Re: Newbie w/questions; trying to understand.....

[Guest guest]

salemagnet28,

You wrote:

>

> Do any of you also suffer from another autoimmune disease? I have

> read it is common to have more than one.

Common up to three, then the risk goes back to normal. No one knows why.

>

> It seems that it is very difficult for many of you to find the right

> meds to regulate your thyroid hormones; is this unusual, or the norm,

> for most people?

Unusual overall; common for this list.

>

> I have read that many of you are having a struggle with getting the

> weight off. ... Is it " typical " to have just as

> much difficulty getting the weight off after beginning meds as it was

> before?

Common everywhere, including people that are not hypoT and not on this list.

>

> Are natural hormones really " better " than synthetic meds? ...

I would be more concerned about the distinction between bio-identical

(same chemical structure) and chemicals that do not occur naturally but

are used to replace very similar chemicals. Synthetic T4, for example,

is the exact same molecule as natural T4. Armour, however, supplies a

mix of T4, T3, RT3, T2, ... etc. Whether that is more " natural " than

levothyroxine is highly debatable, since ingesting it through the mouth

is not at all natural. NATURE intended for a precise HUMAN mix of T4,

T3, etc. to be released directly into the blood from a human thyroid

gland. When you switch to oral administration of a dessicated gland from

a pig, you are already changing proportions and results ... mightily.

> ... It seems that so

> many people prefer Armour, but doctors are so reluctant to prescribe

> them; why is this? ...

History: particularly problems with stability and dosage, almost all

resolved now.

Tradition: The majority of hypoT people work well with T4 only, so the

tendency is to expect everyone to respond the same way. Tradition means

playing the odds.

Training: Much of continuing education for doctors comes from

pharmaceutical company reps and their literature, samples, and freebies.

> ... Anyone having good experiences with anything in

> particular?

I'm happy on T4 only, but I am probably the exception rather than the

rule on this list. Most people that adjust well to T4 only, just take

their daily dose, go on with their lives, and don't spend hours on a

discussion list.

> ... One last thing: Is this a disease that is ultimately managable,

> without having to go to the point of obsession? ...

Depends on the individual and how well the meds are tuned. Again, we're

all on this list.

Chuck

[Guest guest]

Chuck,

Thank you very much for this info; I sincerely appreciate it, and it

has helped a lot for me to start to understand what I might be up

against.

I was lucky to stumble upon a website for patients recommending good

MDs in the area. I had an appointment with a conventional MD

locally, which I cancelled after I found one about 30 miles away that

is a holistic MD, and prescribes Armour. My feeling, as " scientific "

as it may be, is that if a doctor is willing to prescribe Armour,

he/she might be more willing, open-minded, and interested in helping

the patient. The fact that this doctor's website stated that her

specialty was Autoimmune disease, and that she studied under Dr.

Tietelbaum, gave me a feeling of hope and reassurance. My

biggest fear is that I will go to another doctor for answers, and be

told again that I am " not really sick " . At this point, going to a

doctor isn't as easy for me as it is for others (who are insured). I

am paying for medical advice cash out of my own pocket, so I have to

save up between appointments, and I really loathe the thought of

knocking on door after door, basically throwing money at the wind.

As for the weight issue, this has been an awful experience for me.

Nothing seems to work long term; Any diet/exercise plan that I begin,

it seems the way it always works is that I lose weight the first

week, then over a period of several weeks of following the

diet/exercise plan, it slowly creeps back; I'm no better than when I

first began. I tried drastically reducing my intake for two weeks,

but it didn't last; though my will was strong, my body was weak, and

I felt horrible. I had to resume normal eating, and, of course, the

weight came back. I currently average about 1400 calories a day, and

never lose weight. Very frustrating. This is unusual for me; though

I have had an issue with weight my whole life, it has always been

relatively simple for me to take it off by normal, reasonable means.

In the past several years, however, it has become an escalating

emotional drama.

Despite this, it still may turn out that I do not actually have

Hypothyroidism, however hard to believe. I hope that my appointment

with this doctor will be the beginning of finally understanding what

is making me feel so bad, and what I can do to help myself.

Salemagnet28

doctors

> >

> > Do any of you also suffer from another autoimmune disease? I have

> > read it is common to have more than one.

>

> Common up to three, then the risk goes back to normal. No one knows

why.

>

> >

> > It seems that it is very difficult for many of you to find the

right

> > meds to regulate your thyroid hormones; is this unusual, or the

norm,

> > for most people?

>

> Unusual overall; common for this list.

>

> >

> > I have read that many of you are having a struggle with getting

the

> > weight off. ... Is it " typical " to have just as

> > much difficulty getting the weight off after beginning meds as it

was

> > before?

>

> Common everywhere, including people that are not hypoT and not on

this list.

>

> >

> > Are natural hormones really " better " than synthetic meds? ...

>

> I would be more concerned about the distinction between bio-

identical

> (same chemical structure) and chemicals that do not occur naturally

but

> are used to replace very similar chemicals. Synthetic T4, for

example,

> is the exact same molecule as natural T4. Armour, however, supplies

a

> mix of T4, T3, RT3, T2, ... etc. Whether that is more " natural "

than

> levothyroxine is highly debatable, since ingesting it through the

mouth

> is not at all natural. NATURE intended for a precise HUMAN mix of

T4,

> T3, etc. to be released directly into the blood from a human

thyroid

> gland. When you switch to oral administration of a dessicated gland

from

> a pig, you are already changing proportions and results ...

mightily.

>

> > ... It seems that so

> > many people prefer Armour, but doctors are so reluctant to

prescribe

> > them; why is this? ...

>

> History: particularly problems with stability and dosage, almost

all

> resolved now.

> Tradition: The majority of hypoT people work well with T4 only, so

the

> tendency is to expect everyone to respond the same way. Tradition

means

> playing the odds.

> Training: Much of continuing education for doctors comes from

> pharmaceutical company reps and their literature, samples, and

freebies.

>

> > ... Anyone having good experiences with anything in

> > particular?

>

> I'm happy on T4 only, but I am probably the exception rather than

the

> rule on this list. Most people that adjust well to T4 only, just

take

> their daily dose, go on with their lives, and don't spend hours on

a

> discussion list.

>

> > ... One last thing: Is this a disease that is ultimately

managable,

> > without having to go to the point of obsession? ...

>

> Depends on the individual and how well the meds are tuned. Again,

we're

> all on this list.

>

> Chuck

>

[Guest guest]

This sounds very hopeful! If you have fibromyalgia, I doubt that T4

will help you longterm. Armour is the best thing to start with.

Gail

I found one about 30 miles away that

> is a holistic MD, and prescribes Armour. My feeling, as " scientific "

> as it may be, is that if a doctor is willing to prescribe Armour,

> he/she might be more willing, open-minded, and interested in helping

> the patient. The fact that this doctor's website stated that her

> specialty was Autoimmune disease, and that she studied under Dr.

> Tietelbaum, gave me a feeling of hope and reassurance. My

>> Salemagnet28

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

>

> Someone once told me that a disease of the connective tissue caused

by a virus also affects the thyroid and can shut it down. They told me

that this is an autoimmune disease . They said that sometimes this

comes with warts on the body.

> Could that be true??? Are they right??? Is there such a thing??

Dauphine999

Well, I don't have warts, thank goodness (fat with warts would just be

too much for me to take....LOLOL), but I absolutely do have

excruciating myofacial pain in my limbs, back, and shoulder. I

literally have a page and a half long list of symptoms, many of which

were once diagnosed and treated as something else. I hope I can soon

get to the bottom of it.

~Salemagnet28

[Guest guest]

I have the dermatologist freeze them off. It works everytime. Then

follow up with olive oil on a bandage.

If you have health insurance, this is the fastest way to get rid of

them. The olive oil will eventually work, but takes forever by

itself. I have successfully used both approaches.

Sherry

> >

> > Don't know about this but I have had two terrible warts since I

have

> > been hypoT and nothing will get rid of them.

>

> Me too. I even tried soaking them in tincture of iodine but to

> absolutely no effect.

>

> Chuck

>

[Guest guest]

Chuck, that was my (and pretty much everyone else I know) experience on

the low carb diet! My unprofessional, yet tried-and-true opinion is

that low carb diets really don't work, unless you plan to stick with it

forever. I've kept weight off much longer by following a normal food

plan like Weight Watchers. About 5 years ago, I lost 28 pounds in

three months following low carb; eh, it was okay. I got tired of all

the meat, the disgusting protein bars and low carb substitutes for

the " real thing " , and could never stand pork rinds. I found weight loss

to be temporary and the diet pointless. I lost the weight, then

somehow....I dunno.... it " magically " reappeared, almost as soon as I

began eating regular food again! I know I sound full of $***, but I

really don't consume that much food to begin with; yet, it was amazing

how fast the weight came back after folowing what anyone would describe

as " sensible eating " . For a while, I thought that my inability to lose

weight now was because I " ruined " myself doing low carb. In hindsight,

I don't know that it was the best thing for me, and I wouldn't

reccomend it to anyone, after having done it myself.

~Salemagnet28

> I lost about 40 pounds in six months on the low carb approach. That

was

> pretty magical. However, it then pretty much stopped cold. After a

> couple more months I gave up in frustration. It took only four months

to

> gain it all back, even though I was trying to stick to small portions

> and the usual recommendations for lots of exercise.

>

> Chuck

>