Product Description

A definitive handbook for readers suffering from hypothyroidism describes the symptoms and causes of this frequently undiagnosed but treatable disease and introduces a range of therapeutic options, including natural remedies, to help alleviate the ailment.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19838 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 624 pages

From the Author
Looking back, I'm fairly sure the onset of my thyroid problem was during the early part of 1993, at the age of thirty-two. As a teen and through my twenties, I never had a problem with weight. I didn't exercise. I worked like a crazy person. I ate terribly. I also smoked a pack and a half of cigarettes a day for more than ten years. Iin the winter of 1993, I had my first book coming out. I was working an intense full-time job, then coming home and working late into the night on the new book. I had a new boyfriend. It was a period of several months of intense work/book/life excitement and stress, coupled with not enough sleep, poor eating habits, and lots of cigarettes and caffeine. I ended up with the worst bronchial infection I'd ever had, which turned into a case of Epstein-Barr so debilitating that I couldn't drag myself out of bed, couldn't go to work for a month, and was so foggy and depressed. I didn't have my thyroid tested at the time, but after looking on my symptoms, and talking to many others who describe similar health crises and resulting brain fog and depression, I believe this is when my thyroid problem started.

A year later, after recuperating for the most part but still feeling tired, I started a slow but steady weight gain. I became engaged to my boyfriend in July of 1994, and stopped smoking in September of that year. Then the weight literally poured on.

Disgusted with the weight gain, and feeling increasingly depressed, I started smoking again. No weight lost, none gained, and I was still depressed. At that point, I felt dumpy, overweight, depressed, and then six months later, in July of 1995, I started having trouble getting a full breath. The doctor thought I had developed asthma. At that point, I quit smoking -- that time for good -- and a few more pounds piled on. A month after I quit, the doctor decided to just run some various blood tests, because I was again complaining that I didn't feel well. The doctor called a few days later and said that I had "low thyroid" and she'd called in a prescription for me. I had absolutely no idea what a thyroid was, or even where it was located.

After I was diagnosed, I continued developing all kinds of symptoms that mystified my doctor and me. My periods became heavier and more frequent. My skin started flaking. I had headaches. I had a consultation with an endocrinologist, who acknowledged that some of the symptoms I had probably were my thyroid. She ran an antibodies test -- at my request -- but said it wasn't necessary because it didn't matter why I was hypothyroid . . . I just was. The test revealed the antibodies that signal Hashimoto's disease. I asked what that meant, and the endocrinologist said it didn't change the treatment, so I didn't have to worry about it.

The endocrinologist said it was just coincidence that I was a size 8 who could eat anything I wanted before my thyroid went bad, and that less than a year later, I was a size 12. She suggested that the other symptoms would probably calm down more like ten to sixteen weeks later. The way she put it was:

". . . In four months or so, you'll look back and realize how much better you feel than you do now. It's going to be relative, and so gradual that it won't be dramatic. One day down the road, you'll just realize you feel better than you did now."

So I waited my four months. And I still didn't feel quite well. Far better than before, yes, but still not right. So I read, and I read. And then I got a computer, and I surfed the web. I started to disseminate whatever information I found via the online Usenet newsgroup, alt.support.thyroid, and talk with other thyroid patients. And I found out that things like hair falling out, and weird periods, and difficulty losing weight, and carpal tunnel syndrome, and feeling depressed were all utterly "normal" symptoms of hypothyroidism. Maybe some of the information wasn't what I wanted to hear, but I needed to hear it!

It was a true revelation. Knowing what was and wasn't related to my thyroid was far better than not knowing. There were times I felt so sick that I secretly worried I had some incurable horrible disease that the doctors were overlooking. Realizing that symptoms were related to the thyroid also gave me something to shoot for -- fixing my thyroid -- instead of running around taking pill after pill or visiting high-priced specialists for every supposedly new, but actually thyroid-related, symptom that appeared.

Later, I assembled a lot of my information and created a thyroid disease website. At the site, I've written dozens of articles on thyroid disease, maintain an active bulletin board, and provide links to hundreds of sources of conventional and alternative thyroid information on the web. Back in July of 1997, I also started a separate newsletter, called Sticking Out Our Necks, offering the latest thyroid-related news on health, drugs, treatments, tests, companies, and alternative therapies for hypothyroidism and its symptoms. I've also recently expanded the newsletter to a printed version by regular mail. And along the way, despite my hypothyroidism, I even managed my most important project of all -- giving birth to my wonderful daughter, Julia, in late 1997!

Every day for the past five years I've studied as much as I can about thyroid disease and hypothyroidism, searched for information on conventional and alternative ways to diagnose and treat hypothyroidism, and turned around and put that information out via my web page and my news report. As part of my educational mission, I've answered many thousands of emails from people with hypothyroidism around the world. Over and over again, people write, pouring out their hearts, sharing the same concerns, the same problems.

When you receive dozens of emails every single day for years, it's obvious something is wrong, and someone needs to do something about it. That's why I wrote this book.

From the Back Cover
"Ms. Shomon's book is an enlightened godsend to hypothyroidism sufferers, providing a wealth of cutting edge medical information and alternative approaches for surviving ...and thriving ...with hypothyroidism. Mary has debunked longstanding "myths" and misinformation about thyroid diagnosis and treatment options that have come from both alternative and conventional thyroid specialists. If I could recommend only one book on thyroid problems for my patients, this would be it!" (Elizabeth Lee Vliet, M.D. Author of "Screaming to be Heard: Hormonal Connections Women Suspect and Doctors Ignore." Founder, HER Place(R) Centers)

"Mary Shomon is the harbinger of the latest scientifically-sound information on hypothyroidism. With keen intellect, loyalty to truth, and plain language, she sweeps away the medical dogma that bars millions of patients from rational thyroid hormone therapies. In this book, she describes practical thyroid therapies that can improve patients' health and extend their lives. The book is vital for hypothyroid patients who want to get well, and for physicians who want to help them do so." Dr. John Lowe, author of "Speeding Up to Normal," Research Director / Fibromyalgia Research Foundation

"Hormones are a tricky business. And few people realize how absolutely crucial the thyroid is to dealing with weight problems, depression, fatigue, and menopause, among other health challenges. Mary Shomon's book is frankly the only place I know where the millions of people who are needlessly suffering with hypothyroidism can get honest, accurate, practical and life-affirming information on how to regain their health, energy and quality of life." Larrian Gillespie, M.D., Author of "The Goddess Diet," "The Menopause Diet," and "You Don't Have to Live With Cystitis"

Excerpted from Living Well With Hypothyroidism: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You . . . That You Need to Know by Mary J. Shomon. Copyright © 2000. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved

(From the Introduction to "Living Well With Hypothyroidism: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You . . .That You Need to Know")

Millions like you wake up each day living with hypothyroidism, a disease you don't even know you have. You're fatigued, your hair is falling out, you're gaining weight, and you're depressed. You don't even think to mention your symptoms to the doctor, because you assume age, not enough sleep, or too little exercise are to blame. Unfortunately, you don't recognize these problems as common symptoms of hypothyroidism, a condition that affects an estimated 13 million people in the U.S. If you're a woman, you're up against a one in eight chance you will develop a thyroid disorder during your lifetime. When you're living with undiagnosed hypothyroidism, you aren't living well.

Those of you who do mention your problems to the doctor may have a different experience. After reciting a list of symptoms right out of the Thyroid 101 textbook, you are told by your doctor that you are suffering from depression, stress, PMS, menopause, old age or, simply, that it's probably just "in your head." When you're living with hypothyroidism and you've been misdiagnosed, that's not living well.

Countless numbers of you are living unknowingly with hypothyroidism after treatments that your doctors already know can cause hypothyroidism. Some doctors actually forget to tell you that after you've had all or part of your thyroid removed due to Graves' disease, nodules, or cancer, you will almost always need thyroid hormone replacement. If you've had radioactive iodine treatments or took antithyroid drugs to essentially "kill" your overactive thyroid, your doctor may have forgotten to mention that hypothyroidism is often a result. Living with an underactive or missing thyroid and the resulting hypothyroidism is not living well.

Some of you suspect -- often correctly -- that you are hypothyroid, but you cannot get diagnosed. You have a long list of symptoms and a family history of thyroid problems, but you still can't even get a thyroid test. Sometimes your doctor is arrogant, sometimes ignorant; sometimes you come up against the self-interest that values profit over medical tests. Whatever the reason, doctors repeatedly refuse to test you in the face of symptoms and history. Some of you manage to get tested, only to be told that you're normal by doctors who believe that thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) test numbers don't lie -- but patients, symptoms, history, and experience do. Your doctors rely on numbers on a page -- ignoring common sense, direct examination, overwhelming symptoms . . . and you. When you are living with undiagnosed and untreated hypothyroidism, it's impossible to live well.

Once you are diagnosed with hypothyroidism, many of you -- perhaps even a majority -- do not feel well on the standard therapy. One Thyroid Foundation of America study found that up to two-thirds of hypothyroid patients still suffered symptoms such as muscle pain, lethargy, weight gain, and depression -- -- despite what doctors consider sufficient treatment. If my email inbox is any indication, there are an untold number of you with the same complaints. You're hypothyroid, you don't feel well, and your doctors say, "you're fine, there isn't anything else we can do for you." Insufficient treatment that leaves you symptomatic is definitely not living well.

When it comes to information, little is out there. The doctors, the other books about thyroid disease, the pharmaceutical company "educational brochures" and awareness programs, the thyroid patient foundations -- they've all closed ranks, and usually spout a standard party line: "Take your thyroid pill until your thyroid is in normal range, come back every year for a TSH test, and you're fine." The understanding is, you've got the condition, no point worrying how you got it, how to keep it from getting worse, or whether or not you actually feel well on the standard treatment. If you now have hair loss, depression, fatigue, weight gain, low libido, high cholesterol -- or any one of dozens of other unresolved symptoms that drastically affect your quality of life, symptoms you never had before your thyroid went bad -- hey, what does that have to do with anything? You're probably lazy, eating too much, stressed out, not getting enough sleep, not getting enough exercise, getting older, PMSed, or just plain old depressed. Just live with it . . . live with your hypothyroidism. This is not living well.

There are those of you who dare to ask questions. "Is there any thyroid hormone replacement besides levothyroxine?" "Is this really the best dose for me?" "What about the other drugs?" or "How about alternative medicine?" You might be ignored, laughed at, derided, patronized, or even in some cases fired as a patient. The consensus is that everything to be known is known, and there are no more questions to be asked, especially by patients. Interestingly, new research shows that what have until recently been considered the "standard" treatments don't work as well as well as so-called "alternative" treatments. Instead of adopting these better treatments, many doctors prefer to sit back and call for more studies, while patients suffer needlessly. You're expected to live with your hypothyroidism and not ask questions, quietly enduring. Living a lifetime of silence, with your valid questions and health concerns unanswered, is not living well.

Then, there's the future. What should we know -- but don't -- about diagnosing and treating hypothyroidism? What research is needed, who is looking at possible means of cure or remission, alternative drugs, and reevaluating optimum thyroid test values? What are some of the promising treatments that have yet to be formally studied? These are questions that need to be answered -- and must be investigated -- if any of us are going to live well.

Millions of people know that it's not enough to just live with hypothyroidism.

It's time someone speaks up about how to live well with hypothyroidism.

Customer Reviews

A MUST for all sufferers of Hypothyroidism
I bought this book via Amazon on the recommendation of the Thyroid Helpline in England. I have suffered from an underactive thyroid and Hashimoto's Disease for 4 years. It was only diagnosed after two years of waiting, and by then I felt and looked terrible. Even after 4 years of medication, I was still overweight, losing my hair, desperately tired and lethargic, depressed. When the book arrived, I read it from cover to cover. Having changed certain things in my life as recommended by Mary Shomon,(e.g. the time and way I take my tablets), I have lost a stone in weight in 8 weeks and feel better than I have done for years. If, like me, you have spent a long time trying to find answers to your questions and worries about thyroid illness, do read this book.

interesting and comprehensive
This is a really good all round introduction to ideas about thyroid treatments that differ from the current medical norm. It clearly outlines the different tests available and the problems with them. I found it easy to follow and full of useful details. Having been diagnosed with ME twelve years ago I am slowly but surely losing symptoms following my treatment along the lines of Mary Shomon's ideas...

Mostly written for the American Market
This book has so many references to the American world that it's not really that effective here in Scotland. I also think that the Author repeats herself quite a bit. I actually had to put the book down and started reading another that I had bought. I did go back and finish it and it does have some useful hints there, but even they are geared to the American Market. I am glad however that I read this book as it gave me some insight to thyroid problems.