Comments on: Is the FDA looking out for Women or Wyeth? A Physician’s Point of View http://www.menopausetheblog.com/2008/01/21/is-the-fda-looking-out-for-women-or-wyeth-a-physician%e2%80%99s-point-of-view/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-the-fda-looking-out-for-women-or-wyeth-a-physician%25e2%2580%2599s-point-of-view Timely, Unbiased Information Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:15:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Menopause - The Blog » The FDA vs. Compounding Pharmacies vs. Wyeth: Act II http://www.menopausetheblog.com/2008/01/21/is-the-fda-looking-out-for-women-or-wyeth-a-physician%e2%80%99s-point-of-view/comment-page-1/#comment-40 Menopause - The Blog » The FDA vs. Compounding Pharmacies vs. Wyeth: Act II Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:03:05 +0000 http://www.menopausetheblog.com/2008/01/21/is-the-fda-looking-out-for-women-or-wyeth-a-physician%e2%80%99s-point-of-view/#comment-40 [...] month, I wrote about the FDA’s action restricting certain compounding pharmacists from dipsensing [...] [...] month, I wrote about the FDA’s action restricting certain compounding pharmacists from dipsensing [...]

]]> By: marsha nunley, md http://www.menopausetheblog.com/2008/01/21/is-the-fda-looking-out-for-women-or-wyeth-a-physician%e2%80%99s-point-of-view/comment-page-1/#comment-36 marsha nunley, md Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:41:07 +0000 http://www.menopausetheblog.com/2008/01/21/is-the-fda-looking-out-for-women-or-wyeth-a-physician%e2%80%99s-point-of-view/#comment-36 See website just recently up...www.optimumhealthsf.com See website just recently up…www.optimumhealthsf.com

]]> By: marsha nunley, md http://www.menopausetheblog.com/2008/01/21/is-the-fda-looking-out-for-women-or-wyeth-a-physician%e2%80%99s-point-of-view/comment-page-1/#comment-35 marsha nunley, md Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:43:13 +0000 http://www.menopausetheblog.com/2008/01/21/is-the-fda-looking-out-for-women-or-wyeth-a-physician%e2%80%99s-point-of-view/#comment-35 Unfortunately Deb, your story is not unique. After going through similar problems myself and not being able to find a colleague or doctor who knew how to help, I began looking for solutions outside the lines of traditional medicine. Adrenal fatigue and subsequent sub clinical hypothyroidism is further compounded by the onset of menopause, and even the healthiest and strongest finally succumb. Usually one ends up on antidepressants and or synthetic hormones. My doctor told me that I would probably need to be on antidepressants the "rest of my life". In my search for solutions, I discovered Functional Medicine. See www.functionalmedicine.org Medicine has become far too reliant on pharmaceuticals to treat our patients. For every problem, there is a medication. But in my 25 years of practice, I have seen many medicines that were billed as the next greatest answer that with time were not only shown to be ineffective, but actually harmful. An article came across my desk this AM that CHANTIX, the antismoking medication released about 2 years ago has been associated with significant neurotoxic and neuropsychatric problems. Vioxx - heart attacks, Premarin - breast cancer and thromboembolic disease, Zelnorm ischemis colitis, (dead bowel), Nifedipine - increased risk for stroke, propulsid - fatal cardiac arrhythmias, and the list goes on and on. I decided that I could no longer in good conscious practice medicine in this way. The best way to deal with disease is to concentrate on returning us to health by combining the innate wisdom of the body with current and emerging medical science including science that is outside the traditional medical journals such as nutrition. exercise and international journals. We also need to restore government funding for areas of research so that there is money to look into areas other than pharmaceuticals as a solution to diseases. There are doctors out there. The Functional Medicine Web site lists doctors who have gone through their program and they are in the process of seeking approval to become a sub specialty . Keep looking until you find someone that can help you. Unfortunately Deb, your story is not unique. After going through similar problems myself and not being able to find a colleague or doctor who knew how to help, I began looking for solutions outside the lines of traditional medicine. Adrenal fatigue and subsequent sub clinical hypothyroidism is further compounded by the onset of menopause, and even the healthiest and strongest finally succumb. Usually one ends up on antidepressants and or synthetic hormones. My doctor told me that I would probably need to be on antidepressants the “rest of my life”. In my search for solutions, I discovered Functional Medicine. See http://www.functionalmedicine.org

Medicine has become far too reliant on pharmaceuticals to treat our patients. For every problem, there is a medication. But in my 25 years of practice, I have seen many medicines that were billed as the next greatest answer that with time were not only shown to be ineffective, but actually harmful. An article came across my desk this AM that CHANTIX, the antismoking medication released about 2 years ago has been associated with significant neurotoxic and neuropsychatric problems. Vioxx – heart attacks, Premarin – breast cancer and thromboembolic disease, Zelnorm ischemis colitis, (dead bowel), Nifedipine – increased risk for stroke, propulsid – fatal cardiac arrhythmias, and the list goes on and on. I decided that I could no longer in good conscious practice medicine in this way.

The best way to deal with disease is to concentrate on returning us to health by combining the innate wisdom of the body with current and emerging medical science including science that is outside the traditional medical journals such as nutrition. exercise and international journals. We also need to restore government funding for areas of research so that there is money to look into areas other than pharmaceuticals as a solution to diseases.

There are doctors out there. The Functional Medicine Web site lists doctors who have gone through their program and they are in the process of seeking approval to become a sub specialty . Keep looking until you find someone that can help you.

]]> By: Wendy http://www.menopausetheblog.com/2008/01/21/is-the-fda-looking-out-for-women-or-wyeth-a-physician%e2%80%99s-point-of-view/comment-page-1/#comment-34 Wendy Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:30:34 +0000 http://www.menopausetheblog.com/2008/01/21/is-the-fda-looking-out-for-women-or-wyeth-a-physician%e2%80%99s-point-of-view/#comment-34 Thanks for your comment, Deb. You're so fortunate to have found the right doctor and the right combination of medicines. We can't count on our regular physicians for this kind of guidance. It takes a lot of experimenting, perserverence and in the end, trial and error to find just the right combination (and timing) of drugs (whether they're natural or synthetic). Thanks for your comment, Deb. You’re so fortunate to have found the right doctor and the right combination of medicines. We can’t count on our regular physicians for this kind of guidance. It takes a lot of experimenting, perserverence and in the end, trial and error to find just the right combination (and timing) of drugs (whether they’re natural or synthetic).

]]> By: Deb Durham http://www.menopausetheblog.com/2008/01/21/is-the-fda-looking-out-for-women-or-wyeth-a-physician%e2%80%99s-point-of-view/comment-page-1/#comment-33 Deb Durham Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:37:08 +0000 http://www.menopausetheblog.com/2008/01/21/is-the-fda-looking-out-for-women-or-wyeth-a-physician%e2%80%99s-point-of-view/#comment-33 Another practitioner you may want to seek out is Saundra McKenna who trained as an MD and now is prescribiung bio-identical hormone solutions. www.saundramckenna.com In addition to getting sleeplessness and hot flashes under control, she was very helpful in getting thyroid and adrenal functions back in balance. In ten years of seeing endrocrinolgists for thyroid nodules (later diagnosed as Hashimoto's Disease) no MD had ever bothered to test more than TSH (which always tested “normal” btw) when there are at least 3 other thyroid hormones produced. I was completely out of T3 and my adrenals were shot. I now think this had everything to do with a clinical depression I experienced 2000-2004. My LA psychopharmacologist never tested more than TSH either and then put me on Synthroid as well as a couple other anti-depressants. I am now off all anti depressants as of August 2005 (which I did very slowly with large doses of Omega- 3 (recommend mail order OmegaBrite by MD on East Coast who wrote a very compelling book about depression and fatty acids) and Saundra had prescribed an herbal adrenal booster called Adapt plus bio-identical T-3 and hydocortisone in very small dosages to give my body a rest so I could then produce them again. It worked! I now need none of those. She also prescribed bio-identical estrogen and progesterone in sub-lingual form from a NYC based compounding pharmacy. from time to time. I no longer need those so things have evened out. Oh, and I’ve lost the 20-25 lbs that accumulated over the last 7-8 years—I never had a weight problem before. I think many of these symptoms I experienced were related to changes related to menopause. Another practitioner you may want to seek out is Saundra McKenna who trained as an MD and now is prescribiung bio-identical hormone solutions.

http://www.saundramckenna.com

In addition to getting sleeplessness and hot flashes under control, she was very helpful in getting thyroid and adrenal functions back in balance. In ten years of seeing endrocrinolgists for thyroid nodules (later diagnosed as Hashimoto’s Disease) no MD had ever bothered to test more than TSH (which always tested “normal” btw) when there are at least 3 other thyroid hormones produced. I was completely out of T3 and my adrenals were shot. I now think this had everything to do with a clinical depression I experienced 2000-2004.

My LA psychopharmacologist never tested more than TSH either and then put me on Synthroid as well as a couple other anti-depressants. I am now off all anti depressants as of August 2005 (which I did very slowly with large doses of Omega- 3 (recommend mail order OmegaBrite by MD on East Coast who wrote a very compelling book about depression and fatty acids) and Saundra had prescribed an herbal adrenal booster called Adapt plus bio-identical T-3 and hydocortisone in very small dosages to give my body a rest so I could then produce them again. It worked! I now need none of those.

She also prescribed bio-identical estrogen and progesterone in sub-lingual form from a NYC based compounding pharmacy. from time to time. I no longer need those so things have evened out. Oh, and I’ve lost the 20-25 lbs that accumulated over the last 7-8 years—I never had a weight problem before.

I think many of these symptoms I experienced were related to changes related to menopause.

]]>