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All about Drug Recalls and what happened to Westminster’s Natural Desiccated Thyroid

Probably most people have heard about “drug recalls”, but may not know the ins and outs about recalls.

What is a recall?

I personally think the best definition of a drug recall comes from the Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary1:  a voluntary action of removing a product from retail or distribution by a manufacturer or distributor to protect the public from products that may cause health problems.”

Note the word “may” cause. Recalls can also be about risk, not just about definite adverse consequences.

So a recall is voluntary by a pharmaceutical?

It definitely can be. And it can also be at the request of the FDA.  Either.  From the FDA2: Drug recalls may be conducted on a company’s own initiative or by FDA request. FDA’s role in a recall is to oversee a company’s strategy, assess the adequacy of the recall and classify the recall.

What are reasons for a recall?

WebMD3 defines five potential reasons:

1) it’s a hazard to your health
2) it’s mislabeled or poorly packaged
3) it’s potentially contaminated during production or distribution
4) it’s not what it says it is
5) It’s poorly made, effecting it’s quality, purity, and/or potency

For #3 above, note that the potential contamination may be harmful OR non-harmful.

Are recalls common?

Believe it or not, yes! A 2017 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association4 stated that 1/3 of all prescription meds have been recalled due to “safety events”.

If something I take has a recall, what do I do? Can I get my money back?

Yes. But you do need to call the pharmacy from which you got it, first. They have to get official notification of the recall before giving that refund.

Shouldn’t I get a replacement for my prescription medication before taking it back?

Call your doctor so he or she can prescribe a different one before you return your recalled medication. That way, you can pick it up at the same time you return your recalled medication, say experts.

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Now let’s move to a recent recall of one particular natural desiccated thyroid medication by Westminster Pharmaceuticals.

Westminster came out with its own natural desiccated thyroid (NDT) product, considered a generic version, in late 2017.  You can read more about their NDT product on Stop the Thyroid Madness’s page which lists brands and ingredients, here.

Westminster voluntarily issued a recall of their NDT in August 2018 due to “risk of adulteration”. See below.

Why did Westminster voluntarily issue a recall?

The recall states it was done “as a precaution because they were manufactured using active pharmaceutical ingredients that were sourced prior to the FDA’s Import Alert of Sichuan Friendly Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., which as a result of a 2017 inspection were found to have deficiencies with Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP). Substandard cGMP practices could represent the possibility of risk being introduced into the manufacturing process.”

It’s important to point out the words “possibility of risk”. That is different than a definite negative outcome as having occurred. But time will tell.

And if you really want to get into detail about why the FDA issued an alert about Sishuan Friendly Pharmaceutical, the maker of desiccated thyroid powder that Westminster was using, it’s all here.

How do I know if my particular bottle of Westminster’s NDT is part of this recall?

The recall notice lists many lots. You’ll need to call your pharmacist to see which lot your bottle came from. But it does appear that most of Westminster’s NDT has been recalled by the long list of lot numbers.

Has anyone been harmed by their use of Westminster’s NDT?

In the 2009 recall wording, it was stated “To date, Westminster Pharmaceuticals has not received any reports of adverse events related to this product.”

Is this the first time that any thyroid medication has been recalled?

Nope. For example, Levoxyl, a T4-only medication, was recalled in April 2013.  Synthroid, another T4-only medication, has been recalled numerous times due to issues like subpotency and the same failure to follow good manufacturing practices.

Is 2018 a year of Natural Desiccated Thyroid mishaps??

Boy oh boy, it sure has been.

First, RLC’s Naturethroid and WP Thyroid ceased production in 2017, and Naturethroid only started creeping back in 2018. But sadly in 2018, there seem to be quite a few patients reporting it to be far weaker than it used to be and finding that out the hard way with the return of major hypothyroid symptoms. Some are trying to raise it to see if they can regain their former feel-goods; others have been switching to other brands.

Then comes this with Westminster’s NDT. What a mess.

Is there a conspiracy at foot to take our NDT away?

No, it does not appear to be conspiracy.

My doctor claims these recent issues prove that desiccated thyroid is unreliable and I should use Synthroid. What do I say?

You say “What is proven by millions over the years is that T4-only like Synthroid is the unreliable way to treat hypothyroidism”.

So where do I turn now?

People have been moving over to NP Thyroid by Acella, or Armour. You can also choose to have your NDT compounded. Or move to synthetic T3 with synthetic T4. But the goals are the same, which for years includes seeking a free T3 towards the top part of the range, and a free T4 midrange. Both. And to achieve the latter, it’s still important to have the right amount of cortisol and iron, we’ve learned repeatedly, because if you don’t, you can see problems. Too often, people blame their problems on NDT, when in reality, it’s what NDT or T3 reveals that is the problem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Footnotes:

1. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary, 3 ed. © 2007 Elsevier, Inc.

2. https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/DrugRecalls/ucm612550.htm

3. https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-a-drug-recall#1

4. http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2625319

99 replies

The Problem that Aging Hypothyroid Patients Face and How to Deal With it

Perhaps because millions of baby boomers are hitting their “senior citizen” ages, we are seeing an increase in statements by doctors, websites, and pharmaceutical reps implying that seniors should not have T3 in their treatment like NDT (Natural Desiccated Thyroid) or synthetic T3, calling it “dangerous”.

So I hope you are as impressed with the words below of this wonderful 72-year-old lady named Pat as I was…because her experience refutes the growing and ridiculous fallacy that T3 is globally and inherently “dangerous”.

I am 72 years old and up until four years ago, I was on Synthroid for over 30 years. Back then, I noticed my hypothyroid symptoms about six years after my second child. But if I’m honest and look back on my life, I now know that even as a teenager, I had brain fog….actually pretty serious brain fog. But I learned how to cover it up…

During all this time, I was diagnosed with multiple problems (which are typical for too many people on the poor treatment with T4-only or those undiagnosed): fibromyalgia, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, arthritis in my fingers, fatty liver syndrome and more. 

I also had the inflammatory disease called sarcoidosis in one nerve and in my lungs. I can’t actually connect sarcoidosis to my hypothyroidism and poor treatment with Synthroid, even if hypo people can report seeing increased inflammation. But it did happen when I was taking Synthroid. I had to take prednisone to beat it back and have been in remission for 15 years now.

But the bottom line is that for all those other issues mentioned above, I used to take multiple medications to treat all of them.

And guess what? Changing to Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT) four years ago took away all the above issues I was having, meaning I was also able to get off most of my prescription meds. I have less fatigue. I now have the flexibility of a 40 year old. The arthritis I had in my fingers just went away. I don’t need cholesterol or blood pressure meds anymore.

I sometimes add in compounded T3 if my RT3 (reverse T3) inches up.

My latest doctor now takes Natural Desiccated Thyroid after she saw how well I was doing. She has hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s. We share a lot of ideas on how to conquer this disease.

My husband often goes to my appointments and says he does not understand a thing we discuss. I gave my doctor my copy of the “Stop The Thyroid Madness” book.  Interestingly enough, i knew when I went to my doctor that she used to recommend Synthroid, but also recommended herbs and other things to help with this disease. She was open to change, I think, because of her own experience.

So I think I blew their office up on my first appointment. I came in with all my labs and history. It was a 3-hour appointment with 2 people plugging in my info – my doctor and her assistant. It was later that I realized, when she asked me how I took my NDT, that she had switched to an NDT herself!

On our last appointment when we were talking about my slowly rising antibodies she told me that hers were in the thousands (my mouth dropped) and that she was taking 6 grains of her NDT. I’m thinking of recommending that she take LDN (low dose naltrexone) as I have heard it can reduce the antibodies.

Bottom line, it wasn’t staying on Synthroid that changed my life. It was moving over to Natural Desiccated Thyroid that has direct T3 in it. And in my opinion, my experience tells me the drug companies are lying! They want to keep people unhealthy so they will buy their drugs and then buy more drugs to take care of the damage the first drugs caused.   ~Pat

Here are some of the crazy issues seniors face (and there are more):

1) Medicare in the United States dropped all NDT’s from their Part D formulary—i.e. they won’t be paid for if you rely on Medicare. Armour on page 2, Naturethroid on page 16, NP Thyroid on page 17, Westhroid and WP Thyroid on page 29. See here.  Luckily, most prescription NDT brands are not that expensive anyway. Armour did go up, while the others stayed less expensive like NP Thyroid. Some use the prescription comparison called GOOD RX to find the best price in your city. 

2) Medicare in the US states “….the serum TSH test is reliable, valid, and acceptable to patients.”   To the contrary, patients of all ages have found it to be the most ridiculous test to either diagnose or treat by. It should always be about clear symptoms along with the free T3 and free T4, plus about where the latter fall in those so-called normal ranges. This is why you HAVE to be informed and be prepared to stand up for what is right and wrong. Read http://stopthethyroidmadness.com/tsh-why-its-useless There is also a complete chapter against the lousy TSH lab test in the STTM II book, and written by an MD! THAT is a chapter your doctor should read. 

Even worse, the ATA (American Thyroid Association) has stated that the target serum TSH should be 4-6 mIU/L in hypothyroid individuals age 70 or older.  That is in spite of the fact that so many of us at ANY age can have raging hypothyroid symptoms even with a TSH in the 2’s.

3) Or take the British Thyroid Association (BTA), which has stated that British thyroid patients shouldn’t be put on any thyroid meds whatsoever until their TSH is over 10, and that seniors should have a TSH around 4-10…in spite of the FACT that no matter what age, we can have raging hypothyroid symptoms even with a TSH in the 2’s–symptoms which UK doctors may blame on something else!!  Equally as bad, the UK National Health Service only endorses levothyroxine, and refuses to provide T3 to patients anymore.

4) The American Thyroid Association (ATA) states “As with the younger patient, pure synthetic thyroxine (L-T4), taken once daily by mouth, fully replaces the function of the thyroid gland and successfully treats the symptoms of hypothyroidism in most patients”  YET, we know that’s a joke. Time to inform whomever you can that a healthy thyroid does NOT make the human body solely depend on conversion of T4, a storage hormone, to T3. A healthy thyroid gives some direct T3 to counter any issues with conversion.  Read http://stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101

But you CAN bypass this craziness, say informed seniors, with these steps

  1. Finding the right doctor: As with any age, senior patients state they all-the-more need to DO THE WORK to find a smart doctor who WILL let you be on T3 or NDT, and will NOT go by the lousy TSH lab test. It can be work, but it’s possible to find one. http://stopthethyroidmadness.com/how-to-find-a-good-doc
  2. Understanding the iron and cortisol issue: Seniors who have either been undiagnosed or on T4 for years say it’s extremely important to check iron and cortisol levels, since they can be off from all the years of no treatment or a poor treatment with T4. If they are off, they can cause reactions to T3 or NDT, causing the misinformed doctor to proclaim “See, I told you so”, when in reality, reactions to NDT or T3 are revealing inadequate iron or a cortisol issue. They will need to be treated. See http://stopthethyroidmadness.com/iron-and-cortisol
  3. Commiserating with other seniors: If you are OVER 60…consider joining the Facebook FTPO 60-and-over discussion group and see where others have found a good doctor. (FTPO stands for For Thyroid Patients Only) https://www.facebook.com/groups/FTPO60andover/ NOTE: you canNOT be approved if the admins can’t discern that your age fits this group, or we can’t see either your wall posts or friends list–the latter to know you aren’t a spammer.
  4. If you have to go in the hospital…have an informed family member or friend) who will advocate for you about your current NDT or T3 treatment. Too many patients have reported they were taken OFF their needed T3 or NDT and put on T4-only…and they regret not bringing their own meds or having an advocate.
  5. Keep a document stating what thyroid meds you are on, and why, that your advocate can have access to.

To read more: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/thyroid-patients-getting-older

To get the very important STTM Books: http://laughinggrapepublishing.com …. because YOU have be informed!! If we put all our apples in a doctor’s cart, the risk is high we’ll stay sick or poorly treated. We have to be prepared to guide our doctors!

 

 

 

 

42 replies

An hypothesis about RT3 – did you know you might have a hidden pool of it?

arrowPlease note this is a HYPOTHESIS, based on limited information, from 2014, and not to be taken as gospel.

Everyone makes Reverse T3 (RT3)–an inactive thyroid hormone. It’s a way to clear out excess T4 when your body isn’t needing that extra storage hormone. i.e. instead of the T4 converting to the active T3, your body (and specifically your liver), will convert it to RT3. If someone without a thyroid problem gets the flu, up goes the RT3 to conserve energy. If someone has a bodily injury, up goes the RT3 to conserve energy.

And thyroid patients seem to see their RT3 go up in the presence of low iron or a cortisol issue.

But if you think about it, why doesn’t it go down faster when we decrease our T4? T4 has a half life of one week, yet it can take 8 – 14 weeks for RT3 to go down. Hmmmmmm…

Thyroid patient Sebastian from Germany sent me this information about Reverse RT3 that I find fascinating. What do you think?

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I’m studying biology and chemistry and have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis with high RT3. I just wanted to inform you about an interesting idea/hypothesis I have found.

There seems to be a “hidden pool” of RT3 in the human body. This RT3 pool can increase in size while enough T4 is available, and then secrete RT3 in times where the body needs it but hasn’t got enough T4 to produce it via deodination (the removal of an iodine molecule).

“It is concluded that a hidden pool of RT3 production exists in vivo in man.”
“It would appear that hypertrophy of this hidden pool of rT3 production occurs in high T4 states […]”

Source: LoPresti et al., “Does a hidden pool of reverse triiodothyronine (rT3) production contribute to total thyroxine (T4) disposal in high T4 states in man.”, J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1990 May;70(5):1479-84. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2335581

I have made observations regarding  my own thyroid blood tests and the blood tests of other patients that seem to support this hypothesis. I have been on T3-only for 6 weeks now, started with an RT3 of 330 pg/mL at approx. day 0, and now have measured a RT3 of 685 pg/mL (twice as much!), even though my TSH is low, FT4 has fallen rapidly to 0.5 ng/dL, and no T4 medication has been taken for full 6 weeks.
Another patient I know has also made interesting correlations between FT4 and RT3. He isn’t on T3-only, but observed a time-delayed (!) correlation between both values – which could be interpreted as an indicator for the presence of an RT3 storage pool in the body, that grows when enough T4 is available, and sets RT3 free in times when there is less T4 available.

I also found studies which found that RT3 has a 1000 times less feedback on the TSH than T3 has, and 100 times less than T4. This could explain any differences between TSH and symptoms, as the “RT3-system” seems to be almost completely isolated from the thyrotropic regulation system (the latter is that which directly influences the secretory activity of the thyroid gland).  RT3 can obviously rise and fall without having (almost) any effect on the TSH.

Source: Cettour-Rose et al.: “Inhibition of pituitary type 2 deiodinase by reverse triiodothyronine does not alter thyroxine-induced inhibition of thyrotropin secretion in hypothyroid rats”, European Journal of Endocrinology (2005) 153 429?434.

In combination, this could explain why the clearing process of RT3 takes approx. 8-14 weeks, although T4 has a plasma half-time of only 8 days, and rT3 only 4.5 hours!

The intracellular T3 receptors aren’t “clogged”, and then suddenly become free after that period of time has elapsed. Instead, RT3 is a competitive inhibitor of T3, meaning it constantly goes in and out of the T3 receptor. You probably know that already.

Patients report feeling well with T3 only dosages of approx. 80-120 µg T3 per day. According to Celi et al., 2010, this would be equal to 240-360 µg of T4. I always wondered why they don’t end up feeling hyper.

This all makes sense now under the assumption that a hidden RT3 storage pool exists somewhere in the body. Although there is no new T4 being produced or taken in, and although the remaining T4 and RT3 have both decayed rapidly after one starts with the T3 only method, there is still alot of RT3 being set free by the storage pool all the time. This storage pool might be big enough to last for several weeks to months. Since RT3 is the competitive inhibitor of T3, this might be why patients are able to tolerate (and even need) so very large amounts of T3.

Then, after the storage pool has been emptied, the remaining RT3 rapidly decays because of its short half-time and no new RT3 can be produced because no T4 is available in the body. Therefore, RT3 concentrations within blood and cells drop. Thus, the competitive inhibition gets a lot weaker at that point, and patients start feeling hyper because the same amount of thyroid hormones (T3) is now significantly increased in its effect, since it can stay much longer in the T3 receptors without being competitively inhibited (kicked out of the receptors) by RT3.

This process of totally emptying the RT3 storage might occur very quickly, therefore the drop in RT3 concentrations is very suddenly, all of which might happen within several days. And this is why patients then get hyper and have to reduce their dosage to half or less of what they’ve taken previously over the 8-14 weeks.

“Clogged receptors” don’t make sense because RT3 is a competitive inhibitor, capable of traveling in and out of the T3 receptor all the time.

“Clearance” occurring after 8-14 weeks, although both educt (T4) and product (RT3) have significantly (!) shorter lifetimes, doesn’t make sense either.  Neither does a totally defective TSH lab test, because in principle, it worked fine for all the patient’s lifetime before they got their thyroid disease; and because significant correlations between TSH and FT3 and FT4 can be observed.

This all makes sense to me now, based on two assumptions:

1. While T3 and T4 have a strong negative feedback effect on TSH secretion, RT3’s effect on the TSH secretion is minimal, being about a thousand times smaller in effect than that of T3, and about a hundred times smaller in effect than that of T4….as described in the study of Cettour-Rose et al., 2005, mentioned above.

2. The body has a large, previously unknown storage for RT3. This storage can grow while enough T4 is available, and the storage’s content can be set free when needed. As described in the study of LoPresti et al., 1990, mentioned above.

I hope you can use this information for further research. Thanks for reading.

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* Think Natural Desiccated Thyroid makes you worse? See correctible reasons.

* Are you correcting everything you should be? See what your ducks in a row should be.

* STTM has an active Facebook page! Come on over for tips and information!

* The STTM book comes in English, Spanish, German and Swedish…so far. 🙂

* Did you know you can order your OWN labwork?? Yup.

58 replies

Jennifer Livingston: this goes even deeper than bullying. You are on the wrong thyroid medication!

Jennifer Livingston, a mother of three adorable daughters, is a morning anchor at WKBT-TV in La Cross, Wisconsin and a very pretty one at that. And she received an email from a male viewer which stated that her excess weight was not a good role model for young girls. Jennifer’s supportive husband Mike Thompson, who is an evening anchor on the same station and strongly supports his wife, posted the critical email on his Facebook page:

“It’s unusual that I see your morning show, but I did so for a very short time today. I was surprised indeed to witness that your physical condition hasn’t improved for many years. Surely you don’t consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls in particular. Obesity is one of the worst choices a person can make and one of the most dangerous habits to maintain. I leave you this note hoping that you’ll reconsider your responsibility as a local public personality to present and promote a healthy lifestyle.”

Livingston followed this up with a bold four-minute rebuttal to the personal attack, emphasizing the cruelty of judging someone based on their exterior, especially considering she is very aware of her weight problem, and has worked hard to deal with it for years. She also referred to the bullying nature of the note. With October being National Anti-Bullying Month, this incidence hit a chord.

Jennifer’s famous brother, actor Ron Livingston, also expressed support for his sister.

BUT JENNIFER, YOUR STORY GOES EVEN FARTHER AND DEEPER THAN YOU KNOW, AND YOU COULD CHANGE MANY LIVES OF YOUR LISTENERS AND BEYOND. YOU MAY BE A VICTIM OF A 50-YEAR THYROID TREATMENT SCANDAL!

You mentioned being on a thyroid medication, and you may be a victim of the same 50+ year thyroid treatment scandal that millions of overweight women have been part of : 1) the use of the TSH lab test, which can be “normal” for years even though the patient has clear hypothyroidism, or 2) the use of Synthroid or any other T4-only medication to treat the hypothyroid condition, which leaves patients with their own degree and kind of continuing hypothyroidism.  And weight gain, plus difficulty losing it, is a common symptom of continued hypothyroidism for all too many  

Neither the TSH lab test or T4-only meds like Synthroid work well, exclaim frustrated, or sick, or overweight, or angry patients all over the world!

Additionally, the longer patients stay on this lousy medication, the higher the risk of having low levels of Vitamin D, Iron, B12 and other important nutrients. More than 50% of T4-only treated patients fall into adrenal fatigue, aka low cortisol, due to the failure to get enough T3, the active thyroid hormone, into the cells of their adrenals. i.e. T4 is a storage hormone meant to convert to T3, but the body is not meant to live for conversion alone!  T4 is only one of FIVE hormones secreted by the thyroid.

And it gets worse….

Many folks replied to the WKTB article about this incident. And one person stated in their post:  “…..GIVE UP A FEW BURGERS AND CUT THE CHEESE. START MOVING JENNIFER!”

Jennifer, do you know how MANY thyroid patients with a weight problem have heard this well-meaning but terrible refrain from friends, loved ones, strangers and even some clueless doctors?? Oh sure, we know that eating healthy is important. Many already eat healthy! But continued hypothyroidism keeps our bodies like that of a snail. It affects our body temperatures (it stays much lower), how our muscles work and our blood circulates (true fatigue here), how we digest food (food tends to stay in our stomach longer), and how we eliminate waste (we tend to be constipated or slow eliminators). When we try to exercise, we end up in bed from the excess fatigue of continued hypothyroidism.

 It’s not a pretty picture, Jennifer….and it’s just as bad as bullying for millions!

Learn from other thyroid patients: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/things-we-have-learned

Here’s my story:  //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/my-story

Here are others stories: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/stories-of-others

Here are the crazy things we have to listen to from our doctors: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/give-me-a-break

Here’s why Synthroid doesn’t work for all too many: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work

Here’s why the TSH lab test sucks: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/tsh-why-its-useless

Here are symptoms which went away with Natural Desiccated Thyroid: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/long-and-pathetic

Here are many good thyroid patient groups: //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/talk-to-others

HELP US STOP THE THYROID MADNESS, JENNIFER, OF WHICH YOU MAY BE ONE MORE VICTIM! 

20 replies

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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