Attention Thyroid Patients: Hyperthyroidism Symptoms are Like "Being in Love," Says USC Endocrinologist Peter Singer
I'm reluctant to criticize major media coverage of thyroid disease, because, well, it's so rare to start with. Since few newspapers and reporters ever think that thyroid disease is interesting enough to write about, I'm always grateful that any word is getting out. So kudos to the Los Angeles Times/Tribune Newspapers' Mary Beckman, who was willing to tackle the topic in an article titled Winfrey was long overdue for thyroid exam." The article isn't ground-breaking, but offers a decent overview of some basic thyroid facts, tied in to the story of Oprah Winfrey's thyroid problem.BUT...what is going on with the so-called expert she talked to, Dr. Peter Singer of the University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine? Singer's supposed to be a top guy in the thyroid field. He even served as President of the American Thyroid Association (ATA).
But get this. Singer says that when a person is hyperthyroid, "You've got all the symptoms of being in love."
Seriously. He is equating hyperthyroidism symptoms to being in love.
I've talked to many hundreds of people in the throes of hyperthyroidism, and the last thing they sound like is someone "in love." In fact, they sound far from it. Instead, they describe crippling panic attacks, terrifying heart palpitations, hair falling out in big handfuls, sweating all the time, constant explosive diarrhea, muscle fatigue so bad that they can't walk up steps or brush their hair, and insomnia that leads to constant exhaustion.
Does that sound like love?
Singer then goes on to talk about hypothyroidism, saying, "At Oprah's age, [53] about 6 to 7 percent of women have it." I wonder where Singer is getting his facts from, because the literature I'm reading says that by the age of 60, 20% of all women are experiencing the condition. And that is an underestimate, as the latest research is suggesting that the majority of thyroid patients aren't ever diagnosed at all.
Then Singer tosses off another zinger, mentioning that hypothyroidism can cause weight gain. BUT, says Singer, "They gain no more than about 10 percent of their baseline weight."
Hmmm...he knows exactly how much weight we'll gain. And how can he know this? I have heard endos throw this particular 10% number around, but I've yet to find the double-blind, peer-reviewed, journal-published studies behind it. I suspect it's one of those popular myths about thyroid disease that get repeated enough until the endos believe it's true. Strangely enough, I have, however, actually seen studies that show that hypothyroidism can cause actual obesity -- not just minor weight gain.
And, here's a newflash from the land of reality: people who are hypothyroid frequently do gain a fair amount of weight. Take a look at the example of Oprah herself, who is discussed at length in Beckman's article. Oprah became hypothyroid, and she reported that she gained 20 pounds in just a few months, and frankly, Oprah's experience is more representative of what happens to the typical thyroid patient. And since Oprah did not start out at 200 pounds, she clearly gained far more than Singer's official "10% of her baseline weight."
And Oprah was diagnosed fairly quickly. What if she had complained to her doctor about weight gain and fatigue, and was told, like most women, that it's normal during menopause, or that she should get off the couch and stop eating, or was sent off with a prescription for Prozac? What if she had to go to the doctor several times over several years before she even got a thyroid test? How much more weight would she have gained before someone actually figured out she had a thyroid condition?
Dr. Singer is an endocrinologist, and a professor who is teaching other doctors. Maybe he's a fantastic doctor with a terrific bedside manner...I don't know. But I do know that I would NOT like to be the sick, frightened patient in his examining room being told "You've got all the symptoms of being in love." I would never want to be treated by a doctor who could so cavalierly dismiss the symptoms of a debilitating, life-changing disease in this way.
And is it any wonder that many other endocrinologists seem to have little understanding of how thyroid disease actually affects their patients? Because I imagine that "Professor" Singer stands up in front of rows of future doctors and passes on this sort of silliness as thyroid education.
I think it's time for Dr. Singer to start observing and listening to what actual thyroid patients are experiencing.
NOTE FROM MARY:
I spoke personally with Dr. Singer yesterday, and asked him to clarify his statement about "being in love." He said that he wasn't sure if they'd included his comments about people losing weight and having a rapid heartbeat when hyperthyroid (the article did include this), but that what he meant was: "Those are symptoms of hyperthyroidism, and they're also the same symptoms as falling in love." When I started to mention that among hundreds of hyperthyroid patients I've talked to, he jumped in to interrupt me, saying, "I know, I know, and none of them said that hyperthyroidism is like being in love, right?" Then he chuckled...and said he had to go.
I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say that I have this sneaking suspicion that Dr. Peter Singer just doesn't get it.
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Comments
“And how can he know this? I have heard endos throw this particular 10% number around, but I’ve yet to find the double-blind, peer-reviewed, journal-published studies behind it.”
I’ve never seen that particular figure in the medical literature, either. What I have seen, as I recall, are two controlled clinical trials of two years in length each that indicated that the hypos studied gained 10 pounds per year for the length of the studies, and had not stopped gaining at the end of the studies. I’ll see if I can find the studies in my database at home and provide the citations to you.
MaryH
women affected by thyroid malfunction/problem should try homeopathy.
There is a cure for thyroid problem. my wife who had this problem for long time, tried homeopathy(who would have lost her voice otherwise) is OK after taking homeopathy medicine for three months.
The article never mentions Hashimoto’s, which is different than hypo and/or hyper — I know this from personal experience, having been mis-diagnosed for 3 years, taking the wrong hormone, and it almost killing me. It’s imperative to get a correct diagnosis!
Also, I have heard so-called miracles with homeopathy, and I am happy for vijaytaleppadi’s wife, but I’m afraid it is too simplistic to say homeopathy will cure all thyroid disease, especially after only 3 months.
Perhaps Oprah’s remarks will spark more celebrity interest in a cure — wouldn’t that be great? As for that Dr. Singer, I’m so glad he’s not at UC San Francisco! There *are* endos there who *do* get it, thank goodness!
Perhaps Dr. Singer would also think that losing a leg is like doing the Bunny Hop.
Doctors have a duty to “get it”.
I suffered from thyroid disease all my life…and had doctors tell me, without ever testing my thyroid, I had “ideopathic edema”…which technically means I swell up and they don’t know why. Or just hand me some Prozac (which I never took). Not until I was in my late fifties was Hashimoto’s diagnosed. A lifetime wasted battling those terrible symptoms.
I had to look all over for an MD who would prescribe Armour thyroid and eventually ended up with a nurse practitioner recommended by my pharmacist. I am basically in charge of my own health care with regard to thyroid because the nurse practitioner, a nice woman, only tests me to make sure my TSH does not get “too low”, although it has never been out of what is considered normal range with medication.
That said, if I take care of myself, I generally feel pretty good. I am, however, still grappling with weight issues. I have had a weight problem all my life but I am now at least 30 pounds heavier than I was before I was diagnosed 3 years ago and had been creeping up the five years before that, when I may have had a borderline conditon, another 30 pounds. The standard weight loss techniques aren’t working for me and I’ve decided that in the next year I have to really focus my energies into finding some way to take some of the weight off.
Oprah has had a weight problem for many years and I think it is easy for endos to ignore weight gain as a symptom in people like her. Add to that, a history of yoyo dieting and, unless she gets treated for thyroid disease if she has it, she will continue to gain weight and be unable to do anything about it.
LOVE was the farthest thing from my mind 7 years ago when diagnosed with Graves Disease. Now I have to say I didnt hate losing 40 lbs in 3 weeks - but I knew something serious was going on. I was going through something very sressful at the time and figured the weight and all the other symptoms had something to do with the stress. But LOVE was NOT what I was feeling!!!
I have never beleived that the Doctors or the AMA have all the answers. That’s why they call it ‘practicing medicine’. It’s not a exact science. And people are not all alike. I think we all have to do a lot of personal research and study what ails us and make decisions based on what we feel in our gut is best. That may mean saying no to your Dr. about their course of treatment or insisting on more of something - tests, meds, whatever. But above all else, be well educated in what you take to your Dr. and they are more willing to listen.
I was diagnosed with Graves disease/ hyperthyroidism at 10 and had it until I was 21. At that time, I took radioactive iodine and am now hypothroid (for the past 13 years). I have gained a lot of weight that is next to impossible to lose. I never once confused the horrible symptoms of hyperthyroidism with the euphoria of being in love! Also, I have yet to find a doctor who does not dismiss my symptoms to this day or one who can stabilize my thyroid function with levothyroxine. I can’t even get doctors to try different medicines for me eventhough my levels are on a constant rollercoaster ride. My hair is falling out horribly and my face is constantly puffy, I bounce back and forth between insomnia and exhaustion. The doctors notice these symtoms and have had me tested for every other thing but have found nothing. Still they disregard the thyroid problem or the medicine as the culprit. I have had endos and regular family doctors, all the same. Family doctors seem not to know enough and endos act as if they know too much. Like all their info is straight from a book and not real people. They have all told me to “just lose some weight”. I am 5′7″ and now weigh 200 lbs. (10 lbs in the past three months since my thyroid levels have really been jumping around and 50 lbs since I first went underactive). Dr. Singer should change his tune, we don’t need more endos/ doctors coming into the field with some fantasy about thyroid disease and it’s victims being facts on paper and not truth in reality.
again this is about the crazyist thing i have ever heard…………i have had graves disease for 22 years ,,,,,,, treated with i131 twice…like being in love . this makes me quit sick ,,,,,no one with any other disease is treated like there some kind of moreon,untill these so called drs. geta clue we will never find the right answers.there has not been a change in thryoid treatment sense 1945…….tell me that about any other disease.the world treates us like second class dummys , frankly im sick of it ………….
to feel like this all the time & struugle with these symptoms constantly & have a professional medical Dr. discribe it as such is plain sickening, I really don’t think the majority get it & It’s sad we go thru life & have it treated like it’s not that bad deal with it…..
I am tired of setteling for this & I just bet a lot of other women join me in this…. just wanna feel good again
I was diagnosed with hashimoto’s about 15 years ago by my wonderful primary care physician. Before I found him I was sent, by another physician, to an endo who totally did not get it. He told me he could predict my dosage by my weight and age blah blah blah but he took a blood sample to humor me…I was right, I needed my dosge increased. I never went back, I found my current doc who about a year ago switched me to armour at my request and it did wonders for me. I still remember my first visit with him when he told me his goal was to make me well and happy and clearly I was not happy. He was the one who tested for hashimoto’s. I also still remember him saying Endo’s like their numbers, but you can’t treat the numbers. I know there are good endo’s out there but it sure seems like they are few and far between.
I would like to add yet another criticism to this article, which claims that thyroid disease usually affects people in middle age. I was diagnosed at age 25 and think that I was hypothyroid for at least a year before that. Another of my friends was diagnosed at the same time. Re: the weight gain: I had been consistently around 100 pounds my whole adult life (I’m short), and after being diagnosed, I’ve ballooned up and down many times, from 106 to 127. I seem to have plateaued at about 118, but this is definitely more than “10% of [my] baseline weight”!!
Why can’t doctors understand that thyroid disease is complex and requires *individual* action and attention???
Maybe Dr. Singer was a 200lb teenager with acne when he fell in love with the prom queen who embarassed him in front of the whole school and his family when she rejected and laughed at him…if that’s his memory of being in love, he could be right.
I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 1993. I have been battling hypothyroidism since that time. I don’t care if you are hypo-hyperthyroid, this sure does not feel like falling in love. I can also guarantee that I have gained more than 10% of my body weight. I remember “back in the day” when Oprah had Dr. Phil on as a regular guest and he berated overweight people and told us to “stop blaming all of our weight problems on being hypothyroid” and there was nothing wrong with us, we were just lazy. Get off the couch, so to speak. Ummmmm ok. Wonder what what he would say to Oprah now? I stopped watching Oprah after that comment from Dr. Phil. He has NO idea what it is like. He needs to go into practice with Dr. Singer. Seems like they would make a good partnership. According to them, we are all fat, lazy and falling in love. What a crock.
ditto Robin ..
I had Graves in ‘99; after radioactive iodine in 2000, it took 3 yrs to regulate. The last 2 yrs have been a roller coaster, again, and now add Hashimoto’s to the hypo after the iodine.
Dr. Singer is being noticed because of his status and because he mentioned a well known public figure, Oprah. What a shame the others with similar issues do not get similar attention. Next time, Dr. Singer needs to not laugh back at an interview .. his reaction to Mary’s comments were unprofesstional in my book.
Please, test your doctors, educate yourselves, take ownership of your life and body.
Peggy
My one wish for Doctors with this attitude is that they develop the symptoms themselves, then let’s hear their comments
If hyperthyroidism Symptoms are like “Being in Love” don’t let me fall ever let me fall in love.
I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s 7 years ago and last year it ironically switched to Graves disease. After seeing 4 different doctors in 4 months for a rapid 20 lb. weight loss, heart palpitations, knee problems, sinus infections, explosive diarrea and lung issues, I got a regular physical and my doctor recognized the symptoms…Graves Disease….not love sick not even close. She recommended I go back to my Endo. Now after RAI treatment I am back to trying to get regulated on medication. It’s been 8 months and I am no where near where I feel normal. They just have me on increasing doses of Synthroid and I do not feel I am getting better. The puffiness around my eyes is really embarassing and bothers me. I am beginning to think the endos are so specialized that they can not see the whole picture any longer. Are there any good ones left??? Has anyone been to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale? What do you do about the puffiness around your eyes? does it ever go away? Do you ever feel good again?
Dr. Singer certainly doesn’t know what he is talking about. I wouldn’t wish this thyroid disorder, be it hypo/hyper, Graves or Hasshimotos on anyone. Unless one has lived through the days and weeks of inability to have strength, need naps and feel like your arms and legs are weights (no pun intended) one cannot relate to our disorders. I have had one half of my thyroid removed due to a benign tumor, had to be monitored closely to prevent losing my babies during pregnancy and this man is going to tell me that my heart was beating out of feeling like I’m in love? Try it was beating out of fear that I could miscarry. I am presently on my 4th endocrinologist because the 55 plus pounds I lost crept up beyond my control as my thyroid became more and more hypo. I no longer have the strength to exercise nor have a “beat in my heart.” I did feel like a depressed woman who didn’t know why when nothing was wrong in my life. Dr. Singer - go sing a different tune. No matter what degree a person gets, someone had to be at the bottom of the class. Are you the recipient?
As I recall several years ago when Oprah had Dr Phil on as a regular he made stupid comments about people that were overweight always blaming their thyroid and that was not the problem…they were depressed or some such crap. After that I didn’t care for Oprah or “DR” Phil. I am sure she has forgotten the comments he made.
I was told by an Air Force flight surgeon that I was just “fat and lazy” after requesting a test because I was so tired and gaining weight. My mother was Hypo for as long as I remember so I thought that was might be an issue. Two years later I was almost in a coma, could not take care of my 30 month old son and had had a miscarriage.
After being correctly diagnosed and treated I was fine for about 10 years but over the past 10 years I gained almost 100 lbs and been going through dosage changes two or three times a year. Now I think we have it stabilized (keep my fingers crossed).
Unfortunately not every patient has the time, skills, desire or knowledge to ensure they get the proper treatment and Dr like this screw them up even more.
No, he doesn’t get it at all! I’m so glad he isn’t my endo!! And I gain 60 pounds in 4 months. I did not, gratefully, start out at 600 pounds.
I was 24 and planning my wedding I started losing weight I just thought it was the stress of planning a wedding. Four weeks before my wedding I went to the doctor he felt a lump on my Thryroid, that turned out to be cancer. I had my thyroid removed two weeks after my wedding. I noticed the weight gain within the 1st month my Endo told me it was Marital Bliss sounds like he went to the same school as Dr. Singer. 1 year after surgery I had gained 30 lbs. 13 years later it is now 50 lbs. I have had 5 different doctors over the past 13 years. I have been on the same dose for 5 years I keep having blood test and they keep telling me my levels are where we want them and yet I still feel awful.
I’m not sure which part of being in love Dr. Singer was speaking of. I’ve been hyperthyroid for almost 10 yrs and when the symptoms first appeared it certainly did not feel like love. It was more like just being miserable with a pounding heart beat, weak muscles, tremors, profuse sweating, digestive problems and the list goes on. I have a great Endo. Physician who works with me and allows me to make changes in my treatment if it is not life threatening. I chose to treat only the symptoms and not destroy the thyroid gland. I took Tapazoil for a year, which stopped the thyroid from secreting hormones. and had been in a normal range for years until just recently. I now have symptoms of hypothyroidism as the gland is burning it’s self out. I was told that would happen someday. I intend to continue to treat the symptoms until I know for sure that has happened. One important thing that I have learned is that being in a normal range, where lab work is concerned, does not mean that it is the best place for everyone. By that I mean that some people may function better in a high normal range and others in a low normal range but most doctors are probably reluctant to experiment with that. It is just easier to tell a patient that they are in a normal range so do nothing when they complain about not feeling well.
Several weeks ago i became extremely ill was hospitlised over night .
That was the begining of a nightmare , released from hospital unable to walk unaided .
After weeks of bed rest unable to drive or walk without help of another person holding me , i was seeing my doctor who said i had a virus and needed to keep resting , go home to bed .
Still six weeks later little improvement , i sought advise of another doctor , she sent a nurse to my home to take some blood .
Results overactive thyroid , i told my doctor that the other doctor said overactive thyroid means nothing.
He said there is nothing seroiusly wrong with you , you just need best rest.He said “Overactive thyroid” is nothing . The female doctor i am now seeing has done a second lot of tests to confirm the results , this week i will go for my Thyroid scan .
I can honestly say i don’t feel like i’m in love , in fact i feel yuck .
Anyways some doctors just shouldn’t be doctors , i am glad i went for a second opinion.
Thanks for the article Mary. I feel quite offended by this doctor’s comments. I’m so sick of getting fobbed off by doctors who have no real understanding of what we go through as thyroid patients. I was utterly miserable, had absolutely no energy, was getting sicker and sicker to point I felt like I was going to die. I a raft of other symptoms for about 10 years before I finally got diagnosed. I got told by doctors that I went to that I should - diet, exercise, get some will power, to lose the weight I was gaining despite eating hardly anything. There was nothing about this experience even remotely similar to being in love!!??!! What is this guy on? He needs to go back to medical school or take a reality check and actually talk to his patients and see how they are feeling. How convenient for us all that we’ll only gain 10% of our weight … in actual fact I gained about 50% of my body weight over a three year period. I was told by an endo that I would never be able to lose the weight, but have now gone on to prove him wrong after losing 20kg. It concerns me greatly that we have to rely on people like this doctor in the medical profession for our ongoing health. I have no faith in these so called experts, and this is just further evidence that they can’t be relied on.
I have been experiencing the symptoms of Hypothyroidism for 10 years. I had been walking 2 miles daily and suddenly was unable to do that. I was very frightened as I didn’t know what was wrong. Since then I have been doing a sort of two steps forward, one step back as my doctor and I struggle to get this regulated. Recently I have experienced almost complete exhaustion, gaining weight again, trouble sleeping, can’t exercise and feel like my body is made of lead and wood. My doctor tested me for Hashimoto’s Disease and I bought the “THYROID POWER” book by the Drs. Shames. I recommend that to all thyroid patients, whether hypo or hyper; and also their other book “Feeling Fat, Fuzzy, and Frazzled.” I think the knowledge I have received from these two excellent books will serve me well in future doctor appointments.
Mary Shomon, you are the best. I just had to say it.
This doctor is ridiculous. But then again, I don’t trust any doctors anymore after having gone through my whole life with undiagnosed subclinical hypothyroidism. I was sick, sick, sick, tired, lethargic, life in a shambles, and so on — you all know the story. I’ve recently turned 40 and I’m just now beginning to live a more normal life. But better late than never. Mary Shomon and her web site saved my life and gave me concrete information, as well as helping me find a doctor who has helped me gain my health for the first time ever. It’s important for each of us to be our own health care advocate, because, while there are some wonderful physicians out there, there are a lot of doctors who are just plain useless.
As an aside, I think Oprah is looking really unwell this season…frankly, she looks awful. And we all know that is unusual for her. I really hope that if she is diagnosed with a thyroid condition that she’ll talk about it on her show.
I certainly was NOT in Love with ALL of the Dr’s I went to before I was diagnosed with Graves. I was 29 and in my 9th month with my second pregnancy when the palpations started. “It’s coming form the pregnancy” my OB/GYN said. Nothing to worry about. When my second daughter was 2 weeks old, the palpatations were so bad while I was shopping for baby stuff that I left everything I had in cart and ran to my family Dr’s office. “You have mitral valve prolapse” he said and prescribed Inderal.That Inderal dose was INCREASED 4 times over the next 6 months and still the palpatations persisted, along with the crazy side effects of the high dose of Inderal like vivid dreams and hallucinations .”Maybe it’s the stress of the new baby”, the Dr. said. (That is my cue to leave and find a new Dr.!)
Next, it was on to the cardiologist,and another cardiologist, and cardologist specialists, and, “the top men in the field”. These “specialists” had me on up to 3 cardiac meds at once and told me that I had one of the worst cases of arrythmias ( cardiologist term for palpatations) that they have seen in someone of my age ( I was 35 then) And then there was one Dr. who wanted to perform a new technique where he was going to put a cathether through my groin and “ZAP” out the extra heart muscle tissues that I “was born with ” that was causing all of these crazy arrythmias. “No thank you”, and once again, I left the Dr’s office (ran out as fast as I could) I visited so many Dr’s offices that I could have worked as a “mystery shopper” and made some $$ during the TWELVE (yes 12) years that my GRAVES DISEASE was UNDIAGNOSED. I lost so many precious years with my little girls and family spending so much TIME and money due to these Dr’s that do not think “out of the box” to make an intelligent diagnosis when they are presented with classic symptoms to thyroid malfunction. It was finally a nutritionist who diagnosed me. He suggested that these SPECIALISTS that I went to draw my blood 3 times in a 10 day period. “A woman’s hormone levels changes every hour!”,he said. So what good was the yearly thyroid blood tests that these Dr’s were ordering. I had to go to 5 Dr’s to get these 3 blood test done. The first Dr.(cardiologist) I went to with the nutritionists request told me that was the most ridiculous thing he ever heard of ans asked if I also believed in “voo-doo”. Yes, I left his office too. It took Dr # 5 (a family physician)to agree with the theory of changing hormone levels and agreed to the 3 thyroid profiles in a 10 day period. WELL….it worked and I never needed the third blood test. The first test revealed that I had NORMAL thyroid functions…BUT the blood that was drawn only 3 days later CONFIRMED GRAVES DISEASE. The levels were “off the charts” as my Dr. put it. He sent my blood test to an endocrinologist who couldn’t beleive that the 2 tests were from the same patient. I was started on PTU immediatley and within 3 weeks….NO MORE ARRYTHIMIAS.I was on the PTU for almost a year (had to decrease the dose due to elevated liver enzymes) The symptomes of Graves never came back and eventually I developed hypothyroidism and once again it took many, many Dr. visits to find one to agree to start me on synthroid even though ALL of my many, many symptoms were “handed to them on a silver platter”. That is another story for another day.
Maybe the doctor has never been in “love”. Research docs don’t leave the lab or get out much. Not funny but his is just an opinion and your own endo should be your guide.
So … being hot and sweaty all the time and feeling like you are living life slogging through wet cement with muscles and joints so sore and weak you worry that you won’t be able to get through the day is comparable to being in love? What an insult to the millions of us who live life in a constant state of exhaustion and feeling of unwellness! And what a pity that these so-called “experts” are so bird-brained with so little compassion for what it feels like to not be able to participate in everyday life with a normal energy level.
Vote with your dollars everyone and don’t give “doctors” like this one the credibility of developing a “practice.”
I was diagnosed as Hypo-Thyroid at age 11. I am 58 now and it has been a nightmare all these years. The weight gain even when you eat healthy and exercise intensely, the mind fog, the mental changes to the point of being admitted to a psych unit, constipation to the point of pain and long term damage,skin so dry it cracks, all the horrible symptoms that go away with proper dosage of hormone. But as soon as I begin to feel normal the TSH comes in as too low and they reduce my Unithroid. You can’t win. Until a doc actually lives through this they will never understand how to treat it. The numbers do not reflect the illness, how I feel does. But it is the numbers they treat. Singer’s comments were representative of doctor’s refusal to educate themselves, docs I have dealt with for 47 years. My daughter was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s at age 18. She deals with the same stupidity I did. It won’t change I fear, it is not an “important” disease. We are fat, lazy and whiners.
I exercise take 125 mcg synthroid. can’t find sometone to chag my prescription to Armor. Went to an endocrinologist in MI who humiliated me, left me in tears … I’m tired of payiying for this insensitive, unprofessional experiences … how can we make these Drs. endocrinologists, “experts” more effective and accountable.
I’ve had enough bad treatment … there are not enough knowledgable medical people in the thyroid department … this needs to improve.
There I’ve said it.
for 25 yrs i have battled hyper-hypo and
ended up with hashimotos…never in my
worst nightmares did i ever imagine how
ignorant and arrogant doctors can be.
between the fatigue, brain fog, continuous
depression that goes on and on…i’ve come to believe that there is always a battle to “survive” inspite of doctors and the medical community. since there is no single fascet of your being that isn;t somehow affected by your thyroid function, do they really believe that 1 pill will restore all the damage done by a thyroid conditions?
i’ve been on the synthroid 300mcg for 10 years now…blood tests are normal…still
deal with weight, depressiion, fatigue..
find an aggresive Endo, don’t let anyone
tell you that your symptoms are “all in your
head”, don’t let them SHAME you for what you do live with. you are not crazy…just
inflicted with a thyroid condition…don’t we wish they could, just for 1 day, live with our worst moments…maybe that would provoke the desire to actually get aggresive with research-development to
better treat these dibilitating diseases.
it would appear that dr.singer just doen’t
have what it takes. and as it goes, ingnorant-arrogant…….
when I was diagnosed in 1985 with Graves Disease, it surly wasn’t love I felt. not having an internet community at that time all I felt was terrible loneliness and great fear. it took three years to “cure” and then i blew up like a balloon. i work hard at keeping my weight down but am thankful that i can sleep, that most of hair stays on my head, and that my panic attacks are gone.
it is so difficult to understand that at this time of medicine, there are still doctors who don’t get it.
I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at 26, and since then i’ve gained about 50 pounds, and can’t lose it inspite of dieting and exercising. I’m on 137 mcgs Synthroid and my Endo is refusing to add Cytomel or switch brand to Armour. This is all beyond frustrating.
Dr. Peter Singer needs to put 50 pound weights on each limb, take a drug that speeds up his heart, stay up all night so he is quite fatigued and then and only then will he be allowed to go to his office and tell all the hyperthyroid patients how great it feels to be in love!!!
My daughter was just diagnosed with Graves Disease and if that is what love is all about, I guess I will never see grandchildren!
I was diagnosed with Hashimotos after the birth of my baby 25yrs ago- I was 29.Since then I have yo-yoed up and down with my dosage of Synthroid because the docs always wanted to have the TSH within a certain range,I never quite got rid of my symptoms.I now go to a naturopath in Mesa AZ and am finally getting all my hormones balanced, it is taking a while.She treats the symptoms and does not worry if the TSH is too low. For the first time in ages I am feeling like my old self - and my sense of humour is also coming back, and I have a new zest for life!!No more fatigue,brain fog,wieght gain. Some doctors are out of touch with their patients and are too easily persuaded to “go with the flow” ie use outdated ref tools, and do not manage their patient’s care properly.
This doctor Singer has clearly chosen an incorrect analogy and does not know how to dig himself out of the mess he has created!Perhaps he will see the light one day.
Mary Shomon is the best patient advocate - and thank you for all the updated info you give us every week.
Grrrr…I am so tired of hearing these Drs. say we’re too stupid to know what’s going on with our own bodies.
The only reason my Graves Disease was diagnosed was because I read a very tiny article in a magazine that talked about thyroid disorder symptoms and told my Dr to check me for it. BINGO! He referred me to an endo who put me on atenolol for my heart and tried suppression drugs for about a month- then gave up all that and went for the radioactive iodine therapy.
BIG MISTAKE…I gained 60lbs in 7mos, all the other symptoms I had before (mood swings, severe fatigue, muscle weakness, pains, insomnia, high cholesterol, etc.) all got much worse and that’s when my eyes started bulging, headaches came, memory problems/fuzzy thinking got really bad.
Of course, I was told by several Drs. that all these problems were my fault and my weight gain absolutely could NOT be from my thyroid because people only gain 10-15lbs. Basically I was lazy, the rest was all in my head, and I should just live with it. I found 1 good Dr. who referred me to a good endo, but the Dr was too expensive and the endo retired. Now I just live with symptoms because my ‘numbers are normal’ and I should ‘just exercise and eat right’.
Oh, but I guess it’s only love, right? Hmmmmm…why didn’t I think of that?
Just as a side note for (17) Diane- regarding the eye puffiness, Drs. are reluctant to do anything for you. They should have put you on steroids during the RAI (yeah, wish they’d told me that too). Try getting an opthamologist to prescribe a steroid eye drop like Pred Forte for a while (you’ll have to be monitored for pressure on the optical nerve and you’ll HAVE TO BE PUSHY ABOUT GETTING A SCRIPT!!!!)
Thyroid disease is like being in love? Obviously this man does NOT have the disease!! There is nothing remotely similar to love when your dealing with thyroid problems! The weight issues, the fatigue, the constant arguements with your doctors that just because my levels look normal to you does NOT mean I feel normal. Those of us suffering from thyroid problems are the only ones that can tell you how WE feel. For the love of God, listen to us. If we tell you we need to be lower than the levels of the so-called norm, then increase our meds enough to take us there. WE KNOW how we feel. You do not. I have been on Armour Thyroid for over 3 years now thanks to Mary S. website and IT WORKS for me. My levels have remained in the same range (a bit lower than the norm) ever since I began it and no changes have had to be made. And I take basically half the dose of Synthroid. Synthetic verses pig thyroid? I will take the natural any day over the synthetic garbage and hope more woman try it. God Bless Mary S. for being there for all of us and keeping us well informed. Dr. Singer, in love does NOT remotely explain the way we feel. I think you should retract that statement publicly for all those who are bewildered by it.
Dr. Peter Singer you are a disgrace to the endo profession. Do you not feel guilty for having taken peoples money and given them nothing but trash talk in return. Have you no conscience. Time for you to hang up your shingle. And if there is any poetic justice in this world you will experience Hashimotos disease.
Anita - Alberta, Canada.
Iam 59 & was diagnosed 2 yrs. ago with Hypothyroid disease, Hashimotos to be exact.Like others I’ve had to endure the doctors ignorance. They wanted to put me on Synthroid. I insisted on Armour. I did my research and read many books on the subject, including Dr. Shames and Mary Shomon’s books.They started me on 30mg. I still wasn’t feeling well, but it was like pulling teeth each time for them to increase the dosage because the labs. showed I was fine. Finally they increased it to 60, still I wasn’t doing well. My next visit I asked for another increase. After telling me I was just depressed & wanting to prescribe a antidepressant. I told the doctor I was not depressed & to save her prescription because I wouldn’t take it. Long story short I left with the prescription for 90mg. By then I decided I didn’t want to leave my health in their hands. I have found and excellent homeopathic doctor who is treating my thyroid. I have been seeing him for 7 mo. now. I have cut my medication in half and am still feeling good .Soon he says I will be off the medication completely. I take care of myself . I eat a very healthy diet and I have gotten back to exercising since I have more energy. I did not tell my regular doctor that I’m going to a homeopathic doctor. I just use my regular doctor for blood work. Last visit everything was fine and best of all I don’t have to be all stressed when I leave the doctors office, because we know that stress is not good for thyroid disease. The bottom line is whatever therapy you choose to use do your research , insist on what you want, it’s your body, and the doctor’s are working for you. Continue to eat healthy foods and do what you can as far as exercise. Many times I would think , why am I eating right I can’t lose the 25 lbs. I gained anyway. Fight that urge because eating healthy can only do good for your health. Seek therapys that give you relief. Educate yourself first.
I was diagnosed in 2000 with subclinical hyperthyroidism after 3years of symptoms and “normal” thyroid tests. I 2003 the symptoms of active hyperthyroidism - Graves Disease, kicked in and it felt more like dying then being in love. with my heart rate skyrocketing to the 120’s at “rest” sweating while showing and loose untold weight in just mere weeks. I’ve falling in love…this didn’t even come close to that feeling, not to mention that there was zero sexual drive, which is supposed to go along with being in love.
I started anti-thyroid med’s and a beta blocker to keep my heart from expolding(not out of love),I’m 5′8″ and weighed 170 after a year of the med’s I achived remission and a 20 pound weight gain, 10 of that within the first 2 months of treatment. The remission lasted 1 1/2 years and I was able to drop 10 of those pounds in that time. Then my symptoms returned I lost another 6 pounds in a few weeks and I wanted to crawl out of my skin(just like being in love), went back on the meds I gained back the six pounds in 1 week and with every doses change I gain more weight now I’ve hit 207, that is a 33 pound increasein one year that Dr. Singer is a 19% gain from by baseline and i’m supposed to be Hyper! I believe this is all due to the fact that my bodies “normal rage” does not meld with the excepted rage table so I’m being dosed into a hypo state for my body. I’ve falling in love, I know what it’s like to be in love, and this Dr.Singer is not love!
Thank you Mary! I have had low thyroid for 25 years and thanks to Mary I argue with my Doctor. He is a tall skinny diabetic so I asked if I would take the same insulin he does just because I was also a diabetic. He said maybe not.!I lets change that disease to hypothroidism. So I was tested quite often for my low thyroid and my dosage was changed . It is now on the high on the “normal” TSH scale. I feel better but still need to change. I am Healthy because of diet and exercize (thanks Mary) to try and lose the 70 lbs I gained in less than a year before diagnosis.
dont be afraid to argue with, change doctors ,read everything you find, especially Mary Shomon,b e aware. It is OK to fall in love — it is so much better than low thyroid.
another Anita, Alberta Canada
Dr. Singer needs to reexamine his motives for being a doctor. If he is in it for the money, then thryoid patients need to discredit him just like he is discrediting too large a population of frustrated thyroid patients. My doctor who also happens to be male told me that basically I am too old (at 35), probably menopausal, already depressed, and just plain lazy for gaining over 40% of my normal base weight. I am now over 200 lbs and the normal weight before being “treated” was 135 lbs. I am still gaining weight at an exponential rate. I am a former athlete and I understand the imporance of diet and excercise.
I wish that all endocrinologist would take their patient seriously and treat the person and not their blood tests. I wish also that I never underwent RAI treatment, and I wish that it be taken off the list of recommended treatments for Graves/hyperactive thyroid.
I also wish that majority of endos and other wannabe endos would start working for their patients and not for pharmacutical companies for how else to explain their tendencies to keep patient on a minimum needed dosage but for a need to have constant income for both pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and finally, those doctors who tell us that suffering from a thyroid disorder is the same as the miracle of “being in love” feeling?
Doctor, please take your patients seriously and do not dismiss them as menopausal, lazy, and ignorant being just because of their gender. Will you take responsibility when one of us loses a job due to severe memory and concentration propoblems? Will you study for us to pass university classes?
Dr. Singer, to reiterate Anita, you are a disgrace to endocrinology, medical professions, and humanity. This appears to me to be something equal to scientific misconduct.
Having been a former patient of Dr. Singer’s, I feel I should make a brief comment. Dr. Singer is a bright man, but a bit of a kook. Very flippant. And very old. He jokes around a LOT, so much that I had to go and work with someone else at USC who would talk with me in a serious, intelligent manner. (I have my own doctorate, and am very involved in my health care)
I don’t believe that Dr. Singer is the standard - or at least I hope not. But I did learn a valuable lesson from him…Don’t put up with a doctor that cannot communicate adequately with YOU. Not for a moment. As Mary Shomon says, be pushy. Ask a lot of questions of any doctor. Educate yourself.
I intend to pass along my critical assessment of Dr. Singer to the hospital administration at USC. And I’ll be sure to include my observations of the firestorm on this terrific website.
Thanks Mary! You contribute a great deal of knowledge to this area.
Dr. Anne R. - Los Angeles
Well, you know… some people describe being in love as a fever….
infatuation CAN feel scary, make your heart flip flop, and maybe even feel a little delirious like you have the flu… and you cry a lot.
SO… maybe the doc was using humor,
but the danger of it being misinterpreted by his students is frightening.
Could be UNREQUITED love. ;- )
Dr. Peter Singer is a great Endo. I have been treated by him for Thyroid Cancer follow up for a few years now. He has a sense of humor that apparently some people cant handle, but I happen to enjoy. Yeah, He is not your old man stuffy doctor. He knows what he is talking about and when you have thyroid cancer that is hard to find. He makes me laugh at times when i am nervous to see if maybe my cancer has come back. He is a great doctor and to judge him without knowing him is a shame. After i was diagnosed with cancer I had a very hard time finding an Endo that really knew about Thyroid Cancer and he does. He cares and hes compassionate, soem of you are just way too sensitive! Get over it! I would hate for soemone to see this and be discouraged from seeing him. He is one of the best endos in the area.
I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in 1985, I was 22 at the time. That doctor wanted to do surgery to which I refused. Over the course of many years I choose to treat myself using organic, alternative supplements such as Sheep or Pig thyroid gland that I would purchase from several different homeopathic clinics. My weight has fluctuated over the years. Three years ago I had an appointment with one of the most noted Endo physicians in Dallas who I literally had to educate on Armour Thyroid. She reluctantly put me on it. Things were fine for a while. Last week I was diagnosed with now Hyperthyroidism and this new doctor wants to perform surgery, removing 1/2 the thyroid. Again, I refused. I have a tiny nodule and have the various symptoms reported by all on this thread. I have had the iodine intake test as well as blood tests several times a year. The levels vary from high to low - hypo to hyper. I have been on beta blockers, synthyroid, organic supplements and everything in between.
I do not believe I have encountered one doctor who is well versed on the subject. Hopefully that will change. In the meantime, I am controlling my thyroid issues with diet, exercise and low stress concentration.
I supposed the comment of “in love” was tongue and cheek but this is no laughing matter.