levothyroxine Archives - Page 4 of 13 - Stop The Thyroid Madness

Here we go again, thyroid friends: Endocrinologists wear their pointed DUNCE hats.

Ah me.

Ever heard of Clinical Thyroidology?

It’s a physician-targeted publication by the American Thyroid Association (ATA). The ATA states they are theÂ “leading organization devoted to thyroid biology and to the prevention and treatment of thyroid disease through excellence in research, clinical care, education, and public health.”

And aÂ Letter to the EditorÂ in the December 2013 publication of Clinical Thyroidology only underscores why so many thyroid patients report that they…

Avoid Endocrinologists like the plague for the treatment of their hypothyroidism.
Can hardly contain their disgust about Endocrinologists they have seen!

The letter is based on the March 2013 studyÂ I have mentioned before,Â titled “Desiccated thyroid extract compared with levothyroxine in the treatment of hypothyroidism: a randomized, double-blind, crossover study.”Â It was done by the Department of Endocrinology at Walter Reed Military Medical Center and headed byÂ ThanhÂ D.Â Hoang,Â DO and associates.

The objective of the studyÂ was to investigate the effectiveness of DTE (acronym for Desiccated Thyroid Extract, which is more popularly termed Natural Desiccated ThyroidÂ for thyroid patients) compared with L-Tâ‚„ (more popularly known as T4-onlyÂ for thyroid patients).

At the conclusion of the 16-week study, they found that…

“34 patients (48.6%) preferred DTE therapy, whereas 13 (18.6%) preferred levothyroxine; 23 (32.9%) did not specify a preference, he said. Further analysis confirmed those who preferred DTE lost even more weight over a 4-month period.” i.e. theÂ patients who preferred it “lost 4 lb during the DTE treatment, and their subjective symptoms were significantly better while taking DTE as measured by the general health questionnaire-12 and thyroid symptom questionnaire (P < .001 for both).”

Yet the study concludes:Â “DTE therapy did not result in a significant improvement in quality of life”.

And why did the study conclude there was no significant quality of life improvement? Is it possible that this study was flawed in ways they don’t understand…

Two easy answers:

Patients canNOT be held hostage to the TSH lab test (which the study did for those participants) if we want to find that “significant” quality of life improvement! Â When thyroid patients are at their very best with desiccated thyroid, they end up finding their TSH is below the so-called “normal” range, and without one iota of “hyper-like symptoms, i.e. no bone loss or heart issues”. (Hyper symptoms will only occur if there is an undiscovered or untreated cortisol or iron issue. See #4 below).
We have to haveÂ optimal cortisol and iron levels with desiccated thyroid to achieve that “significant”Â quality of life improvement!

Back to the Letter to the Editor….

DoctorsÂ David S. Rosenthal, MD andÂ Kenneth H. Hupart, MD proceed to present misinformed criticism and obtuse conclusions. The last part of their letter states the following…and I have bolded what I’m going to respond to:

…..Such nonphysiologic changes in serum T3 [serum T3 rose 23% and 36% in the participants]Â after DTE administration and resultant risks have longÂ been known (2) and are the subject of concern (3).Â

Exploring a role for DTE in the treatment of hypothyroidism with a well-designed, blinded, randomized clinical trial is laudable. However, when evaluating a therapy for a condition that affects millions of patients and for which an effective treatment already exists (4), this clinical trial should be powered and designed to detect adverse consequences. When the goal is physiologic replacement, care also needs to be exercised that normal physiology is restored. The study of Hoang and colleagues is provocative, but it does not achieve the minimum standard required to alter current clinical practice.

And my response to what I bolded:

Risks? Concern? When are the risks and concern going to be mentioned about T4-only medications—the latter which forces us to live on ONE hormone, in spite of the fact that a healthy thyroid would be making FIVE. Where is the concern about the fact that a huge body of patients worldwide have continuing hypothyroid symptomsÂ in their own degree and kind, either at the beginning of T4-only treatment, or the longer they stay on it? To the contrary, WE have concern when our doctors repeatedly ignore or blame those clear symptoms of continued hypothyroidism on other issues!
Why are you so concerned about a higher FT3?? Thyroid patients have been doing fabulously, and have seen their lives change, on desiccated thyroid for over a decade now, and especially when we find our FT3 in the upper quarter of the range. Before that, there were a good sixty years of near-exclusive desiccated thyroid use! A higher range FT3 has done nothing more than strengthen our hearts, lower our cholesterol and blood pressure, rid us of depression and anxiety, improved bone strength, helped us lose weight, taken away the need to nap, improve our gut health, given us back our lives…and so much more.
Can you be SO blind as to think that T4 treatment is that “effective”? Are you that destitute of observation about the clinical presentation of your T4-treatment patients who, sooner or later, complain of depression, rising cholesterol, higher blood pressure, aches and pains, hair loss, gut problems, the need the nap, heart problems, anxiety, weight gain and more symptoms of a POOR treatment?
Have you not figured out that “adverse consequences” on desiccated thyroid, or even T3-only, are related to either inadequate iron and/or a cortisol problem? Patients are so FAR ahead of you in knowledge about the problems that cortisol and iron problems can cause with desiccated thyroid…and what to do about it. Once we correct those, we SOAR on desiccated thyroid.

A better way to look at the Walter Reed study

Nearly 49% preferred desiccated thyroid! That is nothing to sneeze about! It means something. It sends the beginning of the right message. And yes, it would have been a far greater percentage if those in the Endocrinology department had understood why it’s important NOT to go by the TSH, and why the participants needed to first be properly screened for their iron and cortisol levels, then property treated! And by the way, lab results have NOTHING to do with just “falling in the normal range”.

To all thyroid patients and friends worldwide:

Sadly, we all know that the majority of Endocrinologists we have seen wear Dunce hats. Of course, there are some exceptions in the Endocrinology field! We applaud those few courageous Endocrinologists who have dared to listen to our experiences and positive clinical outcomes.

But too many remain in a stubborn, dark world of their own, represented by the comments above—a mindset which only keeps us sick.

Your solution? Give your money elsewhere!!! Give your money to medical professionals who live in a lighter world and have an understanding of the efficacy of Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT), or even T3-only use, and who will let you teach them about the problems of cortisol and low iron, how to treat both, and how to read labwork (as the book will also help you do). P.S. Spanish in on sale for a limited time.

Seize the wisdom,

December 11th 2013 39 replies

Three Sleeping Issues you might encounter as a Hypothyroid Patient

(This page has been updated for the present day and time! Enjoy!)

Have trouble sleeping? Here are three scenarios you might identify with, the causes, and the solutions.

1) INSOMNIA or WAKING UP FREQUENTLY SOON AFTER YOU FALL ASLEEP

This is an extremely common problem faced by thyroid patients, and the most common reason is going to bed with high levels of cortisol–the opposite of what healthy adrenals should be doing. With normal adrenal function, your bedtime cortisol levels should be low, or at the bottom of the range of a saliva cortisol test. Â Symptoms include laying awake for a long time before falling asleep for the night…or if you can fall asleep well, you tend to wake up often within the next hour or two.

Why the high cortisol?

It’s usually a left-over remnant of when you used to have high cortisol all day long, but which has since fallen to low levels of cortisol except for bedtime, or afternoon and bedtime.

And all the above can happen to certain individuals due to a continued hypothyroid state (such as being treated with the inadequate T4-only medications like Synthroid, Eltroxin, Oroxine, and/or Levothyroxine, etc) orÂ due to undiagnosed hypothyroidism (thanks to the use of the TSH lab test).

Another cause is low bedtime cortisolÂ (i.e below the range), which has caused issues with falling or staying asleep at bedtime. Low cortisol seems to cause high adrenaline, and the latter results in a fitful sleep pattern during the night. The solution? First do a 24-hour adrenal saliva test to prove if it’s high or low cortisol, say informed thyroid patients. Guessing can get you into trouble. (And blood cortisol is not the answer, since it’s measuring both bound and unbound cortisol.) Then compare the results to what we’ve learned they mean.

For high bedtime cortisol, patients have had success with cortisol-lowering herbs like Holy Basil, zinc or others, taken a good hour or two before they want to fall asleep. Each dose is given three nights to see if it’s enough to improve sleep. If not it’s raised…and again if needed. Then they wean off after several weeks of better sleep.

For low cortisol (below the range), patients often have to use a small dose of HC or Adrenal Cortex. Even supplementing with sea salt has been reported to help with sleep. Additionally, if bedtime cortisol is below the range, there’s a good chance your cortisol is low most of the day, which saliva testing will reveal. Chapter 6 in the revised STTM book has excellent and important information on the proper use of HC, which would also apply to adrenal cortex.

2) WAKING UP ANYWHERE AROUND 3 – 4 AM

Waking up a good three to four hours before you would normally start your morning is a strong sign of low cortisol, which in turn causes hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). And the latter can push your adrenaline up, causing you to wake up hours before you are supposed to. You might also feel shaky or hungry.

The solution? Besides taking cortisol at bedtime, if needed, patients have reported doing far better with sleep by eating a complex carbohydrate at bedtime (for example, whole wheat cracker with cheese or peanut butter…or if you need to avoid gluten, berries and cream cheese). The same strategy is used if waking up around 3 am or so, which will help raise your blood sugar levels and you might fall back asleep better.

3) WAKING UP FREQUENTLY WITH NO SET PATTERN

Time to check your sex hormones, which can get messed up with hypothyroidism, or made worse because of adrenal sluggishness or cortisol use.

Low estrogen can cause hot flashes, waking you up. A study titled Sex Hormones, Sleep and Core Body Temperature in Post Menopausal Women reveals that low estradiol (E2) and higher luteinizingÂ hormoneÂ (LH) levels are strongly related to lessening the quality of your sleep.

Low progesterone is also known to cause insomnia and even anxiety, and may cause sleep apneaÂ (or make you snore, ladies. Gulp). Entry into menopause has caused this, report many women.

Especially in men, low testosterone can negatively affect the quality of your sleep, i.e. you won’t stay in your deep sleep cycle long enough for recuperation of your body and mind.

SLEEPING TIDBITS:

Low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which can cause depression, is also implicated with insomnia.
High cortisol can also be caused by Lyme or reactivated Epstein Barr Virus–the latter of which at least 95% of adult have dormant in their bodies, but which can reactivate due to stress or illness. .

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Speak or read Spanish better than English?? The revised Stop the Thyroid Madness book is now in Spanish! And shipping is relatively cheaper for two or three books. laughinggrapepublishing.comÂ Give one to a friend or family member!
Need a good doctor to work with your own knowledge? Learn how to find one here. And remember: make it clear you expect to be a “team”.
Here’s an important summary of what patients have learned in getting well again.
Join the STTM Facebook page for daily tips, information and inspiration!

September 14th 2013 158 replies

More BAD news if you are on T4-only like Synthroid??: It might cause Lung Cancer, says a study!

After worldwide patient experience has revealed that T4-only treatment results in a slew of continuing hypothyroid symptoms, now we have a study which implies that T4-only treatment could be raising your risk of LUNG CANCER.

This completeÂ study came out just last Thursday, August 8, 2013, in theÂ Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology journal and it’s certainly not good news, if true, on top of what thyroid patients already know has been a failure in so many ways.

The Italian authors said the correlation between lung cancer and T4-only treatment was “significant“!

In other words, says the study, as hypothyroid patients raise their T4-only levothyroxine medication to chase continuing symptoms of hypothyroidism,Â it can lead to medication-induced hyperthyroid state, which in turns leads to an overproduction of oxidative stress. Â The latter oxidative stress is a known cause of cancer and other chronic diseases. But with T4-use, it’s specifically problematic for lung cancer, implies the study.

Oxidative stress can be defined asÂ a that which results in “significant decrease in the effectiveness of your iinherent antioxidant defenses, such asÂ glutathione” (Wikipedia). And there are two mainÂ consequences: Â your body doesn’t detoxify itself well, nor does it repair any damage well because of free radicals.

The study states:

The prevalence of breast, colorectal, gastric and lung cancer in 18 Italian Regions during 2010 was correlated with the sales of LT4 in 2009. The cancer prevalence was analyzed in women aged 30—84. This age range corresponds to more than 80% of the consumers of the drug and to about 99% of all malignant cancers. The correlation between sales of LT4 and cancers was determined with the technique of Density Ellipses. The age and smoking contribution for lung cancer was determined with the Sequential test.

It also adds:

Lung cancer was the only tumor found directly correlated with LT4 supplementation.

It’s particularly interesting to note that simply being hypothyroid results in increased oxidative stress, but the use of T4-only medications creates the same problem via a different route, explains the study. “LT4 can alter the oxidative balance in lungs and behave as a negative factor because ofÂ oxidative stress….”Â

The authors conclude that “hypothyroidismÂ might also be involved in the development of lung cancer”, but the study does send an alarming message about the correlation between T4 use and lung cancer, as well.

The website Green Med Info, which promotesÂ natural and integrative modalities, goes further into the discussion about the problematic nature of treating hypothyroidism with T4-only, stating

One of the main drawbacks of administering T4 in isolation is the possibility that it will not convert adequately to T3, and will therefore ‘back up’ causing excessive T4 activity, i.e. hyperthyroidism. There is also the very real possibility that T4 will not only not properly interact with thyroxine cellular receptors, but will block out what remaining natural levothyroxine the thyroid is still producing (and whose conformational state is far more health-promoting), essentially acting as an endocrine disrupter at the very moment that it is acting as intended as a ‘TSH suppressor.’ This T4 blocking/endocrine-disrupting property of the synthetic form would also activate a negative feedback loop within the endocrine system, further suppressing remaining thyroid function, and resulting in the atrophy of the compromised thyroid, a iatrogenic ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ if you will.

And they conclude: “There is also compelling research indicating that desiccated thyroid extract (Armour thyroid) results in superior clinical outcomes versus the synthetic hormone, especially as concerns improved body weight.” And of course, patients who have switched to natural desiccated thyroid (NDT) have reported FAR better results repeatedly! Brands are not limited to Armour. Other brands which patients like include Erfa, Acella (NP Thyroid), Naturethroid, Westhroid-P and more.

Message to those still using T4-only

Millions of hypothyroid patients have reported millions of prices in their own degree and kind thanks to their use of T4-only medications. Now we have a study that implies your risk of getting lung cancer is increased. What’s next?? It’s not a pretty picture, if the correlation turns out be accurate for some. Time to take a strong and open-minded look at what patients have learned.

ADDENDUM FROM JANIE: Please note that this study doesn’t say that every single T4 user is going to get lung cancer. My mother was on Synthroid her entire life, and though she had many miserable symptoms from it being a poor treatment for her, she never got lung cancer. It just seems to say that the researchers noted increased oxidative stress with T4 use, and they saw a correlation between that and lung cancer in some. Read the entire study information hereÂ and decide for yourself.Â

August 12th 2013 61 replies

Wall Street Journal’s recent thyroid article: 13 ways it could have been SO MUCH better!

(This post has been updated to the present day and time! Enjoy!)

As usual, informed thyroid patients can only roll their eyes about the latest example of a watered-down, thyroid-themed article in the media.Â This time, it’s from Wall Street Journal Online and appeared Monday, August 5th, 2013.

Now on the positive side, the title looks good:Â New Call for More Thyroid Options.Â

But let’s set it straight: this is NOT new! Informed thyroid patients have been clamoring about better treatment for more than a decade!!

I started the Yahoo Natural Thyroid Hormones group in 2002 as a way to begin the important discussion about the efficacy of Natural Desiccated Thyroid as a treatment for hypothyroidism over T4-only. The Stop the Thyroid Madness (STTM) site first went up in December 2005–a compilation of worldwide patient experiences which included lives being changed thanks to natural desiccated thyroid (NDT). The STTM book by the same name first appeared in 2008, and the revision in 2011. The STTM II book came out in late 2014. Today, there are numerous thyroid groups all over Facebook which have been extolling the virtues of better treatment.

Let’s break the article down and go into further detail, correction or clarification–all which might have made this a MUCH more informative and accurate article:

1)Â Grass roots patient-activist organizations….and the doctor-founded National Academy of Hypothyroidism, say that the current screening test for hypothyroidism leaves out some symptomatic patients and that the main medication used to treat patients, doesn’t always alleviate many symptoms.

True! And let’s be more specific about that so-called “screening test”: it’s the inane use of the TSH lab test which has been a monstrous screening failure! The TSH is a pituitary hormone, NOT a thyroid hormone! And it can consistently look “normal” for years (according to the parameter of an erroneous man-made “normal” range), yet we have raging hypothyroid symptoms…all the while the patient has to hear his or her doctor state they need to “exercise more and eat less”.Â The “main medication” is the all-too-often lousyÂ T4-only medicationÂ like Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothyroxine, Eltoxin, etc. Yet, a healthy thyroid makes FIVE hormones, not just one.

2) They are calling for doctors to be open to other therapies, including a combination of synthetic hormones and the use of natural, animal-based ones.

True. But though adding synthetic T3 to synthetic T4 is a huge step in a much better direction and can be applauded (and so can being on T3-only), a multitude of worldwide patient experience has found that Natural Desiccated Thyroid has given these patients even better results (in the presence of good iron and cortisol levels). Doctors need to listen to that!

3) Hashimoto’s Disease: A Primer (box on the left side of the article)Â

What a perfect way to lower the quality of an article. As usual, it contains the dark ages information about the use of the TSH, and mentions the “common” treatment of T4-only. They might as well have inserted a primal on blood-letting.

4) [In reference to Dr. Ridha Arem’s correct comment that “There are so many unhappy thyroid patients,”] : Â Many of his mainstream medical counterparts disagree. “The vast majority of people are fine on the standard therapy,” says Jeffrey Garber, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical Center and chair of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Thyroid Scientific Committee. Still, he says, “there’s a whole group out there who just thinks we’re clueless.Â

Yup, millions of informed thyroid patients worldwide would definitely put you in that clueless category, Dr. Garber.

5) The wide range of symptoms, so similar to those of many other diseases, can make diagnosis tough.Â

Totally untrue, say thyroid patients! Thyroid disease has a commonÂ cluster of symptomsÂ in patients, which can include one or more of depression, fatigue, the need to nap, rising cholesterol, rising blood pressure, achiness, hair loss, weight gain, inability to lose weight, dry skin, dry hair, achiness, a low mid-afternoon temperature (below 98.6F/37C) and so many more symptoms.

Additionally, we have noted that if our free T3 is mid-range or lower, or our Free T4 is low, along with the above symptoms, it’s a sure sign that we are hypothyroid. Finally, family history underscores it for others, as can an ultrasound. It’s not that difficult when you understand the clinical presentation of hypothyroidism over an ink spot on a piece of paper!

6) Newborns and pregnant woman are routinely tested. Experts recommend screening all women over the age of 35 every five years.Â

And how does that help when the testing/screening is with the inadequate TSH lab test, which we, as patients, already know leaves millions of us undiagnosed for years.

7) For treatment, guidelines generally call for the prescription of levothyroxine, a synthetic version of a hormone called thyroxine, or T4, which is produced by the thyroid. The gland also produces one other hormone, Triiodothyronine, or T3.Â

A healthy thyroid gland produces FIVE known thyroid hormones: T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin. So what’s the motive to prescribe only a storage thyroid hormone???

8) Most doctors, says Dr. Arem, generally prescribe T4-only medications. But such medications may leave some patients with lingering symptoms such as fatigue and depression and, in some cases, low T3 levels.Â

He’s right! But there’s more to the story. Even those T4-only treated patients who see a removal of those lingering symptoms still end up seeing them crop up the longer they stay on T4! T4-only treatment is NOT a pretty picture.

9) Some patients go to alternative health professionals to get prescriptions for drugs such as desiccated thyroid extract (DTE) prepared from animal thyroid glands, which include a combination of T4 and T3. Â

Thyroid patients are NOT just getting their natural desiccated thyroid (NDT is the common term, not DTE) from alternative health professionals. They are also getting it from open-minded and progressive regular doctors who LISTEN to their patients experiences!

10) The danger here, Dr. Arem says, is such patients could end up with an excessive amount of T3, resulting in symptoms of overactive thyroids, such as anxiety and a fast or irregular heart rate. He advocates a combination approach with amounts tailored to the individual. Â

With all due respect to Dr. Arem, who is light years ahead of his colleagues in many areas, an excessive amount of T3 is not because of the use of NDT. It’s because NDT will reveal the problems of inadequate iron or inadequate cortisol–either of which can cause T3 to pool high in the blood and not make it to the cells. When patients correct those, they eventually soar on NDT. A newer page on STTM explains why NDT appears to cause problems.

11) Most studies looking at combination approaches show conflicting results.Â

This is because those doing the studies made several key mistakes!! a) they dosed by the TSH, which leaves patients underdosed, b) they had no clue about the problem of inadequate levels of iron or cortisol, either which will leave a patient hypothyroid! Learn from patients!

12) The study’s authors said in a news release that it showed DTE may be a good alternative therapy for a limited number of patients. Harvard’s Dr. Garber says there may be certain subsets who are genetically programmed to respond to such combination therapies.Â

That’s like saying a “limited number” of human beings and only those “who are genetically programmed” will do well with a healthy thyroid (NDT gives the exact same hormones as a healthy thyroid!! T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin).

13) Dr. Garber, like many endocrinologists, uses T4 medications with the vast majority of his patients. Occasionally he’ll also use conservative doses of a synthetic T3 drug, but he virtually never prescribes the animal-derived form, he says, because of complications that could arise for women trying to get pregnant or in early pregnancy, as well as individuals with heart disease. Â

And this is why most thyroid patients, when they report about their doctor experiences, find Endocrinologists to be the worst doctor they ever went to, using descriptive words such as arrogant, close-minded, blind. And by the way, even some heart surgeons know that T3 SUPPORTS healthy heart function, not hurts it! See the Medical Research page on STTM which supports what we already know by our experiences!

See the actual Wall Street Journal article here.

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* Did you know that the original and revisedÂ Stop the Thyroid Madness book is in four languages?? English, Spanish, German and Swedish. Wooo hoooo!! Â And now, there’s a STTM II book with each chapter written by medical practitioners!Â

* The STTM Facebook page is very active and informative about successful thyroid patient treatment! Come join us! Discussion groups listed on the Talk to Others page.

August 6th 2013 10 replies

Thyroid Patient Experiences vs Medical Research: do they jive or not?

There was a long time in my life – more than 20 years in fact – that I suffered immensely, in spite of managing to live my life. Â I paid hefty prices….and suffered constantly.Â You can readÂ my storyÂ on STTM, and read even more details in the Introduction of theÂ revised Stop the Thyroid Madness book.

Ultimately, science-based, mainstream medicine failed me…and others.

During those 20 years, and more so during the final ten years,Â I went from doctor to doctor. Thank the good Lord for insurance!! I visited premier medical centers and was subjected to numerous tests and medical procedures. One in particular resulted in a scar on my left bicep that I still carry today – an attempt to see if my extreme fatigue and weakness had an answer in a muscle biopsy.

But I got NO answers, and no relief. There was noÂ pharmacological drug, nor any physical intervention, or a lab result analysis, or any medical diagnosis that changed my misery. I was left to deteriorate on my own. And that pushed me to apply for Social Security Disability.Â It was only through my own drive in discovering a better treatment I finally got well.

And turns out my experience, both the negative and positive, has similarities with millions of others, to their own degree and kind, as we discovered in patient groups all over the internet.

Reported patient experiences became the gold, NOT medical science

When I started the Natural Thyroid Hormones (NTH) group on Yahoo in 2002, oh did we learn!! (See STTM’s Talk to Others page). It was NOT science that helped us get better. It was learning from each other!! And all of that reported patient experience and wisdom birthed the STTM website, the STTM book, and many more groups. Because we were now getting WELL thanks to all those reported experiences. And others still are getting well–NOT because of “medical science”, but because we have been listening to each other’s experiences and wisdom!

Does “science” support the success we have achieved? Â

At first, there was little science to support what we knew to be true by our combined and growing experiences in getting well. And we didn’t care. We were FINALLY getting well!

And as we’ve been getting well, we simply roll our eyes when we occasionally run into a “science snob” who looks down his or her intellectual stuffy nose with ignorant criticism like “It’s nothing more than “anecdotal BS”!! Â i.e. you can’t POSSIBLY know what you are talking about if there’s noÂ rigorous scientific analysis, debate, or documentation.Â

**crickets chirping**

But it turns out there ARE medical scientific studies which supportÂ some of what we already know by our experiences. Many readers of Stop the Thyroid Madness may not have discovered this yet, but STTM has a page which listsÂ medical studies which support what we already know. So take a peek.

On the other side of the coin, how science can be completely flawed

One 1993 scientific study titled “Levothyroxine Therapy in Patients with Thyroid Disease” is one of MANY studies that informed patients came to realize was faulty. The concluding paragraph stated:

With proper patient monitoring, levothyroxine replacement therapy should be effective, inexpensive, and free of complications. Recommendations for thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression with levothyroxine are based on riskbenefit considerations of the biologic characteristics of the thyroid disorder and the individual patient.

Effective? Free of complications? It didn’t take long for a growing body of thyroid patients, who were comparing notes with each other (besides looking back at the experiences of their relatives) to see that this was FAR from the truth for many of us, to our own degree and kind. I started compiling plenty of non-effective results plus complications of being on T4-only medications from the mouths of patients worldwide over the years.

And the longer we’ve been talking to each other, we also discovered that even when some T4-treated patients report good results on these meds at first…or for several years…they were coming into groups to honestly report seeingÂ more and more symptoms of a poor treatment crop up the longer they stayed on their Synthroid or any other T4-only treatment. Â It’s not a pretty picture overall.

(And by the way, natural desiccated thyroid is CHEAPER.)

Medical school training is just as much the problem as is flawed science

The Carnegie Foundation did a study about medical schools, Â and in a particular paragraph, concluded (italics mine):

Medical training is inflexible, excessively long and not learner centered. They found that clinical education is overly focused on inpatient clinical experience, supervised by clinical faculty who have less and less time to teach and who have ceded much of their teaching responsibilities to residents, and situated in hospitals with marginal capacity to support their teaching mission. They observed poor connections between formal knowledge and experiential learning and inadequate attention to patient populations, systems of health care delivery, and effectiveness. Learners have inadequate opportunities to work with patients over time and to observe the course of illness and recovery; students and residents often poorly understand non-clinical physician roles. The team observed that medical education does not adequately make use of the learning sciences. Finally, time and again the researchers saw that the pace and commercial nature of health care impede the inculcation of fundamental values of the profession.

And sadly, patients will report problems with their doctors long after they attended medical school. Common descriptions include unteachable, clueless,Â rigid, narrow-minded, arrogant, and/or blind to the “clinical presentation” of their patients clear symptoms of continued hypothyroidism (for example, depression, anxiety, high cholesterol or other fatty acids, rising blood pressure, aches and pain, and so much more!) These same doctors will then bandaid these symptoms with anti-depressants, statins, pain meds, blood pressure meds and more.

But to be clear: patient reports don’t equal that they feel their doctors are purposely trying to do harm! Instead, thyroid patients clarify that even their most well-liked doctors just aren’t listening, or aren’t willing to learn from patient experiences, or feel threatened if a patient wants to guide part of his or her own care, or are condescending, as if a patient couldn’t possibly have a brain of their own about what they need. So patients leave…and search for a doctor much more willing to listen to patient experiences and wisdom.

Bottom line: some of reported patient experiences and science jive to some degree.Â For the rest, medical research studies need to catch up with the truth of our successful experiences, or continue to look stupid.