Low Thyroid, Progesterone & Testosterone, Estrogen Dominant etc...

I'd like to introduce Dr. Platt. I won't say another word, just watch his video seminar and what he has to say. Makes it sound so trivial.

http://drplatt.com/platt/platt-video1.htm

His book was great and made so much sense. I bet the "IH" heard of this guy!

rossman - I have not heard of Dr. Platt before. I recommend everyone watch this video, it is basic information yet sadly not known by most people.

IH - The video is the readers digest version. He goes into more indepth in his book. Some of the stories in the book of actual patients who suffered 20 and sometimes 30+ years with illnesses like depression, anxiety, asthma, diabetes, fibromyalgia, ADD, ADHD, menapause, heart disease all attributed to underactive thyroid etc.. These people went from doctor to doctor, being misdiagnosed as bi-polar, manic, anxiety disorder and given every anti-depressent, anti psychotic medication under the sun. Horrific stories, yet surprisingly their thyroid was never pinpointed. He says there's no such thing as a normal low thyroid and TSH should be as close to zero if not always zero. When treated with Armour thyroid, within a few days to a few weeks bingo! No more bi-polar symptoms, weight came off, hair grew back, energy levels restored etc.... I think there's a lot more to the thyroid that impacts circulation, inflamation, blood sugar, metabolism, liver, kidney, digestion etc... all counter productive in growing hair! Actually, he states that all these illnesses mention above are attributed to an underactive thyroid. From other material I've read on thyroid, this actually isn't new, but rather has just been forgotten or something by the medical establishment. Armour thyroid has been around for quite some time (i.e. 70 years or more). As far as growing hair, I've heard that anything less than 180 mg/day of armour thyroid will not grow hair.

rossman - I thought he did a very good job in his presentation, and he mentioned one thing that I have not heard very often at all. About TSH should be zero, this makes sense and of course many "by the number" doctors would panic thinking it means hyperthyroid.

I like the effect of taking glandulars like Standard Process Drenamin, Pituitrophin PMG, along with Thyrotrophin PMG with iodine instead of Armour. Or taking a similar blend from other brands with iodine.

Sounds like a good book.

Is the use of Progesterone advisable for males? I did a thorough search online but Im not convinced either way. I believe Dr. Platt mentioned how it is a quite relatively unknown hormone.
And will it be an issue if the progesterone was derived from an estrogenic source like soy seeds etc. Thanks.

zerx - Natural progesterone cream is widely available over the counter. For males, the amount to use is between 1/8 of a teaspoon up to a 1/4 teaspoon on the testicular sac. Using a lesser amount twice per day would more optimal.

I used to have this information on my site, but honestly I am terrible with creams and for some reason forget to use them.

Never use progesterone on the scalp, it works much better directly on the testes. Another place it can be applied is in the abdominal area.

I read a lot of work from the Late Dr. John Lee who really put Progesterone on the map in the mid-90's. Estrogen dominance is not in every female and I witnessed some bad reactions from some women, where their pain would increase--not decrease with added progesterone. To make a long story short, estrogen is not entirely bad and progesterone becomes more necessary the older a women or a man gets.

One thing nice about Progesterone is that it inhibits bad estrogens while decreasing DHT. The only problem with progesterone in my experience is its relatively short-half life.

Using a little can increase the libido, but using too much can decrease it. For males of 45 or older progesteorne becomes more important. At age 35 is also a good time to start, but the amounts should be quite low.

Damn...I thought I was doing well getting my TSH down to 1.5

I also agree with CS in that I still think glandulars, iodine is still the way too go. I think it's possible to restore hormonal balance without resorting to bioidentical hormones although they can produce excellent results. Another thing worth mentioning is many of the leading natural physicians have found frequently in problems with adrenals, thyroid etc significant emotional issues/conflicts and until they are resolves you are keep experiencing problems.

3rd post I'm definitely going to grab this book!

Zerx- I think what he meant by a relatively unknown hormone, was that it was unknown to the medical community even with endocrinologists. He thinks there are only a handfull of doctors who really know about how to administer and use it correctly and most doctors may not intervien until your TSH is over 5.5 (i.e. super hypothyroid). It was great because he even discusses how all ADD & ADHD people test for low thyroid and in his view these two conditions are primarily related to hormonal imbalance involving high insulin and the resultant hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar. These kids have trouble focusing in school and cannot pay attention because they are hypoglycemic and anytime sugar is taken from the brain, the brain cannot focus. The reason for low sugar = over producing insulin. Which from what I've read and IH has said is a kick in the nuts to your hair!

As adults were diagnosed as bi-polar and as adults there's more prolonged sustained stress (i.e. financial, job, wife, kids, economy, goofy governments, ignorant day to day people, road rage etc..) which throws out your adrenals that produce adrenaline and cortisol raising your sugar levels, leading to even more insulin production causing you anxiety. So instead of treating your hormonal imbalance, one can easily see why sometimes psychological conditions can be treated with hormones in a more affective manner than with drugs (i.e. anti-depressent, anti-anxiety etc..). So you end up loosing your hair, ending up in a psychiatrists office thinking your wife, job, neighbor or friend are the problem instead of out of balance hormones which are much more effectively treated.

rossman have you read the book? I'm going to order the e-book on Monday. If you have read the book what is he's protocol for treating ADHD? He said the book is for patients does the book have protocols? Or does he use it to advertise he's clinic? I actually have access locally to doctors that use BHT...so I will just take Dr Platts protocols to them and see what they think.

isaac - Yes I did read the book. His protocol from one example of a boy in the book with ADHD is simply diet (i.e. insulin resistant diet, I'd assume since ADHD are hypoglycemic with low blood sugar) and the use bio-identical progesterone cream. The thing is without a guy like Dr. Platt it's a trial and error method with the progesterone and thyroid dosages. If he was in my area I'd definitely go see him, but unfortunately he's not so I have to rely on myself to determine how much progesterone and whether to use desicated thyroid or glandular supplements that IH commented on. I got my progesterone (i.e. average dose from the book is 100 mg per 1/4 tsp) made from a compound pharmacy, but I needed a doctors prescription. You can also add say 2% testosterone to it if you want. Pretty amazing with compound a cream once you know what works for you. Funny thing is my doctor didn't know that you could get bio-identical progesterone or what I wanted to use it for. I actually had to tell him what to write on the prescription. Even the pharmacist thought it was just for women, until I asked him if both male and females have the same hormones just different ratio's at different ages. Scarey how ill informed these people are who supposedly have peoples health at stake. You need baby boomer doctors like Dr. Platt who are old schooled before big pharma took over and now you have treatment for symptoms not the cause.