Overcoming Thyroid Disorders by Dr. David Brownstein

I just finished reading Overcoming Thyroid Disorders by Dr. David Brownstein. It has some very good information in it if you are one of the thousands who just don't feel good on the synthetic thyroid medication your doctor has you on now.

There are chapters on: hypothyroidism, Poor T4 Converters & Thyroid Hormone Resistance, Thyroid Replacement Options, Hyperthyroidism and Autoimmune Disorders, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Adrenal and Gonadal Hormones and their Relationship to the Thyroid, Diet, Detoxification, Coagulation Disorders, Iodine and the Thyroid Gland, and the Glycemic Index.

I came across some information that I made note of to research a little, such as Dr. Broda O. Barnes (researcher in field of thyroid/endocrine imbalances). There is a foundation named for him that I am going to research as well. Dr. Barnes said in the 1960's that two things would change forever with diagnosing and treating hypothyroidism and that was the use of the blood test to diagnose (instead of using symptoms as well) and the use of the synthetic thyroid hormone (such as Synthroid).

I am wondering, after reading this book, if my low T3 numbers was due to an inability to convert the T4 (from the Synthroid I was on for seven years) to T3 properly. My new doctor has kept me on that same Syncrap dosage I've been on forever but he's also added 120 mg compounded armour thyroid daily as well.  I wonder if he's trying to override a resistance to conversion.  My labs next month will tell I guess.

Another thing I learned from this book is that Synthroid has lactose in it.  I'm lactose intolerant! Also in Synthroid according to Dr. Brownstein is cornstarch and dyes including aluminum lake.

Aspartame:  According to this book, aspartame is metabolized into formaldehyde.  He believes aspartame may contribute to autoimmune thyroid problems.

I don't have fibromyalgia (though the last endocrinologist tried to tell me I did before he even examined me) but Dr. Brownstein's book addresses fibromyalgia as well. He believes it is impossible to improve fibromyalgia if the thyroid gland is messed up.  He said he's found 80% of patients with fibromyalgia have hypothyroidism (and many are undiagnosed because of the failure to get the correct tests and read the labs correctly).

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The Miracle of Bio-Identical Hormones by Dr. Michael Platt

This week while I had the flu, it gave me some time to read a book I’d been wanting to read for awhile. The book is called The Miracle of Bio-Identical Hormones by Dr. Michael E. Platt. The book cover says it is about how to lose fatigue, hot flashes, ADHD, ADD, fibromyalgia, PMS, osteoporosis, weight, sexual dysfunction, anger, migraines and more. Some of the other things it talks about helping inside the book are things like restless legs syndrome and thyroid problems.

This was a very interesting read. I wouldn’t mind owning this book and having it on my shelf for reference.

I took some notes from it for myself so as usual, I’m posting them here so I can refer back to them. Maybe they’ll interest you as well.

THYROID

• TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone): It talks of the “normal” being between 0.3 to 5.5 but if your TSH is higher than one, Dr. Platt says that your pituitary is still indicating you need thyroid. Dr. Platt says that the TSH levels were arbitrarily picked from a study of only 100 medical students (and they weren’t worried about how their thyroids were actually performing during that time). Dr. Platt’s goal is to get TSH levels close to 0.3 so he knows you’re getting close to 100% of what you need. He doesn’t just use T4 (Synthroid or its generic) to get those results. He uses both T3 and T4. THIS IS WHAT I ASKED MY ENDOCRINOLOGIST TO DO AND HE REFUSED! MY TSH LEVELS WERE RIGHT AT 0.3 AND HE SAID THAT WAS TOO LOW AND HE MIGHT CUT BACK ON MY MEDS.
• T3 Meds: Armour, Thyrolar and Cytomel but these are all short-acting meds. Dr. Platt thinks a sustained-release form of bio-identical T3 is what he prefers. You get this from a compounding pharmacy.
• Dr. Platt says that people with ADHD always have low thyroid levels.
• Dr. Platt says progesterone is needed for your thyroid to function.

ADHD

• Dr. Platt says that people with ADHD always have low thyroid levels. He feels they are also low on progesterone (he says it is required for proper thyroid functioning).
• He believes adrenaline is “part of the ADHD causation”.
• ADD and ADHD is low progesterone levels, too much adrenaline (ADHD), and too much insulin. He doesn't believe ADHD is a learning problem.

CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME

• Dr. Platt talks about how doctors diagnose chronic fatigue syndrome and how he believes they may have a simple case of imbalanced hormones instead. MY ENDO TRIED TO DIAGNOSE ME WITH CFS BEFORE HE EVEN EXAMINED ME.

FIBROMYALGIA

• Dr. Platt mentions how anger and the muscle tension from it can cause a build-up of lactic acid and fatigue can give you a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. He also believes another common underlying cause of fibromyalgia is ADHD because of the high levels of adrenaline (increasing anger, stress, etc.). MY ENDO ALSO SAID I COULD HAVE THIS BEFORE HE EVEN EXAMINED ME.

DHEA

• Dr. Platt believes that people with higher levels of DHEA have lower incidences of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
• He said to get the test for DHEA-S, not DHEA.

PROGESTERONE

• #1 hormone that has to be replaced in most women as they get close to and go thru menopause.
• He believes the number one reason women can't conceive or have a hard time is because of low progesterone levels. He also believes it is the #1 cause of miscarriage. He believes the only reason women have morning sickness while pregnant and have postpartum depression is because of low progesterone levels.
• He believes progesterone eliminates RLS (restless leg syndrome) instead of treating it with toxic drugs used for Parkinson's Disease.

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