Chuck’s Story

To prove this can happen to a male as much as a female, this is Chuck’s story about gaining and gaining on Synthroid, and losing over 100 lbs without dieting when he got on a treatment with T3.

In 1994, I was in top shape and looking at getting into the US military to be a pilot. I had taken numerous military physicals, including flight physicals at Homestead Air Force Base and Patrick Air Force Base. I was cleared 1A to fly (train in) military aircraft with a clean bill of health.

In April of 1994 I was scuba diving off Miami Beach, and ended up with a pressure injury to my inner ear. So, to reduce inflammation, I was prescribed PREDNISONE by a doctor. (Prednisone is an anti inflammatory steroid that replicates CORTISOL from the adrenal gland.)

From the very DAY my prescription ran out, I started having problems. It started with some flu like symptoms that lasted a day or so. Then my health went rapidly downhill. Overwhelming fatigue was the worst, and I gained weight like crazy, from 208 to 350 pounds. Terrible insomnia, chronic pain, chronic fatigue.

My father is an MD (radiologist), my uncle is an MD (ENT), my mom is a nurse and my two aunts are nurses. And no one had ANY idea what was wrong. (Must be that I was a fat and lazy bum and I ate too much!) Well, wrong.

Finally a doctor said to me “I think its a longshot, but I’m gonna test your thyroid!” TSH came back…27!

So, you guessed it: got on the Synthroid, lost a little weight, about thirty pounds. Went to doctors year after year (FOR TEN YEARS) weighing 320 pounds and them all giving me Synthroid, including the head of Endocrinology at Mt Sinai Hospital. He said “YOU need to lose weight!” as he handed me another prescription for Synthroid.

Well, things got worse and even though I was on 200 mcg of Synthroid daily, got my TSH tested….41.9! WHAT? 41.9? On Synthroid? Is that a world record?

Well, my dad was watching Dr Andrew Weil on TV one night and Dr Weil mentioned that some thyroid patients do well on a drug called THYROLAR with T4 AND T3. Ordered it (cause no pharmacy carries it) took it and felt better RIGHT AWAY. Then found a doctor who prescribed compounded bio-identical thyroid and this stuff totally ROCKS. It changed my life and it’s WAY better than Thyrolar, or Armour thyroid which I took briefly.

So I have gone from 350 pounds to 215 pounds thankfully to thyroid medication with T3! Which by the way, is not helpful in treating hypothyroidism according to the Journal of American Medicine and the New Engalnd Journal of Medicine. (Did the makers of Synthroid fund the research on T3 and skew the results? I think so!)

I still have some issue with my adrenal gland as my cortisol level is abnormally high at night, can’t sleep, still looking for help with that. This website is the only place that addressed this issue of how bad thyroid treatment is in the medical profession today. Thank god for it!!!

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