Offering My Case as an Example for Other to Learn From re: Missed Thyroid Problems for Decades!

My thyroid problems were not picked up until 2004 when my massage therapist saw the mass on my throat, prompting me to go BACK to my specialist in chronic illness, an MD, with that specific data.  I had started 'complaining of' fatigue in the early 1980s, and had suddenly gained 25 pounds, having never had one bit of trouble maintaining 'being skinny'; quite the opposite, I'd worked to gain weight as a child. I was having headaches triggered by cigarette smoke and fragrances, and was seeking medical attention.

I was referred to ENT/allergy specialists who found some pollens to treat me for with shots, and I kept moving forward.  I got a job working for an environmental research group and had a lot of hours and stress at work as well as people in my personal life who were ill or died, including the man in my life getting MRSA in his brain.  I had standard/good insurance for the day, going to an HMO in 1986.  

MD or DO after MD or DO tested only my TSH, and back then, I hadn't yet realized that the doctors I was going to are perhaps not as educated in what they REALLY need to know.  (Hence I created Lumigrate to provide tools for people who want to stay or get back towards chronic wellness, as I saw the need consulting with my customers/clients/patients related to functional wellness navigation, whether individually or in the educational forum I provided for community outreach.)  

The medical world has become so complicated, and thankfully, the Internet allows people to find a group up on a lot of information prior to seeking the advise of whatever professional they are going to be asking for guidance from. Unfortunately, the information wasn't there for me.  And to this day, it astounds me how many people who have chronic fatigue and even fibromyalgia diagnosis have not found Dr Teitelbaum's plethora of information -- books, websites, television appearances. (The Forum titled "The Lumigrate Bookshelf" has my summary/suggestions about books which 'boil down' the options for people seeking book learning.)

I learned later about Armour for supplementation of thyroid, but I really didn't know how it was made. I now realize I had some pre-conceived notions like what Gary King refers to on another topic thread in this forum about how T3/T4 is made.  My dad, who was born in the 1920s and was taking thyroid supplementally in the 1930s and who kept up on a lot of information throughout his 89 years, told the story of the problem some meat packing plant had years ago where they weren't taking out the thyroid glands and were making a hot dog or sausage that included thyroid gland and it caused health issues in many people who ate the product.  From a historical perspective, that kind of incident can be used and abused by other competetitive thyroid medications being marketing, I would imagine. 

In 2009, I believe, there was a manufacturing issue with Armour; they had released information saying it was a problem in changing the manufacturing process but I also heard it had to do with laborers/workers walking out, and I certainly am not saying I know one way or the other, but what I do know is I did my refills with the mail order pharmacy and the envelope arrived and on Sunday I opened it up to do my medication setup container for the week and ---- there was no Armour! They didn't have any so they just didn't include any in my shipment.  

I had to scramble to get a Rx for something else and my provider wrote a compound Rx, and I thought 'great, this is better because there are multiple pharmacies making the medication. I felt fine on the first order I picked up, but when I refilled it, I immediately started having problems like feeling like I'd been given an IV of strong coffee! I now know to ask a compounding pharmacy about how long they have been in business, what the training of their management and pharmacists are, and about their QA.  

Ironically, I was going to the more experienced business/person in my town related to compounding at the time, but it is part of a big organization which was not really supporting their compounding component or were perhaps 'diluting' it even, with multiple demands such as interrupting what they are doing to give a flu shot.  I actually went off of the thyroid supplement at that time and felt really GOOD for a long time, better than I had in a long, long time, so I'm not sure that things were quite right with what I was being prescribed perhpas.  But then after a while, things started to kind of fall apart overall with my health; I realize now that if I don't keep my other hormones leveled out I get 'laxity' in my connective tissues and go out of alignment and get a lot of orthopedic issues.  Within two months of being back supplementing the key hormones that my body was low on, I had no more problems again!  

I want to underscore that there are people who don't believe in supplementing hormones and those who do.  Within the group that does, there are two schools of thought that I see: bringing things into the realm that would be normal at your age or therabouts, and then hyperphysiologic or supraphysiologic, I believe it is referred to.  The former is 'physiologic'.  I provide one provider of each for their input: ITC Pharmacy is in the physiologic court in their belief when they prescribe through their MD/NP, yet they fill whatever the other providers order for patients sent to them as customers.  Dr Spurlock has been getting training from the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M).  I've tried both ways and I'm not really sure at this point in time which one I'm going to go with next, but I do appreciate that they respectfully agree to disagree and to provide their diverse opinions in the Forums at Lumigrate.  This helps us ALL realize how much it is truly up to US to research, consider, and reflect and then chose our path. 

I hope my experience I have shared here is of benefit to those who might be searching.  It truly is frustrating to look back on the years that things were 'missed' and my life was so greatly affected.  Now it's GRATEly here for others' benefit, and I truly hope it makes an impact on providers and consumers so they find their path to health and well-being together sooner than later! 

Live and Learn. Learn and Live Better! ~~ Mardy