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Tag: mitral valve prolapse

What do Jeffrey Dach MD and John O Wycoff DO have in common??

They both GET IT.

Jeffrey Dach, MD, who is founder of  TrueMedMD clinic in Hollywood, Florida, has recently written just one more brilliant article titled Why Natural Thyroid is Better than Synthetic on OpEdNews. And patients can only derisively agree when Dach says “This nonsense really makes my blood boil and my eyes pop out of head” in response to articles on medical websites which still purport that synthetic T4 is a better treatment  than natural desiccated thyroid.

John O. Wycoff DO graciously had me on his radio program a week ago, called Health and Wellness Solutions radio, which runs each and every Saturday morning in Michigan or live streamed. And I couldn’t help but be impressed by this warm, friendly, and caring doctor who runs the Wycoff Wellness Center in East Lansing, Michigan. He definitely seemed to understand the use of desiccated thyroid and adrenals. Michigan patients are lucky to have this man.

And frankly, there seems to be a growing body of doctors who are GETTING IT, making the large body who still don’t look like medical cavemen and health ostriches.  Natural desiccated thyroid is a FAR better treatment, and millions of changed lives prove this over and over. 🙂

Both Dach and Wycoff will go down in history as being part of the founding members of doctors who really GOT IT in the first decade of the 21st century and have played a huge role to STOP THE THYROID MADNESS!!

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UPCOMING PROGRAM with Janie: You will be able to listen to me on Jimmy’s Moore’s Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb program on Thursday July 22nd, 2010 for what Jimmy has dubbed “The Truth About Thyroid Week.” As I see it, each time I’m on a variety of radio and internet podcasts like this, it’s going to mean reaching MORE folks about why they have depression, rising cholesterol or blood pressure, fatigue, hair loss, dry skin or hair, osteoporosis and more as a result of either the TSH lab test, or being on T4 meds like Synthroid!  I’ll announce this closer to the event, as well.

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MORE ABOUT MAGNESIUM: As I wrote about recently here, I found myself very low in my RBC Magnesium levels–the very bottom of the range. I am even lower than a friend who has Celiac disease, which affects digestion!!  No wonder I’ve had issues with muscle cramps for so long, as well as what I saw as a worsening of my MVP (mitral valve prolapse).   Since then, I’ve been on Magnesium Oil and a particular brand of buffered Vit. C which contains a good amount of magnesium. And lo and behold, I have found out that taking magnesium when you are deficient is like drinking water when you are dying of thirst–your body TAKES IT IN faster than you can give it to yourself.  So it’s important to take as high a dose as you can take in, and be patient for it all to level out.  And by the way, I’m already noticing an improvement in my huffin’ and puffin’ when I go out walking.  I do it less!!


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My discovery of why our MAGNESIUM levels are a huge problem! (mine was)

1-Screen Shot 2015-01-14 at 8.02.21 PMThough this post was written several years ago, it’s information is applicable even to this day and time and has been updated.

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I am blown away by the magnitude of what I have discovered just recently. And this potentially involves YOU.

I had several labs done just to keep track of how I stood in several areas. One was RBC Magnesium. “RBC” (red blood cell) measures the intracellular levels of magnesium–supposedly a more accurate picture than a “serum” measurement of your magnesium, which only measures 1% (and sadly, most doctors only measure your serum levels). i.e. even if your serum measurement was normal, your cellular levels may NOT be.

And my result?? My RBC magnesium measured at the bottom, very bottom, of the range. I was shocked. I eat healthy, and have been giving myself liquid minerals off and on for awhile. But clearly, I have been unable to raise my magnesium level. When I tried to raise my supplementation, I’d have to runnnn to the bathroom.

So I opened a book that a good friend gave me: Transdermal Magnesium Therapy by Mark Sircus, OMD. And I am blown away. Here is what I have learned, and YOU may need to as well:

Magnesium Deficiency

  • Affects at least 7 out of 10 reading this
  • Can be there even if you feel well (me); will be there if you have mal-absorption (think gluten issues)
  • Is common with diabetes, liver disease, and if you take or eat a lot of calcium
  • Is especially problematic if you drink alcohol, sodas, caffeine and excess sugar, have a stressful life, sweat a lot, or take birth control pills
  • Increases your risk of heart disease, strokes, muscles problems, cancer and many other illnesses
  • Is common in a stressful life (and especially so if you have adrenal fatigue/low cortisol, or you are a Type A personality)
  • Can be even worse than a serum lab test reveals
  • Is found in someone like me who eats right!!

How a deficiency of magnesium affects you

  • Can cause heart disease (and exacerbates my Mitral Valve Prolapse), plus strokes
  • Promotes tooth decay, muscle cramping (me for over a decade)
  • Lowers your immune system strength, energy levels, metabolism
  • Increases blood pressure (mine has risen at the same time I’ve noticed leg cramps…hmmmm)
  • Decreases your body’s ability to use Vit. C and E
  • Lowers the production, function and transport of insulin
  • Causes an increase of toxins and acid in your body (think cigarettes, radiation, toxins in food/water/air)
  • Makes you susceptible to host of diseases and conditions
  • Can cause tinnitus in the ears

Why you need higher levels of magnesium

  • Helps the metabolism of carbs, fats and amino acids and influences 325 enzymes
  • Counteracts and regulates the influence of calcium, which can harm you if too much
  • Is required for the body to produce and store energy (just like desiccated thyroid)
  • Calms the brain
  • Removes toxins along with Vit. C
  • Increases the efficiency of white blood cells (your immune system)
  • Helps prevent cancer and slows down the course of cancer (along with zinc and selenium!)
  • Can raise testosterone levels in men (and with zinc)
  • Relieves pain! (important news for those with arthritis or other pain issues)
  • Does the opposite of what is listed above about how deficiencies affect you
  • Is nearly miraculous for the depth and scope of its application
  • Saves billions of dollars as well as millions of lives

How will I treat my own low magnesium??

After confirming my situation via the RBC Magnesium lab test,  I know I can’t improve it with oral supplements. The amount I would need simply causes diarrhea.

Instead, I am following the information I’ve read in this book and heard about from others: the use of “magnesium oil”, which is magnesium chloride, and I’ll be rubbing it on my skin and following the information on how much. That is apparently the best way to give myself enough magnesium. I have personally ordered the Ancient Minerals brand–found it on the net. I may also use magnesium salts in water, soaking my feet in it. I plan on making sure my husband is tested, as I strongly suspect he is low as a diabetic with digestive issues.

(Update: I eventually stopped liking the stinging feeling that the magnesium oil did to my skin, and I switched to Natural Calm powder in my morning drink…then later to other forms of supplemental magnesium!)

Yes, I feel really good with my natural desiccated thyroid in the treatment of my hypothyroid. But I want to be healthy in all areas, and this is one that looks important to me. (Thanks Stephanie)

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Is Cellulose the real problem in desiccated thyroid meds for many?

Screen Shot 2015-08-05 at 12.53.55 PM(This blog post is updated to the current day and time. Enjoy!)

When Forest Labs reformulated Armour desiccated thyroid in early 2009, they stated they increased the filler Microcrystalline Cellulose, and decreased the Sucrose (sugar). And all of sudden, the tablets became impossible to do sublingually–a method so many of us loved and which seemed to give even more of a punch.

And we were left wondering in 2009 why they would change a particular quality (being able to do the tablets sublingually) that thyroid patients praised so heavily?  Positive opinion among patients for Forest Labs back then slipped several notches. (Forest Labs was bought out by Actavis in 2014)

But the real cuckoo’s nest for many thyroid patients still on Armour in 2009, who knew firsthand the life-changing benefits of natural desiccated thyroid, was a maddening return of serious hypo symptoms on the 2009 Armour with its increase in cellulose, and subsequent new stress on their adrenals, sooner…or later! You can read several horror stories in the comments of the post below, or go here.

So patients turned to other alternatives, which at the time was Naturethroid and Westhroid by RLC Labs. (Naturethroid stopped working as well in 2018)

So what has been the common thread in the most problematic desiccated thyroid products?

It has always been CELLULOSE, a plant fiber, and more commonly known by the trade name Avicel. And what does fiber do in your stomach? Inhibits absorption. Armour’s cellulose was raised, and bamm…problems.  Compounded desiccated thyroid, with cellulose as a filler, has been problematic for many patients with a return of hypo symptoms, especially if it was Methyl Cellulose, a larger particle size product. But some have even had problems with compounded containing Microcrystalline Cellulose, the smaller cellular product. And a certain body of patients even had problems with Naturethroid back then before it became scarce for awhile. And Naturethroid used cellulose as a filler.

Note: With all the complaints, Forest Labs did change something about Armour by mid–to-late 2010. Though it never returned to what it was before 2009, it did become a softer tablet and patients did better on it. But we certainly learned a big lesson about cellulose in our NDT pills..

Is this problem true with T3-only products?

Yes. Patients noted that generic T3 was far less effective than the brand name Cytomel (both Liothyronine Sodium)  And what filler is up to 70% in the generic T3?  CELLULOSE.  

What does literature say about the use of Cellulose as a filler in medications?

Plenty. Cellulose is from wood. Wood is fiber. And fiber in your gut affects absorption. From http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/fiber-000303.htm we get this:

* Dietary fiber has been reported to lower the blood levels and effectiveness of tricyclic antidepressant medications…Reduced dietary fiber intake increased the blood levels and improved symptoms in these patients.

* While fiber supplements may help to regulate blood sugar levels, they may also interfere with the absorption of anti-diabetic medications….Therefore, fiber supplements should not be taken at the same time as these medications.

* Taking soluble fiber such as psyllium with carbamazepine (Tegretol), a medication used to treat seizure disorders, may decrease the absorption and effectiveness of carbamazepine.

* Fiber in the form of pectin (from fruit) and oat bran reportedly reduces the body’s ability to absorb cholesterol-lowering medications known as “statins,”… and could lead to decreased effectiveness of these medications.

* Fiber supplements may reduce the body’s ability to absorb digoxin (Lanoxin), a medication used to regulate heart function.

* Clinical reports suggest that psyllium or other soluble fibers may lower lithium levels in the blood, reducing the effectiveness of this medication.

* In one clinical study, the fiber supplement guar gum reduced blood levels of penicillin.

Fast forward to the present

If you are using a compounded desiccated thyroid medication, it’s strongly recommended to request powdered acidophiles, also spelled acidophilus, as your filler.  One gal states her compounding pharmacy uses powdered Ginger (but beware of too much Ginger if you have Mitral Valve Prolapse. It can cause palps if you take too much–my experience).  Others might use powdered Vitamin C.  See what other fillers your compounder can offer.

Another possibility is Cellulase, an enzyme which helps the splitting and breakdown of cellulose, It’s found on most supplement websites.

JanieSignature SEIZE THE WISDOM

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