hypothyroid Archives - Page 5 of 20 - Stop The Thyroid Madness

How does your insurance deal with desiccated thyroid?

(Though this post was first written in 2011, it has been Â updated to the present day and time. Enjoy!)

Wendy is one of those gals that tries to adhere to “natural” in regards to her medication choices. She switched over to Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT)Â from Synthroid about three months ago.

The transitionÂ was slightly trying, says Wendy. Her doctor didn’t believe her that she shouldn’t be on a low starting dose for more than a couple weeks without upping it. So she Â went hypothyroid all over again. It’s a common mistake that many doctors make with NDT.

But after successfully upping the dose every few weeks, she will now shout that it’s been the BEST thing Â in every way! Â She tells folks that being on Synthroid was like having your hand amputated and replaced with a hook, while being on desiccated thyroidÂ was like havingÂ it replaced with a fully functional prosthetic. Â Her skin is softer, hair is not shedding, her mood has changed in a good way, memory has returned, fogginess has faded. She feels closer to her old self than she has in almost five years.

Now the bad news…

All this time, she only paid $15 for her desiccated thyroidÂ at the local Walgreen’s. But as of April 1st, 2011, it became what is called a Tier 3 drug under her insurance plan–United Healthcare. Â Exclaims Wendy in outrage and sadness: Â “This means that the natural drug I love, that has restored my in so many ways that the synthetic t4-only drugs never could, will now cost 85 bucks! Who can afford that?! ”

And here’s the awful irony when it comes to her insurance plan: Synthroid, the worst medication ever thrust upon us in the treatment of hypothyroid, is Tier 2 (i.e. costs less), and generic T4-only is Tier 1 (costs even less). Â i.e. if you are under this insurance, you have to pay big bucks to feel a thousand times better. Â She has no clue why this is happening, but warns that it might start to happen across the board for others as well!

In the United States, most Tiers look like this (and some companies have three tiers, while others have five):

Tier 1 is for generic medications and has the lowest co-pay

Tier 2 is for “preferred” brand name medications, i.e based on “safety, efficacy and cost”, and is the second lowest co-payment. (I put the word preferred in quotes because it’s not based on what changes YOUR life as a thyroid patient.)

Tier 3Â is for non-preferred brand name medicationsÂ or preferred specialty drugs. It’s termed as those drugs which are not typically used as first line of treatment, and have a higher co-pay.

Tier 4Â is for specialtyÂ medications, i.e those which require special dosing or administration. Highest co-payment.

In the United Kingdom, where the National Health Service (NHS) provides publicly fundedÂ health care, there are formularies whichÂ specify which medicationsÂ are available…or not, and one can get Prescription prepayment certificates (PPC)Â .

In Australia, “Medicare — via the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) — subsidises the cost of around 1,700 ‘necessary and life-saving’ medicines. In fact, most medicines available on prescription are subsidised under the PBS, so just by having a prescription filled you receive the benefit of the subsidy.Â https://www.justlanded.com/english/Australia/Australia-Guide/Health/Medicines-Chemists

Does your health insurance cover your desiccated thyroid?

How medical journals affect the prescription practice of your doctor: An interesting article on this found here.Â And here’s an article about howÂ the author of a medical article fails to state his association with the pharmaceutical of the product he is writing about–one more conflict of interest and influence on your doctor!

Ridiculous! Basing “normal” for Hashimoto’s patients by the TSH, a pituitary hormone, NOT a thyroid hormone: Read it here and weep.

Vit. D can help you stay sharp: So many benefits from optimizing your Vit D, and here’s one with your brain.

Need to talk to others? See all your alternatives here.

March 8th 2011 63 replies

A legendary soccer player with hypothyroid who was forced to quit, plus one creative YouTube video.

A guy posted about this one of the STTM Facebook groups, and I found it hauntingly familiar. When I was in my early 30’s, I was forced to quit my beloved career as a well-trained and talented fitness instructor due to hypothyroid complications causing debilitating dysautomia reactions thanks to T4-only medications. It was veryÂ grievous and hard.

But famous Brazilian soccer football player Ronaldo, who was the all-time leading scorer at the 2006 World Cup,Â Â has had to retire because the game rules FORBID him from taking the hypothyroid meds he needed, even if they have been the lousy T4-only levothyroxine meds. i.e. the rules see taking thyroid hormones as against the anti-doping rules.

What a shame. He’s young, 34 years old, and could have continued with a great career. But you also have to wonder how long he would have lasted at that, because Brazil doctors are still putting people on T4-only medications like so many other clueless doctors around the world.

You can read about it on CNN here. Â Did you identify with losing a career or hobby thanks to hypothyroidism? What’s your story?

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I get really interesting emails from folks, and one arrived last week from Brian, the creator of a YouTube video called Our Holy Miracle of the Infallible TSH Test that he wanted me to view.

I confess that when I first saw it, I thought it was quite bizarre! Wasn’t sure what I thought of the humor with the female as she was dressed. Â But the more I thought about it, I also see it as extremely creative, a good sense of humor, and a pertinent message. In fact, it may strongly appeal to younger folks because of it’s intentional hipÂ irreverence. Â So, go there with an open mind and sense of humor, and you just might like the message as I do and others are! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOb2POQGE6g

Note: if you are reading this via the Blog Notification and want to comment, click on the title of this post, which will take you directly to the blog and where you can leave your comment.

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February 15th 2011 15 replies

The story of one little bumper sticker about depression and a life potentially changed!

Reading and responding to my daily emails is a huge job that takes a lot of time. My 92 year old mother-in-law thinks I’m obsessed with my computer. ha! Â If only she knew. Â But some of those emails stand out in my mind.

As a recent example, one gal wrote to tell me she had suffered from depression for so many years due to her poorly diagnosed and inadequately treated thyroid condition. And because her use of desiccated thyroid had hugely improved her mood, she was inspired by and had purchased the STTM bumper sticker about depression. You can see it here.

AndÂ unbeknownÂ to her innocent husband, the bumper sticker went on HIS car.

And just two days later, she explains what happened: Â My husband was coming from his cardiac rehab exercises to the shopping center locally, and when he got out of his car, Â another car pulled behind him, blocking the lane.

Turns out that the other driver, a man, jumped out and wanted to know what the bumper sticker means.

She continued: My husband figured the guy meant his Marine Corps stickers but no, he meant the thyroid sticker. So my husband says, bewildered ‘What Thyroid sticker’?

After realizing it was there, the other man explains how his wife has been diagnosed with thyroid disease and her dr. wants her on antidepressants.

She said:Â “My poor hubby only knew that I feel so much better on Natural hormones and I am not as depressed as I was before. All he could tell him was “she got it off the internet”.

I’ll bet he saw the URL on the sticker, and his wife is going to get some life-changing information from Stop the Thyroid Madness. Â So we can never underestimate how little things we say, or show, or do are going to make a difference in someone’s life.

I hope each and every one of you are being “thyroid patient advocates” and spreading the word to others. If you like using bumper stickers or t-shirts, go here.

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ABOUT PROBLEMS WITH THE STTM SITE: There have been numerous problems with folks getting on STTM the last few weeks. The first problem was due to a software installed by my web designer to prevent attacks by spam bots. That was fixed. But if you visited during that time and use IE, just clear your caches. Others may need to use a different browser. Â You then may be able to go back to your original browser.

But since then, more problems have creeped up. It’s called GROWING PAINS. i.e. STTM has become so popular that more problems pop up. And since we have limited resources, we just have to deal with them, one at a time. So please announce on all your groups that STTM has not gone away, that we are working to fix problems related to growing pains, Â and to try again if they at first can’t get on. If you want to contribute to the hosting fees, go here: Â http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=8074

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TWO SITES YOU NEED TO REGISTER WITH:

1) Â http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/register_of_counterexamples.php A Register of Counterexamples to levothyroxine-only-therapy, set up by Sheila of TPA-UK. Â “Counterexamples” means all those symptoms which proved that T4-only meds do NOT work. Â She will be using this to get the attention of doctors and authorities in order to re-examine the use of T4-only for all forms and degrees of hypothyroidism.

PLEASE NOTE: This questionnaire is only for those prescribed levothyroxine (T4-only) and who failed to get relief for the elimination of their symptoms, and who then started using a T3 containing hormone (either synthetic or natural). It’s also for those who were denied a diagnosis and treatment, and tried a T3 hormone containing product and found your symptoms became less.

2) http://www.worldthyroidregister.com/ A site established byÂ Dr Gorder Skinner to gather as many signatures as possible to establish a Worldwide standard treatment for thyroid sufferers.

September 11th 2010

As a hypothyroid patient, you might want to think twice about drinking water out of plastic bottles

(This page has been updated to the present. Enjoy!)

As a hypothyroid patient, do you think you are fine drinking that purely fine mineral water from a plastic bottle?

Think that fluoride and chlorine are the only substances we need to worry about when it comes to our thyroid health?? Think again.

Thyroid patient Amy McMullen, who has contributed before on STTM’s blog as a GUEST POSTER (Confessions of a Undercover Thyroid Advocate) and has a passion about human rights, has written another important article below which should be of keen interest to all of you.

BPA–A POWERFUL ENDOCRINE DISRUPTER THAT AFFECTS YOUR THYROID

Perhaps you have read recently about how the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) is found to be prevalent in our food and water. As a hypothyroid patient, I was surprised to see that not all articles about this harmful substance adequately describe the connection between thyroid function and BPA. This is an oversight that should be addressed since hypothyroidism is estimated to affect over ten million people in the US and this number is growing. It makes perfect sense to look to environmental toxins as a likely culprit in this serious health epidemic.

BPA is a synthetic estrogen and an endocrine disrupter that causes multiple health problems.

There are over 200 studies linking it to breast cancer, obesity, attention deficit disorder, early puberty in girls, genital abnormalities in boys and girls alike, polycystic ovary disease and infertility in women and prostate cancer in men. Studies indicate that up to 92% of Americans have BPA in their urine. Also BPA doesn’t leave the body quickly; fasting adults still had BPA levels in their bodies after 24 hours.

BPA comes from many plastic sources. It’s used as a hardener in plastic manufacturing. Many tin cans have plastic linings that contain BPA including soup and tomatoes, and it’s also in plastic water bottles, some infant formulas and canned juices. BPA is also found in PVC water supply piping.

How does BPA relate to thyroid disease?

According to a several good studies, BPA is a thyroid receptor antagonist. This means that BPA will interfere with the binding of the thyroid hormone T3 with cell receptor sites. This will cause hypothyroidism, not only with people with under-functioning thyroids but also for those who are currently taking medications for hypothyroidism or even those who have normally functioning thyroids. BPA was found to accumulate in many organs when injected into rats including the lung, kidneys, thyroid, stomach, heart, spleen, testes, liver, and brain. In this way, BPA has the potential to interfere with thyroid hormones in each organ that has accumulated the substance. A study also indicates that the levels of BPA that are considered safe (upper limit of emission is set to 2.5 ppm [Âµg/liter], which is more than 90 ÂµM) are high enough to inhibit thyroid hormone receptors. Yet another study shows that BPA appears to accumulate in rat fetuses in significantly high levels and disrupts thyroid function in baby rats.

There’s also evidence that BPA may influence the metabolism of endogenous steroids, which may be a factor in adrenal fatigue and its treatment, as well as and its treatment, as well as dysautonomia stemming from adrenal problems. Many with hypothyroidism also suffer from co-morbid adrenal fatigue and BPA may be a contributing factor in this.

What this means for everyone, but especially for thyroid patients, is every effort should be made to remove BPA from food and water supplies.

For those who are not able to get properly optimized on their thyroid meds or who are finding they are suffering from hypothyroid symptoms despite normal levels of TSH, free T3 and free T4, consider BPA as a possible source of the problem.

Steps you can take to minimize you exposure include:

Avoid all canned foods with plastic liners and avoid bottled water. Buy your canned tomatoes in glass jars, not metal cans or stick to using fresh ingredients. Most other canned foods use BPA as well, especially green beans (Here is a list of BPA-free canned foods).

Drink water out of glass or stainless steel containers (and make sure there’s no plastic liner or lids that have BPA) or BPA-free plastic. Low density polyethylene bike bottles contain BPA.

Do not microwave foods in plastics or use plastic wraps when microwaving. Avoid polycarbonate (“PC” or #7 and #3) plastic food containers altogether.

Since most municipal water piping is PVC and some houses have it as water supply lines, consider installing a reverse osmosis system for your drinking water. This will also remove fluoride and chlorine (other thyroid disrupters) and many other harmful substances from drinking water.

Most importantly we need to make our voices heard that BPA is not an acceptable substance and that its use in our food and water supply must cease. Recently Senator Feinstein introduced a ban on BPA to the Food Safety Modernization Act but this was modified to remove the ban due to pressure by industry groups. Senator Feinstein still has an effort underway to ban BPA from child drink bottles and toys and several states have enacted such bans but this does not go far enough.

Contact your representatives today and let them know that a national ban on BPA must be enacted. If they don’t listen then I suggest you make yourself heard at the ballot box this November.

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Have you cut down on your exposure to Fluoride? Buy non-fluoridated toothpaste as a first step.
Cut down on more chemicals by using baking soda under your arms rather than commercially-made underarm deodorants. Note that the baking soda may at first cause redness, but it will go away within days and is a great way to kill odors.
Have a pounding heartrate that you can’t explain? You may be making too much RT3Â or have an adrenal issue.
Check out typical Questions and Answers about thyroid treatment and related issues.
Want to write a GUEST BLOG POST on STTM? Go here.
Join the STTM Facebook page for daily tips and inspiration.Â

August 23rd 2010 9 replies

A continuing MEDICAL SCANDAL which is just too close to home and I grieve. WAKE UP DOCTORS!!

Tonight was a beautiful night to do my aerobic walking. It had poured this afternoon for 30 minutes, so the early evening air was slightly cool and very clean.

And on the last leg of my journey, I stopped and said to Carlin as she was walking out of her front door “Where you have been lately? I haven’t seen you out walking with your husband.”

Carlin and her husband Clint are probably in their late 70’s–both vibrant individuals and frequent walkers in the same area.

“Well”, she said wistfully as she glanced down the street I had just walked, “I have to go in Monday for a Pacemaker.”

Turns out she has fibrillations and other heart issues, and even walking from her bedroom to her living room can exhaust her. Â I told her how well my mother-in-law has done with her pacemaker. She told me she’d be in the hospital for at least 3-4 days for the surgery and observation.

And as we were chatting over the low white fence, I couldn’t help but notice the scar on her neck–the same scar my own mother had from the removal of her thyroid years ago. Â And the rest of Carlin’s story, and the reality of her story, made me want to punch the nearest electrical pole in disgust.

Carlin’s thyroid was removed over 40 years ago. Â She remembers being on “2 grains of something”–clearly it was desiccated thyroid. And she says she felt really good. But she wasn’t on it long, as her doctor removed it and put her levothyroxine over 30 years ago. You know, that “new and modern” T4-only CRAP which doctors fell for like the blind following the blind beginning in the 1960’s until today. (The story behind the introduction of T4 onto patients in the early 1960’s is in Chapter One of the STTM book)

So I knew. Her heart troubles could be one of the manyÂ side effects of the inferior treatment of T4-only medications (which also include Synthroid, Levoxyl, Eltroxin, Oroxine…all of them). My own mother suffered the same fate while on Synthroid her entire life. And patients chat about this all the time on thyroid groups–heart issues while on T4.

I started probing. She has had issues with high blood pressure. Another typical side effect of the crap T4-only medication, and which is removed with desiccated thyroid. She has had issues with depression–another typical side effect of the crap T4-only medication, and which is removed with desiccated thyroid. She talked bitterly about the slew of medications she’s had to be on for years to counter all her problems, and which had given her bad side effects.

And the next worse thing she told me? She had acid reflux so bad a few years ago that they did surgery on her stomach. She had surgery for a condition which is VERY common with thyroid patients who are on T4 meds–low stomach acid from a lower metabolism, which causes acid reflux. i.e. a symptom of continued hypothyroidism which is CORRECTED when on desiccated thyroid.

It was hard to contain myself. Here was this vibrant, life-loving, intelligent woman who has been on T4-only for over 30 years and has endured health problems, surgeries, side effects from all sorts of money-grubbing pharmaceutical pills, and now, has to go in Monday for a pacemaker. And in all probability, most of what she has gone though could have been prevented if some doctor had been WISE enough to keep this woman on desiccated thyroid.

I am livid and sick to my stomach.