For millions of Americans, fatigue, weight gain, hair loss, depression, and other symptoms often go undiagnosed and untreated. Endured by weary patients and ignored by doctors, common warning signs of hypothyroidism are often attributed to depression, stress, age, or simply dismissed as "all in the patient's head." Even diagnosed, hypothyroidism is frequently treated improperly, preventing countless numbers of people from feeling and living well.
This book, exhaustively researched by a professional writer and hypothyroidism patient, is written for patients, their families, their doctors, and the countless number of people with undiagnosed or undertreated symptoms of the disease---frustrated, as the author was, by the lack of information on the subject.
Living Well With Hypothyroidism includes dozens of compelling, first-person accounts from people who have learned to triumph over the disease and thoroughly answers such questions as:
What is hypothyroidism?
What are the warning signs, symptoms and risk factors?
Why is getting diagnosed often a challenge and how can you overcome that obstacle?
What treatments are available (including those your doctor hasn't told you about)?
Why is the most frequently prescribed treatment often insufficient?
What are the options and benefits of alternative therapies?
What effects does hypothyroidism have on infertility and pregnancy?
How do you recognize hypothyroidism in infants and children?
What is the outlook for future treatment of hypothyroidism?
And Much More!
As many as one in eight women have a thyroid condition. In Living Well with Hypothyroidism, Mary Shomon outlines the most common of these--too little thyroid hormones in the body. Weight gain, depression, fatigue, and what patients call "brain fog, Brillo hair, and prune skin" result. Because the symptoms of hypothyroidism mimic so many other conditions--chronic fatigue, PMS, clinical depression--it can be very tricky to diagnose, especially since patients with HMOs may not get the thorough testing they need.
Shomon knows of what she speaks: she's a health writer and thyroid patient herself. She also manages a thyroid Web site and writes a newsletter on hypothyroidism. In Living Well, she offers an extensively researched guide to this complex condition. She covers conventional, alternative, and late-breaking approaches to treatment--such as challenging the gold standard of Synthroid as the thyroid replacement therapy of choice. (Synthroid replaces T4, the less active of the two thyroid hormones, and Shomon features new research on adding T3--the more potent thyroid hormone--to treatment.)
With her down-to-earth, patient-centered approach, Shomon explains everything from how to choose a thyroid specialist to how calcium, antidepressants, and a high-fiber diet affect thyroid hormone absorption. The book includes a chapter on depression, which is a typical misdiagnosis of hypothyroidism--as well as a symptom that often persists even after treatment. She also covers infertility (women who are hypothyroid don't ovulate as regularly and miscarry more frequently) and thyroid cancer, one of the less common causes of hypothyroidism. She explains how to spot hypothyroidism in kids, and ends with a glossary, international resources, and journal references.
Shomon creates a sense of community by excerpting e-mails from her vast network of patients--voices that bring a sense of humor so often missing from health books. One quibble: she could have avoided the antidoctor stance in the beginning of her book, where she blames physicians, rather than incomplete science, for the misdiagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism. --Rebecca Taylor
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Most informative guide I've ever read.:
She presents alternative modes of healing as well as knowledge about the conflicts of interest of thyroid drug makers. One advice that I found especially useful was to quit coffee, and drink Yerba Mate instead. I carefully and slowly tapered down my coffee dosage, and then started drinking Yerba Mate tea. As a result, I immediately experienced well being that had eluded me since 1992. Also, I began to watch out for other foods, and discovered that I have many food intolerances. I've learned that there are... more info
great reading:
finally, I could get all the info in one place. Very useful for many of those who struggle with hypothyroidism and had many questions and little or no answers.
Great book:
This book arrived, as promised, full of information that I had not read in other books covering thyroid disease. I have not finished it in it's entirety, however it is safe to say that I would highly recommend it to others suffering from this ailment. The subject is covered extremely well, from various perspectives, and leaves the thyroid patient feeling more in control of the disease, from having such a great heads up from many sources.
Roz Kenney
Don't Bother...:
I bought this book shortly after I learned I was hypo-thyroid. I had high expectations, because of hearing about Mary's books on her forums. I was severely disappointed. This book didn't tell me anything new...I had read the website,Stop The Thyroid Madness.... and that website had vast information vs. Mary's book. I also bought one of her e-books about Thyroid and Hair loss and was also disappointed. It didn't tell me anything new, at all. Her forum site has become a vehicle to sell her books, and not a... more info
