Some worthwhile info on hypothyroidism

[gimel]

I ran across this interview with Dr. Ken Blanchard.  I think many members here will find it worthwhile.

http://www.power-surge.com/transcripts/blanchard.htm

[hope4thegoodstuff]

Thanks.  As always, I so appreciate your time.  It's been another pretty decent day.  Not perfect, but then...that's ok.  I took some time to plant some flowers in between the rains.  I'd like to say rain showers, but we're getting heavy downpours.  : )  

Dr put me on cytomel, but only for two weeks.  It will be interesting to see what happens when I stop taking it again.  Just a few more days now.  Part of me feels that as long as I am on synthroid, I should be on cytomel, but until I get my first labs back....I just won't know.  That's not until July....

[goolarra]

Unfortunately, there is no way around it...I know how frustrating it can be...but getting to a proper therapeutic dose just takes time.  If you try to rush it, you can end up with even more problems.  Your pituitary is programmed to send out it's messages (TSH) at certain timed intervals.  Only when T3 reaches a certain level in the pituitary does it stop sending out TSH.  Of course, meds are never quite the "same" as your own thyroid hormones would be, but once you find the correct dose they are close enough to keep you feeling good.  Meds will suppress your TSH once your FT3 and FT4 get into line.

I'm glad to hear that your fatigue is slowly going away.  That's usually the way it goes...a good day, a bad day, then 2 good, 1 bad, etc.  It's progress!  Hang in there...it's worth the time and effort to do it right.

[hope4thegoodstuff]

I have been talking to a chiropractor alot lately and we are finding two of my weakest areas are at the adrenal areas and my petuatary gland (spelling?)  If I have no thyroid and the petuatary is constantly "sending messages" to my thyroid for hormone...is there going to be some huge disconnect there?  Yes I am on meds, but it's not quite the same thing is it?  

I have been having major issues being tired.  I have been on synthroid for 4 weeks and cytomel for just under two weeks, but it was after I started seeing the chiropractor that I noticed that for a couple of days I felt great.  then I had a somewhat tired day, but not as bad as before.  Of course, I am getting farther into treatment obviously.  And I do understand that this could take a couple more weeks before I start to feel anything near better.  I get really tired of hearing folks say
"just a couple more weeks"  

[goolarra]

I agree that he's self-promoting, although he does seem also to be giving away his "secrets" to some extent.  I also worry about who exactly is behind anyone promoting anything...especially the pharmaceutical giants.  Anyone who wants to rope in 40% of the female population makes me a bit nervous.

I have a friend who has a Ph.D. in engineering, but has always worked in the medical field.  He's pretty cozy with a lot of doctors, etc. and maintains that once you have a chronic condition you have to see someone affiliated with a teaching hospital.  This goes along with Blanchard's "You need to find a doctor at a high ranking medical institution."  Blanchard does practice in one of the most competitive medical markets in the country (Boston).

"If you feel exceptionally well, you can't be hypothyroid." - Thank you, thank you, thank you - you can't ignore symptoms, or lack thereof.

I like the thought of the therapeutic trial of meds.  Why not?  I was recently reading about Celiac Disease.  There are two ways to diagnose it:  1) the expensive endoscopy and biopsy, or 2) stop eating gluten and see if your symptoms go away.  Too simple, maybe?  Or too cheap?

I also liked his comments on taking meds on an empty stomach and waiting an hour to eat.  "If you eat at the same time as the medications, it doesn't matter as long as you do it always at the same time and your body will adjust.  Keep it simple, routine and regular."  I always felt this to be the case...being a creature of habit has its benefits.

One last very interesting thought:  "An ultrasoun is so sensitive that it could find nodules in most people in a supermarket line."  This worries me too, since I find the thought of overtreatment scarier than lack of treatment.

Thought-provoking article...

[gimel]

No argument about the benefits of Armour.  I am now on it myself.  Whenever I read articles like this I always try to assess whether the author's views might be based on some ulterior motive.  In this particular case, I'd have to take into account that he is promoting his own therapy and practice.

I was much more interested in his thoughts about TSH not being very useful, body temperature being a useful indicator, reliance on symptoms much more than blood tests, and recommendation of therapeutic trials rather than expecting a definitive yes or no answer from blood tests.  He believes  that you can test normal and still have thyroid problems and  benefit from a therapeutic trial.  It was also interesting that he thought that 40% of the female population might benefit from a therapeutic trial.  

Just food for thought to add to our data bank as we all try to figure out the thyroid puzzle.

[nancib]

Hi, gimel.  Many members MIGHT find Blanchard's interview worthwhile, but I doubt the many members here who are on dessicated thyroids meds, like Armour, will.  

Clearly, he finds these meds all but useless when he states, "Armour thyroid by itself is about 80/20 and people may feel really well at first, but later the tissue saturation drops and you never feel well again."  

Fortunately, for those of us who's lives have literally been saved by Armour, Naturethroid, or Westhroid, he stands alone with the many gurus of hypothyroidism treatment.