thyroxine Archives - Stop The Thyroid Madness

7 examples of buffoonery from The Endocrine Society of Australia about desiccated thyroid

The Endocrine Society of Australia (ESA) came out with their final position paper on Natural Desiccated Thyroid. Ready to throw up at what many hypothyroid patients will state is overt ignorance and condescending arrogance?? Are we not surprised??

Below are 7 excepts from this position paper.

Please note: the following terms are referring to the same product: desiccated thyroid, thyroid extract, NDT, natural desiccated thyroid. By prescription, it’s usually porcine, but there are over-the-counter bovine versions. Thyroxine refers to T4-only, aka levothyroxine, one of five thyroid hormones and a storage hormone alone. In Australia, common brands areÂ Oroxine, Eutroxsig and/orÂ Eltroxin.Â

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1) “Desiccated thyroid or thyroid extract is not a pure product, not approved by the TGA [Therapeutic Goods Administration], not available on the PBS [Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme], not produced by a pharmaceutical company, not subject to existing TGA regulations, has limited quality control, and is marketed as a “bioidentical hormone”, while “bioidentical” has been determined by the FDA in the USA as a marketing term.”

Now who wouldn’t want their meds to be pure?? But wouldn’t you love to know what their definition of pure is in their swipe of desiccated thyroid? Â But ultimately, this negatively pudgy paragraph is only a set up for the rest of the paper, which is full of baloney statements.

2)Â “Is the reason some people fail to have complete relief of symptoms when tests show normal levels simply because there are other causes of fatigue, depression, and weight gain that are mistakenly attributed to the thyroid? Could a placebo effect explain the better relief of these symptoms from thyroid extract?”

Condescending ignorance toÂ the max, say patients. For one, we know that “falling in the normal range” has nothing to do with it–it’s aboutÂ where we fall in those ridiculous normal ranges that does have something to do with it.

And gee, funny that with an optimal amount of desiccated thyroid or T3 (along with good iron and cortisol levels, which is crucial), that “fatigue, depression and weight gain” goes away as reported by patients for YEARS.

And the TSH lab test, which we know is one of the labs being referred to, is useless while on desiccated thyroid–i.e. optimal, life-changing amounts of desiccated thyroid nearly always push the TSH quite low, which has NOT caused bone loss or heart problems (as a low TSH with Graves disease does). To the contrary, the right amount of desiccated thyroid has REPEATEDLY been known to improve bone and heart health in measurable outcomes.

Finally and more egregious, to use “placebo effect” as a way to explain the numerous and common positive effects patients get on desiccated thyroid is the height of condescending arrogance, many patients would exclaim.

3) “Despite claims of proponents that desiccated thyroid or thyroid extract are superior to thyroxine or combinations of T4 and T3 for most people with hypothyroidism, no controlled clinical trials have been published, and most endocrinologists are concerned that superiority is due to a placebo effect or an effect of overtreatment.”

Claims?? Since when are CLEAR and MEASURABLE health changes on desiccated thyroid by Australian thyroid patients (and worldwide) simply “claims”?? They include lowered cholesterol, better blood pressure, improved bone density, less weight gain (and in some, weight loss)…besides the obvious reported improvements in depression, better energy, softer skin and hair, removal of pain and so many more results.

And once again, the condescending conclusion that if one feels better on thyroid extract, PLUS has measurable changes, then SURELY it has to be in their heads and nothing going on physiologically. Let’s see, I’ve been on NDT for 15 years now, and if this logic is maintained, I have somehow continued to simply “delude myself” for a decade and a half that I have felt much better in my thyroid treatment THAT long…andddd somehow manipulated the measurable results in my health.

4) “Thyroxine is “Monitored; accurate and consistent “; Thyroid Extract is “Monitored; may be inaccurate or inconsistent” “

Yawn. The same weak and unfounded conclusions about desiccated thyroid we’ve heard before. Since when is giving us back all five thyroid hormones “inaccurate” or “inconsistent”?Â If it’s inaccurate or inconsistent, why have so many seen their lives change on NDT as they find their unique optimal amount, and for years?? If thyroxine is so wonderful, why do millions report continuing or worsening symptoms on the “accurate and consistent” thyroxine?

Oh wait, all of you whose lives have changed are just fooling yourself with placebo outcomes….

5) “The controversies surrounding the safety and efficacy of “bioidentical hormones” such as desiccated thyroid or thyroid extract illustrate the need for further scientific and medical scrutiny of these substances. Until such studies are completed, physicians should exercise caution when prescribing “bioidentical hormones” and counsel their patients about the controversy over the use of these preparations.”Â

Really?? Is it SAFE to be on only one of five thyroid hormones when there are numerous reasons why the conversion to T3 can be blocked, either from the beginning or the longer someone is forced to rely on conversion alone?? Â See those reasons on this page.

Is it SAFE on thyroxine when so many see rising cholesterol, rising blood pressure, bone thinning, heart problems, and/or a lowered immune function?? The “controversies” are those manufactured by clueless Endocrine Societies, NOT by thyroid patients who worldwide have had lives changed on desiccated thyroid if they are allowed to find their optimal amount (which has to have good iron and cortisol levels).

And by the way, there isÂ ALREADY science about the efficacy of NDT or T3 in one’s treatment…BESIDES that fact that a huge growing body of thyroid patients are reporting lives changed in totally positive ways.

6) “In general, desiccated thyroid hormone or thyroid extract, combinations of thyroid hormones, or triiodothyronine [T3] should not be used as thyroid replacement therapy.”

In other words, as the most damning, cruel and ignorant part of this statement, it’s saying that we, the Australian Endocrine Society, don’t give a damn if you are suffering on thyroxine…don’t give a damn if you have genetics which prevent the conversion of T4 to T3 and thus might need T3-only to reclaim your health and well-being…don’t give a damn if you have high RT3 on thyroxine that being on mostly T3 would lower…don’t give a damn if there are a huge growing body of thyroid patients whose lives have changed on thyroid extract (of which many changes ARE measurable)…and don’t give a damn that a healthy thyroid also gives people direct T3 and does NOT force people to live for conversion alone.

Oh and remember the reasoningÂ above that desiccated thyroid is not pure–implying that thyroxine is…yet now we have a widening of the cruelty by lassoing in triiodothyronine (T3) as a product which IS approved by the TGA, yet now is also not recommended??

7) “A registry of adverse events related to the use of bioidentical hormone preparations, including desiccated thyroid or thyroid extract, should be supported by the TGA and could be managed by an external organization, as the TGA does not regulate or monitor these compounds.”

At face value, registering adverse events to any drug is a good thing.

Yet, we KNOW for a fact that most “adverse events” with desiccated thyroid are due to the FAILURE of doctors or research studies to understand that patients have to have the right amount of iron levels or cortisol when raising NDT to avoid those “adverse” reactions….just as patients should NEVER be dosed by the TSH “normal” range, which leaves patients underdosed and thus, continued or growing symptoms of hypothyroidism which could be termed “adverse events”. Â Other situations which can cause “adverse events” with NDT include Lyme disease, chronic inflammation, and high heavy metals, of which of course, clueless organizations would simply blame the NDT instead of understanding the results of Lyme, inflammation and/or high heavy metals.

To see this position paper in its entirety: https://www.endocrinesociety.org.au/ESA_Position_Statement_%20Thyroid-Extract.pdf

Rattle, thyroid patients!! Speak loud and clear. Send the URL to this blog post to your private Facebook pages. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/2017/06/27/7-examples-australian-endocrine-buffoonery/ Make this information even better by your informed comments here. Don’t be silent!!

BEST LIST OF HYPOTHYROID SYMPTOMS on the net (of which many occur while on thyroxine): http://stopthethyroidmadness.com/symptomsÂ

WHYÂ T4-ONLY HAS RUINED MILLIONS OF LIVES over the decades:Â http://stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work

WHYÂ DESICCATED THYROID or even T3 added to T4 has changed lives and how:Â http://stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101

TWO MOST WIDELY READ and LIFE CHANGING THYROID BOOKS: http://www.laughinggrapepublishing.comÂ

June 27th 2017 43 replies

There’s a dynamo Thyroid Patient Advocate you should know about!

I’ve been doing this a long time.

And early on in my activism, I became acquainted with someone else who was fighting for better hypothyroid diagnosis and treatment. And she was a bulldog! She chose NOT toÂ “walk the fence”… instead speaking the bold truth about the scandal of the current popular thyroid diagnosis, as well as treatment with thyroxine for all too many. She has numerous times over the years written the governing bodies in the United Kingdom as to the problem, including with her communication “hundreds of references” to available research and studies to back up the issue.

Her name is Sheila Turner, and she’s the founder of Thyroid Patient Advocacy in the UK (TPA-UK).

And Sheila is a HERO!

Others who work with TPA-UK

What I have loved about Sheila’s website and work are all those who are associated with it. They are:

– Barry Durrant-Peatfield, (UK) MB BS LRCP MRCSÂ who serves as Patron and medical advisor
– Malcolm Maclean MD (UAE)â€‹, a ScotÂ practitioner who has rejected the idea that being “normal” in labwork means a patient couldn’t possibly have a thyroid problem. Dr. Maclean also wrote a brilliant STTM Guest Blog post about the effects of high doses of iodine
– Kent Holtorf, MD, the medical director of the Holtorf Medical Group and non-profit National Academy of Hypothyroidism.
– Gina Honeyman, DC, owner of the Center for Metabolic Health, LLC and co-author of a fabulously detailed book titled “Your Guide to Metabolic Health.”Â
– Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, Â a board certified internist and Medical Director of the national Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers and Chronicity.

Sheila’s latest concern and confrontation: PossibleÂ removal of Liothyronine (T3) from the NHS Prescription list

Just one more example of Sheila’s persistent and unflagging fight for better treatment, she has stood up in immediateÂ defiance about the possible removal of T3 medication from the publicly-funded National Health Service (NHS) Prescription List–a potential removal as recommended by the NHS-funded program calledÂ PrescQIPP. (Only the second middle link on their website is working for me to view the Drop list.)

PrescQIPP is recommending the following: Â

They do NOT recommend the prescribing of liothyronine or T3-containing products for the treatment of primary hypothyroidism
They do recommend prescribing of thyroid hormones in line with Royal College of Physicians guidanceÂ (which means thyroxine, T4-only, monotherapy).

The rationale of the above ridiculous comments? Are you ready??

– T3 has a short half-life

– Steady-state levels cannot be maintained

– No robust evidence i.e. has not been shown to be more beneficial that levothyroxine with respect to cognitive function, social functioning and well-being

– Inconsistent with normal physiology

– Insufficient clinical evidence of effectiveness and cost effectiveness to support the use of liothyronine (either alone or in combination) for the treatment of hypothyroidism.Â

To the contrary,Â the evidence of consistently-reportedÂ therapeutic efficacy of T3-containing medications by a huge and growing body of thyroid patients worldwideÂ is clearly important and worth consideration if the medical profession has even one intelligent and open-minded cell in their brains.

EVEN WORSE, their recommendations show how to move patients off their T3 and onto T4-only.

And in Sheila Turner’s latest newsletter, she states with her typical and dynamic activism:

The information about liothyronine by PrescQIPP is both mis-leading, and some of it is downright incorrect.Â I am in the process of writing a response to PrescQIPP asking them to remove the hormone liothyronine from the ‘Drop’ list with immediate effect and I will give all the reasons they need to do this.Â If such organisations as the BTA, NICE, NHS UKMi (Q56.6) and PrescQIPP learnt how the different thyroid hormones work, there would be no controversy and if L-T4 left patients with continuing symptoms, the active thyroid hormone T3 would be given automatically and without complaint.Â I intend to ensure they know how thyroid hormones work.

Bottom line, Sheila Turner is a strong friend of thyroid patients who is persistent in her quest to drive in the TRUTH aboutÂ what appears to be a backwards and dark ages medical system in the United Kingdom about how a thyroid works, about diagnosis, and about successful treatment protocols. And what SheilaÂ might achieve in the UK will only help the rest of us!

You are a hero, Sheila!

– CHECK OUT THE LATEST VIDEO, which includes patients in the UK, and which underscores the FALLACY of T4-only, thyroxine treatment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n0NfAUyOKo

– Have you Liked the Stop the Thyroid Madness Facebook page? It’s full of daily inspiration and information based on solid patient experiences and wisdom!

– TPA-UK forum:Â http://www.tpauk.com/forum/

Amazing and brutally honest “Tell It Like It Is” letter to her lousy Endocrinologist

For years, a huge body of thyroid patients have remained hypothyroid, or gotten worse with increasingÂ hypothyroid symptoms, due to believing in their doctors.Â

And the worst group of doctors, as reported again and again by thyroid patients, have been Endocrinologists. So whenÂ a new person on any patient forum states they are looking for an Endocrinologist, more experienced thyroid patients wince.Â

And this is why Stop the Thyroid Madness, and most especially the book,Â exists–to educate you about successful patient experience and wisdom so that in turn, you can recognize what is good doctoring, and what is NOT…in any physician.

Below is a graphic letter written by an appalled patient about her disappointing experience with her Endocrinologist. Nearly any thyroid patient can identify!

Dear —–,

I am writing to you as an ex-patient.

I saw you as a hypothyroid patient with significant weight gain, extreme fatigue, dry skin and poor concentration. You decided that I was “fine” on 50mcg of Thyroxine because my TSH was 3.9. You also suggested that I attend a bariatric clinic for weight loss.

I saw you a second time with multiple biochemical abnormalities. They were high cortisol, low bicarbonate, high anion gap, detectable CRP, and detectable ANA. You told me that none of these results were anything to worry about.Â

I sought another doctor, because whilst you may be comfortable in completely dismissing numerous abnormal results in someone who remains symptomatic of hypothyroidism, I was not comfortable with this.

Since seeking a second opinion, here are the improvements I have experienced:

* no longer gaining weight

* no longer have dry skin

* no longer exhausted 24/7

* bicarbonate is now in the normal range

* anion gap is now in the normal range

* TSH is now 1

* I no longer need to take salt tablets in order to correct salt wasting

I have also received a diagnosis of Adrenal Insufficiency. This was gained via 4 separate saliva samples over a 24-hour period, which allowed me to see my cortisol fluctuations throughout the day. As I explained to you, I felt that my cortisol was too low during the day and too high at night. This is exactly what my salivary cortisol results show.

You ordered a 24-hour urinary cortisol test for me, and I asked if it would show you my fluctuations throughout the day. You said that it would. I want to draw your attention to your completely erroneous statement. I have no doubt that you were simply trying to end the discussion with me.

My urinary cortisol tests were normal, as I expected they would be. But, this normal result did not indicate just how inappropriate my cortisol secretion is. That is, too high at night and too low during the day. I am thankful that I did not remain under your care, as I have no doubt that you would have continued to minimize my concerns regarding my cortisol levels.

The treatment I have received since leaving your care is T3 medication (RT3 and liver enzymes are both abnormal until I correct the cause and then move to Natural Desiccated Thyroid). This is the first time in years that I have seen an improvement in my thyroid health (lowered TSH, increased fT3), and my adrenal health (I no longer require salt tablets). I don’t think you ever bothered to test my aldosterone levels, which I consider to be negligent in a case where the patient is urinating frequently and requiring salt supplementation.

You and your peers are quick to label hypothyroid patients as lazy — not outright, but by your tones and your suggestions. Rather than offer me an increase inÂ Thyroxine, you condemned me to many more months of poor health. You felt I was better off going to a bariatric clinic than changing my medication! And I know that you would never have offered me an alternative thyroid medication. So, under your care, patients such as myself (who have felt no benefit from Thyroxine) are surely just lazy drama queens. Or so your behaviour would indicate. It’s even more distressing that you maintain this attitude despite clinical signs of hypothyroidism (weight gain, dry skin, exhaustion), and despite multiple biochemical abnormalities.

It’s odd that Thyroxine is the standard medication for hypothyroidism, as effective treatment with this requires that T4 is converted to T3. For many patients, it may be a fair assumption that this conversion process will take place. However, for those of us with continued symptoms and biochemical abnormalities despite “adequate” doses, it is clear that something is not happening as it should. For me, the dramatic differences in my health since beginning T3 medication has demonstrated that conversion was not taking place as it should. You and your peers are happy to call me lazy, but I know that a simple medication change is all that was required to regain my health.

I am aware that T3 medication is dangerous for heart health at high doses, and that this fact makes many doctors avoid its use in cases of hypothyroidism. However, I have three reasons to oppose this conduct:

1. Most medications are dangerous in high doses. T3 is not alone in this regard.

2. In someone with hypothyroidism who has experienced no benefit from Thyroxine, supplementing with T3 medication (or even better, natural desiccated thyroid) is just replacing what the body is struggling to create. This does not mean that the patient’s T3 levels are suddenly excessive, or consequently dangerous.

3. The damage done by inadequately treated hypothyroidism is significant, and certainly greater than low doses of T3 supplementation

So, I write to you both despairing at the level of care you provided, and relieved that I’ve found better care elsewhere. I’m sure you’ll ignore this letter, as you and your peers remain adamant that Thyroxine is the only form of treatment, and those who fail to see improvements must themselves be lazy or unmotivated. This attitude is clearly that of people who have never experienced the devastating effects of inadequately treated hypothyroidism. I hope that one day you and your peers will be able to show empathy for patients such as myself, whether you’ve personally experienced hypothyroidism or not. Whilst personal experience of hypothyroidism should not be required in order for doctors to be empathetic, walking a mile in my shoes would no doubt change the way you treat your patients.

I will continue to see improvements to my health with the addition of T3 medication, and I will be thankful that I am no longer under your inferior care.

A happily-former patient of yours

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See whyÂ actress Sofia Vergara is doing thyroid patients no favor by representing Synthroid here.Â
Been told you have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? It might be more than you think.
Are you on Flat STTM?
Identical UK twins talk about their hypothyroidism here.

April 22nd 2013 24 replies

An Endocrinologist peeks through, RAI disaster, and why synthetic T4 is only a mirror image

The clueless Cuckoo’s Nest of Endocrinology just goes on and on, according to repeated negative comments by thyroid patients in groups after they have visited with an Endocrinologist. Â i.e. you will be put on T4-only and dosed by the TSH, then told you are just fine and only need an antidepressant or statin or BP med.

But in a recent issue of the Clinical Thyroidology For Patients (A Publication of the American Thyroid Association), Volume 5, Issue, 5, 2012, there comes the question: Should patients with no functional thyroid gland be treated with both thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3)?Â

Of course, the question is like asking “Should those starving be given food? ” Â The article starts out stupid, stating (in bold):

“…the absence of T3 production by the thyroid can be overcome by maintaining higher circulating T4 levels, resulting in normal circulating levels of T3.Â This is why T4 in the form of levothyroxine is the main treatment for hypothyroid patients”.Â Patients all too well know how ludicrous this is.
“Recent studies have generally found that there is no clinical advantage in adding T3Â to the usual T4Â replacement regimen.” Â What about this study which reveals that there can be inadequacy of peripheral deiodination of T4 to T3 in some, or this studyÂ whichÂ found no support for the hypothesis that people with symptoms of hypothyroidism but thyroid function tests within the reference range benefit from treatment with 100 Âµg thyroxine daily, or this study which found thatÂ triiodothyronine added to thyroxine improved mood and neuropsychological function, and more.

But then comes the little peek from the door by the MD author after mentioning the 2011 study titled “Levothyroxine monotherapy cannot guarantee euthyroidism in all athyreotic patients.” Â The concluding paragraph has this in it:

The present study identifies a subgroup of hypothyroid patients, namely those whose thyroid was surgically removed who do not have normal FT4Â and F3Â Â levels despite normal TSH levels on T4Â alone.Â What is not shown by this study is whether or not combination therapy (T4Â plus T3) is beneficial in these patients. Further studies are needed to sort this out.

Further studies are needed?? They are already out there! Besides, if 99% of Endocrinologists would use the proverbial toothpick to open up the eyelids of their minds, they just might notice all the continuing hypothyroid symptomsÂ their patients have while on T4-only meds whether STUDIES prove anything or not. WAKE UP!!

MAN-MADE SYNTHETICS ARE ONLY A MIRROR IMAGE OF THE REAL THING

Scientists have always been able to synthetically duplicate substances by creating the same mix of molecules, aka a synthetic copy of the original compound. That’s what levothyroxine (l-Thyroxine) is a man-made copy of T4 (Thyroxine). Synthroid is an example. But it’s a mix of the left handed nature-made combination of molecules, aka L-(Laevorotary), along with the synthetic, man-made right handed version, aka D-(Dextrorotary), i.e. the latter is a mirror-image, not a direct image, according to this article.

The author feels it doesn’t act like a hormone. Â So though your blood will show you have an increased level of levothyroxine, it’s not the same as having an increased level of the natural t4. Â And of course, we as thyroid patients also know that the body is NOT meant to live on a storage hormone alone, even if it was pure. We also need direct T3 added to that T4. EvenÂ natural desiccated thyroid provides direct T3. So with natural desiccated thyroid, we get T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin.

REFLECTION ON WHY RAI WAS THE WORST THING SHE EVER DID

Read thyroid patientÂ Robyn Thompson’s story on why she so regrets doing RAI (Radioactive Iodine), and how her Graves TSI antibodies are now worse than ever before, here: Â //www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/robyns-experience-with-rai-graves/

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR ADRENALS IN THE FACE OF STRESS

I loved what thyroid patient Joy McHargue said to someone on the STTM Facebook group when asked what to do about high stress. Her answer: Â Pray, salt, magnesium, rest, adaptogens of your choice, Vitamin C, talk about the stress to a calming person, take time away from the stress doing something fun regularly, epsom salt baths, fresh air?

THE STOP THE THYROID MADNESS BOOK IS NOW EVEN MORE REVISED!Â

I added info about the T3 Circadian Method for Adrenal fatigue, refined information throughout, and cleaned up misspellings. Â You can order the book at the bottom of any page on STTM, or via the tiny photo.

JANIE’S LATEST INTERVIEW:Â http://podroom.a2zen.fm/podcasts/krystalya-marie-energy-healing/stop-the-thyroid-madness-with-janie-bowthorpe-on-e

P.S. If you are receiving this via the Email Notification, DO NOT reply to the email to comment on this post. Click on the title of this, which will take you to the actual blog post, and Comment there!

May 10th 2012 3 replies

Good Housekeeping replies…and let’s set the record straight!

Below this blog post, you will see my original July 25th post about the potentially harmful thyroid article that appeared in Good Housekeeping magazine’s August issue.

And sadly, though thyroid patients can appreciate even getting a replyÂ by the Editors of Good Housekeeping (which is certainly better than the dead silence thyroid patients got from Oprah Winfrey when they emailed numerous times about this horrific thyroid treatment scandal), we certainly are saddened by the continued poor understanding and false suppositions contained in the reply:

We have read your postings and letters with great interest and are moved by the depth of feeling that underlies them. It is obvious that many of you write out of frustration with your own unresolved symptoms, and we are sympathetic to your ongoing difficulties.

Good Housekeeping‘sÂ August 2011 article on thyroid diseaseÂ describes one woman’s quest to understand her own ambiguous diagnosis. As described in the article, there is a great deal of controversy surrounding the diagnosis and treatment of low thyroid disorders – among mainstream physicians as well as those with a more complementary or integrative orientation. We recognize that much of the information on the Internet serves to support patients who haven’t been heard or understood by their own doctors – a terribly disheartening and frustrating experience for anyone. But it is often difficult to discern what’s been scientifically tested and proven versus what is still being explored. That is why this article, like all health articles in GH, drew on research and advice that is evidence-based; typically, such information comes from credentialed doctors working at leading medical and academic centers. A careful reader of our story will see that doctors we consulted acknowledged that low thyroid levels might be treated if a patient has other problems like infertility or depression or if she has Hashimoto antibodies and other factors.

It is our hope that better understanding of the disease will lead to more effective treatment for all. That’s really the goal and the motivation behind all ofÂ Good Housekeeping‘s health coverage.

We thank you for your valuable feedback and encourage you to continue to send us your thoughts. You can reach us at ghletters@goodhousekeeping.com.

And here is my reply to the Editors of Good Housekeeping:

We, as thyroid patients around the world, do appreciate that you took the time to reply. We have been the recipients of dead silence all too often in our quest to inspire and educate the media about this near 60-year thyroid treatment problem. Thank you.

But there are incorrect observations and assumptions in your reply that need clarification and intelligent re-thinking:

This patient-to-patient movement is far more than ‘frustrations with our own unresolved symptoms’. Â This is about Â hundreds of millions of us worldwide who have been subjected to a brainwashed bias by medical professionals in the use of Â T4-only medications and the TSH lab testÂ (both which have left us with lingering hypothyroid symptoms and denied as such by our physicians).
What you refer to asÂ “a great deal of controversy surrounding the diagnosis and treatment of low thyroid disorders”Â Â is, in our experience and observation, only within the boundaries of a dogmatically-trained medical profession comprised of those who seem to have lost the art of paying attention to CLEAR symptoms of hypothyroidism with a so-called “normal” TSH lab test or with the use of the laughable “gold standard” of thyroid treatment–T4-only.
This is far more than what is “scientifically tested and proven.” Do you REALLY believe that all scientific testing is unbiased and correct?? Â Do you not understand that much science has been done quite badly, and the results are often in conjunction to whoever or whatever FUNDED the research? Instead, this is about real live and multiple patient experience and outcome–patient experience where lives are changed due to not going by the TSH but by symptoms; where labwork is used as the cart pulled by the horse of symptoms; where desiccated thyroid has been proven to be far more beneficial in the removal of our symptoms than thyroxine ever was or will be…and more. (And here is science that actually underscores our experience).
You state that the article “drew on research and advice that is evidence-based.” Â And what about the evidence of millions of thyroid patients who have endured multiple and clear hypothyroid symptoms for years before the TSH lab test rose high enough to reveal their obvious hypothyroid state? What about all of us who have suffered for years in our own kind and degree while on T4-only meds like Synthroid, levothyroxine, etc? What about theÂ irrefutableÂ evidence of those whose lives have turned completely around thanks to desiccated thyroid and/or T3, especially after they treated the extreme side effects of being undiagnosed or undertreated all these years thanks to a clueless medical profession?
You refer to “credentialed doctors working at leading medical and academic centers” as your source of information: would it shock you to hear that MANY credentialed doctors are the very ones who have kept us completely sick for nearly sixty years?? Â Ask thyroid patients about all those doctors they saw over the years who were “credentialed”, and your eyes and ears will burn. And what about all the growing body of “credentialed doctors” who now have the courage to state that the TSH lab test is lousy (except for diagnosing hypopituitary), just as is T4-only treatment? They are many!
And finally, if your “goal and the motivation behind all ofÂ Good Housekeeping’s health coverage” is to find more effective treatment for all, do a follow-up article in an upcoming issue about the scandal of T4-only treatment, the poor use of the TSH lab test (which is measuring a pituitary hormone, not cellular levels of thyroid hormones), the experience of patients worldwide on T4, the experience of patients who lives made a complete turn-around thanks to desiccated thyroid or T3, the experience of patients with “credentialed doctors” who have been nothing more than condescending, ignorant, biased and dogmatically close-minded to our experience and wisdom in our own bodies!

Good Housekeeping do a PATIENT EXPERIENCE article! Â Let your readers use their own wisdom about the “mass experience of patients worldwide” vs the “dogmatic, pharmaceutically-brainwashed “opinion” of a several misguided and credentialed medical professionals.”

July 26th 2011 25 replies

Tag: thyroxine