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Hypothyroidism, Insulin resistance and Metformin: read this brilliant information!

This interesting page has been updated to the present day and time. Enjoy!

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The following insightful post was written by UK hypothyroid patient Sarah Wilson. 

My daughter (25) has epilepsy. What’s that got to do with being hypothyroid and Natural Thyroid Hormones (NTH. also known as Natural Desiccated Thyroid or NDT)? Quite a lot, by the look of things.

My daughter’s epilepsy is triggered by unstable blood sugars. And since taking Metformin (medication to improve blood sugar control), she has significantly reduced the number of seizures. Being a good hypothyroid Tiger-mother, I have been doing mega amounts of research and we got to the Metformin approach through reading hundreds of academic medical journals. What I found along the way got me thinking about NTH and Hypothyroidism.

I have a strong hunch, backed up by some meaty academic evidence, that when patients develop hypothyroid symptoms, they are actually becoming insulin resistant. There are many symptoms in common between women with PCOS and hypothyroidism–the hair loss, the weight gain, et al. http://insulinhub.hubpages.com/hub/PCOS-and-Hypothyroidism A hypothyroid person’s body thinks it is going into starvation mode and so, to preserve resources and prolong life, the metabolism changes. If hypothyroid is prolonged or pronounced, then it is entirely feasible that even with the reintroduction of thyroid hormones, that chemical preservation mode becomes permanent. To get back to normal, they need a super “jump-start” to kick the metabolism back into action. The super-kick start is effected through something called AMPK, which is known as the “master metabolic regulating enzyme.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMP-activated_protein_kinase

Guess what? This is exactly what happens to Diabetes patients when Metformin is introduced. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metformin

If you are technically minded then you might want to read these articles. http://www.springerlink.com/content/r81606gl3r603167/ and http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2265.2011.04029.x/pdf

They are a bit tough-going on the science but worth ploughing through. Why?  Note the following comments/partial statements:  “Hypothyroidism is characterized by decreased insulin responsiveness”; “the pivotal regulatory role of T3 in major metabolic pathways”; “The effect of thyroid hormone on basal metabolic rate was recognized more than a century ago”

The community knows that T3/NTH makes hypothyroid patients feel better – but the medical establishment is scared of T3/NTH – probably because they don’t understand how it really works. The medical establishment might find an alternative line of argument about impaired metabolism more palatable if we can show them this real proof that the old desiccated thryoid treatment **was/is** having the right result – the i.e. the T3 is jump-starting the metabolism by re-activating AMPK. If Metformin (or one of the other anti-diabetic meds) could actually also do the same thing for hypothyroidism without the “dangers” of NTH, they they should be jumping at the opportunity.

The great news is that Metformin is very cheap, stable and has very few serious side effects (and certainly none on the heart). To use the car engine metaphor, if glucose is our petrol, AMPK is the spark plug and both T3 and Metformin are both ignition switches. Sometimes if you have flat batteries in the car, it doesn’t matter how much you turn the ignition switch or pump the petrol pedal, all it does is flatten the battery and flood the engine. Dr. Skinner in the UK has been treating “pre-hypothyroidism” the way that some doctors treat “pre-diabetes”. Those hypothyroid patients who get treated early (before the wretched blood numbers get into the magical range) probably haven’t had their AMPK pathways altered and the T4-T3 conversion still works. The use of drugs as prophylactics is well understood by the medical establishment (e.g. baby aspirin for hearts), so there is no reason therefore why thyroid hormone replacement therapy shouldn’t logically be given to ward off a greater problem down the line.

It’s my belief that there is clear and abundant academic evidence that the AMPK/Metformin research should branch out to also look at thyroid disease.

As a supplementary on the history. I have PCOS; my female relatives have PCOS; my mother has just developed breast cancer which we are certain is related to the oestrogen dominance/insulin resistance. My daughter also has had Coeliac Disease since weaning (and oh boy, that was a fight to get a diagnosis but we got there). My daughter was showing lots of PCOS symptoms (some of which are of course hypothyroid symptoms) alongside the Estrogen, but because there were no cysts…no diagnosis, which is not correct by the Amsterdam criteria, but there we have it. So we moved “off topic” in PCOS terms, did a 9 month experiment of adding and subtracting one thing at a time to get to a (more) stable outcome. We never got the PCOS diagnosis but we did end up with T2DM Type 2 Diabetes) by the backdoor and the Metformin. We had two stupid consultants who reduced her to tears – their logic was unbelievably crass and at odds with long standing proof: “there isn’t a tap in your neck which stops the sugar getting to your brain you know” grrrrr. I have since found the links between people with T1DM (Type 1 Diabetes) who inject insulin and hypothyroidism too.

So my idea is that we need to talk to the medical profession in a language they relate to. They think Natural Desiccated Thyroid is voodoo, so they switch off. YET the NDT is doing something very, very scientific: the direct T3 is kicking the closed -own metabolic process back into life, just like Metformin does for insulin resistance. Who says there isn’t more widespread T4 resistance? There is serotonin resistance!  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17250776

http://web.archive.org/web/20130426233947/http://www.hotthyroidology.com/editorial_79.html Take a look at page 63.

Disclaimer: I, Sarah, am not medically trained and I haven’t even got a University degree. My business, however, is researching complex financial data and since leaving school, I have probably graduated with a PhD in the University of Life. My daughter has two degrees and my husband is in IT so I’ve learned a lot about logic over the past 30 years. I think that to take this debate forward, we need someone with the credibility to do a piece of academic research and get it put into one of the highly ranked journals – even doing a relatively straightforward meta-analysis of all the published works on AMPK/T3 /metabolism would be a start. I know everyone feels desperately miserable about not being treated properly, and it is probably very sexist that us bunch of moaning women are not taken seriously. BUT perception is reality and we have to deal with that reality as best we can. And I think that our sisters in the chronic fatigue/ME camp should have reason to join us on our quest too. I wouldn’t know where to start to find out how to sponsor a university researcher but maybe we should think about that as our “big thing”.

Let’s talk.

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Saliva testing while on HC? Maybe…if your doc understands what to look for…plus more!

For years, thyroid patients have shied away from using saliva testing while on HC, concerned about the false highs and false lows of cortisol  levels that occur with exogenous use of medications like hydrocortisone (HC) i.e.  that which you give yourself externally vs the natural release. Or, there might be an issue with the HC still left in your mouth,  and the saliva results would reflect this.

But thyroid patient and author Paul Robinson, as explained in his blog post,  has recently been in touch with Dr. Henry Lindner who has found a way to use saliva with his patients on HC.  Also, to avoid the residue of HC in one’s saliva, he instructs his patients to swallow their HC quickly with water.

For example, Lindner can tell if one isn’t on enough HC by looking at the saliva result done two hours after a patient took HC.  i.e. the reading might still look “normal” when in fact, it should be much higher due to the high peak after taking HC exogenously. It would only be “normal” (or low normal) looking four hours after one takes HC, not two hours after.  Conversely, if saliva is done right before the next dose of HC is due, which is often in four hours, it should be low normal, since exogenous use of HC should result in a fall after the peak.  Thus, it can mean one’s HC dose before that was too much.

You can read Dr. Lindner’s own words on his website here. I can’t guarantee this will work for you. In fact, we don’t recommend doing it this way at all. And your doctor probably won’t understand it yet.  So in the meantime, patients have been assessing their HC use with Daily Average Temps (DATS) and it’s still viable as well. It can be a way to avoid the cost of additional saliva testing.  To understand how to do your DATS, see Discovery Step Two, number four, here.  This is also explained in the revised STTM book in Chapter 5, which also has more details.

Want to order your own saliva test? Go here. Both My Med Lab and Healthcheck USA use ZRT, and Direct Labs uses a six times a day saliva testing if you’re curious about your nighttime levels.

DID HIS WIFE COMMIT SUICIDE DUE TO THE FAILURE TO TREAT HER THYROID CORRECTLY?

In one of STTM’s Facebook groups, I saw a posting about this article, and it broke my heart.

I cannot say one way or the other about this particular case, where his young wife had Hashimotos. But in the ten years I’ve been a Thyroid Patient Activist, I’ve seen SO many thyroid patients on T4-only, or those who haven’t received a correct diagnosis due to the lousy TSH lab test, suffer from depression, whether from continued thyroid problems or the effects of adrenal fatigue and low cortisol–the latter which a large body of thyroid patients can fall into. The brain and the adrenals NEED T3, we have learned personally, over and over.

My own mother was a classic example, having endured Electric Shock Treatment in the 1960’s for her poorly-treated, thyroid-induced depression, then needing to be on an anti-depressant her entire life from being on T4-only. That anti-depressant made her emotions flat.

You can see the article here.

DO YOU HAVE TO ENDLESSLY TAKE CERTAIN VITAMINS/MINERALS TO KEEP THEM UP??

I do. For me, it’s magnesium.  It’s like my body has a “magnesium hole” and I can never seem to keep my levels optimal without supplementing daily.  And I am very optimally treated for my hypothyroidism, and use Apple Cider Vinegar daily in a large glas of flavored water for a more acidic stomach environment. For others, it’s a “B12 hole”, and they have to inject or take supplements daily. Others might have an “iron hole” and need the maintain that.

What about you? What supplements do you have to take daily to keep your levels optimal??

 

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Ten years reveal what works with thyroid treatment, plus healing adrenals without HC!

This year, 2012, marks the tenth year I started working with and learning from patients after desiccated thyroid turned my life completely around. It all began with the creation of the Yahoo group Natural Thyroid Hormone users–a still-active group. And the next few years of “patients sharing with patients” provided incredible information. 

And when it comes to the variety of thyroid med treatments, here’s a general summary of ten years of patient experience:

  1. T4-ONLY MEDS: do not work well for a large body, if at all, leaving patients with continuing hypothyroid symptoms in their own degree and kind. Those who feel they are doing well on T4 end up seeing increasing symptoms of a poor treatment…eventually (or don’t recognize their symptoms of a poor treatment). By observation, more than 50% of those on T4-only end up with screwy or debilitating adrenal function, low iron, low Vit. D and more side effects of a poor treatment. Some put on T4 (because of a transient high TSH lab test result) probably never needed any thyroid treatment in the first place, like my sister-in-law.
  2. SYNTHETIC T3 WITH SYNTHETIC T4: a definite step up from T4-only in improvement of symptoms. Unfortunately, though, we see more and more doctors prescribing this rather than breaking through their ignorance and prescribing natural desiccated thyroid with its T4/T3/T2/T1/calcitonin, because all they know about is synthetics.
  3. T3-ONLY: another good step up from T4-only. Patients note they have to be diligent in taking their multi-dosed T3, having no T4 to rely upon for conversion. Also used temporarily by those who want to lower high RT3 while correcting the causes.
  4. NATURAL DESICCATED THYROID: gives the best results, say many patients over the past ten years who tried the synthetic T4/T3 route or others, since it gives exactly what a healthy thyroid would give (T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin).  There just appears to be something synergistically powerful when you give yourself exactly what your own thyroid would be giving you.  If you have issues, it’s usually due to a cortisol or iron problem, which need to be corrected. More info here.
  5. COMPOUNDED THYROID:  Be careful, say experienced patients, when your doctor prescribes this! It’s far more expensive, and the less expensive prescription pill forms of NDT work well anyway. Also, some patients have been shocked to find out that what they were taking was compounded synthetic T3 and synthetic T4. Beware, say informed patients, when your doc says “it’s specially formulated for your particular needs” (for most, this is a mute point. The prescription pills for fine.) or “time-released is good” (Not, say patients, who found it runs out far too quickly).
  6. OVER-THE-COUNTER THYROID SUPPLEMENTS:  Just a few years ago, patient experience found them to be weak substitutes for prescription desiccated thyroid meds. But the last few years saw the introduction of good OTC products which patients report have done them well! ThyroGold brought out by the late Dr. John C. Lowe is one, even if quite strong and the need to pour out the contents and divide.
Of course, there can be less common ways to use the above. For example, those with peripheral tissue resistance can be on high doses of desiccated thyroid (to get the benefits of all five hormones) along with added T3. And there are more.
READ the stories of two real people who found out the hard way that Synthroid can end up biting you in the butt later: DEANNE and GENE.

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YES VIRGINIA, YOU CAN HEAL YOUR ADRENALS WITHOUT USING HC!

And just as patient experience has revealed great information about a variety of thyroid treatments, the same patient experience is breaking ground with adrenal treatment as I write this! Namely, a small but growing body of patients have been doing the T3 CIRCADIAN PROTOCOL FOR ADRENALS, as first discovered by UK patient and author Paul Robinson, and it’s working!

And even more exciting? It’s working with natural desiccated thyroid, not just T3!

Now of course, Paul doesn’t feel that “healing” is the right word. He prefers that it’s “promoting better adrenal function”.  He’s right. But “healing” fits when one has gone from the misery of low cortisol, to the glee of better adrenal function….and achieved from just several weeks of doing the protocol correctly, as compared to a few years with the use of HC and its problematic side effects.

To read more about this exciting new discovery, go here.  You’ll also see the link to order Robinson’s book, of which Chapter 16 covers this use of T3 in promoting better adrenal function.

 

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Who has the vision and courage of Dr. Lowe…and a message from Acella about delays

Each day, when I think about the passing of Dr. Lowe (which you can read about here), I reel in shock at this huge loss in our fight for better thyroid treatment and SANITY.

And now we have to ask: who will fill those shoes when it comes to the continuation of thyroidscience.org and the courageous message of Dr. Lowe?? Even the front page contains an important article  titled “TSH is Not the Answer,” a report Dr. Carol Rowsemitt and Dr. Thomas Najarian: Their explanation and verification  i.e. Dr. Lowe fought for what PATIENTS ALREADY KNOW TO BE TRUE about the lousy TSH lab test!

And Lowe announced that he was next coming out with an article concerning ” false statements of fact online about T3-containing thyroid products including Armour Thyroid” by The British Thyroid Association and UK Royal College of Physicians.  He continued: ” The scientific facts patently show the falsehood of the two organizations’ statements. Is this a failure of responsibility to study scientific issues before making public pronouncements on them? Or do the statements constitute science fraud?”    Unless it was already written, we might never see this article. But we all know the truth.

The loss of Dr. Lowe propels me to ask: Who do YOU see as a medical professional who has the following qualities:

  • high intelligence
  • an interest in true science rather than blindly following research with outcomes based on who paid for certain studies
  • the courage to speak the truth, even if it goes against the grain of staid medical opinion
  • compassion for thyroid patients and the willingness to listen to their experiences

Who, as a medical professional, can patients give a vote of confidence to as someone who can continue the legacy of Dr. Lowe?  Propose some names by commenting on this blog post below. (If you are reading this via the Email Notification, click on the title of this post, which will bring you directly to the blog post where you can leave a comment).

A MESSAGE FROM ELLEN GETTENBERG of ACELLA (THE MAKERS OF GENERIC DESICCATED THYROID CALLED N.P. THYROID)

Over the past several weeks, Acella has experienced production planning issues associated with NP Thyroid.  We sincerely apologize for this and want to inform our valued customers that we are putting measures in place now to prevent any further limited supply.  We anticipate improved availability by the end of January.  Please check back here on our website for further updates.  If you need additional information, please email us through the “Contact Us” page on NPThyroid.com.

Ellen Gettenberg
Director, Marketing| Acella Pharmaceuticals
9005 Westside Parkway | Alpharetta, GA 30009
www.acellapharma.com

WANT TO PAY IT FORWARD AS TO WHAT STTM HAS GIVEN YOU?

Out of my own savings last Fall, I paid for three months in hiring a publicist for the message of Stop the Thyroid Madness…i.e. through the end of December. My goal is to reach far more who may not understand WHY they have problems thanks to the lousy TSH lab test or T4-only meds like Synthroid, Levothyroxine, etc. And she has done a fabulous job in getting interviews and articles out there–you can see what she has done on the donation page mentioned below.

After December, patients donations completely paid for January. Now we are working on February, and nearly half way there. But this will end sooner than later if more donations don’t come in. Go here to read about it and Pay It Forward.

HAVE YOU CONSIDERED YOU MAY NOT NEED HC TO HEAL YOUR ADRENALS? OR IF ON HC, YOU CAN DO THIS A LOT FASTER?

UK thyroid and adrenal patient Paul Robinson made a VERY interesting discovery–that he could heal his adrenals with his unique use of T3. Yup, and he SUCCEEDED. And it’s quite exciting news for adrenal fatigue patients.  Additionally, if you are on T3, his  T3 titration process alone is vastly superior to most other recommendations in the use of T3, and means you can use less!!

Take the time to find out for yourself!!  There’s a good summary of what he discovered in the new STTM Facebook Adrenals group (and please note this group is for PATIENTS ONLY, not medical professionals. And for approval to the group, you canNOT have a hidden info and friends. We have to be this way to keep out spammers, and to see that you are who you say you are).  You can also order his book from this Recommended books page on STTM. To order the patient-to-patient STTM book, go here.

 

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T3 to heal adrenals, Selenium, liver–all important info for thyroid patients!

Though this post was written in 2012, it has been updated to the current day and time and it still applicable. Enjoy!

HOW T3, DOSED A CERTAIN WAY, CAN REVERSE YOUR ADRENAL FATIGUE!

UK’s Hashimoto’s patient Paul Robinson has been a successful T3-only treated patient for more than 13 years, especially because he never did well on either synthetic T4, nor on the combination of T4/T3. And he learned so much about himself that he compiled all the information on T3 dosing in his book called Recovering With T3: My Journey from Hypothyroidism to Good Health Using the T3 Thyroid Hormone.

But what I especially find interesting is how he used T3 to cure his flagging adrenal function rather than HC (hydrocortisone).  And here is a short summary of key points. He calls this The Circadian T3 Method, aka the CT3M.

  1. Most of the day’s cortisol is made in the last four hours of sleep, which means your adrenals work their hardest during that time. And like any cell in your body which need T3 to function well, so do your adrenal cells…especially during the time they work the hardest.
  2. With the above in mind, it made sense to Paul that if adrenals are struggling with low cortisol, they clearly need T3 in that early morning 4-hour window in order to function better. How did he do it?  He moved his first T3 dose to one hour before he would normally wake up, held it for a few weeks to see the results, went earlier another half hour, held it for a few weeks to see the effect…and so on. He obtained a lot of data to ascertain what was happening–urine cortisol, blood pressure, pulse, etc. He found that the time which gave his adrenals the biggest boost, and thus better function, was 3 1/2 hours before he normally wakes up.  But he feels that others might find that anywhere in the first three hours of that four hour window, and it’s important to move slowly within that area to find the right time for you based on data.
  3. This protocol needs certain supplements, which include high potency B complex, B12, Vit. C, Vit. D and a good multi mineral. He goes into detail in his book.
  4. This protocol would not work if someone has Addison’s Disease, Hypopituitary or Diabetes…and may not work if you have pre-Diabetes blood sugar issues. It’s blood sugar in the cells that reacts positively with T3.

There is much more detail than the above. And Paul makes it clear that this treatment for adrenal fatigue and proven low cortisol should only be done in your relationship with your doctor. You can read more here on STTM.

UPDATE: many patients have reported that though the CT3M did wonders bringing up the morning cortisol, it didn’t help afternoon cortisol at all, and for some, didn’t help noon’s low cortisol. Yes, there are some who feel it’s helped all day, but also a large body who said it only helped morning. So we concluded that though it’s great for that low morning, you may have to use other supports for other low cortisol times. Also, the CT3M is excellent to help get off HC! Many are off in a month or less!

SELENIUM, EVEN WITH HIGH RT3, IS A MINERAL YOU NEED!

Check out what thyroid patient Cheryl Alvey has put together about selenium. This is a masterful page!

WHY THYROID PATIENTS NEED HEALTHY LIVER FUNCTION

What happens if your liver isn’t healthy?  Transportation is less optimal, and the deiodination type 1 will change to type 3, meaning T4 will convert to excess RT3! And guess what can make your liver unhealthy? Continued hypothyroidism, which happens to all too many who are on T4-only medications, or those left undiagnosed due to the TSH. Hypothyroidism is worsened with adrenal problems, and low iron.  And liver function can become unhealthy or stressed if you eat poorly  You can read more about all this here.

In the meantime, what can one do to promote better liver function? Milk thistle is one highly recommended way by many (use Milk Thistle supps from the seeds to avoid estrogenic affect). Also look into dandelion root /leaf, Sassafras, Burdock, Goldenseal and Yellow Doc root, Red Clover and Echinacea root. Ask someone knowledgeable at your local health food store.

PATIENT YOU-TUBE STTM VIDEOS

See thyroid patient Sam Aliyev’s latest YouTube video.  If you do one about the message of STTM, let me know and I’ll post about it.

**Has STTM benefitted you?? Want to Pay It Forward? Go here.

**Come over to the STTM Facebook page and “Like” it for daily inspiration and information!

23 replies