In this video clip, Joan Mathews Larson notes that in patients she has seen with depression caused by low thyroid, they have a Black Depression.
She also notes that low thyroid function can cause
• Headaches...
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Menieres Disease (disease of the inner ear which can affect hearing and balance)
• Vertigo (may fall frequently)
• Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
• Loss of coordination
• Dizziness
• Agitated Depression
• Memory Loss
• Cant sleep
• Bipolar Disorders...
• Brain Fog...
She notes this was taken from the book by DeGroot, The Thyroid and Its Diseases, 1996.
Physical manifestations of low thyroid function include
• Arthritis...
• Muscle aches
• Cold extremities
• Puffy face
• Weight gain
• TMJ because of arthritic changes in the muscles and joints of the jaw
• Chronic fatigue
• Joint stiffness
• High cholesterol levels
Main stream medicine also notes that thyroid can be useful in cases of treatment-resistant depression, although I dont know how often this is used, because I never read about it or hear doctors talking about using it to help their patients.
I will also post some audio clips from a speech by Mark Starr, MD, author of the book Type 2 Hypothyroidism.
He tells a story about a woman who had taken 5 grains of thyroid per day, which is a large dose—one grain is equal to 65 mg—but when she went to a new doctor, he told her, Thats too much. You cant take 5 grains. So he reduced her down to 2 grains.
He then noted that she gained 30 pounds within a few months, and she was so out of it mentally that she could not even balance her checkbook.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, a heart surgeon, and Oprahs favorite TV doctor, gave a great analogy a couple weeks ago on her program to illustrate that just because blood tests show that your thyroid levels fall within normal range, it does not mean that they are at the right level for you.
If I remember his analogy correctly, here is how he put it.
He said the average shoe size might be between 4 to 12, but that doesnt mean that a size 6 shoe is the right size for you just because it falls within the normal range. You may need a larger shoe or you may need a smaller shoe.
He said the same thing is true with thyroid. Youre blood test may show that your thyroid levels are within normal range, however, these levels may be too high for your or too low for you.
I love this analogy.
Blood tests are a wonder thing, but it seems to me that all too often, that when a blood test is available, modern medicine ignores clinical symptoms.
If I remember correctly
Ward Dean, MD, who I have a ton of respect for, has said that if a patient comes to see him and says they are tired, depressed, cold, etc—clinical symptoms of low thyroid function—that he will test their thyroid levels to see if they are low, but even if they are within the normal range, he will give them a small trial of natural, desiccated Armour thyroid to see if their symptoms improve.
If it helps them, he keeps them on it. If it does not help them, he stops it. This makes so much sense to me.
All the doctors Ive seen who practice Natural Medicine seem to prefer natural, desiccated Armour thyroid, and not Synthroid, which is synthetic T4 levothyroxine, that the drug company have been pushing for 20+ years because they have a patent on it.
Several doctors, like Ward Dean, MD and Jonathan Wright, MD, have said that they have found people do better with natural, desiccated Armour thyroid, whereas Synthroid—synthetic T4—causes more side effects.
The drug company who makes Synthroid seems to have successful brainwashed much of the medical community, including thyroid experts, into believing that it is better to take Synthroid rather than take natural, desiccated Armour thyroid.
In about 1994, three thyroid experts were interviewed on a 30-minute program on thyroid on the now-defunk American Medical Television channel.
All three of these guys said exactly what the drug company had brainwashed them into believing, that is, that you should only give T4 thyroid hormone and let the body convert it into the more active T3.
It was like watching a group of soldiers march in lockstep over the edge of a cliff because their commander had told them to do so. Im just following orders.
Maybe the drug company had handpicked these experts to be on TV in order to sell more Synthroid, I dont know.
This is noted in this video clip by Joan Mathews Larson, PhD, who has been treating anxiety, depression and addiction for 30 years with natural supplements.
This was noted by Joan Mathews Larson, PhD in a speech she gave in September 2007.
Thank you to Dr. Larson.
Thanks for your comment.
Larry Hobbs
All of Dr. Larson's stuff is very interesting, and does not seem to be well known among main stream medicine.