Remission odds

[Guest guest]

Someone wanted more info on remission. And was wanting to have proof for a

doctor ?

The main problem with all of the remission studies is they do not take ALL

factors into account. The majority of them never check antibodies before the

patients being taken off all ATDs cold turkey.

Most do not gradually reduce the dose enough.

Subjects are chosen for the studies largely with the hopes that the

researcher WILL prove what ever point they wish to make. This is very likely

due to where the funding for the study is coming from.

Then we get to real life issues that are not shown on paper in these studies

All studies agree that :

Young men are the least likely for remission.

Think about this. Young men are the least likely to take ATDs exactly on

time and never miss a dose. They are more likely to eat junk, drink, and not

get proper sleep.

They probably do not understand the full input of Graves', and the hyper

hormones set them up for not only poor life style, but also the Graves' rage

that we all feel when hyper is not understood by them. They then loose the

GOOD friends before diagnosis and they are then in a loosing situation

before any diagnosis is made.

How many of us have ever had our doctor explain the anger, or the depression

from too much ATD ?

How many of us have had our doctor tell us too much iodine in our diet

creates more thyroid hormone and causes continued need for ATDs ?

How many doctors acknowledge the affect of chemical laden processed foods on

autoimmune disease ?

_These things are not taken into consideration in black and white_ in

these studies. But any researcher involved in Graves' has seen the patterns

over and over. They CAN pick subjects to prove what they want proved to give

them income for their facilities and their livelihood.

Now...

Look at the fact that the most likely to achieve remission are older women.

If I have explained this correctly in my preceding thoughts, you should

now have a " DUH " moment. :-)

OK... They say patients with large goiters are in the group least likely to

achieve remission.

I ask WHY was it allowed to get big ?

Lack of proper medical care is obvious here.

Will their medical care improve now ?

Will their lifestyle allow them to do the things needed to heal.

Many of these will be of lower soci-economic status. And possibly lower

education.

Any of these folks CAN learn what they need to hit remission, but how will

they find the information ? Income does not automatically had anyone the

answers on a silver platter, but it is HARDER for lower income people to

find proper info and have the time to study, when they are forced to drag

themselves to work everyday the whole time they are ill. It is exhausting

and there are no other choices. This leaves us a crumbled lump at the end of

the day, and the only thought is how bad it will be when we wake up in the

morning... still in the clothes from the day before and to exhausted to have

climbed the stairs to make it to the bed.

See... undiagnosed thyroid disease can drag on for years, and the result

becomes lower soci-economic status. Many have lost family , friends, and

gone through divorce because of out of control thyroid hormones.

And they never knew WHY all of it was happening. They begin to believe they

are the LOOSER. They can feel the victim, or they can think they are just

not nice people. On top of all of this, our body changes. We gain or loose

too much weight ( 30% gain ), our face changes and every morning , as we

look in the mirror, we see a sad, mean person.We start to believe this is

who we are.

Then the deeper you go, the Graves' can finally emerge.

ONLY after treatment, and steady correct thyroid levels, does the hair start

to grow back. The weight changes before our eyes. The house starts to look

better !

BUT... The patient HAS to learn all of the things that WILL influence the

healing. And labs are the first hard lesson. We each have our own 'set point

, and no doctor can determine that FOR us. We must learn these labs , and

then find that magic set point, and insist on staying there.

Oh my... I once again climbed on that darn soap box. :-)

Here are the two studies that I feel are not as bad as most of them.

This first one shows only 3 out of 27 did not find permanent remission. But

remember the factors NOT included.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query

fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_uids=9364248 & dopt=Abstract

This is also decent:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query

fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_uids=11081255 & dopt=Abstract

Just keep in mind what is NOT factored in.

***

Also... if these odds become a factor in choseing treatment, I believe the

patient should worry about that after the first 5 to 10 years. Not now while

sick.

-Pam L-

3 1/2 years Graves', TED, and PTU. Remission due to SLOW reduction of PTU

(despite an incompetent endo ! ), improved lifestyle, excellent nutrition,

herbs, and looking at the big picture.

Pills alone only help the symptoms. We must help our bodies to heal.

[Guest guest]

Sing it, Pam L!

I wonder how " smooth decreases " are supposed to be done. Do you have a

suggested methodology?

I am currently on 50mg PTU, and still feel like I'm draggin'. (Blood work

done yesterday). True, I've only been at this low dose for a week, and so I

will have labs done again in two weeks, and antibodies done Sept 8 or so. I

think I should decrease to 33mg today and tomorrow, as I feel sedated. What

is the lowest dose that can suppress antibodies?

Thanks,