH had resolved yet I felt just as horrible if not worse than the month prior.

Eventually I sought out the help of an endocrinologist who discovered my thyroid antibodies.

My Anti-Thyroglobulin levels were more than double the upper limit. All other thyroid labs were in range, as they fluctuated between hyper and hypothyroid. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s and sent on my way. I tossed my prescription for synthetic thyroid replacement, as I just wasn’t ready for that step, whatever that meant.

I ended up reading about the connection between gluten and autoimmune disease as I scoured the internet looking for answers to my affliction. I was desperate to avoid taking thyroid replacement for the rest of my life. I ran the stool test looking for antibodies produced against gluten and came back positive. So I gave up gluten and was very compliant; but within the year resolved to start thyroid medication.

I researched natural desiccated thyroid and knew it was the best fit for me, so I found a doctor willing to prescribe it. Over the next year or so things leveled out, symptoms improved, and I felt like I could at least participate in my life. We moved to another military assignment, I began working out more regularly, started routine acupuncture, and realized I wanted another baby.

After a few months of trying, I got pregnant.

I was elated and I was feeling better than I had in a long time. My pregnancy was fairly uneventful other than managing my thyroid dosage, and my delivery was unmedicated–a goal I had had for awhile. I had 3 healthy children and life was good.

But around 5 months postpartum, I began feeling terrible. 

It was even more terrible than I felt after the first two babies were born. I chalked it up to juggling 3 babies and the hormone shift as well as the need to recalculate my thyroid dosage. I had let my strict gluten free lifestyle go as well and it was time to refocus. So I lowered my meds, cleaned up my diet, and tried to ride it out.

And I got worse. Much worse.

I became so sick in fact that I was housebound 90% of the time and often bedbound. Now I was stricken with neurological symptoms including brain swelling, vertigo, migraines, severe emotional lability (especially when my brain was inflamed), heart palpitations, disorientation, word searching, and more. It was a living nightmare.

I visited a new integrative doctor, in yet another new city and sought help.

She ran labs for viruses, candida, thyroid, adrenals, nutritional deficiencies, and infections and included urine, stool, blood, and hair. The results were overwhelming. I had elevated antibodies for so many types of infections I didn’t know where to start. She noticed I had a few antibody bands come back positive on a western blot for Lyme disease and suggested I test further. I fell down a rabbit hole of more testing, more doctors, and lots of medication recommendations.

Ultimately, I chose to treat the Lyme disease as it was insinuated that this could be the root of all my issues. I began multiple high dose antibiotics that I eventually took for over a year. I was back to strict gluten free eating, took over 40 supplements, probiotics, herbs, and anything else that my doctors recommended. I saw 3 different Lyme literate physicians (LLMDs) over this time.

And I got even worse. Ridiculously worse.

I was assured that this was “herxing” or bacterial die off. So I persisted, I stayed on meds, and life just kept getting more horrendous. I so often begged to die that I wondered daily when my last day on earth would be. I knew I was dying, I just didn’t know when or how long it would take.

But during this time I researched. I read and read and dug until there was nothing left to read. I kept seeing things about the paleo lifestyle for any number of ailments. Be it autoimmune or otherwise, it seemed I was being pointed in this direction for a reason.

Ultimately I made the decision to stop taking antibiotics and start focusing on rebuilding my immune system instead of destroying it.

Giving up the remaining grains and dairy was terribly hard, but it was the first time I began seeing ANY progress in this very long journey. Slowly but surely, I began reclaiming bits of my life back. I began chronicling my recipes, keeping a blog in secret, and eventually sharing it with others. I simultaneously took my already-gluten-free children off of dairy as well, so I needed a place to revisit recipes that kept them nourished and happy too. I noticed changes in all of us. My five year old’s sleep apnea and enlarged tonsils all resolved, my two year old’s enlarged glands in both her groin and neck resolved, and my son’s tummy aches disappeared without gluten and dairy.

I see now how life altering food changes can be.

I see that what you put in your body has everything to do with not only how you feel from day to day but also has the capability of healing a leaky gut and truly managing autoimmune conditions. This does not mean that food always takes the place of medication or of medical care. But we cannot overlook nutrition as being instrumental in our healing.

In my own story, my body could not even begin to heal until I removed inflammation-causing foods, despite the multiple medications, supplements, and other lifestyle changes. My healing has been gradual, with those expected setbacks that have made me feel as if I was failing. But over the past 2+ years of eating this way, I have finally seen glimpses of the old me. Before my body began attacking itself, before I became a shell of the person I was, and before my immune system became my own worst enemy.

I consider myself a work in progress as I truly believe that once you have a chronic ailment, you must always take extra care in respecting your body and its limitations. But I am living again. I am an active parent, a contributing citizen and am no longer just a spectator of my own life. And for that my heart will never be able to exScreen Shot 2015-08-16 at 2.56.40 PMpress the joy and gratitude to have been born once again.

ABOUT JENNIFER ROBINS: Jennifer is the voice and whole foodist behind the popular food blog Predominantly Paleo and is best selling author of the fabulous book of recipes and information called Down South Paleo: Delectable Southern Recipes Adapted for Gluten-free, Paleo Eaters
–filled with gorgeous photos of the recipes she includes. You can also visit her Facebook page Predominantly Paleo which has some really delicious recipes on it, too.

P.S. I, Janie, have her book Down South Paleo: Delectable Southern Recipes Adapted for Gluten-free, Paleo Eaters and it is fabulous.

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15 Things which Thyroid Patients should teach their Doctors

Screen Shot 2015-08-07 at 4.28.31 PMMany thyroid patients will tell you they have, or have had, doctors they love! I, Janie, have had many of them.

But it doesn’t take away from the fact that those in a medical profession have been sorely lacking for decades about correct knowledge on how to diagnose and treat hypothyroidism or Hashimotos, besides have inappropriate familiarity about all the issues related to being hypothyroid. Even their knowledge on how to correctly read labwork has been lazy.

Because of that poverty of correct knowledge, patients were forced to take the bull by the horns and figure things out for themselves! Stop the Thyroid Madness, the flagship of “patient experiences and wisdom”, represents all that wisdom!

Here are 15 things that any thyroid patient not only has to learn, but needs to teach any medical practitioner the best way they know how:

1) My fatigue and weight gain is not simply because I need to exercise more and eat less.

Granted, we know that exercise and how we eat is important! But being undiagnosed hypothyroid, or poorly treated due to Synthroid or any other T4-only medication, or being held to the TSH, keeps many of us with a low metabolism. The latter results in very easy weight gain, or the failure to do the kind of exercise which would help us!

2) Depression is strongly related to continued hypothyroidism!

We know there can be a variety of reasons for depression, but for most thyroid patients, our depression is a sure sign that we are either undiagnosed due to the lousy TSH lab test, or undertreated due to being on only one of five thyroid hormones like T4-only, or being held hostage to the TSH, a pituitary hormone.

3) The TSH lab test has been a failure for too many years.  

Yes, though a seriously low TSH can detect if we have hypopituitary, for most of us, we’ve had a “normal” TSH yet obvious hypothyroid symptoms. Additionally, when we are optimally treated on Natural Desiccated Thyroid, T4/T3 or T3-only, our TSH lab test is always below range without one hint of bone loss or heart problems. We want to go by the free T3 and free T4, plus symptom removal and a good heartrate and blood pressure instead. //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/tsh-why-its-useless

4) To figure out if I have Hashimotos,  BOTH antibodies labs need to be tested, not just one. 

To detect if we have the autoimmune version of thyroid problems, patients saw right away that one antibody could be high, but the other one not.  So we need both the anti-peroxidase AND the anti-thyroglobulin lab tests. And by the way, many Hashi’s patients soar on Natural Desiccated Thyroid if they raise it correctly. See #5.

5) Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT) has been changing patient lives for years now, just as it did for decades before Synthroid hit the market. 

Though some patients do better on T4-only meds than others…at first..there is simply too many reported experiences by patients for 15+ years that it’s not the way to go. And those same reports show that being on the five hormones that NDT gives makes much more sense.  Even adding synthetic T3 to synthetic T4 has produced better results.

6) I can’t wait six weeks before having a raise!

Thyroid patients found out the hard way that if they stay on a starting dose of NDT (which is usually one grain) longer than a few weeks, the feedback loop causes hypothyroidism to come back with a vengeance in some way or another. So we raise every two weeks and start slowing those raises in the two grain area or close to three to start finding our optimal dose. //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101

7) My lab results are not about being in the “normal” range.

This was a huge discovery by informed thyroid patients as they kept observing each others lab results for years: it’s about “where” the lab result falls that tells the story…not just because it falls in a suspicious “normal” range based on the testing participants the lab facility chose. //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/lab-values

8) If I react poorly to NDT, it’s not because NDT isn’t right for me. 

Patients who have had problems with NDT found out that there are five correctible reasons for most of them:  a) being kept on lower doses far too long b) not raising high enough because of being held to the TSH range c) having low iron d) having a cortisol problem 5) having Lyme. This page explains: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ndt-doesnt-work-for-me

9) Yes, there really is such a thing as adrenal fatigue/adrenal insufficiency/hypocortisolism.

Easily more than 50% of thyroid patients end up with a cortisol problem, either due to being undiagnosed for years thanks to the use of the faulty TSH lab test, or being put on only one of five thyroid hormones–T4. And to learn more about it, one of your doctor’s own colleagues has written a brilliant chapter as to biologically why we get low cortisol, found in the Stop the Thyroid Madness II book, chapter 15. And this:  //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info

10) Saliva testing for cortisol is far more accurate than blood testing

Saliva is said to be testing one’s cellular levels of cortisol, plus it does so at four key times during a 24-hour period, which is important to know. And patients found that the results (from reputable companies) fit their symptoms! Whereas blood cortisol testing is measuring both bound and unbound cortisol, and most of the time does NOT fit the symptoms, showing high cortisol when we are really low, or vice versa. //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info

11) If some or most of my saliva cortisol results are low, there are safe and effective ways to treat it. 

The adrenal area is one which thyroid patients took great time and care to learn, based on what we read from experts, plus our repeated experiences and wisdom. This is where our doctor, need to be open-minded enough to learn from Stop the Thyroid Madness, both on the website and in the revised STTM book, chapters 5 and 6.

12) If I have acid reflux or stomach problems, it’s usually due to low stomach acid caused by our hypothyroid state, not the need for Prilosec (Omeprazole). And some of us need to be off gluten, especially if we have Hashimotos.

i.e. what we need is to restore a better level of acid in our stomachs, which our hypothyroid state lowers–the latter which causes problems in absorbing vitamins and minerals. That’s why we need to put lemon juice or apple cider vinegar in the liquids we use to swallow our meds and supplements. And a large body of us with Hashimotos need to be off gluten.

13) I’m not stupid just because I didn’t go to medical school, plus I live in my own body. So I need you to see us as a team. 

Because of what Stop the Thyroid Madness gives me, both the website and the books, it’s important to me that you see us as a team–BOTH my knowledge and your own.

14) No, thyroid cancer is not the easy cancer.

Thyroid cancer patients hate their cancer as much as anyone does…plus it’s worrisome, surgery nor RAI is not a picnic, and recurrence is on our minds. //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2015/01/31/thyroid-cancer-easy-cancer-thyroid-cancer-patients-appalled/

15) My thyroid labwork should be done before I take my thyroid meds for the day. 

Patients discovered that the T3 is NDT will peak about two hours after meds are taken, then a slow fall. If patients are on T3-only, it’s a 4-hour peak. We want to measure what still lingers in us, not the peak or rise.

What else do you think our doctors need to learn?

JanieSignature SEIZE THE WISDOM

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What do these people have in common: Adams, Bouc, Dach, Edwards, Heyman, Heiser, Luber, Lynch, Phan, Roberts, Saleeby, Stone, Trumbower and Yang?

1-Screen Shot 2014-08-13 at 5.22.27 PMWhat do these people have in common: Adams, Bouc, Dach, Edwards, Heyman, Heiser, Luber, Lynch, Phan, Roberts, Saleeby, Stone, Trumbower and Yang? 

Answer:  Brilliance in thought, courage in action, intelligent reasoning, and a willingness to learn from their patients as medical practitioners.

And that is all exactly why each of them was chosen to contribute as an author to a new Stop the Thyroid Madness book, titled

Stop the Thyroid Madness II: How thyroid experts are challenging ineffective treatments and improving the lives of patients

Each of them are medical practitioners who strive to….

  • create a patient-centered practice and personalized method of treatment based on the symphony between the thyroid and all other bodily systems
  • understand that treatment of thyroid disease is more than the use of a single synthetic medication and a pituitary hormone lab result.
  • have the courage to question the basic assumptions held by the traditional medical community as to what constitutes good thyroid treatment
  • listen and learn from their patients.

Why else did I choose these particular practitioners for the book?

First and foremost, it was based on patient reports. The majority of these professionals were reported by thyroid patients to be the better cream of the crop in the medical field.

Could I have chosen others?

Yes. There are others of whom patients have reported they like! But serendipity led me to each one of these masterful professionals and it has all played out like a well-tuned chorus.

How is this book different than the revised STTM book?

The revised STTM will forever stand out as a compilation of highly important and life-changing experiences and wisdom of thyroid patients worldwide.

The new STTM II book brings the minds and brilliance of medical professionals into the mix, not only giving you more details that only a trained professional can give, but the book can also be seen as a practitioner-to-practitioner book, as well. THIS is a book that will end the refrain among certain doctors “Who is Janie Bowthorpe and where is her medical degree?” (i.e. as if only someone with a medical degree can know something important medically!).

THIS is the book that you can give your doctor since it’s written by his very colleagues!

THIS is the book that will play a dynamic role in changing the worldwide medical mindset about the proper treatment of thyroid disease.

What did they write about?

CHAPTER 1 The Integrative and Functional Medicine Approach to Thyroid Diseases by James Yang, MD, MPH and Andrew Heyman, MD, MHSA

CHAPTER 2 Stress, Adrenals, Your Thyroid, and You by Laura R Stone MD, Andrew Heyman, MD MHSA and Carla Heiser MS RD LD

CHAPTER 3 Thyroid Replacement Therapy: Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT) by Yusuf (JP) Saleeby, MD

CHAPTER 4 The Unreliable TSH Lab Test by Jeffrey Dach MD

CHAPTER 5 When Normal Ain’t Normal by Geoffrey T. Bouc MD

CHAPTER 6 Nutrition and Hypothyroidism by William D. Trumbower, MD

CHAPTER 7 Hashimoto’s Autoimmune Thyroid Disease by Jeffrey Dach MD

CHAPTER 8 Why Are Doctors Like That? by Nguyen D. Phan MD

CHAPTER 9 Gluten Intolerance and Thyroid Disease by Paula Luber, MD

CHAPTER 10 Thyroid Toxicity by Philip L. Roberts, MD

CHAPTER 11 Moving Forward with Reverse T3: the Causes and Health Implications by Paige Adams, FNP, B-C

CHAPTER 12 Methylation, MTHFR and Thyroid Dysfunction by Benjamin Lynch, ND

CHAPTER 13 Hypocortisolism: An Evidence-Based Review by Lena Edwards, MD, FAARM, FICT; Andrew H. Heyman, MD MHSA; Sahar Swidan, PharmD

Who wrote the Foreword?

Dr. David Brownstein, MD.

Where can I order the book?

Currently, only at the publishing company website. It will eventually catch up to Amazon, but that can take time.  You can order one or multiple copies of the new STTM II book here: http://laughinggrapepublishing.com/stop-thyroid-madness-ii-book/

Or you can order a set(s) of both the revised STTM book and the STTM II book here:  http://laughinggrapepublishing.com/stop-thyroid-madness-books-revised-and-ii/  ALSO NOTE that by snail mail, you can order an amount of each book. There’s an Order Form to print out on the above page.

Want to read more about each author?

Go to the following page and click on their photo: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/stop-thyroid-madness-ii

 

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