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Thyroid Book Table of Contents
Thyroid Program
Front Cover: Thyroid Therapy
Publishers
Dedication
Disclaimer
Testimonials: Deb, Sharon, Kristin, Susan, Rob
Chapter 0: Abbreviations and Notation    edit
Ch 1: Essential Concepts: T4, T3, RT3
Ch 2: The Duel between TSH and RT3Â
Ch 3: Thyroid Medication Adjustment
Ch 4: Forms of Thyroid Medication
Chapter 5: True Story
Ch 6: Thyroid Algorithm
Ch 7: Other Important Measures
Ch 8: Healing the Thyroid
Ch 9: Working with your Prescirber
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OLD LINKS REFERENCE ONLY, THEN DELETE
Chapter 1: MD = Mad Doctor edit
Chapter 4: Lungs, Breath, Brain and Spirit edit
Chapter 5: The Power of ppm: Units, Concentrations and Conversions edit
Chapter 6: Aerosols and Nebulizers edit
Chapter 7: Salt + Water = Saline edit
Chapter 8: Hydrogen Peroxide edit
Chapter 11: How to Do a Real Experiment with One Subject: Individual Case Research edit
Chapter 12: Experiments and Current Formulas edit
Appendix A: Tables and Chemistry edit
Appendix C: Oxidative and Reductive Therapies edit
Index
Ch 1: Essential Concepts: T4, T3, RT3
- There are three main thyroid hormones: T4, T3 and Reverse T3 (RT3).
- T4 is only made by the thyroid gland
- T3 and RT3 are made by most cells of the body
- For each cell, T3 is the gas and RT3 is the brake.
- All three can and should be measured with every thyroid measurement
- T4 and T3 are available as mediations; RT3 is made from T4.
- No medication regime can match natural thyroid function, but sometimes there is no choice but to use thyroid medication for short- or long-term therapy.
Ch 2: The Duel between TSH and RT3
- TSH is made by the pituitary and is not made by the thyroid
- TSH therefore reflects pituitary function, not thyroid function
- The pituitary can make its own T3 so it may not reflect what’s happening in the rest of the body
- Reverse T3 (RT3) is made by most cells of the body from T4
- RT3 is a better reflection of bodily need and function, similar to how HgA1c is used for diabetics
- RT3 also is affected by cortisol and adrenal function. By raising RT3, Cortisol “applies the brake”.
- In conventional medicine TSH is the primary biomarker for thyroid function.
- In holistic medicine, RT3 is the primary biomarker used to assess bodily need for thyroid hormone(s).
- In holistic medicine, TSH is not used for adjustment but optionally to check pituitary function.
- If only T4 is prescribed, there are only 3 options for adjustment: go up, go down, or stay the same.
- If T4 and T3 are prescribed, there are 9 options for adjustment, giving more opportunity to match bodily need.
- There are two main sources of thyroid hormone: pig and synthetic.
- T4 and T3 are both available as pork-sourced and synthetic
- The requirements for T4 and T3 vary from patient to patient. Therefore a pre-fabricated combination product, even when “naturally” sourced from pig, may not meet an individual’s short-term or long-term need.
- Most patients will need two forms of thyroid medication to optimally adjust thyroid.
- See the Table for the current available forms of thyroid hormone
Ferritin
Minerals: Magnesium, Selenium, Zinc (Iodine later)
Water-Soluble Vitamins: B’s and C
Omega-3 Oils
Fat-Soluble Vitamins: A, D, E, K
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Chapter 1: Essential Concepts: T4, T3, RT3
“A kid working at a MacDonald’s counter can be shown how to adjust thyroid medicine better than this”
 — an anonymous philosopher
Important Points:
- Many thyroid patients are dissatisfied with their thyroid care–you can take control!
- There are three main thyroid hormones: T4, T3 and Reverse T3 (RT3).Â
- T4 is only made by the thyroid gland
- T3 and RT3 are made by most cells of the body
- For each cell, T3 is the gas and RT3 is the brake.
- All three can and should be measured with every thyroid measurement
- T4 and T3 are available as mediations; RT3 is made from T4.Â
- No medication regime can match natural thyroid function, but sometimes there is no choice but to use thyroid medication for short- or long-term therapy.Â
This book will focus on essential thyroid therapy. While this method is backed by long-standing quality science, those details will be saved for later chapters and books.
The reason that I am writing this book, despite there being so many already, is that I formulated a “Thyroid Algorithm” several years ago after my frustration with my mother-in-law’s thyroid care. I will save the story for a later chapter, but the degree of suffering that I witnessed, not only in her case, but so many, got me angry enough to engage a philosopher who came up with the statement above. Anyone can do it!
Since then, I have been teaching my patients to apply the Thyroid Algorithm, not only to feel better, but to know why and how to do it. I teach my patients to fish, at least those who want to…
I have chosen the word “Therapy” for the title, rather than “Treatment” or “Therapeutics”. All would have worked but for me the connotation of Therapy implies healing, rather than managing or curing. Our thyroid system can heal, even after resection or radiation. The thyroid gland is a small part of the thyroid-iodine-adrenal system. When thyroid medication is sub-optimally adjusted, it stresses other systems and ultimately becomes chronic due to the ripple effects. For most patients, the pattern has been brewing for a decade or more before the thyroid is addressed, in part due to incomplete testing and sub-optimal treatment strategy.
To heal well, the best approach is more comprehensive and therefore more holistic. Indeed, while we will focus on the logic of thyroid assessment and medication adjustment, it will all work better and deeper if this approach is a part of a multi-dimensional approach. The Holistic approach includes at the least: breath, sleep, water, food, movement, purpose, and stress management.Â
It is estimated that more than 50% of thyroid patients are dissatisfied with their thyroid status. The usual complaints are insufficient energy or stamina, a feeling of thickness, stiffness, slowness, coldness that can affect the hair, skin, joints, bowels, immune system, and brain. If you are reading this book then you have probably figured out that a Primary Care Provider or an Endocrinologist who only orders two or three thyroid labs is not going to be of any help. This is because the tests are incomplete and there are only three ways to go with T4 medication– up, down, or same. I’m excited to finally put this all down in a book to share with you!
Thyroid Therapy Book: TOC
Introduction to Holistic Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
I have struggled to find focus for a book that allows me to capture my 68+ years as a seeker, and 40+ years as a Holistic Practitioner. I was dissatisfied with the idea of writing a book about one topic, such as iodine, since it is connected to so many other things that I would have to exclude. I carry this anxiety about leaving the planet without adequately recording the pieces of my experience that can contribute to the future. Most of my heroes and mentors are dead, but they talk to me through their work and writings, as I am hoping to do here for you. (See Appendix A for my list of Holistic Heroes).Â
This book is written for those seeking healing at a root-cause level. Healing is not complex or difficult no matter what they have told you, what you see on Youtube or read on Dr. Google. The most important take-away from this book is this well-kept secret: Healing is inconvenient, BUT it is less inconvenient and less expensive than being sick.
It saddens me frequently to see someone, including those in my own circle, who could get such a huge return on investment if they would just try doing things holistically for a while. For most people, just a few weeks can get the ball rolling. Forcing oneself to sleep or eat on a regular schedule doesn’t really take much and is as fundamental as you can get. For more complex and long-standing conditions, the only early change will be that of attitude–the patient/client gains a clearer perspective about the factors interfering with healing and a path to heal those factors. As stated above, sadly, many if not most are not able or willing to make that leap, even for those where resources such as time and money are available. My believe is that there is an epidemic of fatigue and helplessness engendered by greedy forces, but if everyone is equally fatigued and hopeless then it is accepted as the norm. Social systems of all creatures are based on creating stability, and a stable fatigued norm enables the greedy to do what they want. The last thing I will say about politics (which can be a separate book) is that the fear of death programmed in all living creatures, manifests in many ways, including greedy materialism. Going back to masterpieces such as Denial of Death, (__), it is obvious that those hoarders are trying to fend off mortality, but by doing do they harm their own progeny. Denial is a powerful, effective and destructive feature of the human mind.Â
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Holistic Medicine, also called by some Integrative Medicine, begins with a philosophy of health and healing, from which evaluation and treatment processes are derived. Other terms, such as Homeopathic Medicine and Functional Medicine, while sometimes used interchangeably, are not the same as they are more focused on their specific approaches that are not as broad as what would be considered a complete holistic approach.
All forms of therapeutics, whether conventional, Ayurvedic, Chinese or other have a similar structure, though the content and proportion of each element differences. All begin with a client (patient, self) identifying a problem for which a remedy is sought. Then some sort of evaluation process occurs. Now-a-days, Dr. Google is a common part of that evaluation. If you are a monkey or a dog, the evaluation would involve looking, prodding and feeling. If you are a human, a diagnosis or some sort of label is found that helps center the concept, even if, as often occurs, the round symptom does not fit into the square label.Â
Based upon the evaluation, a remedy is recommended or prescribed. The remedy could be as basic as rest to eating herbs (or grass if a dog), to changing food or water intake, doing certain mechanical things, up to complex surgeries.Â
If the remedy provides the desired outcome, the evaluation process and diagnosis are considered successful. Since nothing is perfect, the outcome is rarely perfect. What can be left is a scar (physical, emotional, physiological, energetic), or a functional improvement at a level that is “good enough” — allows return to normal life without too much inconvenience. Obviously, the level of improvement that is satisfactory is dependent upon the person. Some accept improvements as low as 10-20%, while others seek 110% or greater (and which, as Holistic Practitioners, we believe is possible).
Implicit in the ideas of health and healing is life–being, existing, breathing, growing, changing, hurting, pleasuring, terrifying, life. How much dis-ease is just that is always a question when humans suffer. However, animals who don’t think as we do also develop disease and suffer without being neurotic or worrying about global warming, world peace or famine. All living creatures must die, and the transition between being alive and dead, while remaining an ultimate mystery, occurs materially no matter what.
Whatever that life force is, even if we can never measure it directly (we can’t see or directly measure an electron but we certainly do a lot with them), we know it exists without question. The reality of life and death fortunately supercedes all human constructs including money, religion, and geography. We don’t need research or God to know that there is a time when living beings, whether a bacteria, an ant or a human stops living and materially deteriorates back to its basic non-living elements.
Where There Is Breath, There is Hope
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Bioenergetics
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Holistic Therapeutics TOC
Chapter 0: Abbreviations and Notation
Chapter 1: Introduction to Holistic Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
Chapter 2: St
Chapter 19: Sleep Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
Chapter 2: Iodine Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
Chapter 3: Magnesium Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
Chapter 4: Niacin Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
Chapter 5:Â Stomach Acid Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
Chapter 6:Â Oral & Skull Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
Chapter 7:Â Amino Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
Chapter 8: Epigenetic Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
Chapter 10: Hormonal Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
Chapter 11: The Economics of Therapeutics: For Your Consideration (Shalini)
Chapter 12: Sexual Therapeutics: For Your Consideration (Deb)
Chapter 13: Psycho-spiritual Therapeutics: For Your Consideration (Katie)
Chapter 14: Client-Centered Therapeutics: For Your Consideration (Kristin)
Chapter 15: Medico-Legal Aspects of Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
Chapter 16: Chlorine Dioxide Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
Chapter 17: Nebulizer Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
Chapter 18: Detox Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
Appendix A: Holistic Heroes
Appendix B: Tables and ChemistryÂ
References   edit
Index
Publishers
Front Cover: Holistic Therapeutics: For Your Consideration
Dedication
Disclaimer