Dr. Weeks’ Comment: The role of a health educator and advocate is to gather and share relevant scientific information with people facing health challenges and who are not satisfied with the standard of care. Here is an inspirational story of a lady helping a client recover from lethal diseases by sleuthing out and sharing excellent health care information.
“…I need to share an amazing story where we were able to resolve his Congestive Heart Failure after treating his hypothyroidism…”
86-year-old man’s congestive heart failure resolved with thyroid treatment
March 30, 2015 by Dana Trentini
When a holistic caregiver named Janet contacted me about this incredible story of an 86-year-old man who healed his congestive heart failure with natural desiccated thyroid, I knew it was a story I had to share.
Janet shares specific supplements that worked for this gentleman. Please always consult with your healthcare practitioner before trying supplements included at Hypothyroid Mom especially if you are under medical care for a serious health condition. What works for one person may not for another.
Written by Janet Thome
What I am about to share is a long read, but this could be very important for someone who has congestive heart failure, hypothyroidism, type 2 Diabetes or a damaged liver. That covers half of our population.
We sought out different advice after he was given a DEATH SENTENCE
I am a Holistic caregiver and I take care of an 86-year-old man who has Congestive Heart Failure, Type 2 Diabetes, and Hypothyroidism. He also has a damaged liver. After his ”mainstream” doctor gave him a death sentence plus more drugs with side effects and said NO to magnesium and milk thistle, I asked him if he would like a different opinion. He had no appetite or energy and and a lot of edema around his ankles and hands. He also has a bovine heart valve replacement and AFIB. He was so ill, I lived with him for 5 months and took care of him 7 days a week.
I need to share an amazing story where we were able to resolve his Congestive Heart Failure after treating his hypothyroidism. I will refer to him as Paul to protect his privacy.
Why Stomach Acid Is Good For You
I shudder to think what would be his destiny if we had followed his first doctor’s plan. One of the products he wanted me to give Paul was a very popular acid blocker that you see on TV everyday that would have removed 100 percent of the acid out of his stomach and set him up for malnutrition and made him vulnerable to bone fractures.
Paul started taking Betaine HCI with Pepsin instead because as Dr. Jonathan Wright clearly lays out in his book Why Stomach Acid Is Good for You: Natural Relief from Heartburn, Indigestion, Reflux and GERD , we make LESS acid as we get older. Dr. Wright’s book is one of the most important books I have ever read. You can take all the supplements in the world, but you have to make sure you are absorbing them.
Dr. Wright is the father of bioidentical hormones and has a radio show on Saturday called Green Medicine and you can call in and ask him questions. He is one of the leading doctors in Integrative medicine and I have had the pleasure to speak to him many times.
Type 2 Diabetes Reversed: Following Dr. Julian Whitaker’s Protocol
Paul and I have been on a long journey of natural treatment with several different Integrative doctors and I would like to share what I have learned along the way. The first thing we tackled was his Diabetes. We changed his entire diet all the way down to the salt and sugar he ate and used Dr. Julian Whitaker’s protocol for reversing Type 2 Diabetes using diet and exercise and certain supplements. I highly recommend his book called Reversing Diabetes . Dr. Whitaker also goes over the medications that are used for Diabetes and the black box warnings for the heart and the safe supplements that can be used instead.
AIC Showed NON Diabetic Range.
After only 3 months, his Diabetes started reversing as shown on his A1C blood test. He no longer had to use the toxic medication for his Diabetes that was so dangerous for the heart. At the same time we were using Dr. Stephen Sinatra’s protocol for Congestive Heart Failure and he started on Nature-Throid (a brand of natural desiccated thyroid) to address his Hypothyroidism. He did NOT do well with the Nature-Throid because he was also on Warfarin. His pulse got too high, so we stopped the Nature-Throid.
He had improved thyroid blood tests from supplementing with Super Selenium Complex by Life Extension , 2 drops of Lugol’s Iodine , and adding Real Salt Sea Salt to his diet and it did not make his pulse race. I must recommend Dr. David Brownstein’s invaluable books Overcoming Thyroid Disorders , Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It , and Salt Your Way to Health .
Consultation with Dr. Garry Gordon
I had the great fortune to have a 2 hour consultation on Paul’s behalf with Dr. Garry Gordon. Suzanne Somers interviewed him in her book Bombshell: Explosive Medical Secrets That Will Redefine Aging . Suzanne interviewed cutting edge doctors who were using Integrative approaches to health and Dr. Gordon stood out as the doctor that I knew would help Paul. The 2 hour consultation was a life changing experience and I will glean from it the rest of my life. Dr. Gordon is 78 years young with vibrant energy and is the cofounder of ACAM, is on the board of Life Extension, is known as the father of chelation therapy and DR. DETOX and is an anti-aging specialist. He travels all over the world and teaches the Intregrative doctors and also learns from the greatest doctors in the world. With Dr. Gordon’s help, we were able to successfully wean Paul off of Warfarin by using his protocol and an enzyme that has been used in Asia called Boluoke .
Magnesium: The Natural Calcium Blocker
I slowly implemented Dr. Gordon’s plan for Paul and I feel one of the most important things he taught me was how to supplement with Nature-Throid. Dr. Gordon said it could add 10 years to his life. The plan was in 2 months (after we got him off Warfarin) start very slowly to get up to the dose that Paul needed by starting with only a 1/4 of a dose at a time, so it would not make his pulse race and throw him into AFIB.
I had also learned from Dr. Gordon and also Dr. Jonathan Wright the importance of magnesium to calm the heart rate and would also be the key to getting him off another drug with terrible side effects called Verapamil which is a calcium blocker. Magnesium is a naural calcium blocker. The trick is finding the right kind of magnesium so it can be absorbed. Paul has been taking Dr. Gordon’s formula (BCI) that has magnesium but also Dr. Gordon recommended JigSaw Magnesium to slowly add to bowel tolerance. Paul also nebulizes Ancient Minerals Magnesium Oil daily using Dr. Mark Sircus’s protocol. Dr. Sircus is author of the book Transdermal Magnesium Therapy . It has taken me over 4 months, but I feel we finally found the optimal dose of Nature-throid.
Hypothyroidism and Congestive Heart Failure
I must add at this time, all his thyroid tests were in the ”so- called ” normal range. The whole time I have taken care of Paul, I have read every book and article I could find on heart disease, Diabetes, the thyroid, etc…. I am so grateful for the help from Dana, the Hypothyroid Mom, Mary Shomon, Dr. Hotze and all their information on the thyroid and especially the connection to the heart.
Stop the Thyroid Madness: A Patient Revolution Against Decades of Inferior Treatment is a book by Janie Bowthorpe that is a must read. I am extremely grateful for her life saving information.
As I started really getting into the study of the thyroid, I realized that hypothyroidism and Congestive Heart Failure have 3 symptoms that are the same – fatigue, edema, and shortness of breath. When I read shortness of breath as a symptom of hypothyroidism, I got goose bumbs and a rush of energy all over and I knew that I had to get Paul on the Nature-Throid right away. I felt like I had struck gold to understand how the throid controls the heart rate (and so much more) and can actually CAUSE Congestive Heart Failure.
Shortness Of Breath Was A Symptom Of Hypothyroidism
It was a scary time, because his shortness of breath was so severe, he had to sit to shower.
I realized that instead of focusing on the heart, we had to focus on the thyroid and I hoped the Congestive Heart Failure would improve after adding Nature-Throid. We had already had Paul on every supportive supplement for CHF. Dr. Mark Starr has pictures in his book Heart Attacks, Heart Failure, and Diabetes showing Congestive Heart Failure before and after treating the thyroid withdessicated thyroid. The Congestive Heart Failure resolved after using dessicated thyroid. It is important to note that Dr. Starr stated in his book that he has never seen CHF resolve with standard medicine because most go untreated because of outdated blood tests such as the TSH.
Dr. Mark Starr, Hypothyroidism & Congestive Heart Failure
Congestive Heart Failure Resolved After Treating The Thyroid
I am very happy to report that as we slowly added the Nature-Throid, Paul’s edema went away, he stopped using oxygen, some of his energy returned, I was able to decrease his water pills, take him off Verapamil and not only did the BNP improve, his liver enzymes, his kidneys became stronger and the markers for a cardiac event improved as well. His pulse is also in a beautiful range between 70 and 82.
Warfarin and Nature-Throid Do NOT Mix
I had to share this story, because I know many people are on Warfarin and some thyroid doctors do not give a patient natural desiccated thyroid if they are on Warfarin, so I wanted to share a success story of how you can get off Warfarin and get the right help for your thyroid. I have learned that many people die of a heart attack because of their thyroid and a lot of ”mainstream doctors” are addressing the heart, but NOT the thyroid. I mentioned Verapamil, because some of the side effects are shortness of breath, edema and warns against giving it to people who have liver disease or Congestive Heart Failure. Can you imagine? Paul’s old doctor gave him this drug at a very high dose, knowing he had liver disease, and CHF. We cannot just blindly take the drugs they suggest WITHOUT knowing the side effects.
Dr. Jack Wolfson Can Get You Off Warfarin
I wanted to add that there is a natural Integrative Cardiologist in Arizona named Dr. Jack Wolson. He is also known as the Paleo Cardiologist and does phone consultations. Dr. Wolfson can successfully take you off of Warfarin and recommend a natural approach without side effects.
Suzy Cohen
Suzy Cohen is a best selling author and pharmacist and she was also the host ofThe Thyroid Summit, along with Dr. Brownstein. I attended The Thyroid Summit and I recommend it for anyone that wants to know about holistic health. I found her book Drug Muggers: Which Medications Are Robbing Your Body of Essential Nutrients-and Natural Ways to Restore Them very helpful to know the side effects of drugs and how they deplete vital minerals and nutrients. I also recommend Suzy’s book Thyroid Healthy.
Hypothyroidism is linked to over 59 diseases and there are epidemics of Diabetes, Cancer, Congestive Heart Failure, and Heart Disease. I am hoping by sharing all the links and steps we had to go through, it will save some valuable time to save many lives.
Update: 9 Months After Writing This Post
In four months, I will be taking care of Paul for 2 years and it will be an incredible land mark, because when I sat with Paul in his ”mainstream” doctor’s office at our first visit together, it was a grim experience with no hope in sight. Paul asked him how long he had to live and the doctor answered, ”I do not give you 5 years or even 2 years, with your bad heart, your kidneys will fail, then your liver and kidneys.”
After leaving the doctor’s care, I got all the records and on that visit, the doctor wrote that he did not think he would last 6 months. It is so important who we choose to influence our health. It can be hopeful or devastating and both have the power to heal or even cause someone to give up and die.
Paul’s latest results from his yearly tests are no clots, his heart is a normal size with an ejection fraction within the normal range of 70 and his oxygen ranges between 94 to 97%. He has not needed to resume the oxygen therapy at all. He has been off Warfarin for over a year with no problem at all. The report also indicated that there was no evidence of Congestive Heart Failure!
I give credit to a lot of factors, but mainly because of the thyroid treatment.
Hypothyroidism is an epidemic that is linked to over 59 diseases and is underdiagnosed and mistreated in millions of cases. Please work with an Integrative Doctor that understands treating the person and who will go beyond the blood test.
About Janet Thome
I am a Holistic caregiver for the elderly. I work with the guidance of integrative doctors and implement lifestyle changes and natural solutions to drugs and I am passionate about giving the elderly quality of life. I desire to be an advocate for natural thyroid care for the rest of my life. I also sell Tiny Portable Cedar Cabins. I am a singer and a wordsmith. I love words that uplift and heal.
I am starting a directory called The 1000 Souls Directory. I want to include anyone that has a desire to uplift and love this world and others. I would like to include you whether you are a large corporation, a non-profit, artist, musician, or even a passionate child that has a lemonade stand to raise money for rescue dogs. You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter.