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Dr. Lowe
How to Prepare
Patient-to-Patient Fibromyalgia Research Foundation
The Metabolic Treatment |
Question: I’m confused. I read a study of yours at Thyroid Science and you say in it that Hypo Support Formula, which doesn’t require a prescription, works as well as the T3 thyroid hormone called Cynomel. But I keep reading statements on web sites that the over-the-counter thyroid products don’t work well. At one website I read this morning, somebody asked about an over-the-counter thyroid product called Nutri-Meds. She wrote: "I was wondering if anyone takes Nutri-Meds thyroid medication. Are you satisfied with this product? Just if anyone has personal experience to share cause Armour is hard to get without a prescription." Here’s the answer somebody gave her: “Nutri-Meds is a non-prescription brand of natural thyroid. Patients report that over-the-counter thyroid products, including Nutri-meds[sic], are FAR weaker than all the above [referring to Armour]. Yes, they may be good in a pinch for help, but not for long term support." In your study, you found that Hypo Support Formula works as well as Cynomel. If that's true, then why do these people say that the over-the-counter thyroid products don’t work all that well? Dr. Lowe: The person who gave the answer is right only in one sense: If you compare the effects of a dietary (nonprescription) desiccated thyroid to prescription desiccated thyroid, and you use the exact same weight of each, you’ll see that the dietary product is weaker. But if you use enough of the dietary product, you'll induce the same measurable physiological effects as you can with any other type of thyroid product. No offense intended, but the person's statement that such products are "good in a pinch for help, but not for long term support" is simply wrong. I know this for two reasons. First, over the years in my clinical practice, I consulted with scores of patients who recovered their health—and maintained it for years—by using a variety of dietary desiccated thyroid products. However, for a more solid reason, I know that some of the products, such as Hypo Support Formula (HSF), work as well as any other thyroid hormone products, over-the-counter or otherwise. I know this because for the past year, I've conducted (and am still conducting) clinical trials with dietary desiccated thyroid. The main product I’ve tested, as you obviously know, is HSF. But HSF isn’t the only preparation I’ve tested. As a result of this year of extensive research, I've done hundreds metabolic measurements and other objective tests. I’ve statistically analyzed the massive data, and the results show unequivocally that when used properly, these products do indeed usually work. However, those three italicized words—when used properly—are crucially important to getting satisfactory results from using the products. No matter which of the products a person uses, he or she must use it properly. I’ve provided a good deal of information on proper use at ThyroidScience.US. (You can learn a lot at that site from free chapter downloads, and from three particular Q&As at the site. One Q&A is on how to find the dose that's right for you, how to know how you’re treatment is progressing, and how to avoid overstimulation.) Some naysayers about dietary desiccated thyroid didn't improve much with the products for one reason: they failed to use lifestyle practices that are necessary for anyone to respond well to thyroid hormone. I've had some patients, for example, who didn’t benefit much from dietary desiccated thyroid until they adopted a wholesome, health-sustaining lifestyle. They didn’t see much benefit from the thyroid products until they finally began taking nutritional supplements, eating an anti-inflammatory diet, and exercising regularly. In my experience, these lifestyle practices are synergists that are essential for optimal improvement with any thyroid hormone product. In short, then, I respectfully disagree with the people at various websites who denigrate dietary desiccated thyroid products. When used properly, and within the context of a health-sustaining lifestyle, most such products quite effectively help maintain normal metabolism and optimal health.
April 4, 2009 Dr. Lowe: The product is available through the following website: http://www.thyroidscience.us/Ordering/howtoorder.htm. The website was set up to provide access to the product until it is more widely available. The study report your nurse practitioner read would have to be the one that was published little more than a week ago: http://www.thyroidscience.com/studies/lowe.2009/lowe.hsf.3.22.09.htm. The full text of the report is available free as a pdf. A prescription isn't necessary, but in using the product, I hope you'll work closely with your nurse practitioner. I wish you the best possible outcome from your use of Hypo Support Formula, or "HSF" as we refer to it. November 8, 2004 Dr. Lowe: I sincerely regret that you've suffered so long from hypothyroid symptoms. I am also sorry that you’re in a compromised financial circumstance; I understand and sympathize. Over-the-counter (OTC) desiccated thyroid is available through many websites on the Internet. All you have to do is type into any search engine the words "desiccated thyroid." Many sites that sell products will come up. If you're going to use an OTC desiccated thyroid product, you should first read my Q&A page on desiccated thyroid. You should also get a copy of our book for patients titled Your Guide to Metabolic Health. The publisher's webpage address for ordering the book is http://www.McDowellPublishing.com/ygmh.htm. The book is a by-the-numbers guide to self treatment, and it includes important educational information on using thyroid hormone safely and effectively. We wrote the book partly for patients such you, whose personal finances don’t allow them to pay for professional services. I also recommend that you get a copy of Dr. Barry Durrant-Peatfield’s book, The Great Thyroid Scandal and How to Survive It. In the book, Dr. Durrant-Peatfield gives a great deal of practical information that's important to patients guiding themselves through metabolic treatment with desiccated thyroid. The publisher’s website for the book is http://www.baronsdownpublishing.com/ordercc.htm. These books will give you more accurate and advanced information about thyroid hormone therapy than most conventional doctors have in their heads. With the information, you’ll stand a far better chance of recovering than you would under those doctors’ care. If you run into obstacles along the way, we'll be happy to help you through brief long-distance consulting. Many patients get themselves well through self treatment, and I sincerely hope you're soon one of them. October 6, 2004 Dr. Lowe: I am sincerely sorry you’re presently trapped in misery. I understand your circumstance because we’ve communicated with other patients in rural areas who don’t have cooperative doctors and don't have the means to travel for effective treatment. We recommend that patients in your circumstance treat themselves with over-the-counter (OTC) desiccated thyroid. It is available through the Internet, and most brands are less expensive than Synthroid. We know of one downside to using OTC desiccated thyroid products: Patients occasionally find themselves with "weak" (subpotent) tablets or capsules. These tablets or capsules apparently don’t contain the amount of thyroid hormone the products typically do. A week or two after the patient starts using a new bottle that contains weak tablets or capsules, her hypothyroid symptoms reappear, and her TSH level rises. Occasional weaker-than-usual tablets or capsules, however, aren’t unique to OTC desiccated thyroid. As Mary Shomon has documented, for various reasons, the FDA often recalls prescription thyroid hormone products. Fairly often, the FDA recalls a prescription product because it contains less thyroid hormone than its label states. The upside of OTC products is that patients can take control of their own health and raise it to the level they prefer. Patients who avail themselves of OTC products are free to use them as they see fit—and they aren’t kept miserable with symptoms sustained by uncooperative doctors. We’ve worked with patients who’ve treated themselves with OTC products and fully recovered their health. We act as educational counselors for such patients, teaching them how to tweak their treatment to get optimal results. Once they learn, they’re equipped with knowledge to keep themselves well over the long-haul. Your most accessible and affordable way out of your misery may be an OTC desiccated thyroid product. By using one, you’ll certainly have control over your own well being—something you haven’t had with the itinerant doctor who’s kept your dosage too low to get you well. November
25, 2003 When my doctor saw how high my TSH went up, he put me on 60 mg. of Armour Thyroid. He prescribed Armour because I refused to take another T4 product. After four weeks, my TSH went down from 96 to 2.29! I'm doing very well on the Armour. In fact, I haven't felt this well in many years, even though I was taking T4 all that time! I don't know whether the OTC product I took really contains 130 mg of desiccated thyroid. But no one should have to experience what happened to me! I really want to hear what you think about this. What, if anything, do you intend to do about it? Dr. Lowe: You're not the first person who has written to us about this issue, and it certainly deserves comment. Your increased TSH level while you were using the OTC product indicates one of two things: (1) you were taking too few of the capsules, or (2) the capsules had little or no thyroid hormone in them. You didn't tell me how many of the capsules you were taking each day; because of that, I don't know whether you were taking too little to keep your TSH down. Assuming for the moment that you were taking enough, the capsules may have contained too little thyroid hormone. The thyroid hormone in all brands—both prescription and OTC—is highly susceptible to degrading. Because of this, all thyroid hormone products are subject to losing some or all of their potency. When they do, we say the products are "subpotent." Subpotent batches of Synthroid and Levoxyl have often been recalled by the FDA. And over the years, an occasional patient of ours has found that the Armour, Cytomel, Cynomel, or other brand of thyroid hormone she was taking was subpotent. In our experience, only a small percentage of prescription products are subpotent, and a higher percentage of OTC products are subpotent. Unfortunately, we don't know exactly what percentage of OTC products are subpotent. We find that prescription thyroid hormone products generally—but certainly not always—provide more predictable clinical results. Still, though, we’ve found that most patients who use OTC thyroid hormone have had satisfactory results. Many patients we know have fully relieved their hypothyroid symptoms with OTC products after doctor-regulated therapy with prescription products failed to do so. July 8, 2003 Family doctors are oblivious to how to correctly treat hypothyroidism, but maybe hers will listen if she tells him what to prescribe instead of Synthroid. Can you give me the name of some prescription products that contain T4 and T3? Knowing what to ask for is a step in the right direction. Hopefully he’ll cooperate, and then my prayers may be answered and she’ll finally get well. Dr. Lowe: Thanks for your kind estimate of Your Guide to Metabolic Health. It sounds like you plan to improve your own metabolic health with the methods we describe in the book, and perhaps your mother will, too. Doctors have a choice of prescribing any of several brands of thyroid hormone that contain T4 and T3. Armour Thyroid is the most commonly prescribed brand. Armour is desiccated (dried) thyroid taken from pigs. Thyrolar is a synthetic brand that contains the same ratio of T4 to T3 as Armour. Many of our hypothyroid patients use Armour. Most of them fully recover from their hypothyroid symptoms when they reach a high enough daily dose. It's noteworthy that the patients recover with Armour after having failed to improve enough—if at all!—with the use of Synthroid, Levoxyl, or other brands that contain only T4. A small percentage of patients do well with brands that contain only T4. But many years of clinical experience have compelled us to a firm conclusion: Brands containing T4 alone provide most hypothyroid patients with distinctly inferior treatment results. Because of this, none of our patients use such brands anymore. I hope your mother’s doctor will cooperate and switch her to a more effective thyroid hormone product than Synthroid. If he does, you’re likely to see her undergo a rapid and full recovery—assuming, of course, that she uses the other metabolism-regulating therapies and lifestyle practices I describe in Your Guide to Metabolic Health. Please give your mother my best wishes. February 15, 1998
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