Des Linden reveals she had "thyroid" problem before 2018 Boston Marathon win

"she"

I am halfway through her book and have just gotten up to the thyroid chapter. It's interesting bc up until the book, I didn't know she had a thyroid problem however in a recent video interview I thought her eyes looked bulging and I wondered to myself if she had graves disease. The book is ok so far.

While this would not apply to Linden in 2018, here is a link with valuable info about thyroid problems.

I’m agreeing with you. As soon as I realized that I did my job better when I took caffeine, I quit my job. It would have been unfair to the other people in my industry to do my job while on caffeine (understanding that there’s no rule against taking caffeine and that they can all take it as well).

Absolutely. Same with an eating disorder. It’s not possible to run and compete at any sort of high level with an eating disorder. It’s never been done before!

Pharmacist here. Two points: First, normal thyroid levels are a range, and as such, can certainly be manipulated, if not abused. What is normal for one person may be an athlete's hyperactivity. And there are instances in which one or more hormonal ranges may be low, but the athlete has no indication to supplement (for example, normal TSH and low T3). Second, I think the key to abuse vs. correcting a deficiency is found in whether the athlete takes T3 or T4. T4 is basically a precursor molecule, called a prohormone. Removal of one iodide converts it into T3, the active thyroid hormone that can enter the body's cells. Most people with under active thyroids take T4, with the understanding that it will be converted in the body to T3 (this is mostly how the body works; it does naturally produce both T3 and T4, but the T4 is converted to T3). Since this conversion will occur, there's no need to take T3... unless you want that immediate metabolic boost and significant fat loss. Athletes tend to abuse T3.

Here is a pretty good article:

academic.oup.com

Thyroid Hormone Abuse in Elite Sports: The Regulatory Challenge

Abstract. Abuse of androgens and erythropoietin has led to hormones being the most effective and frequent class of ergogenic substances prohibited in elite spor

Link:academic.oup.com/jcem/article/107/9/e3...

And this explains the use of T3 and T4, although I don't believe the actual article was published or peer reviewed:

figshare.com

Thyroid Hormone Abuse in Elite Sports: A Regulatory Challenge

Selection of websites promoting T3 use for bodybuilding

Link:figshare.com/articles/dataset/Thyroid_...

Really, hall is clean? Contact me for a great deal on some property.

It was never clear to me whether Thyroid meds were actually effective or just another goofy Salazar thing. He was into everything with even a hint of benefit in a single rat study; most didn't do much. That said, thyroid hormones are negatively affected by underfueling and testosterone doping, among other things, both seemingly a focus of Salazar's. So IMO it was probably being used downstream of other practices in order to support thyroid, and not as a primary PED. Having high T3 will make you feel awful and it seems like they were just trying to keep it in an optimal range.

Also I think Hall is clearly on TRT now, even if he doesn't admit it.

I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism (TSH = 0.005) and been on methimazole for 2 years. My condition was similar but oddly, I gained 10lbs. I had a similar situation without medication where my heart rate would increased to 160bpm running 10+min/mile pace. Previously that was a 7min/mile pace. My endocrinologist said it was rare to have hyperthyroidism + Graves’ disease with weight gain…..My TSH, T3, T4 numbers are statrting to get under control but can not drop this extra weight….Thyroid problem is no joke….After 20+ years of running it was either old age or the recent COVID vaccines that seemed to bring on this condition…..Good luck with your condition as well….

No. The eye disease is from Graves Disease which is hyperthyroidism. She has hypothyroidism

Yea lots of runners have exercised induced asthma, funny how people with conditions like that flock to a sport that would make their condition worse!

If you're anemic you can't take EPO but if you have hypothyroidism you can take thyroid. Makes sense.

Anemia isn’t caused by erythropoietin deficiency unless you have kidney failure. The ONLY medical indication for EPO is anemia in patients with kidney failure. I don’t know of many dialysis patients competing in elite sports.
If you’re anemic, it’s much more likely a nutritional deficiency, like iron, B12 or folate deficiency. You can take those of course. Everyone who moves from sea level to altitude should be taking them.

I know most are skeptical, but you have to remember how much abuse the lungs of pro endurance athletes are subjected to

Especially those who live and train at altitude, where the air tends to be colder and much drier

This is why you see a lot of xc-skiiers develop asthma; they are chronically drying their lungs out

Again though, it's a natural response by the body as a way of self-preservation so while they may quality for asthma meds, most wouldn't have ever developed asthma if they weren't training 25-35 hrs/wk

Obviously runners can't handle that much volume due to the impact/eccentric component, but even 10-12 hrs in a very low humidity environment can do a number on the lungs

Why her eyes bugged out?
She’s so goddamn boring. Not aging well 🤮

Please don't use God's name in vain. Thank you very much and Happy Easter friend.

I can see some of the posters are insensitive to this topic. In my own case, I can tell you my eyes “bugged out” after being diagnosed with Graves Disease. The problem became so bad after a run, I could not see until the swelling went down.

Ironically my marathon training partner developed hypothyroidism while I was dealing with hyperthyroidism. In our primes we were both training @80-90 miles/week marathon runners for several years and perhaps we both over strained our endocrine system to such a degree that we both developed different thyroid issues. We were 2:4X marathoners, not great but respectable….

It could be very well that in treating Desi’s hypothyroidism that her medication reduces the TSH levels to a point where the antibodies are attacking her eyes as well. If you recall the Olympian Gail Devers dealt with Graves Disease as well.

Posters should be sensitive to this topic and it's important to understand how this can adversely impact endurance athletes.

Wish someone will do more scientific research on thyroid issues in endurance athletes.

+10000%. I always thought Des was above-board and clean/honest.