

468 of 493 people found the following review helpful
Datis Kharrazian has done some groundbreaking thinking, research, and writing. He excels in putting together some very complicated data, from a variety of disciplines, into a coherent protocol that addresses not only thyroid disorders, but all autoimmune issues.

First, of the over 50% of people in the United States who suffer from hypothyroidism, the vast majority have an autoimmune condition that's attacking the thyroid. So while the end RESULT is hypothyroidism, the CAUSES are many and varied, and other systems are affected as well. To name just a few other interconnected systems and problems: leaky gut/poor digestion; adrenal exhaustion, which leads to malfunction; impairment of the liver (where the unabsorbable T4 thyroid hormone is converted into the more active and absorbable T3 thyroid hormone); and of course, environmental pollutants or heavy metals such as mercury, which can damage every system in the body.

The problem with giving people thyroid hormone is that it may not address what caused the hypothyroid symptoms in the first place. (Note I said "MAY not address"; some people do very well taking natural thyroid hormone or a synthetic T3/T4 compound.) First, says Dr. Kharrazian, address the causes of the autoimmune response, and the thyroid problem will take care of itself.

One of the most important things to do is avoid gluten, a sticky protein found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, triticale, semolina, and durham (and sometimes oats, when they're contaminated with wheat). According to the authors of Dangerous Grains (different book now), half of the US population may be intolerant to gluten. Gluten destroys the villi (projectiles that help with food absorption) in the lining of the gut, so that large particles of food now enter the bloodstream and cause allergies--or remain in the gut and ferment, causing Candida overgrowth. Kharrazian tells us that incredibly, the sticky gluten protein molecule resembles that of the thyroid gland! No wonder the body learns to attack its own tissue. I think everyone should get off gluten, because even so-called "normal" people take a day or two to get back to normal after ingesting gluten.

But there's so much more to Kharrazian's protocols. Support the adrenals (he gives specific examples) and do liver cleanses. Eliminate concentrated (or even high levels of complex) carbohydrates (not just gluten), because they will cause insulin resistance and--you guessed it--hamper thyroid hormone absorption as well. Note that there are two different immune response pathways in the body; and thus herbs and supplements that work for one type of response may be detrimental to the other. So it's not a simplistic matter of popping more olive leaf extract or drinking green tea and expecting to get the same great results that your friend did. (Kharrazian has formulated specific supplements, made by Apex Energetics, to assist in supporting certain metabolic pathways and toning down others; so it's important for you to know which autoimmune response needs quieting and which needs raising.) That said, it has been reported by some holistic medical doctor colleagues that responses to various nutritional supplements are not as cut and dried as Kharrazian appears to believe; so experimentation and testing are needed. Plus, people's responses can change over time.

To help explain some very complex and interrelated metabolic processes, Kharrazian provides much-needed diagrams. He repeats some information in several different ways so you can see context. There are a few minor annoyances in this book, such as formatting and font glitches that the proofreader missed, which hopefully will get cleaned up in the next printing. But this is a small matter. This book is such a gold mine, even the few highlights I've given can't do it justice. (You may also want to read Hypothyroidism Type 2 by Dr. Mark Starr to learn the historical context of thyroid diagnoses, and more basic issues concerning hypothyroidism. But not everyone can benefit from Starr's one-size-fits-all conclusions. More often than not, there are other issues that need to be addressed. So be sure to also read Janie A. Bowthorpe's excellent book Stop The Thyroid Madness, which is a wonderful companion to Kharrazian's, and fills in some of the missing details for the layperson.)

I thank Kharrazian for writing this book, and appreciate the practitioners who are applying his principles and whose reviews appear on Amazon. This work is light years ahead of just about everything I've read. Autoimmune disorders, no matter what form they take, can make your life miserable. You deserve to feel better! Do yourself a favor and get this book. You'll learn a lot, and not just about the thyroid gland.

Nenah Sylver, PhD
author, The Rife Handbook of Frequency Therapy and Holistic Health
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1,355 of 1,467 people found the following review helpful
on March 16, 2010
I'm a lay person who has had thyroid disease for 43 years. The idea of going gluten free if you have autoimmune thyroid disease is nothing new, but withholding that information as a way of luring thyroid patients to buy the book goes precisely to why Dr. Kharrazian's book-form infomercial is a turn-off for me.

Dr. K is obviously very bright and articulate. The bottom line of the book? Go to see his specially trained practitioners (read chiropractors) who have taken his seminars; they are the only ones who can sell his secretly formulated supplements. Those are likely to be the same chiropractors who have just rated this book 5 stars. What happened to the good old days when people wrote just a plain old book....not a plan for a pyramid sch..er..marketing empire? I just could not get past it.

On Dr K's web page I listened to the radio interview where he didn't present himself as a chiropractor, but rather as someone holding a doctorate in medical research. I pictured him in the halls of a medical center conducting studies. I was quite impressed until I googled the school he went to--it's an online one. While I'm sure he wrote a dissertation on the subject of medical research, I'm equally sure this is NOT the hard science research degree Dr K would like to have us believe it is. In my opinion, his research for this book shows it by its paucity of references to sound studies. I'd be more impressed if he hadn't trumpeted his online "doctorate" at all.

I found the help I was looking for, but not from this book, which targets the vast number of people--especially women--not doing well, suffering from the seeming vacuum of knowledge among physicians and endocrinologists treating autoimmune thyroid disease and resultant adrenal stress. I found it from the book "Stop The Thyroid Madness," written by a patient who became an expert out of necessity, the website associated with it, and especially from the Yahoo forum moderators who are part of it on "RT3 T3" and "Natural Thyroid Hormones Adrenals."

I am finally on the path to healing....without spending a lot of money on people such as Dr. Kharrazian, who proudly told his interviewer that he sees people strictly for cash, and NONE on doctor-sold supplements, which is a clear conflict of interest problem that should be outlawed.
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601 of 700 people found the following review helpful
UPDATE Sep2014: The Hashimotos Institute is offering a free webinar on the cutting edge Hashimoto's information next week Sept 15-22. Check their website hashimotosinstitute. This is not geared toward medical professionals but rather anyone interested. I am not affiliated with this institute in any way. Enjoy.

UPDATE for those looking for help with autoimmune, fatigue, etc. I find helpful Ayurvedic doctors experienced in balancing hormones and lymphatic system for better results. The Ayurvedic specialist I prefer is Vijaya Pratha MD, 619-260-1012, 3330 3rd Ave, Suite 304, San Diego, CA. John Douillard's website lifespa is probably even better with many articles, audios and videos for free that educate on lymphatic-autoimmune connection and you can purchase a telephone consult from him if you are not in the Boulder, Colorado area. Organic India's March 2014 newsletter is on Thyroid. Manjistha (available from Amazon) is a great affordable gentle way to start getting your lymphatic, digestion, and elimination systems working correctly and then your body automatically corrects autoimmune conditions and other disfunction and becomes healthier.

+++ original review ++++

A HEALTHY gluten-free diet is REQUIRED in Datis' protocol and may actually be the only change the reader needs to get a healthy thyroid and lose the hypo/hyperthyroid symptoms. If you aren't knowledgeable about gluten's effects or how immune system and thyroid work, you may want to read this book but there are better ones out there that aren't infomercials for their system of 1) go to their specially trained chiropractor who charges fees so high that the insurance company won't/can't reimburse them and they refuse to accept what the insurance company says their service is worth, 2) pay for tests that aren't covered by insurance and are not recognized by the AMA as supporting authoritative medical diagnosis but tests that are simply designed to tell you not what nutrients you are deficient in but which of THEIR supplements you need to purchase and 3) purchase THEIR supplements which probably are not the best ones out there for your individual needs and treatment. The protocol discussed in the book and which the specially trained chiropractors follow is too cookie-cutter and not designed to figure out the mechanism behind what has gone awry in the individual's health system. A better book that covers the functioning of your entire endocrine system is Younger You: Unlock the Hidden Power of Your Brain to Look and Feel 15 Years Younger which doesn't lock you into their particular line of supplements; if your thyroid is underactive that puts a strain on the rest of your glands and organs and systems, but is the hypothyroid the actual root cause or is there something else that is malfunctioning causing the thyroid to be underactive?

ONE SINGLE gluten exposure can cause thyroid antibodies for 8 months (not days or weeks, folks, MONTHS)! Datis states that a gluten-free diet is more helpful and effective than prescription thyroid medication. "treating" oneself to "just one" slice of glutenous birthday cake can flair up an autoimmune condition for the next 8 months - why that is no treat at all! Datis states that the 8 months is documented in antibody titer tests in patients he sees, yet MDs monitoring autoimmune patients on a healthy GF diet say that it clears in only 3 to 6 months! What is causing Datis' patients to heal slower? his supplements? eating every two hours as he recommends?

Another very important piece of the Hashimoto puzzle isn't even addressed in Datis's book but is in Allergies: Disease in Disguise : How to Heal Your Allergic Condition Permanently and Naturally. A food allergy can cause hypothyroid/ hyperthyroid symptoms as well as any other symptom of any other medical condition. This fact isn't truly addressed in Datis' protocol.

Also of major importance in any autoimmune condition is balanced neurotransmitters as the brain controls the immune system. A high dopamine and acetylcholine brain suppresses autoimmunity. A high serotonin and GABA brain suppresses infection. Immunopause is covered very well in The Younger (Thinner) You Diet: How Understanding Your Brain Chemistry Can Help You Lose Weight, Reverse Aging, and Fight Disease as well as eric R Braverman, MD's other books.

The best way to address any medical condition is with your fork and spoon as discussed in Eat For Health: Lose Weight, Keep It Off, Look Younger, Live Longer (2 book set); be a nutritarian following the MANDI scores! Simply cutting out gluten while loading up on sugar, processed foods and fat will aggravate autoimmune conditions including hashimoto's and not make you healthy! page 6 of Joel Fuhrman, MD's Book 1 of 2 set says: "YOU ARE THE CURE I have been part of the medical community as a family physician for almost 20 years, and I can tell you that drugs and doctors cannot grant you excellent health and protection from disease and suffering. Almost every doctors know this. The most effective health-care is self-care. Reading this book, practicing the plan and mastering its techniques will deliver the best possible self-care to you: nutritional excellence. The nutritional excellence I'm describing can prevent and even reverse most medical problems WITHIN THREE TO SIX MONTHS! This is a bold claim, but the facts, supported by scientific research and literature, show that most medical problems and medical tragedies we face in the modern world are the result of nutritional folly." Fuhrman, MD includes in his idea of nutritional folly the eating every-two-hours that Datis, DC recommends to keep blood sugar level as discussed in his chapters on true hunger vs toxic hunger; Fuhrman states on page 111: "eating again to remove those uncomfortable feelings never gets you off the overeating merry-go-round. you can have another cup of coffee or slice of cheese in an attempt to feel better, but it is this cycle that caused you to become overweight and suffer these ill feelings in the first place. To get rid of the toxic hunger symptoms that drive overeating behavior, you may have to feel uncomfortable for a few days to resolve the issue. I often have people make a gradual change int heir diet to minimize the discomfort, but eventually as they are able to change the diet more and more, they lose the hypoglycemic symptoms and are able to feel comfortable delaying eating or eating less. This is a necessary first step for them to get back in control of their overeating. Toxic hunger is the main reason people fail on diets. Toxic hunger is a primary cause of obesity and overweight int he modern world. We have adopted a toxic diet, and because of it, we are forced to overeat." Datis appears overweight and openly admits he eats every two hours and recommends that his clients do as well; this is not excellent health. the body needs time between meals to finish digesting, because when digestion has ended the body can more effectively detoxify and promote cellular repair. To maximize health, it is not favorable to be constantly eating and digesting food. What you may think are signs of hypoglycemia and low blood sugar may be toxic hunger and withdrawal symptoms of allergic food or supplements. If most people who have used a healthy GF diet to overcome autoimmune conditions did so by eating less and losing weight, what is causing datis and his patients to need to be constantly eating and gaining weight? what is causing the symptoms of needing to eat again in only 2 hours to stabilize blood sugar? what is causing the toxicity and the difficulty the body is having detoxifying from it? is it the supplements he recommends?

These important aspects (as well as others) addressing autoimmune thyroid are not even addressed in Datis's book possibly because it outside the intent to get and keep reader on track to spend a ton of money on his supplements and in his chiropractor pyramid. This book is written to compel the reader to hire Datis as your doctor to take additional supplements to your REQUIRED healthy gluten-free diet but that may not be affordable to most people as he does not accept insurance and provides this estimate of fees for prospective patients:

Prior to New Patient Exam, you must have a case review.

beginning of quoted material

The case review is a stand alone visit and nothing more is required. The fee for the case review is $500 and we accept payment via credit card only. We are unable to accept any form of insurance as payment and we do not accept cash or checks.

The next step is to schedule a New Patient Exam.

The new patient exam is 3 to 5 hours in length and is scheduled either at 10am or 3pm. It is a very extensive exam allowing Dr. K to gather as much information as possible to begin a treatment protocol. Each exam is as different as each patient. This appointment has to be done in person, in Dr. K's office in Oceanside, CA.
The fee for the new patient exam is $2,000.

The next step may be lab testing and then a follow up visit to review the lab results.

Lab test could run between $1,000 & $3,000 over the course of the first year.

Follow up visits are charged as follows:

Phone visits (when approved) are 30 minutes and cost $250.

In Person visits or either 45 minutes @ $375 or 60 minutes @ $500.
If you are seen often by him the shorter visit will be what is needed.

The next step may be buying herbal supplements.

Dr. Kharrazian often uses high quality herbal supplements to help manage his patient's cases. The supplement cost could run between $1,000 & $3,000 over the course of the first year.

The next step is regular weekly reports to be emailed to Dr. K.

This is the best way for Dr. K to stay in touch with you and know how the protocol is working. If he needs to make adjustments, it is easy to email them to you.

The next step is to schedule follow up visits every 6 to 8 weeks.

Some times these visits can be done on the phone and some times Dr. K needs to see you in person to do a reexamination. Lab tests may also need to be re- taken to compare the results with the first tests to see the improvement in markers.

The over all costs for the first year of his care usually runs between $5,000 and $7,000. The next year is usually maintenance care and is less expensive.

end of quoted material

Even if one does spring for the $6,000 out of pocket and later sees traditional doctors who accept insurance, they do not accept the labwork or diagnosis or treatment and will often prescribe/recommend things that will exacerbate your autoimmune symptoms all over again. We really need healthcare reform in the United States and in the meantime, no one can provide you better medical care than yourself, listening to your bodies' feedback and doing the best you can to care for yourself, eating the best foods for you that you can, exercising the right amount, taking the right quality supplements for you, drinking the cleanest water you can, breathing the freshest air you can with deep relaxed diaphramatic breathing, and AVOIDING ANYTHING that makes you feel worse - remember, one man's feast is another man's poison. I do think it is important to realize, as thought in this book, that if you are TH-1 dominant with autoimmune disease, echinacea, astragalus, beta-glucan mushroom, maitake mushroom, glycyrrhiza, and melissa officinalis will cause a flare-up of your symptoms; I can't tell you how many nutritionists will tell you that these are a great thing to take to support your immune system for ALL people WITHOUT exception but in reality can over-stimulate an already overactive immune or autoimmune condition and are CONTRAINDICATED for those people. If you are not aware of that information, that nugget alone is worth the price of this book. However, you may want to get actually address the imbalance directly by balancing your neurotransmitters as discussed in Eric Braverman, MD's books. A high dopamine and acetylcholine brain suppresses autoimmunity. A high serotonin and GABA brain suppresses infection. This is talking about TH-1 dominance and TH-2 domance just not with the same labels. Instead of merely avoiding automimmune flareups which is another way of saying worsening your imbalance by avoiding certain supplements as Datis recommends, why not come into balance quickly by addressing the neurotransmitter balance directly? Why shell out big bucks to participate in DC pyramid purchasing supplements that slow down the autoimmune healing by nutritious gluten-free diet?

I truly hope the $6,000 gets the results the patient is desiring. I know one lady who was working part-time as wasn't well enough to work full-time, was unhelped by traditional medicine, and went to see a MD who specialized in particular line of supplements and now she feels worse, is unable to work at all, has had to go on welfare that won't even cover the cost of gluten-free diet. She spent over $70,000 with that MD and on the supplements and tests and ended up worse. It is such a sad story. She was so desperate to feel better and work full-time, she spent every penny she had and then some and ended up feeling worse. She has discontinued everything that MD recommended and still has not recovered to where her health was before starting the protocol. This poor lady wishes she had never tried the protocol and still had her $70,000 and ability to work part-time. Being able and willing to shell out big bucks does not guarantee you get the results you want. Don't you think she wishes someone had warned her instead of her desperately believing the MD's promises of her returned vibrant health? I sincerely hope every person out there who is struggling with medical symptoms and doesn't have a dime to spend wastefully gets relief both medically and financially. I know this MD and he is actually very good but he gets so enthusiastic about whatever line of supplements he is currently involved in that he sometimes may not notice that his patient is deteriorating. She made the mistake of trusting his judgment too much; but she was desperate. I am not saying that this protocol or line of supplements is not the answer for you, but just trying to provide more information so as everyone and anyone can make more informed decisions.

The information provided in this book is not new but has been available for awhile - just check out all the many footnotes in the back to get you started on your research if you were unaware of this material before.

I think all the doctors trained by Dr. Kharrazian put all patients on their Vitamin D Cod Liver Oil, ClearVite detoxification rice powder shake, and glutathione cream and other supplements from the line Dr Datis invented. I think Glutathione IVs are a superior way to get glutathione into the human body system; also liposomal glutathione has superior absorption over their topical. I also like Chem-Defense Peppermint Sublingual - 90 - Lozenge better than their glutathione cream that has polysorbate in it. I also think that Vitamin D3 (Liquid Emulsion), 2,000 IU, 1 fl. oz. (29.57 ml) is a superior and cleaner vit d. Another really good choice of vitamin d is the raw whole food Garden of Life RAW Protein Powder. Also Hippocrates Health in Florida has a new vitamin d which sounds superior but is too new for me to have tried - LifeGive Sun-D offers a superior, naturally occurring vegan source of vitamin D3 with vitamin D precursors from Shiitake mushrooms and rice germ ex-tracts. Sun-D offers supplies pure and powerful plant source of living and life- supporting vitamin D for preventing nutrient deficiencies, supporting good health and preventing the development of threatening health conditions. With all the medical studies out about the benefits of fish oil, it seems that just about every company has come out with their own offering. There are many detoxification rice powders out there and the Metagenics brand has many varieties that have proven effective and are backed up by numerous medical studies. Actually Garden of Life RAW Protein Powder is a great rice powder drink that is also a great source of vitamin d, glutathione, and good oils! Also new studies are showing that Black Seed Oil / Cuminol raise glutathione levels 500%!

Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms? When My Lab Tests Are Normal: A Revolutionary Breakthrough In Understanding Hashimoto's Disease and Hypothyroidism provides excellent education that I would recommend to anyone as a another prespective on viewing health but not the only way and please do not limit yourself to this one line or one set protocol that isn't the best fit for everyone or even most. Seeing Dr K or one of the doctor's he has trained may be better than seeing many physicians yet will put you into one of the boxes they have predetermined for a set protocol of their supplements rather than getting a good understanding of the mechanism that is going on in your INDIVIDUAL system and choosing the best products out there to support YOU. I do want to support Dr Kharrazian making a living but not at anybody else's health expense; please educate yourself and remember that you ultimately are responsible for your health and managing your health. However, this book seems to be having a DANGEROUS effect on the readers. Just look at JJ in my comments section! He/she is so adamant that it is impossible that Datis's protocol will not be the answer for him/her, that he refuses to acknowledge that possibility exists for himself/herself or anyone else! This is a very dangerous narrow-minded perspective that is just asking for trouble. He/she is going to a chiropractor in Poway who uses succcess stories that people believe they WILL be helped not that they were helped and maintained it for years including JJ himself/herself! They refuse to see the short-comings and limitations of what is being promoted in Why Do I still Hve Thyroid Symptoms which is a very dangerous place and the rah-rah bandwagon to be especially if you are just going to blindly trust that your pill-pusher is going to not push what isn't in your best interest to his financial determent! In this sense, this book should be considered dangerous and avoided if the reader can not keep a level objective head about themselves; I would recommend not giving the book to anyone who is desperate!

I personally find ethics disparaged when you pay someone for their objective opinion yet they make a profit on the product they recommend. If you go to a Toyota dealership and ask which is a better car for you Toyota or Honda? Are you going to be surprised if they say the one that they will make a profit on? If you are interested in a timeshare and go to one of their meetings to learn more about the properties, at the end when they ask you which free gift would you prefer - a big screen tv or a videocamrecorder, are you going to object, saying oh no let me pay you for educating me on the product you sell for profit? Personally, I think medical care providers should decide whether they want to push a certain line or two of products and then not charge for their time, or if they want to charge for their time and then give an objective opinion of what products are best for them on which they make no profit. Please notice that most of the reviews here are written by doctors claiming they are trained by Dr. Kharrazian so they are making a living selling his line of products, ordering his blood chemistry panel and other labwork, etc. They are getting paid for the appointment as well as everything they can convince you to order/buy; please note they have financial investment in this treatment. Supplement lines approach these doctors selling them on how they can make millions by selling their product line; hopefully the doctor reviewers here chose this line because it is the most helpful to patient's healthcare and not the most helpful to their pocketbook; when the financial incentive is there, it is hard to tell how "pure" motives are - why not consider a fair profit and avoid anyone too greedy? My opinion is that most of them chose this line as they buy in that it will help people and their own financial goals - a mixture of the two. Many of the ones I have spoken to were sick themselves, disappointed/betrayed by traditional medicine and searching for their own health improvement, and find these protocols helpful to them personally; so you could end up with a doctor that is dealing with their own cognitive and energy difficulties who is struggling to figure out what is right for them and doesn't have time/energy left to help you figure out what is right for you. I asked Kharazzian's office who do they refer to in my city that have been trained by him and when I called them, I found that 2 of the 3 are "in between offices right now" and none took insurance or worked with product lines other than Kharazzian's. Maybe someday the ethics boards of medical associations will monitor and fine those currently exploiting this conflict of interests or perhaps the government will step in someday and make this illegal as it should be to protect overly-trusting patients; our medical system really needs a complete overhaul.

Joel Fuhrman, MD states on page 35 of Eat for Health Book 1: "For the last 20 years, multiple studies have been published in medical journals documenting the effectiveness of high-vegetable diets on autoimmune illnesses. These have been largely ignored by the medical profession and most doctors still deny the effectiveness of nutrition on autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. However, these pages describe the critical features of the eating-style most effective in aiding people suffering with these autoimmune conditions. Although it is not clear why these studies are quickly forgotten or ignored after their publication, one factor may be that there is no financial incentive for anyone to promote the power of dietary intervention as a medical therapy like pharmaceutical (or supplement) companies do when studies show some efficacy for their products." eat right america dot com is where you can come help for free with using diet to overcome your autoimmune condition and if you want help directly from MDs (not DCs) you can subscribe to dr fuhrman dot come for 15 dollars per month which comes to $225 compared to Datis' required $6,000 which costs 26 times more than fuhrman and I believe to be more problematic and less effective.

While the author states that having a gluten-free diet is the most important protocol for hashimoto's even more important than prescription thyroid, I don't see gluten information on any of his line of products - ODD!

Most of the doctors trained by Kharrazian are chiropractors like himself so you are getting someone from that background which I am not criticizing but actually like but think prospective patients should keep that in mind when selecting their medical care team. I have had the best care from doctors whose training is from osteopathy and have chosen manipulation/holistic care as their practice rather than western methodology. Osteopaths are licensed to perform surgery and write prescriptions but usually choose more natural holistic protocols. Chiropractors can not perform surgery or write prescriptions but are trained in holistic care of your spine and nutrition and first aid. Nor can DCs prescribe or administer glutathione intravenously which is definitely the best way to get glutathione far superior to rubbing on a cream; if you would like to try glutathione iv, try AAEM and have levels monitored by Great Smokies. When choosing a doctor to care for your immune system, try asking them how immune systems work and don't laugh when you get a dumbfounded gaze back at you. Don't just trust anyone that they know more than you, ASK!!! Interview them before you hire them or buy into their recommendations!

In order for doctors to register for Kharazzian's training they are screened by a woman licensed as a nutritional counselor who will EXCLUDE doctors who think independently and say they are not going to buy into their whole system and sell their functional blood chemistry analysis which is not covered by insurance and sell their product line exclusively. So any Amazon reviewer saying they have had his seminars jumped through that pre-selection hurdle to be perhaps viewed as easily controllable and/or greedy at the expense of patients in her eyes. I have been extremely impressed with Dr Kharazzian whenever he speaks but why would he hook up with a controlling bulldog like that unless he wants that? surely he has other options available to him. He does usually have several things to say that are new and helpful to me but when I talk to some of the other practitioners in the room including the controlling host, it seems most of the material went over their heads. They will explain what classes they have had which suggest they SHOULD comprehend yet they can not make a single comment that SHOWS that they ACTUALLY DO comprehend it. Their criteria on how smart I am seems to be do I buy in hook line and sinker to everything they are selling to the exclusion of every other option available to me - if you will follow them like a sheep, then you are smart. If you have other things you prefer, than you don't really understand them because if you understood them you would follow without question instead of thinking independently and working as a team with them and others. Just my opinion of my experiences with this one educational development liaison person; i think different cities have different seminar hosts.

Also, most of the labwork is not really recognized as legitimate by insurance companies therefore not reimbursed nor recognized as legitimate by physicians who think any diagnosis based on these unproven non-recognized tests are also not legitimate. Still trying some of these protocols may be helpful for you; I just don't know that you need to pay for a test that is designed to show almost everybody that they are in dire need to purchase a, b, and c from their product line that they sell. Their supplement line is sold only by healthcare practitioners but you can get similar products at your local healthfood store or here online at Amazon. Wouldn't it be better to try the product just paying profit on it once instead of also paying for labs to say you need it and a consultant to tell you you need it? The labs just compare you to norms and ideals for EVERYBODY and not specifically for you - again I am sure you have heard - one man's feast is another man's poison! Please educate yourself and don't turn over responsibility for your healthcare to anybody else who can not possible know how your particular body/mind/spirit SPECIFICALLY functions and what makes you flourish and what shuts you down.

I wonder when patients feel better on his program if most or all isn't the result of a gluten-free diet? The author states that a gluten-free diet is more helpful than prescription thyroid and most everyone agrees that the effects from supplements are much less than prescription. Just wondering..... The author states that once you have an autoimmune response to gluten, you will need to be gluten-free for the rest of your life and there is no such thing as just a little gluten - that's like being just a little pregnant.

I do wish health to each and everyone of you individually and to us as a nation. The information in Why Do I still have Thyroid Symptoms? When all my lab tests are normal: A Revolutionary Breakthrough In Understanding Hashimoto's Disease and Hypothyroidism is an important part of understanding Hashimoto's Disease as well as autoimmune Disease in general but not THE ONE AND ONLY DEFINITIVE ANSWER and one shouldn't simply accept cookie-cutter protocol as a shortcut to your INDIVIDUAL healthcare.

Cheers! HERE'S to YOUR health!

I am looking forward to purchasing Dr Kharrazian's next book on Neurotransmitters as I do think his perspective on the health function mechanisms that may be present is interesting.

Last but not least, the most helpful and most current book on treating/healing celiac disease is the most current (4th) edition of elizabeth lipski's Digestive Wellness available on amazon via kindle or hard copy. Digestive Wellness: Strengthen the Immune System and Prevent Disease Through Healthy Digestion, Fourth Edition

Let me just add, my review is not given as medical advice; please consult your own medical experts who are knowledgeable on your particulars.

I hope something I wrote has been helpful to you; [...]
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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
on March 31, 2010
This is a great book for those who really want to get into the details of how the thyroid works and the many hormones, cells, and organs that affect the thyroid and vice-versa. I read this book after being diagnosed with hypothyroid and taking Armour thyroid prescribed by my doctor. My lab results then indicated that I was verging on hyperthyroid. When I went in to see my doctor I had notes from the book and asked him detailed questions about other possible causes of my hypothyroid symptoms. He listened to me and now I am trying a different protocol with him to try to figure out what the real cause might be.
Without this book I would have just kept lowering and raising my medication dosages or just quit the meds altogether and spent a great deal of time seeing specialists and researching the hidden cause. This book gave me the knowledge and courage to seek out the proper care for myself.
However, if you do not have interest in learning all the biological details of your thyroid and endocrine system, you will find this book to be very dense with terminology. I happen to really enjoy reading this type of information so it didn't bother me, but I can see how many people would find this book a bit burdensome.
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98 of 112 people found the following review helpful
on September 29, 2009
I have found Dr. Kharrazian's seminars and protocols very supportive in my own clinical practice. This book clearly explains the important protocols for thyroid and related conditions. He breaks new ground for treatments especially using neurotransmitter support. Much of this information is revolutionary and unavailable anywhere else. And it works! Everything I need for treating the thyroid is in this one resource book. It also has an excellent index, which is always important to me. The book is clear and concise with great references. A must for any practitioner.
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61 of 69 people found the following review helpful
Millions of people are walking around right now with many of the most common symptoms of a thyroid problem-namely obesity, fatigue, depression, hair loss, constipation, cold all the time, muscle cramps, morning headaches, numbness in extremities, sleeping excessively, itchy skin, low body temperature, and more-despite the fact that their doctor tells them their thyroid is just fine since the tests he ran indicate as much. The most frustrating part for people dealing with these problems is the lack of weight loss despite all the dieting in the world. There comes a point when an alternative explanation has to emerge to account for this physical reaction happening in the body despite the fact that everything is considered "normal." That's where Dr. Datis Kharrazian comes in to explain that you're not going crazy as he clearly answers the question that is the title of his book Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms? When My Lab Tests Are Normal: A Revolutionary Breakthrough In Understanding Hashimoto's Disease and Hypothyroidism.

If you've been stuck in your weight loss efforts and have suffered through any of the symptoms listed above, then Dr. Kharrazian has good news for you. It's possible that you've been misdiagnosed as having good thyroid function when the truth of the matter is you have problems that are missed by most conventional thyroid tests. His expertise in human nutrition, chiropractic, and sports medicine as well as lecturing to doctors worldwide annually on this subject make him uniquely qualified to provide education on thyroid concerns. The book reads like a virtual textbook on all things related to the thyroid, including what the thyroid gland is, the function that it serves in the body, and the ramifications that can happen if something is preventing it from running optimally.

Dr. Kharrazian explains in great detail over several chapters the autoimmune disease known as Hashimoto's and how to know if you have it or not. The differences between hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism are also explained in easy-to-understand language with lists of symptoms to be on the lookout for. You'll find out why a low-carb, gluten-free diet is so critically important for anyone suffering from thyroid problems because it will help bring insulin resistance, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and inflammation under control. This book also identifies other issues to consider, including Vitamin D deficiency, estrogen fluctuations, stress, environmental toxins like heavy metals, and why you shouldn't be taking an iodine supplement if you have Hashimoto's. It's all explained within the pages of this book.

Honestly, this is a book your doctor needs to read because he/she will learn more about the thyroid function and how to best treat your individual circumstance than any other resource on the market. Dr. Kharrazian gets into the nitty gritty of looking for low thyroid function and what tests to run to find out. He's disgusted with what he describes as "the grossest mismanagement of hypothyroidism" with the standard blood tests that are conducted that can leave thyroid issues undiagnosed to the tune of nearly 13 million annually. Most doctors tend to run TSH and not much else and even then they use the "lab ranges" to determine if the patient has good thyroid function or not rather than the "functional ranges" explained in this book. Missing a critical blood test can leave no other choice for some people than to be put on medications for the rest of their life. But if it's identified soon enough, the conditions of hypothyroidism can be reversed.

You'll learn the six patterns of low thyroid function, including primary hypothyroidism, hypothyroidism secondary to pituitary hypothyroidism, thyroid under-conversion, thyroid over-conversion and decreased thyroid binding globulin, thyroid binding globulin elevation, and thyroid resistance and what to do about each of these. Discover what the functional blood chemistry pattern looks like and what nutritional support is available to fix it. The diet aspect of this whole thing is one of the most fascinating parts of the book. You'll learn why essential fatty acids from fish oil, flaxseed, primrose oil, raw nuts and seeds, and fish are critical to erasing the common deficiencies in upwards of 80 percent of the American population that can make your thyroid susceptible to being damaged and malfunction.

The most widely-prescribed thyroid hormone replacement prescription medications are noted in the book, including Armour (whose formulation changed in late 2009), Cytomel, dessicated thyroid, Levothroid, Levothyroixine, Levoxyl, Synthroid, and Thyrolar, as well as common prescription and over-the-counter drugs that can negatively impact thyroid function and lead to imbalances. This is why it's always a good idea to be resistant to taking drugs whenever possible because you never know what the unintended consequences to your health will be. A beautiful summary of each chapter's key points is provided for you to hammer home the most important points to remember.

In his chapter on "taming the blood sugar beast," Dr. Kharrazian speaks with great wisdom best summarized by the statement, "America's addiction to sugar, fast foods, and a grain-based diet has produced a nation of carbohydrate-addicts riding the highs and lows of blood sugar swings." He understands the importance of livin' la vida low-carb to ward off conditions like dysglycemia where the body can no longer control blood sugar levels because of the damage caused by excessive carbohydrate consumption. It is noted that diabetes has reached such epidemic levels that is is predicted to bankrupt our health care system completely. Low blood sugar, high blood sugar, and insulin resistance are best resolved by eating a low-carb, high-protein/fat breakfast, consuming protein every two to three hours, never going above your carbohydrate tolerance in a day (experiencing cravings shortly after eating means you consumed too many carbs), not eating a high-sugar food without fiber, fat or protein, abstaining from consuming sweets prior to bedtime, skipping fruit juices, avoiding caffeine, consuming meats and non-starchy veggies mainly, getting rid of food allergens, removing toxins and parasites from your body, and never going on a fast.

Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms? is chock full of so much useful information for people who have become frustrated by the lack of answers coming from the medical community. Dr. Kharrazian has done his homework and arms you with everything you could ever want to know about your thyroid. The book includes a rather unorthodox 5-phase meal plan for "unwinding insulin resistance" that you'll have to see for yourself to believe. It's unlike anything you've probably heard before, but he swears it has worked with his patients.

This is the definitive book on thyroid dysfunction and what to do about it. There's an entire chapter on the 22 patterns of metabolic thyroid disorders that lead to "normal" blood test results and Dr. Kharrazian provides all the necessary information about the interconnection between the immune system, hormones, nutrition, and brain function in treating them. A thorough list of nutritional compounds is also provided in the back of the book to address your specific thyroid issue as well as a glossary of common terms like TH-1 dominance, thyroid peroxidase, and triiodothyronine (T3), for example. And just in case you think the information provided in this book isn't backed up with quality science, think again! There are over 50 pages of studies, papers, and articles supporting everything Dr. Kharrazian has to share. Even if you only think you might have a thyroid problem, you owe it to yourself to get a copy of this book to educate yourself about one of the most complex and completely missed medical conditions of our day!
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46 of 51 people found the following review helpful
on December 9, 2009
I purchased this book after reading Shomon's book (Stop the Thyroid Madness Now) and others. What I find in this book is well-documented (from scientific papers) suggestions about ways to treat the immune system attack and not so focused on hypothyroidism. Since I have Hashimoto's, diagnosed Sept. 2009, this has been a valuable alternative track (although I still take Synthroid at the moment) to address the immune system health. Suggestions of a gluten-free diet, balanced sugar loading (i.e. avoid high sugar/processed foods), exercise and nutrients (Vitamin D, Glutathione cream, Fish oil (and many others!) have really helped this symptoms and I have only been doing this for a week! Having good health, reducing toxins, has made a world of difference. If I was to have one thyroid book in my library, this would be it!
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62 of 71 people found the following review helpful
on March 14, 2012
Read Stop the Thyroid Madness instead: it's patient-based, meaning it has NOTHING TO GAIN from you and you can thus avoid being taken for yet another ride on your already long-enough journey to wellness. This guy had me in near fatal congestive organ failure following some very expensive consultations for his so-called suggestions -dietary mostly but in my case, so unthought out and dangerous because he had overlooked some really serious considerations specific to my case. He doesnt have the skills or commitment to empowering his clients, I would venture a guess that he is basically just interested in money. If you want something that REALLY contributes to how you can get well, go look up Dr John Lowe's Your Guide to Metabolic Health and the above book, THEY will help.
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42 of 48 people found the following review helpful
on January 16, 2011
This book has lots of information, maybe too much! I had been diagnosed with Hashimoto's shortly before reading this book. The book caused me to
be scared to eat anything, with it's emphasis on elimination diets. There is some good information in this book, but the author wants you to see one of the practioners who have learned his way of dealing with thyroid problems. When I inquired about those practioners, I was told that many want six months of visits paid for in advance. Maybe that is to get people to stick with the program, but it doesn't seem right to me. The author is a bit coy in withholding help that would allow the thyroid patient to take charge of their health problems. "Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms?" is a useful book, but it is needlessly difficult and too dependant on the author's practice as the only way to regain your health

I would suggest anyone with thyroid problems read " Stop the Thyroid Madness". There is a wonderful website called stopthethyroidmadness.com which is super helpful and a Yahoo Group called Natural Thyroid Hormones that give great help and support for those with thyroid problems, and there are lots of us, even young people and children! Don't put up with the "Gold Standard" of being poorly treated and never getting better. .
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23 of 25 people found the following review helpful
on November 8, 2011
I was blown away by how wonderful this book is and I started feeling better immediately as I began following the advice. Unfortunately, finding a practitioner was a bit more challenging that the book leads you to believe.

I live in Raleigh, NC and saw three of the chiropractors listed on his web site as being certified through his program and found them to be lacking even as much knowledge as I had in reading the book. One guy honestly did not seem to have read the book at all let alone gone through any kind of special training though his staff was happy to take my $250.00 cash for the initial visit and $150.00 for each subsequent visit after that. Insurance apparently does not cover the cost of these homeopathic types of therapy is what they told me. Luckily I did not believe it and kept looking. I finally found a family medicine physician who had read the book, fully understood it and prescribed all the right tests, got me on the program I needed and all with a $15.00 copay.

Bottom line, great book, but make sure you share it with your actual doctor and avoid the moneymaking scam from so called "naturopathic/chiropractic" practitioners who cannot actually prescribe medicine or bill your insurance.
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