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Tag: stop the thyroid madness

Thyroid Tidbits: Men with low iron, Reverse T4 (yes, I said it correctly), Inflammation in thyroid patients, plus more

(No, the tatoo isn’t mine. It belongs to a gal who says STTM helped changed her life. Amazing and brave! 🙂 )

MEN CAN HAVE LOW IRON, TOO:

I’ve seen a few hypothyroid men who have found themselves with low iron. In fact, either iron anemia is growing in men, or we’re just hearing from them more thanks to the internet.

And remarkably, it has become personal for me. Turns out my own husband is very low, which explains the fatigue he had been experiencing lately. Sadly, taking iron pills gives him a headache, so he will eat high-iron foods daily, and will be exploring Floradix, a liquid herb-based iron. Men, get all the needed iron labs!

REVERSE T4 (yes, I said it correctly)

I’ve been having an email chat with a scientifically-minded guy named Brian who also has a sister with a major in bio-chemistry. And something dawned on both of them concerning “levothyroxine” which is the synthetic term for T4. The prefix LEVO means the “left-hand” version of a molecule, and thyroxine is the biological term for the real T4. Says Brian: “Levo-thyroxine means it has exactly the same atoms in exactly the same order, but not the same shape (handedness), so if enzymes or proteins have to chemically “fit” it to work, they may not be able to. He concludes this can be one reason being on synthetic T4-only does not work, and knew it was alluded to by Dr. Mark Starr.

But Brian continues: In just the same way that levothyroxine is the mirror-image or “left-handed” version of regular thyroxin, RT3, or Reverse T3, is the mirror-image or “left-handed” version of T3. If we were consistent with our terminology, in other words, levothyroxine would be known as “Reverse T4”. Says Brian, just as Reverse T3 is biologically inactive , so is Levothyroxine, thus “Reverse T4”. I love it!

CHECK OUT WHAT THIS MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTIONIST SAID:

In a facebook discussion, a female medical transcriptionist has had a realization. Namely, in almost every report she is transcribing into text or digital format, a patient with the diagnosis of hypothyroidism also has a medical history of depression and/or anxiety. You can read about depression & anxiety here. Of course, no patient who is informed is surprised! They are HYPOTHYROID symptoms. And she then notes the prescription ordered by the doc: Synthroid. WAKE UP DOCTORS. You are only dooming your patients to a lifetime of depression, anxiety and far more.

WHY MANY OF YOU HAVE INFLAMMATION (and don’t even know it), WHAT IT DOES, AND HOW TO TREAT IT

One thing I see a lot when doing phone consultations, as well as on thyroid patient groups, is evidence that someone has low-grade inflammation. In fact, research has already shown that a large body of folks with hypothyroidism have higher levels of CRP (C-Reactive Protein) which is a lab test marker of inflammation. That inflammation, in turn, puts you at a higher risk of heart disease.

Another clue that you have an inflammation problem is having higher ferritin levels (i.e. ferritin looks great, or is too high) along with poor iron serum/% saturation lab results. In other words, in the presence of chronic inflammation, your iron will be diverted to your ferritin iron storage, and less will be in your serum and saturation. You can also find yourself with very low TIBC (Total iron-binding capacity). The TIBC is measuring the protein “transferrin”, made in your liver, and which transports your iron through your body. If this is the case, you can’t take high levels of iron supplementation, as explained on the above ferrritin page and more in the book.

What do you do? 1) Treat your hypothyroidism properly–a huge step in lowering that inflammation–with desiccated thyroid, NOT Synthroid. (Read the Things We Have Learned page on STTM, or even more details in Chapter 3 in the new Revised STTM book). 2) Treat proven low cortisol with HC or hydrocortisone. Don’t guess! Do a saliva test!) If saliva testing reveals you have adrenal dysfunction, cortisol supplementation will help counter inflammation. (Read the Adrenal Info and How to Treat page on STTM, or more details in Chapter 6 in the new Revised STTM book.) 3) Use Krill Oil as a supplement. Krill Oil is an even better marine fish oil with rich amounts of Omega 3 fatty oils, and research with even a low dose of 300 mg proves that it does a bang-up job in reducing inflammation as well as pain in joints associated with rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. My own husband is on 1000 mg a day.

HAVE THE REVISED SECOND EDITION OF THE STTM BOOK YET? IT’S WORTH IT.

I am frankly extremely proud of the Revised Second Edition of the STTM book. In spite of being a lot of hard work, it is good to see all the additions, details and corrections throughout the entire book. There is much more on labs and how to read them, ferritin and iron, adrenal dysfunction and how to treat it, reverse T3 and how to treat it, plus a completely new chapter on good supplements and foods. I added a little more hidden humor, which was fun. There are now 36 more pages, too, and at the same price. You can see more about the book here. The book is ideal since you can bring that right into the doctor’s office with the information highlighted and bookmarked. As far as Kindle or other readers, yes, I’m already aware that some of you have requested it. But right now, it’s the book only. But I’ll make announcements in the future as to what might be coming up.

P.S. Seeing this blog post via the email notification? If you have a comment to make, click on the title, which will take you directly to this blog post on the net, and comment there.

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Finally! The 2011 REVISED SECOND EDITION of the Stop the Thyroid Madness book!

YEEHAW!!

Three years ago this month, the book Stop the Thyroid Madness: A Patient Revolution Against Decades of Inferior Treatment came out with quiet fanfare–a complete patient-to-patient book chock full of information based on the successful experience of thyroid patients worldwide. As the messenger of that information, I had a strong purpose: to create INFORMED patients who can then demand change in their doctors offices. Pro-active patients! Educated patients!

But the reaction to it wasn’t quiet!

Thyroid patients have reported it was changing their lives. To date, the STTM book has been sent, and in multiple copies, to Antiqua/ Barbuda, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, and the UK. That doesn’t include the high volume amount of copies sent to US patients, doctors, and individuals in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

Amazingly, yet not surprisingly, patients were discovering new information even a few months after the First Edition was published three years ago. As a result, Laughing Grape Publishing LLC had to add, and continually update, a bookmark of updated information into all its books ordered directly from the publishing company.

Today, in the REVISED SECOND EDITION, all that extra patient information has been added, plus a LOT more.

  • 36 more pages, by and for patients, plus changes & additions in every single chapter
  • Much more detail on adrenal and HPA dysfunction and how to treat it
  • Recognizing and dealing with Reverse T3
  • Identifying and treating gluten issues as related to Hashimotos disease
  • Iodine-use information in relation to hypothyroid, breast disease, Hashimotos, adrenal dysfunction, etc.
  • More details on labwork preparation, plus what to look for in your results
  • Why you need more than ferritin testing, and details on iron testing
  • Updated information on brands of desiccated thyroid throughout the world, T3-only products, hydrocortisone, and more
  • A completely NEW CHAPTER on supplements & foods which thyroid patients appreciate and use!

And, the price has been kept exactly the same. Our loss; your gain, in the name of an important movement of needed education and change!

This was NOT an easy book to revise! I had to go through it with a fine-toothed comb, removing some information, correcting other information, adding a lot more…besides working on making it more readable. I am not a writer by profession. Sometimes I felt like a “cuckoo’s nest mental case” trying to balance the work on the Revised edition with my other activist responsibilities and a busy private life. Is it perfect? Nope. But as I stated in the First, some information is right on target, some is at least close to the bulls-eye, and other info will fall into place as we continue to learn. That’s why you need to see it as “guide” of patient experience, and to use it to become PROACTIVE in your relationship with your doctor and the entire medical profession.

Today, you can order either copy. As of today, the First Edition has been lowered to 14.95 until supplies run out, which will be soon. The Revised Second Edition is taking pre-orders, and it looks like books will start being sent out in about 7-10 days.

You can go here to see a stand-alone website about the book, as well as here to be among the first to pre-order your copy.

THE STTM BOOK IN OTHER LANGUAGES

Yes, you will eventually be seeing the Revised Second Edition in various languages. That’s in the works right now, and no, I don’t yet know the dates. I’ll announce that here, so be sure and be signed up for this BLOG NOTIFICATION to the left under the links.

KINDLE and E-BOOKS

With no projected dates other than much later this year, you will first see an E-book. Later, we’ll be looking at Kindle. Again, announcements will be made, and you’ll have to be patient. In the meantime, ordering the book is your best choice right now. Besides, having this book in your lap in the doctor’s office is powerful to many of them, since doctors can have silly thoughts about “internet” information.

And more is coming which will be announced as they occur. 🙂

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Recall of certain batches of Armour–US, Belgium, UK

If you have 1/2 grain (30 mg) tablets, a label error caused some one grain tablets (60 mg) to be labeled as 1/2 grain tablets (30 mgs). That would mean you could be overdosing yourself if you are taking 1/2 grains. Both sizes need to be returned to your pharmacist with this information and exchanged. i.e. COPY THIS when you take them back.

NOTE: they would be Lot #: 1077413 with an expiration of 9/30/2011 This is what your pharmacist would need to know.

PRODUCT

Armour Thyroid (thyroid tablets, USP), 1/2 grain (30 mg) , each tablet contains 19 mcg levothyroxine (T4) and 4.5 mcg liothyronine (T3), 100-count bottle, NDC 0456-0458-01. Recall # D-231-2011
CODE
Lot #: 1077413, Exp. 9/30/2011
RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER
Recalling Firm: Forest Pharmaceuticals Inc., Earth City, MO, by telephone and letters on October 6, 2010.
Manufacturer: Forest Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cincinnati, OH. Firm initiated recall is ongoing.
REASON
Labeling: Label error on declared strength; some bottles are mislabeled as containing 1/2-grain tablets but actually contain 1-grain tablets. The entire lot is being recalled even though some bottles are labeled correctly because bottles of 1/2-grain and 1-grain could be shrink-wrapped together.
VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE
31,172 bottles approx.
DISTRIBUTION
Nationwide, PR, Belgium and the United Kingdom

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/EnforcementReports/ucm242808.htm

  • See my post to a very, very thankful individual, here.
  • Have you switched from one brand to another? Tell us how you did here.
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  • Need to talk to other patients, or want a one-on-one consultation with Janie? Go here.
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Have you switched from one desiccated thyroid to another? Let’s share.

“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents
and making them see the light, but rather because it opponents eventually die,
and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it” ~ Max Planck

NOTE: Though this post was originally written in 2011, it has been updated to the current date and time.

Screen Shot 2015-11-26 at 10.55.40 PMHOW DIFFERENT BRANDS OF DESICCATED WORK FOR SOME, NOT FOR OTHERS

Granted, we note from patient reports that all brands work based on individual reports of any brand.

But some patients, for a variety of reasons, feel they do well on some NDT’s, but not on others. It’s very individual. This may be due to the fillers in any product.

Or, there are some like me who had to switch from one desiccated thyroid brand to another, not because of fillers, but changes in the product. I, for example, was on the pre-reformulated Armour from 2002 to 2009, and successfully treated.

Then came 2009 when patients were reporting Armour not working as well anymore. It had been reformulated–the cellulose raised and the sucrose decreased. I just let my old Armour run out, and I started on Erfa Thyroid from Canada. And it was an easy and successful switch for me.

But even some batches of Erfa seemed to go bad in 2014, so I then moved over to NP Thyroid, which has been great to this day.

So I am an example of the way that all three did work for me, and simply had to change due to reported problems in the way Armour, or Erfa, was made.

What if any switch doesn’t result in good results?

For many, the NDT they have switched to works just as well, as happened to me. But for some, a switch has not been smooth. One brand seemed to serve them well, while another brand caused them to tank.

What causes the switch problems?

For many, it could be the adrenals. On one product, they may have felt fine, yet due to an underlying adrenal issue they hadn’t caught, a different brand with that “something different” may have been the umpff that revealed their adrenal problem.

For others, the issues on the new brand could be from a sensitivity to one or more of the fillers. You can read about all fillers in each brand here.

And for still others, there is a mystery of why one didn’t work and another did.

What has been your experience? What did you switch from and to? Armour? Naturethroid? Erfa? Compounded? Thyroid-S? Let’s share.

If I need to switch, how do I do it?

It’s pretty much an even switch. i.e. if I was doing well on 3 grains on one brand, I go on 3 grains of the other.

But if I wasn’t doing well on a brand, it’s important to ask one self four things:

  1. Did I raise the current brand high enough? It’s common for hypothyroid symptoms to return on lower non-optimal doses. How to raise is explained here.
  2. Do I have an issue with a filler?? They can be looked at here.
  3. Do I have optimal levels of iron? Because if your iron levels aren’t “optimal”, it can cause problems when raising NDT. Optimal has nothing to do with normal. See this page.
  4. Do I have an adrenal problem being revealed due to NDT?

JanieSignature SEIZE THE WISDOM

  • Join the STTM STTM Facebook page for daily tips and inspiration on thyroid issues.
  • Have you ever heard of the gal who calls herself nonstickpam? I’ve known Pam for many years, and she has spent most of that time giving helpful advice on low carb eating and how to maintain your weight while dealing with thyroid and/or adrenal issues. Recently, she wrote an article for STTM about this very issue: https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/hypothyroid-and-weight-issues/

 

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Tongue-in-cheek yet sincere thankfulness from Thyroid Patients…and more

As the United States approaches Thanksgiving, it’s appropriate to offer our thanks as thyroid patients to the following:

THANKS go to the American Thyroid Association (ATA), who in their Nov. 10th email newsletter, had a NATURE-THROID desiccated thyroid ad right under their logo and gave us a great chuckle! Why? The ATA has always rigidly recommended T4-only medications and the TSH–both which have failed too many thyroid patients for sixty years. Loved your faux pas, ATA, in the name of making $$!! Are we going to see it again? Huh??

THANKS to Forest Labs, who though patients feel they ruined one of the oldest and best desiccated thyroid medications ever made when they reformulated it in 2009, gave thyroid patients the memory of a desiccated med far superior to press for from other pharmaceuticals in the future after the FDA gets their act together about the safety and efficacy of desiccated thyroid. (p.s. chew your Armour thoroughly before swallowing for better effectiveness, say patients)

THANKS to Erfa in Canada, who makes their own version of desiccated thyroid just like the old Armour, where we can do it sublingually and where it still has a touch of sugar to help with dissolution. Glory be to Erfa!

THANKS to the FDA, who had enough wisdom to allow thyroid patients to order Erfa desiccated thyroid from Canada–a far superior product than the lousy T4-only medications for a huge body of thyroid patients. We hope your wisdom continues.

THANKS to all the makers of important supplements–many which have played HUGE roles in the lives of thyroid patients trying to undo the damage done to us thanks to T4-only and the TSH lab test. They include high potency B-vitamins, selenium, minerals, sea salt, iodine, and so many more. We are behind you in the freedom to choose nutritional supplements without a doctor’s prescription.

THANKS to the growing body of doctors who have been listening to patient experience and email me of that fact. We bow to all of you who have LISTENED to the whole body of knowledge thyroid patients have learned, which is also Chapter 3 in the STTM book with more details.

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FULL BODY SCANS AT AIRPORTS: should thyroid patients be concerned?

If you are going to fly anywhere and are a thyroid patient, you may need to understand that you could be subjected to radiation in a full body scan. And since thyroid patients in various groups have expressed concern about the effect of radiation exposure on their own thyroids, this can be a concern.

Oh sure, John Pistole of the Transportation Security Administration says they keep us safe. And the FDA website is saying that these X-ray scanners pose “very low health risks.” But the FDA is also the agency who has always approved a certain kind of thyroid medication, T4-only, which has left millions of us with lingering hypothyroid symptoms for years, and which calls a medication which HAS worked for over 100 years as “unapproved”.

So, if you are going to fly anywhere while this controversial procedure continues, you might want to choose the intrusive pat-down instead, or look into a train.

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DO COSMETIC LASER DEVICES CAUSE THYROID PROBLEMS?

In the same vein as my comment above about radiation scans when you fly: I received an email from a gal who feels that a cosmetic laser device has not only injured her eyes, but may be the culprit in the fact that she now has hypothyroidism and a pituitary tumor. And she’s not alone, as others are wondering the same thing with support groups on the net. These laser devices are used to correct sun damage on your face, improve acne scars, improve rosacea, tighten skin, remove melasma spots, and even help with eyesight. She called herself and others with damage from these devices “modern day radium girls” . If you want to be more informed, research this on the net and decide for yourself.

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SEND THE STTM BOOK AS A CHRISTMAS PRESENT

The publishing company will do the work for you, sending a book as a holiday present for to a friend or loved one who needs to read what patients have learned. Included will be a holiday card with your name in it, or you can remain anonymous. Go here.

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HOW TO TACKLE A BAD COLD AND CONGESTION AS A THYROID PATIENT

A gal emailed me, asking if I knew of something that would help her terrible nasal congestion. She found out the hard way that using Afrin, a strong nasal spray, caused her thyroid to ache. I then recommended she look into a Neti Pot, which can do wonders to clear your compacted nose, and I faithfully use it if I do have congestion (which I did last week when I failed to take enough Vit. D at the onset of symptoms of an upper respiratory infection). Check it out here. And when you first try it, don’t panic. Let it do its miracle, because it really works!

COMMON QUESTIONS and ANSWERS are here.

HOW TO FIND A GOOD DOC is here.

WHERE TO TALK TO OTHER PATIENTS is here.

CURRENT OPTIONS FOR GOOD THYROID TREATMENT here.

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