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Finally! The 2011 REVISED SECOND EDITION of the Stop the Thyroid Madness book!

YEEHAW!!

Three years ago this month, the book Stop the Thyroid Madness: A Patient Revolution Against Decades of Inferior Treatment came out with quiet fanfare–a complete patient-to-patient book chock full of information based on the successful experience of thyroid patients worldwide.  As the messenger of that information, I had a strong purpose: to create INFORMED patients who can then demand change in their doctors offices. Pro-active patients!  Educated patients!

But the reaction to it wasn’t quiet!

Thyroid patients have reported it was changing their lives.  To date, the STTM book has been sent, and in multiple copies, to Antiqua/ Barbuda, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand, Netherlands,  Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, and the UK. That doesn’t include the high volume amount of copies sent to US patients, doctors, and individuals in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

Amazingly, yet not surprisingly, patients were discovering new information even a few months after the First Edition was published three years ago.  As a result, Laughing Grape Publishing LLC had to add, and continually update, a bookmark of updated information into all its books ordered directly from the publishing company.

Today, in the REVISED SECOND EDITION, all that extra patient information has been added, plus a LOT more.

  • 36 more pages, by and for patients, plus changes & additions in every single chapter
  • Much more detail on adrenal and HPA dysfunction and how to treat it
  • Recognizing and dealing with Reverse T3
  • Identifying and treating gluten issues as related to Hashimotos disease
  • Iodine-use information in relation to hypothyroid, breast disease, Hashimotos, adrenal dysfunction, etc.
  • More details on labwork preparation, plus what to look for in your results
  • Why you need more than ferritin testing, and details on iron testing
  • Updated information on brands of desiccated thyroid throughout the world, T3-only products, hydrocortisone, and more
  • A completely NEW CHAPTER on supplements & foods which thyroid patients appreciate and use!

And, the price has been kept exactly the same.  Our loss; your gain, in the name of an important movement of needed education and change!

This was NOT an easy book to revise!  I had to go through it with a fine-toothed comb, removing some information, correcting other information, adding a lot more…besides working on making it more readable. I am not a writer by profession. Sometimes I felt like a “cuckoo’s nest mental case”  trying to balance the work on the Revised edition with my other activist responsibilities and a busy private life.  Is it perfect?  Nope.  But as I stated in the First, some information is right on target, some is at least close to the bulls-eye, and other info will fall into place as we continue to learn. That’s why you need to see it as “guide” of patient experience, and to use it to become PROACTIVE in your relationship with your doctor and the entire medical profession.

Today, you can order either copy. As of today, the First Edition has been lowered to 14.95 until supplies run out, which will be soon. The Revised Second Edition is taking pre-orders, and it looks like books will start being sent out in about 7-10 days.

You can go here to see a stand-alone website about the book, as well as here to be among the first to pre-order your copy.

THE STTM BOOK IN OTHER LANGUAGES

Yes, you will eventually be seeing the Revised Second Edition in various languages. That’s in the works right now, and no, I don’t yet know the dates. I’ll announce that here, so be sure and be signed up for this BLOG NOTIFICATION to the left under the links.

KINDLE and E-BOOKS

With no projected dates other than much later this year, you will first see an E-book. Later, we’ll be looking at Kindle. Again, announcements will be made, and you’ll have to be patient.  In the meantime, ordering the book is your best choice right now. Besides, having this book in your lap in the doctor’s office is powerful to many of them, since doctors can have silly thoughts about “internet” information.

And more is coming which will be announced as they occur. 🙂

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Recall of certain batches of Armour–US, Belgium, UK

If you have 1/2 grain (30 mg)  tablets, a label error caused some one grain tablets (60 mg)  to be labeled as 1/2  grain tablets (30 mgs). That would mean you could be overdosing yourself if you are taking 1/2 grains.  Both sizes need to be returned to your pharmacist with this information and exchanged.  i.e. COPY THIS when you take them back.

NOTE: they would be Lot #: 1077413 with an expiration of  9/30/2011  This is what your pharmacist would need to know.

PRODUCT

Armour Thyroid (thyroid tablets, USP), 1/2 grain (30 mg) , each tablet contains 19 mcg levothyroxine (T4) and 4.5 mcg liothyronine (T3), 100-count bottle, NDC 0456-0458-01. Recall # D-231-2011
CODE
Lot #: 1077413, Exp. 9/30/2011
RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER
Recalling Firm: Forest Pharmaceuticals Inc., Earth City, MO, by telephone and letters on October 6, 2010. 
Manufacturer: Forest Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cincinnati, OH. Firm initiated recall is ongoing.
REASON
Labeling: Label error on declared strength; some bottles are mislabeled as containing 1/2-grain tablets but actually contain 1-grain tablets. The entire lot is being recalled even though some bottles are labeled correctly because bottles of 1/2-grain and 1-grain could be shrink-wrapped together.
VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE
31,172 bottles approx.
DISTRIBUTION
Nationwide, PR, Belgium and the United Kingdom

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/EnforcementReports/ucm242808.htm

  • See my post to a very, very thankful individual, here.
  • Have you switched from one brand to another? Tell us how you did here.
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  • Need to talk to other patients, or want a one-on-one consultation with Janie? Go here.
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Have you switched from one desiccated thyroid to another? Let’s share.

“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents
and making them see the light, but rather because it opponents eventually die,
and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it” ~ Max Planck

NOTE: Though this post was originally written in 2011, it has been updated to the current date and time.

Screen Shot 2015-11-26 at 10.55.40 PMHOW DIFFERENT BRANDS OF DESICCATED WORK FOR SOME, NOT FOR OTHERS

Granted, we note from patient reports that all brands work based on individual reports of any brand.

But some patients, for a variety of reasons, feel they do well on some NDT’s, but not on others. It’s very individual. This may be due to the fillers in any product.

Or, there are some like me who had to switch from one desiccated thyroid brand to another, not because of fillers, but changes in the product.  I, for example, was on the pre-reformulated Armour from 2002 to 2009, and successfully treated.

Then came 2009 when patients were reporting Armour not working as well anymore. It had been reformulated–the cellulose raised and the sucrose decreased.  I just let my old Armour run out, and I started on Erfa Thyroid from Canada. And it was an easy and successful switch for me.

But even some batches of Erfa seemed to go bad in 2014, so I then moved over to NP Thyroid, which has been great to this day.

So I am an example of the way that all three did work for me, and simply had to change due to reported problems in the way Armour, or Erfa, was made.

What if any switch doesn’t result in good results?

For many, the NDT they have switched to works just as well, as happened to me. But for some, a switch has not been smooth. One brand seemed to serve them well, while another brand caused them to tank.

What causes the switch problems?

For many, it could be the adrenals. On one product, they may have felt fine, yet due to an underlying adrenal issue they hadn’t caught, a different brand with that “something different” may have been the umpff that revealed their adrenal problem.

For others, the issues on the new brand could be from a sensitivity to one or more of the fillers. You can read about all fillers in each brand here.

And for still others, there is a mystery of why one didn’t work and another did.

What has been your experience? What did you switch from and to? Armour? Naturethroid? Erfa? Compounded? Thyroid-S? Let’s share.

If I need to switch, how do I do it?

It’s pretty much an even switch. i.e. if I was doing well on 3 grains on one brand, I go on 3 grains of the other.

But if I wasn’t doing well on a brand, it’s important to ask one self four things:

  1. Did I raise the current brand high enough? It’s common for hypothyroid symptoms to return on lower non-optimal doses. How to raise is explained here.
  2. Do I have an issue with a filler?? They can be looked at here.
  3. Do I have optimal levels of iron? Because if your iron levels aren’t “optimal”, it can cause problems when raising NDT. Optimal has nothing to do with normal. See this page.
  4. Do I have an adrenal problem being revealed due to NDT? 

JanieSignature SEIZE THE WISDOM

  • Join the STTM STTM Facebook page for daily tips and inspiration on thyroid issues. 
  • Have you ever heard of the gal who calls herself nonstickpam? I’ve known Pam for many years, and she has spent most of that time giving helpful advice on low carb eating and how to maintain your weight while dealing with thyroid and/or adrenal issues. Recently, she wrote an article for STTM about this very issue: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/hypothyroid-and-weight-issues/

 

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Tongue-in-cheek yet sincere thankfulness from Thyroid Patients…and more

As the United States approaches Thanksgiving, it’s appropriate to offer our thanks as thyroid patients to the following:

THANKS go to the American Thyroid Association (ATA), who in their Nov. 10th email newsletter, had a NATURE-THROID desiccated thyroid ad right under their logo and gave us a great chuckle! Why? The ATA has always rigidly recommended T4-only medications and the TSH–both which have failed too many thyroid patients for sixty years. Loved your faux pas, ATA, in the name of making $$!! Are we going to see it again? Huh??

THANKS to Forest Labs, who though patients feel they ruined one of the oldest and best desiccated thyroid medications ever made when they reformulated it in 2009, gave thyroid patients the memory of a desiccated med far superior to press for from other pharmaceuticals in the future after the FDA gets their act together about the safety and efficacy of desiccated thyroid. (p.s. chew your Armour thoroughly before swallowing for better effectiveness, say patients)

THANKS to Erfa in Canada, who makes their own version of desiccated thyroid just like the old Armour, where we can do it sublingually and where it still has a touch of sugar to help with dissolution. Glory be to Erfa!

THANKS to the FDA, who had enough wisdom to allow thyroid patients to order Erfa desiccated thyroid from Canada–a far superior product than the lousy T4-only medications for a huge body of thyroid patients. We hope your wisdom continues.

THANKS to all the makers of important supplements–many which have played HUGE roles in the lives of thyroid patients trying to undo the damage done to us thanks to T4-only and the TSH lab test. They include high potency B-vitamins, selenium, minerals, sea salt, iodine, and so many more. We are behind you in the freedom to choose nutritional supplements without a doctor’s prescription.

THANKS to the growing body of doctors who have been listening to patient experience and email me of that fact. We bow to all of you who have LISTENED to the whole body of knowledge thyroid patients have learned, which is also Chapter 3 in the STTM book with more details.

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FULL BODY SCANS AT AIRPORTS: should thyroid patients be concerned?

If you are going to fly anywhere and are a thyroid patient, you may need to understand that you could be subjected to radiation in a full body scan. And since thyroid patients in various groups have expressed concern about the effect of radiation exposure on their own thyroids, this can be a concern.

Oh sure, John Pistole of the Transportation Security Administration says they keep us safe.  And the FDA website is saying that these X-ray scanners pose “very low health risks.”   But the FDA is also the agency who has always approved a certain kind of thyroid medication, T4-only, which has left millions of us with lingering hypothyroid symptoms for years, and which calls a medication which HAS worked for over 100 years as “unapproved”.

So, if you are going to fly anywhere while this controversial procedure continues, you might want to choose the intrusive pat-down instead, or look into a train.

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DO COSMETIC LASER DEVICES CAUSE THYROID PROBLEMS?

In the same vein as my comment above about radiation scans when you fly:  I received an email from a gal who feels that a cosmetic laser device has not only injured her eyes, but may be the culprit in the fact that she now has hypothyroidism and a pituitary tumor. And she’s not alone, as others are wondering the same thing with support groups on the net.  These laser devices are used to correct sun damage on your face, improve acne scars, improve rosacea, tighten skin, remove melasma spots, and even help with eyesight.  She called herself and others with damage from these devices “modern day radium girls” . If you want to be more informed, research this on the net and decide for yourself.

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SEND THE STTM BOOK AS A CHRISTMAS PRESENT

The publishing company will do the work for you, sending a book as a holiday present for to a friend or loved one who needs to read what patients have learned.  Included will be a holiday card with your name in it, or you can remain anonymous.  Go here.

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HOW TO TACKLE A BAD COLD AND CONGESTION AS A THYROID PATIENT

A gal emailed me, asking if I knew of something that would help her terrible nasal congestion. She found out the hard way that using Afrin, a strong nasal spray, caused her thyroid to ache. I then recommended she look into a Neti Pot, which can do wonders to clear your compacted nose, and I faithfully use it if I do have congestion (which I did last week when I failed to take enough Vit. D at the onset of symptoms of an upper respiratory infection). Check it out here.  And when you first try it, don’t panic. Let it do its miracle, because it really works!

COMMON QUESTIONS and ANSWERS are here.

HOW TO FIND A GOOD DOC is here.

WHERE TO TALK TO OTHER PATIENTS is here.

CURRENT OPTIONS FOR GOOD THYROID TREATMENT here.

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A clinical trial in progress to investigate T3 in the treatment of fibromyalgia

Oh the heels of my last blog post (see right below this if you are reading right on the site) comes something VERY interesting, and which thyroid-patients-in-the-know have already known about for a good ten years!

Namely, Dr. Ian Carroll, MD, MS, and Dr. Jarred Younger, PhD of the Stanford Systems Neuroscience and Pain Lab are currently enrolling patients for a clinical trial investigating T3 for the treatment of fibromyalgia. (Fibromyalgia is a chronic syndrome which causes widespread musculoskeletal pain and debilitating fatigue, also aching, twitching, burn sensation, joint issues).

Of course, patients who switched to desiccated thyroid the past ten years (or have used synthetic T3 in their treatment) already KNOW the truth from experience (which is usually always pooh-poohed by clinical-trial-worshipping, clinical-presentation-ignoring, medical professionals.).

Namely, fibromyalgia is usually the result of undiagnosed hypothyroidism (due to the inane TSH lab test) and undertreated hypothyroidism (due to the worst medication ever thrust on patients, aka T4-only, or Synthroid, Levoxyl, levothyroxine, Eltroxin, Oroxine, etc.) i.e. you need direct T3, the most powerful thyroid hormone, to adequately treated hypothyroidism.

i.e. we’re all kinda going duhhhhhhhh here.

But, if a clinical trial is needed to prove what we already know (and so has Dr. John C. Lowe known it for many years), it’ll be just one more underscore of the truth. Go to the following to read more and/or enroll:  http://snapl.stanford.edu/t3/

P.S. the Bobbsey Twins of the failure of the TSH labs test and treating with T4-only:  Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

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Does your inner ear itch?? Got an email from a gal who was on Synthroid for 7 years, and for the last 5, had torturous deep inner ear itching. And guess what?? It went away just two days after switching to desiccated thyroid. Yup, another long and pathetic symptom of a poor treatment. (If you still have it on desiccated thyroid, see what mistakes in your treatment you need to identify and change, which is also Chapter 11 in the STTM book with a little more details added.)

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Yippee!! Direct Labs is the third lab facility to partner with STTM in offering the kind of labs that patients who frequent STTM know are important in their quest to feel better and educate their doctors.  Unfortunately, they don’t offer saliva like the other two, which are Healthcheck USA and MyMedLab, but they have all the other labs you may be interested in. You can view them by going to STTM’s Recommended Labwork page.

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