uk Archives - Page 4 of 7 - Stop The Thyroid Madness Skip to content

Should thyroid patients avoid self-treatment at all costs??

STTM Self-treat(This post has been updated to the current date and time. Enjoy!)

When STTM first put out its shingle in December of 2005, my goal with this site was simple: to educate thyroid patients based on the experience and wisdom of thyroid patients worldwide. Since then and today, STTM has always been the Mothership of those experiences and wisdom from which all other sites borrow their information. lol.

And as I saw it, by educating patients on what we had been learning, patients could in turn, take that information into their doctors offices and push for change.

And it’s been working, slowly. We now have more doctors than ever before who know about desiccated thyroid and some are willing to prescribe it. Or even adding T3 to T4. Or being on T3 alone. STTM has a page on how to try finding one of those good docs.

But as I wrote about this fact in my previous post, certain patients report feeling frustrated, angry and sick because of doctors. Progress is slow.

I am lucky, as I’ve always managed to have an open-minded doctor to work with, without complicated issues. But a lot of patients aren’t as lucky.  They either can’t find a doctor to treat them correctly after trying repeatedly, or they simply can’t afford to keep driving to find a good doc (with no promises that they will get the good doc they desperately need anyway).

As a result, many thyroid patients report being forced to self-treat.

Even though STTM was never created as a self-treatment site, I am aware that some patients use it that way.  And I can never condemn or criticize them.  If a patient’s doctor refuses to connect the dots, refuses to understand the importance of T3 in one’s treatment…or if a patient can’t afford one who will prescribe correctly, it’s understandable  In fact, I will not support other advocates who criticize patients who feel forced to self-treat, as I remember one in particular has done repeatedly. Granted, a few who make their own choice to self-treat can run into problems, most especially from undiscovered or undiagnosed low iron or a cortisol problem. But it’s a choice they seem to make out of desperation.

The following  post is by a Guest Blog poster and UK’s thyroid patient advocate Sheila Turner of TPA UK.  These are her courageous thoughts concerning self-treatment, and her angst against anyone who tells patients not to do so.  Overall, UK patients have a very tough situation in the UK with doctors, but so do the vast majority of patients around the world, as well as US patients. See what you think…

*********************************************

It’s not uncommon to be told as a suffering and debilitated thyroid patient to never self-diagnose, never self-treat, never self-monitor.

And in an ideal world, we could take those admonitions on. But we are not living in an ideal world.

You might as well tell everybody with ill health to put up with whatever they are suffering and leave their health in the safe hands of our ‘wonderful’ doctors whom we can trust implicitly.  Sadly, many doctors have little (or no) education in the workings of the thyroid system.

Or, you might just try touring the country until you find one who will help. Well, if you have the energy and the money to do that, it could take a heck of a long time before finding such a good doctor – indeed, IF you ever find such a doctor.

I run a very successful Internet Thyroid Support group, plus web site for thyroid disease, and I have seen at first hand (and experienced it myself) the nightmare of having to put up with the terrible suffering caused by Doctors.

In the UK, for example, it is organizations such as the Royal College of Physicians and the British Thyroid Association who have terrified NHS doctors so much that they now no longer prescribe any T3 hormone containing products, neither natural nor synthetic, for fear of being reported to the GMC  regulatory body with the threat of losing their career and livelihood.

One comment I hear from those who condemn self-treatment is the problem of over-medicating. In reality, it is the reckless prohibition of all T3-containing drugs that causes cardiac arrhythmia and risk of  sudden death -  which would amount to at least manslaughter, and might even constitute murder if the outcome is strictly foreseeable - which it is. It is NOT patients who should be criticized. They have been driven to buying prescription medicines for thyroid and adrenal insufficiency. Criticizing self-treatment is an outrageous claim and one that the medical regulators would no doubt be delighted to hear. Seems that not only are doctors becoming sorely afraid of the Regulators, those who condemn self-treatment are also falling into the same trap.

The “basic premise” that underlies my own purpose and advocacy is to help those being left to suffer because the medical regulators and government are refusing to give a proper diagnosis – and for those who do get a diagnosis, giving them levothyroxine sodium-only as a thyroid hormone replacement.

Whenever a new member comes to TPA, we encourage them to read, read and read again and to look at the information in our FILES section which is there for all to see. We tell them about the associated conditions that go along with being hypothyroid such as low adrenal reserve, systemic candidiasis, mercury poisoning and ask them to request blood tests from their doctor to see if their levels are low in the reference range for ferritin, vitamin B12, vitamin D3, magnesium, folate, copper and zinc. We have information on the reasons they need to check these and if any of these are a problem, make sure they are aware of just how essential it is that they eliminate these conditions, one by one, before starting thyroid hormone replacement — such conditions are NOT automatically checked by NHS doctors — and they put their patients at great risk by automatically prescribing levothyroxine.

We all know of the serious ramifications for those patients who are not being given a correct diagnosis or treatment. However, it is the endocrinologists and medical regulators who are guilty of causing much of the unnecessary suffering, not those patients who are driven to self diagnose, self treat and self monitor, as those who criticize self-treatment would have us believe.

Mainstream doctors do not appear to be even aware of the many common and often undiagnosed symptoms and dangerous consequences of low thyroid. These include: serious mental problems, seizures, heart disease, diabetes including misdiagnosis and complications, constipation resulting in colon cancer, all female problems (due to high amounts of dangerous forms of oestrogen), including: tumours, fibroids, ovarian cysts, PMS, endometriosis, breast cancer, miscarriage, heavy periods and cramps, bladder problems leading to infections, anaemia, elevated CPK, elevated creatinine, elevated transaminases, hypercapnia, hyperlipidemia, hypoglycemia, hyponatremia, hypoxia, leukopenia, respiratory acidosis and others….

If sufferers of the symptoms are NOT getting a proper diagnosis and the thyroid hormone replacement that would give them back their life and health through mainstream doctors, how on earth would you recommend they do this, apart from scouring the country to find a doctor elsewhere who would help them, or recommending they get enough money together to see a private thyroid specialist. Do you REALLY have such complete faith in the medical profession to know that we should ALL leave our thyroid health in their hands, sit back and do nothing — and probably just wait to die? How can you recommend that they do NOT buy prescription medications and should not self-medicate, self treat or self monitor when there is NO other option left open to them.

If those who criticize self-treatment have personally heard from “DOZENS” of people who have followed the “increase my own dose of natural thyroid” self medication approach, then yes, something is seriously wrong with the `teachings’ or advocacy of such groups. Education should be encouraged by all, and if members do not understand the reasons why they need to take great care, such explanations should be given in such a way that they understand.

I rarely hear of members ending up in Emergency Rooms battling potentially fatal heart arrhythmia’s, atrial fibrillation, and/or ending up in worse health than before, including long-term and permanent heart damage through self-treatment. I have heard of many NHS patients being admitted to A and E, who had been treated (or not) by mainstream doctors who refused them the correct therapy their symptoms needed.

In good conscience, I do recommend that thyroid patients self-diagnose, self-medicate and self-treat if they are being left to suffer, because organizations such as the RCP, BTA TSH reference range is so huge that they will never go outside of it. This reference range is 0.5 to 10.0 in the UK — probably the widest in the world. Then, we have to put up with the fact that the only thyroid function test that will be done is the TSH — and doctors will not test Free T4 in a lot of cases, never mind free T3 level. Also, NHS Pathology labs refuse to test free T3 even if the doctor has specifically requested it. So, many of us will NEVER get a proper diagnosis — being left to suffer their unnecessary symptoms for years and become wheelchair/bed bound in many cases, having to leave paid employment.

Such patients are told they have a `functional somatoform disorder’ when their TFT’s are normal, when they continue to complain of symptoms — or — those who are lucky enough to get a diagnosis, who are treated with levothyroxine only yet still complain of debilitating symptoms are told also “you have a functional somatoform disorder” or “your symptoms are non-specific” .

What mainstream doctors do not recognize is that thyroid function tests ONLY test the amount of thyroid hormone being secreted by the thyroid gland.  TFT’s (more correctly should be called Thyroid GLAND function tests”, do not test to show whether there is peripheral resistance to the thyroid hormones at the cellular level. This is not due to a lack of thyroid hormones secreted by the gland. Blood tests do NOT detect Type 2 hypothyroidism. Type 2 is usually inherited. However, environmental toxins may also cause or exacerbate the problem. The pervasiveness of Type 2 has yet to be recognized by mainstream medicine, but already is in epidemic proportions. I think many sufferers of the symptoms of hypothyroidism know very much more than their medical practitioners. I do know which road I would like to follow — that is to find an excellent doctor I could trust implicitly, but sadly, the ONLY road many of us have to follow to get back normal health is the one where we have to self medicate.

Please do NOT blame patients who are driven to self diagnose and medicate as being the reason why the US government, or any other government for that matter, are now eliminating the availability of natural thyroid and synthetic T3. You are being sucked into believing what they want you to believe.

Levothyroxine is a synthetic medication that can be patented, and has made billions of pounds for the Big Pharma and for the regulators of hypothyroid guidelines. Natural thyroid products cannot be patented. Should doctors prescribe either synthetic or natural T3, the majority of sufferers of the symptoms of hypothyroidism would regain their normal health — Big Pharma would suffer.

You should perhaps read the book “Dirty Medicine” by Martin J Walker if you have not already read it. Those who criticize self-treatment appear to be accusing all those suffering symptoms of hypothyroidism who have been driven to buying medications without prescription and self treating as making it worse for the rest of those suffering. It is NOT them who are abusing T3. If a T3 hormone containing product was properly prescribed, there would be NO NEED FOR PATIENTS TO BE SELF MEDICATING.

Self medicating, whatever drug we are taking, whether using a T3 hormone containing product or not, is always risky and patients must be fully educated in its use. However, self medicating with any drug runs risks, but I would rather self medicate with the chance of getting my health back than leaving my health in the hands of totally incompetent doctors — incompetent because the teachers in our medical schools are incompetent.

For those who are being left to die, without the treatment that will make them well, do-it-yourself medication is the only option left open to them. Would you really deny them this?  Leaving patients without the thyroid hormone they need is appalling and one of the reasons TPA is campaigning to bring about changes in the diagnosing and treatment of the symptoms of hypothyroidism.

It can be appreciated to say to work with the right doctor, but what do you recommend if patients cannot find the `right’ doctor?? Perhaps you should all come over here to the UK and help those sufferers in finding the right solution and offer to help them help to find a “good doctor”.

Sadly, there are never any solutions given or alternative to self diagnosing, self-treating or self-monitoring, other than to “find a good doctor”. This does not help Internet thyroid support forum members.

Sheila
http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/

JanieSignature SEIZE THE WISDOM

 

 

 

 

 

 

** Come on over to Like the Stop the Thyroid Madness Facebook page for daily wisdom, information and camaraderie!

10 reasons many thyroid patients are still frustrated, angry, and sick

 

Screen Shot 2015-06-12 at 1.21.49 PMUpdated in 2015:

It’s a continuing travesty, and you see it in patient groups.

i.e. many patients still find themselves sick and disabled, stumbling miserably from one uninformed doctor to another…in spite of the wonders of natural desiccated thyroid, the testimony of changed lives, the education of patients thanks to the STTM website & book, and a small but growing body of wise doctors who seem to be “getting it”,

So what’s the problem?? It lays with our doctors and the entire medical profession.

  1. Heavy-handed control over your medication:

    You go to pick up your prescription, and find your medication has been lowered by your doctor without your agreement or knowledge, as happened to Terry here (scroll down to find her post).

  2. Ignorance about adrenal insufficiency and treatment:

    You clearly have an adrenal problem, and one doctor dismisses its existence, another doctor poo-poos the saliva test, another doctor tells you cortisol supplementation is dangerous, another doctor thrusts all his herbal supplements at you, another doctor thinks that 5 or 10 mg cortisol is enough…and on and on and on.

  3. Thinking that falling in the range is optimal:

    If a lab result within those numerical boundaries, which are based on a set of people a laboratory picked to come up with the range, says I’m normal, WHY do I still have issues??

  4. Dismissing you:

    You are wise thanks to reading, researching and living in your own body, yet your doctor calls you a problematic patient on your charts, dismisses you, or gets angry.

  5. RT3 huh?

    You have strong suspicions that your Reverse T3 is too high thanks to low cortisol or low iron or Lyme or undiagnosed gluten issues, etc, yet this doctor refuses to test you, that doctor says an RT3 excess is rare.

  6. Look at me! Look at me!

    You make an appointment with that great doc who has a fabulous website/book and who shouts that he uses desiccated thyroid with a big smile…yet some or all of the above and below occurs with him/her or his “trained” associates.

  7. Continued worship of the TSH lab test:

    Too many doctors still think the TSH lab test is from God Almighty. So when you finally start to feel well on desiccated thyroid with a TSH at zero or below…WHAM…you must lower your meds because you are somehow “hyper” in spite of no symptoms to match whatsoever and improvement in our bone density and heart health.

  8. Pharmaceutical addicts:

    You mention your lingering hypothyroid symptoms, and you are bandaided with anti-depressants, anti-anxietal meds, statins, BP pills, pain tablets, acid reflux pills, calcium for your thinning bones…instead of understanding from your doctor that these are ALL side effects of poor thyroid treatment.

  9. The country you live in:

    The desperation of UK thyroid patients is deep thanks to a thyroid association and a College of Physicians which tightens the screws if a doctor dares to prescribe a life changing medication with T3 in it.  Or just as frustrating, having a government which forbids desiccated thyroid to arrive to you in the mail, or like Denmark, refuses to dispense it.

  10. Reformulations and Big Pharma apathy:

    In 2009, then Forest Labs turned one of the most popular and effective desiccated thyroid brand, Armour, into a pill with too much cellulose and too little sucrose, causing a massive return of symptoms in many.  RLC also reformulated their Naturethroid to some degree, and though some patients still do well on it, others did not anymore. Erfa made some kind of change in 2014 which they denied, yet certain patients all over the world reported new problems they had never had before. You are left wondering WHAT is going to happen next!!

And there are more reasons you might want to bring up in the Comments part of this post.

So you see, it’s no wonder so MANY patients feel forced to self-treat, yet they are also condemned for doing so.

All-in-all, we still have a way to go, baby, and especially with the doctors we try so hard to get help from…but can’t.

P.S. Are you brave? Walk into your doctor’s office with the STTM shirt. And here’s how to find a potentially better doc. 

 

Is there a genetic reason many of us do lousy on T4?

deiodinase2Last May, a very interesting article appeared in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, titled For Some, L-Thyroxine Replacement Might Not Be Enough: A Genetic Rationale and presented by Endocrinologists in Bristol in the UK. It’s accompanied with an editorial by Endocrinologists Brian W. Kim and Antonio C. Bianco.

This is the same article referred to by Endocrinologist Dr. Gary Pepper on the last Thyroid Patient Community Call on Talkshoe.

Basically, the article states that a genetic variation in the enzyme that converts T4 to T3, deiodinase D2 (also called Type 2 Deiodinase, or 5′-Deiodinase), may be responsible for why so many thyroid patients don’t do well on Synthroid, Levoxyl, levothyroxine, etc, and in turn, do so much better on natural desiccated thyroid like Naturethroid, Erfa’s Thyroid, or the combined synthetic T4 and synthetic T3 (Cytomel).

In other words, where some may have a strongly functioning deiodinase D2 enzyme which converts T4 to the active T3 well, others may have a modified deiodinase D2 enzyme, causing less optimal conversion.

In the Editorial, the two Endos Kim and Bianco explain the reality of “polymorphism”–a condition in nature in which changes or variations occur, and in one patient from another, a change in the DNA.  As related to conversion of T4 to T3,  some thyroid patients have a less effective deiodinase D2 enzyme in the conversion of T4 to T3.  Specifically, there is a common variant of the gene, threonine (Thr) 92 alanine (Ala), and it results in decreased D2 enzymatic activity.

The study proposes that this alteration from polymorphism occurs in 16% of those studied, and concludes that the majority don’t have this problem, and thus, “most do fine on T4-only medications”. But 16% do have this problem and need the combined therapy of T4 with T3.

Bristol was also mentioning this reality in 2004 here, even if they thought it was as low as 5%.

As Dr. Pepper hinted, this study could do wonders to open the eyes of Endocrinologists about the use of desiccated thyroid, or at the very least, about combined hypothyroid treatment with synthetic T3 added to synthetic T4.  And I’m glad for that when so many patients have found Endocrinologists to be narrow-mindedly stuck on Synthroid or other T4-only thyroxine products.

Of course, informed thyroid patients know this is only a baby step in the right direction, even if a good one! So we’ll rejoice for this study, and watch for more progress from the medical community and Endocrinology in general. For example, saying that “most do fine on T4” simply because they have may a non-variation might be proven wrong as physicians take the time to really look at those “fine” patients, especially as they age and symptoms of an inferior treatment do pop up. And though the combination of synthetic T3 with synthetic T4 definitely gives better results, thyroid patients who then moved to desiccated thyroid with it’s T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin report even better results and clinical presentation!  We’ve also learned that the TSH lab test absolutely sucks when it comes to diagnosis and treatment.  Read TSH Why It’s Useless, or see even more detail in Chapter Four of the STTM book, titled Thyroid Stimulating Hooey.

And finally: do thyroid patients really believe that problems with T4-only treatment is simply due to a genetic abnormality or variation? Maybe. But isn’t it funny that a healthy human thyroid does NOT depend solely on conversion, but also gives direct T3. hmmmmmm

P.S.  Patients also know that the use of the supplement Selenium helps with conversion, by the way, but has never stopped our first-hand knowledge that desiccated thyroid rocks!

What the recent Medco scandal is actually telling us–i.e. there’s more to this story

medcoI have been watching with interest the past week about the justified ire of patients being expressed all over patient groups in the internet. And in case you’ve been too busy with school starting or end-of-summer activities, it involves one of the nation’s largest mail order pharmacies as well as the largest Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM):  Medco.

In a statement you can read right on their website, they state:

1)  there is a “nationwide shortage of porcine-derived desiccated thyroid”
2)  they are “uncertain about continued availability.”
3)  “ask your doctor if a synthetic thyroid medication, such as levothyroxine is right for you.”

In Medco’s direct message to doctors, they state;

1)  desiccated thyroid does not have the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  Federal Drug approval”
2)  the FDA  “may remove any remaining unapproved products from the market.”
3)  the shortage is due to this “uncertainty”.
4) “the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologist recommends levothyroxine over desicccated thyroid, liotrix, combination of thyroid hormone, or triiodothyronine (T3) for the treatment of hypothyroidism.”

Clarification on their statements

If you are just now finding out about this,  do note the following:

1) There is not a nationwide shortage of all desiccated thyroid. There is a shortage of Armour because of its 2009 reformulation. (See my blog posts below about problems with the newly formulated Armour.)
2) Naturethroid by RLC Labs continues to be available. They are working hard to keep up.  See my post on Naturethroid.
3) Desiccated thyroid was around long before the establishment of the FDA, so they are grandfathered in and still work with the FDA guidelines.
4) There has been no statements by the FDA that they are removing desiccated thyroid.

An even more important revelation in this entire Medco scandal

There is actually an underlying message in the entire Medco fiasco that you should find even MORE disturbing: the continued  promotion of T4, aka levothroxine, as an adequate treatment of hypothyroidism.  And this is not just a faux pas of Medco, it continues to be the ignorant opinion of far too many doctors, medical schools and medical boards. All you have to do is look at what has happened in the UK with the Royal College of Physicians to see the idiocy abounding.

Over 100 years ago, desiccated thyroid was found to be an excellent treatment for hypothyroidism.  I give precise details about the first use of desiccated thyroid in Chapter 2 in the Stop the Thyroid Madness book. It worked!

But in the early 1960’s, the tide turned thanks to a batch of desiccated thyroid that turned out not to be what it said it was.  This is documented in the 1970 Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics.  And pharmaceuticals, especially  Knoll Pharmaceuticals who first tableted levothyroxine aka Synthroid in 1955,  jumped to promote T4-only as a “new and modern medication”.  (See page 41 and 42 in the STTM book).  And doctors and medical schools fell for it hook, line and sinker.

And to this day, levothyroxine continues to be purported as an acceptable and logical treatment choice for hypothyroidism.  But patients all over the world beg to differ.  T4 medications like Synthroid, Levoxyl, Eltroxin, Oroxine and others simply leave all patients with their own unique amount and degree of lingering hypothyroid symptoms, no matter how high you raise it.

I also find it hugely disturbing to refer to AACE (American Association of  Clinical Endocrinologists) as if they are the grand poopah of knowing what’s right for thyroid patients. They are NOT.  Millions of thyroid patients who have switched to desiccated thyroid, T3, or a combo of T4 and T3 will tell them hands-down that they have gotten FAR better results, and most especially with desiccated thyroid like the “old” Armour, and now Naturethroid.

Visiting numerous thyroid patient groups will reveal how patients feel about Endocrinologists they have visited throughout the years.  Their experiences are far from flattering. In other words, with a few exceptions, thyroid patients are NOT impressed with Endo’s.

Medco’s statements are definitely a concern for patients and range from presumptous to unfactual.  But those statements only represent a far wider problem around the world in the medical community.  Clinical presentation and wisdom has been thrown out the window by doctors.  So patients have to continue spreading the word about the far superior treatment of desiccated thyroid, and their problematic experience with T4.

Want to be informed of these posts so YOU can be informed? Curious what’s on Janie’s mind? Use the Notifications on the left at the bottom of the links.

***50% off sale!! All STTM t-shirts are now on sale. I love sales. Not only do they help support this site, they are a great way to spread the word. Go here.   Did you know that Laughing Grape Publishing will send a STTM book directly to your doctor?

The intrusion of reality about levothyroxine, Synthroid, T4 and depression

 

STTM Depression and T4-only(This post was updated to the present day and time. Enjoy!)

I’ve been perusing comments in response to the UK’s Royal College of Physicians blundering and dark-age-constructed Diagnosis and Treatment of Primary Hypothyroidism.  And though all comments are quite good and worth your read, I was struck by the comment titled May Reality Intrude? by a man named Charles.

Charles profound story about his wife’s depression

Charles explains that in 1999, his 67-year-old wife had RAI (radioactive iodine) and was then put on levothyroxine, a T4-only medication (aka Synthroid, Levoxyl, Eltroxin, Oroxine, levothyroxine, et al).  And not long after, she complained of having depression.

He had an idea why after reading the New England Journal of Medicine about T3, and proceeded to buy her Armour off the internet.  For those reading this, Armour is one of several brands of Natural Desiccated Thyroid–the latter which contains all five hormones that a healthy thyroid produces: T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin.

Without her knowing, he switched medications. Lo and behold, he states “she promptly returned to her usual sunny disposition”. Her physician knew nothing of the switch either, and found nothing to be concerned about in her.

Charles then explained how, at age 74 in 2007, she was near death thanks to an ulcer bleed.  And to continue treating her hypothyroidism, the hospital gave her levothyroxine, aka T4-only, all over again.  Back came her depression and a feeling of wanting to go home and die.

So Charles brought her Armour to the hospital, and though her physical state was depressing enough, her sunny disposition returned.  And that happy spirit while still on Armour continues today after a full recovery.

And Charles pondered: If his wife had been in a NHS (National Health Service) hospital under the care of a so-called thyroid specialist of the NHS, would she have failed to obtain T3 in her treatment and instead, sent to a psychiatrist as if her depression had nothing to do with her levothyroxine treated hypothyroidism–the very treatment that the Royal College of Physicians has a dogmatic love affair with?

He then concludes: My wife’s depression was obvious. Since she is equipped with much the same assortment of body parts and associated physiology as others, is it not likely that many levothyroxine-treated patients suffer from less-noticeable depression?

Our experiences as thyroid patients agree with Charles!

Well Charles, most any thyroid patient who decides to respond to this will tell you unequivocally YES, YES, YES.  Because there’s no research, study or directive that is more profound and telling than the actual EXPERIENCE of patients all over the world with T4 treatment and depression…besides a slew of other side effects of continuing hypothyroidism on T4-only meds.

Why have so many experienced depression on T4-only?

Because we’ve learned repeatedly that the body is not meant to live for T4 alone, which is simply a storage hormone, not to live for conversion alone. T4 is meant to convert to the active hormone T3. Studies reveal that T3 influences the effect of the transmitters serotonin and catecholamine in the brain–both which effect mood. Without enough T3, an imbalance in serotonin seems to occur. So when one is forced to live for conversion alone, the body doesn’t appear to get enough of the powerful T3. Depression is just one of many side effects of a poor treatment with T4-only.

Go here to read several stories of patients whose depression went away with the right thyroid treatment.

* Did you have depression on a T4 med? Tell us about your experience in the Comments section of this post.

* Want to be informed of these blogs? Curious what’s on Janie’s mind? Use the Notifications at the bottom of this page. 

* Join the STTM Facebook page for daily information, tips and inspiration, and sometimes a few chuckles.Â