Mary Shomon has an amazing workshop at the Open Center called Hormone Balance After 40. If you are in NYC and over 40 it is a very informative and detailed lecture given every three months about how thyroid, adrenal and sex hormones can all be impacting your health. So much of the information can be helpful to everyone even if you aren’t a women over 40. According to Mary Shomon, an author who has 10 books on hormones and health, many of the symptoms that women experience which are thought to be menopausal symptoms are actually related to low thyroid function.
Here are some highlight from the lecture:
- On statins (cholesterol lowering medications) and antidepressants, the insert of these medications suggest that thyroid evaluation should be done before taking medication. Although doctors routinely treat high cholesterol and depression with these cholesterol lowering medications and antidepressants a thorough thyroid evaluation should be done first.
Doctors often test only TSH and then say that your thyroid panel is normal, but a thorough Thyroid panel should include:
- TSH- level should be between .3 and 3.0
- Free T4-storage thyroid hormone (the “cake mix”–needs to be activated or baked ie turned into T3) level should be ABOVE the 50% of normal (if range is 1-10 level should be 5)
- Free T3- actual thyroid hormone that can be used by body. Level should be ABOVE 75% of normal range (if normal is 1-10 then you should be 7.5 or above)
- Thyroid Antibodies – proteins that attack the thyroid gland
- Reverse T3 – measuring sidelined T3 that is unavailable to body
- Ferritin – stored form of iron (normal range is 20-100 but optimal is 60 or 80 if you need to lose weight)
- Vitamin D – normal range is 20-100 but want to see 60 0r 80 for women who want to lose weight. Get blood level to determine supplementation for this critical hormone. Some doctors suggest 5,000 a day for people whose blood levels are low. There is a once a week prescription for people who levels don’t respond to daily supplementation of 50,000 iu per week. Ask your doctor about this. Watch CBS News Watch about the importance of vitamin D.
Adrenals should also be evaluated. There are alternative tests for cortisol (long term stress hormone) and adrenaline (short term stress hormone.) Chronic stress forces body to pump out these hormones and burns out these two small glands. Only alternative doctors will do proper tests. Mainstream doctors only recognize diseases of these glands.
For perimenopause/menopause symptoms:
- Synthetic hormones should be avoided.
- Bio-identical hormones should be LAST RESORT and transdermal are safest.
- ALL HORMONE SUPPLEMENTATION has risks associated with it.
Recommended dealing with symptoms as you would deal with puberty–you just go through it, realizing it will not last forever. It is a temporary state that is a normal part of aging It is NOT A DISEASE. It is NOT AN ILLNESS. Also, “M&M’s” (Royal Maca and Melatonin) to get through the symptoms you encounter…
- Royal Maca root from Whole World Botanicals which is a whole food supplement. <--only use Maca from this company because it needs to be cooked and processed properly.
- 3 mg of Pierpaoli melatonin at 11 pm (can start with health food dosage of .5 mg and build up to make sure that you tolerate melatonin before you invest in this supplement.)
There is a ton of information on her website www.thyroid-info.com and if you would like to listen to a 2008 Thyroid Diet and Weight Loss Teleconference it can be found on her website. Mary Shomon is also available personalized telephone coaching sessions and consultations for Health Coaching Services.
Betty - Twenty-two years ago I suffered from Grave’s disease. I was always feeling sick and had unpleasant side effects from the prescribed medications. Then I discovered desiccated bovine supplements . This supplement reduced the symptoms and brought back my levels to normal.