It is quite apparent that something is very wrong with our environment. We are witnessing a record number of people with thyroid disease (in it's many forms) and many go without medical help because the parameters of thyroid health are limited. The most important aspect of taking back your thyroid health is a good doctor.
My doctor is Dr. Mabray. He is a published author of several books and he even has videos on YouTube! I've previously described my hunt for a doctor who could help me in a previous blog. Though I have lab results with every thyroid test imaginable that come back all "in range," I experience horrid symptoms without treatment. With my first medication, desiccated (Armour) thyroid, we saw an immediate improvement in my symptoms. They weren't all gone, but as the months have progressed, we have tweaked my health regimen based off my body's needs. I can't help but wonder how it is that I have perfect lab results, which to any other doctor would indicate that thyroid assistance would not be the answer...but thyroid medication greatly improves my symptoms. That tells me the medical field doesn't have all the answers on how to test for thyroid and what causes more severe symptoms in some and how menopause is the trigger point for others.
One of the best websites I can extend to you in regards of locating a doctor like my miracle man is the Broda Barnes Foundation (www.barnesfoundation.org). You can email these folks for a doctor in your area that prescribes natural thyroid medication at info@barnesfoundation.org.
The best way I can promote natural thyroid (desiccated) to prove my point is my mother's example. I am the last of 8 children and she is in her 70s. She has always struggled with her weight as most of us in our family have. She was diagnosed in her 60s as hypothyroid (as was her mother before her, who had hyperthyroid before that) and her doctor prescribed Synthroid. It wasn't until I was on my Alice in Wonderland search and I was reading Dr. Mabray's book The Genesis Strategy that I asked her what medication she was taking. She was a great audience as I often recited my most recent research from the litany of books I was reading as I stubbornly searched for my health solution. Mabray's book promoted natural Amour thyroid. She had only ever been prescribed Synthroid.
It didn't take much to convince my momma to visit Mabray herself. She had pushed her general practitioner to prescribed her natural instead of synthetic thyroid medication, which wasn't much of a fight. She had lab results from her local doctor from March and another set from July (if I recall correctly) of the same year. She had been on desiccated thyroid for two weeks before the second lab results and she brought both March and July's lab documents along to her first Mabray appointment. Her lab reports across the board were vastly improved. In just two weeks!! Talk about motivation. Momma hadn't seen those numbers improved in all her care with Synthroid.
I shared my thyroid story before, but my mother's is rather remarkable, too. It's important to note that though she is in her 70s, she's lost 50 pounds in the 14 or so months she's been under this doctor's care. That's never happened in all her 70+ years and certainly not while on Synthroid. Dr. Mabray gave her a road map to her "Hollywood weight" and momma follows Mabray's roadmap precisely, which is unique to her. We both have different supplements and medication amounts. However, it's obviously working!
One time, I was on a health site forum and I stated how big an improvement desiccated thyroid was for my health and my mother's. One response really struck me because an individual stated they would never take desiccated thyroid because it was an animal product and they were vegan (their tone made me feel they were quite angry with me for being otherwise). I replied that humans should focus on putting as much natural things into our body as we have control over. I firmly believe thyroid issues are as debilitating and prolific as they are because of the chemicals in our environment (I'll save that for another soapbox, I mean blog). My Daddy is a vegan and I respect that choice and I understand that point of view. He is extremely healthy and I'm thankful (I'm glad he's still around to tease my Mom and nag her about walking), but the rapid difference in my momma's health because she started on desiccated thyroid leaves a mark. Lemme tell ya, it perturbs him that Momma can eat as much fatty meats as she wants and she doesn't have to count calories, just count carbs. My Daddy diligently counts calories (he once weighed over 300 pounds in my wee youth and he lost half a man's weight and has kept it off for about 30 years). But anyone with thyroid issues knows that counting calories does not yield weight loss results. It often means we gain.
In my experience, only once did I forget to take my desiccated on time. I typically take it upon awakening on an empty stomach around 4 or 5am. The one time I didn't take it, I was at work at 10am and suddenly experienced vertigo, which I hadn't experienced since before Dr. Mabray's care. It took me a bit to give myself an Aggie slap and realize the mistake I made. I arranged for someone to cover my classroom so I could go take my medication because my symptoms would only get worse rather than peter out.
In the end, I want to emphasize a good doctor's care, someone who focuses on remedying symptoms rather than just treating lab results and most certainly a doctor that utilizes natural biological remedies. I once asked Dr. Mabray why desiccated wasn't promoted more by doctors. Dr. Mabray's response was pharmaceutical lobbying (also found in Mabray's book as well as his colleague Dr. Hotze's book Hypothyroidism Health and Happiness). By law, you can't promote anything biological, which desiccated thyroid falls under...but those pharmacy lobbyists pay boocoodles to push their synthetic drugs. Plus, most doctors aren't trained in a manner that would help thyroid patients, specifically general practitioners who have to know a little bit about everything. It's not on purpose that they're ignorant of effective thyroid treatment. I truly feel there are too many unknowns with thyroid health. It is just how medical education is presently setup. Doctors are trained to deliver care based off numbers (lab results, tests) and follow research that follows certain guidelines. Their intentions are in the right place, just not effective.
However, those doctors who provide effective thyroid treatment think and act so far outside the box, they can't see the box anymore (nor want to). They create their own research and data collection to prove their points. If you read Dr. Hotze's and Dr. Mabray's personal stories, you'll find that all they wanted was to heal their patients, not treat lab results. They doctored as they were trained and became very disgruntled with the entire process. So, they stepped away from the box, took risks (where other doctors ridicule them) and then they became my heroes.
A good doctor and nature-based medication are the first step to thyroid health.
No comments:
Post a Comment