If hypothyroidism is so rare then why do all of Salazar's athletes getting therapeutic exemptions for it?

dkalalala wrote:

My wife (not a runner) has hypothyroidism and taking thyroid has made a huge difference in her energy level, aches and pains, and mood. I can see where it would really interfere with running. I suppose it's really a matter of identifying a legitimate case of hypothyroidism.

This.

Actually the answer to all this is very simple. Eliminate TUE's totally. Sorry, if you have a life threatening condition that requires medication you are not an elite athlete. period. Asthma? nope sorry, compete without your inhaler and steroids or do not compete. All this TUE is just total bs. I mean seriously do you really think it is fair to allow Michael Phelps to take amphetemines just because some coach got a dr to prescribe it for ADD? Ridiculous! Have you noticed that it is only the athletes who are in events that amphetemines might benefit that are diagnosed with ADD? It is quite obvious that coaches shop doctors for diagnoses that back the PED use and then use the TUE system to dope legally.

I mean come on since when do you need meds for ADD? Is it life threatening? WIll Phelps forget to breathe? Remember the US swimmer struggling to breath at the Olympics years ago because she could not take an inhaler in competition? She made a choice, she wanted to compete so she suffered with her disease. Since when do elite athletes get exemptions to suffering? I thought it was part of the territory. In order to be the best you had to overcome alot, not get an edge on a technicality. No TUE's period. Oh and the drug study they did in MLB showed a Huge increase in diagnoses for TUE's from one decade to another i think the amount of TUE's doubled. All it does is make doping legal. Terrible.

Congrats, you're officially an idiot.

prescription for hire wrote:

Her blog has made me wonder if a thyroid just slighted medicated to being a tad bit overactive could give an advantage in recovery and weight control.

Absolutely it could. There's really no question on this.

oldhalfmileguy wrote:

It is quite obvious that coaches shop doctors for diagnoses that back the PED use and then use the TUE system to dope legally.

You are entirely correct.

Salazar writes all about this in his paper

Particularly in the U$, ANY runner could get a diagnosis of "subclinical hypothyroidism" within a week. Same goes for hypotestosterism and ADD.

Not saying that Rupp is (still) on thyroxin or that he's taking test or ritalin. Just that his coach explicitly sympathized with the practice in a conference paper. Maybe those operating in a "grey area" should be transpapent about their practices?

You have no idea what your talking about.

Michele Ferrari would be appalled to read your posts.

The doctor they went to is really liberal with his diagnoses

http://www.ratemds.com/doctor-ratings/13240/Dr-Jeffrey+S.-Brown-HOUSTON-TX.html

Is this you officially declaring you are a comple @sshole with zero ability to comprehend what you read?

Dear Saladbar have several times mentioned that things like TUE for STDS and similar should not be on the official list. Of course the fact that someone have HIV would not be public knowledge.

Why won't you actually discuss the question here?

What do YOU, A Duck, think about more transparency?

rupp-certified saladbar wrote:

Not saying that Rupp is (still) on thyroxin or that he's taking test or ritalin. Just that his coach explicitly sympathized with the practice in a conference paper. Maybe those operating in a "grey area" should be transpapent about their practices?

Once you start taking thyroxine, you fall apart if the dose is lowered too much. So no way if he started, that he stopped.

Thy Guy wrote:

The doctor they went to is really liberal with his diagnoses

http://www.ratemds.com/doctor-ratings/13240/Dr-Jeffrey+S.-Brown-HOUSTON-TX.html

You really got wonder about how they chose Dr Jeffrey S Brown. I mean, first of all, if you travel all the way from Oregon to Houston just to get your thyroid checked, you figure the MD must be top-notch, right? A real leader in the field....But this guy rates 3.2 out of 5 stars. Awesome! Looking through the comments, the two main conclusions a reader might draw are a)he's an a-hole, and b)he overprescribes. To be fair, he does get a few positive reviews, but ones like these are more common:

"Very patronizing and clearly in league with drug manufacturers...more interested in money than patient health! "

"Though he was the one who found my autoimmune thyroid problem, he overmedicated me for 7 months which caused a whole new set of problems...."

"I was WAY over medicated and finally stopped seeing him when I woke up with palpitations from a sleep. Did not like when I asked questions...."

"This was by far the most imcompetent doctor ever. He was very rude and extremely arrogant. He is a 1st class **** and seems like...."

Hey Galen! I think I've found a doc for you. This guy sounds GREAT!!! Pack up the cryo-sauna....we're headed to HOUSTON!!! Woooo!

I developed hypothyroidism in my junior year of college due to the high intensity of training. I was an All-American several times but all of a sudden I gained weight and could not handle a 30-minute run. I literally ran my body into the ground. Lab tests showed high TSH levels. Synthroid did not help and then I was put on Cytomel, and within 3 months I was back to my old self. About one year after college, I was slowly titrated off the Cytomel and I have not needed it since. It is very possible for someone doing high mileage to develop thyroid problems.

wowza wrote:

bangalangadanga wrote:

maybe the symptoms of hypothyroidism are accentuated at high intensity - volume training?

Is that a wild conjecture or is that fact? If it's fact then how come out of all the distance runners in the world, only Salazar's "high intensity/high volume training" is causing hypothyroidism?

Hansons?

Hudsons?

Mammoth?

Zap?

Schumacher?

Warhurst?

McMillen?

only Salazar's runners are getting hypothyroidism? Really? if it walks like a duck and quacks when it sits on a needle it must be a duck.

Hey, Saladbar, I was just wondering if Alberto has ever written about these issues, you know, like in a paper or something. You wouldn't happen to have a link to the paper, would you?

I don't have any problem with transparency, I just understand why it doesn't exist yet. And if it is rolled out, it must be rolled out universally.

The tone of this thread on this issue was to accuse or tone the Nike group as avoiding it. It's not up to them, I trust the IAAF to keep strengthening their testing programs etc.

noname wrote:

Junk Master wrote:

Excellent post above. But isn't Rupp really taking triiodothyronine?

From what i understand, triiodothyronine (T3) - is the fast acting thyroid hormone and thyroxine is T4 which is converted to T3. Thyroxine or levoxyl is generally preferred because it is slower acting and keeps you at a more stable level. People can take both. there are a couple of studies say you need both but most say that thryoxine is sufficient.

Interesting.

Body builders take T3 with Albuterol or Cenbuterol; and Ketotifen to keep from developing a tolerance (receptor down regulation) to the Albuterol.

I see no reason why the combo wouldn't be especially effective in endurance sports, especially running, where weight makes such a big difference, and where intense training has been shown to lower thyroid levels, all hormone levels, in certain individuals.

The meds are available with a simple internet search through "research companies" for less than $100. I'd be shocked if a large percentage of High School runners aren't experimenting with a variety of "grey" supplements.

Now GW1516 is available at a relatively inexpensive price.

Happened to me! wrote:

I developed hypothyroidism in my junior year of college due to the high intensity of training. I was an All-American several times but all of a sudden I gained weight and could not handle a 30-minute run. I literally ran my body into the ground. Lab tests showed high TSH levels. Synthroid did not help and then I was put on Cytomel, and within 3 months I was back to my old self. About one year after college, I was slowly titrated off the Cytomel and I have not needed it since. It is very possible for someone doing high mileage to develop thyroid problems.

Without solid research, it's a stretch to say that hypothyroidism is caused by high intensity training. It's possible that has been in your family but it was undetected.

If endurance sports CAUSE hypothyroidism, then every runner would get diagnosed at one point. but we all know runners who do some crazy mileage and intensity and are completely normal.

It would be a great to have more research on this.

oldhalfmileguy wrote:

Actually the answer to all this is very simple. Eliminate TUE's totally. Sorry, if you have a life threatening condition that requires medication you are not an elite athlete. period. Asthma? nope sorry, compete without your inhaler and steroids or do not compete.

Asthma is not a joke.

And it can be treated effectively without giving anyone a competitive advantage - it just lets them do what people without asthma can do.

noname wrote:

Without solid research, it's a stretch to say that hypothyroidism is caused by high intensity training. It's possible that has been in your family but it was undetected.

If endurance sports CAUSE hypothyroidism, then every runner would get diagnosed at one point. but we all know runners who do some crazy mileage and intensity and are completely normal.

It would be a great to have more research on this.

This makes sense to me and I really wish there was more research on the subject. When I was diagnosed, and indicated that the symptoms initially started during a bout of overdoing my training, the doctor suggested that perhaps the stress of over doing it, may have brought the condition out.

I have the autoimmune condition (Hashimoto's), and after being diagnosed I found out my grandmother, her sister and my only female cousin on that side of the family had the same condition. My grandmother and her sister both became symptomatic after bouts of strep throat, my cousin was hit during her pregnancy, and me following the peak of a marathon training cycle, so all stressful events. Therefore, it would make sense that stress brought out the condition.

I would be interested to know if the elite endurance athletes being treated have the autoimmune condition or not? It has been my understanding that for me, the attack launched by my own immune system destroys the gland and therefore, normal function will never return. With that said, when I have felt slightly symptomatic I have backed off of exercising and sometimes will feel physically better following a few weeks of rest.

It would make sense that a gland that is simply fatigued versus had it's cells attacked by an immune response, could recover without medication. For me, someone who has a legit thyroid condition, being medicated does not help my performance and has not even brought me back to normal. However, it would be interesting to see some more research on the impact to someone who does not really need synthetic thyroid hormone replacement.

grizz wrote:

Hey, Saladbar, I was just wondering if Alberto has ever written about these issues, you know, like in a paper or something. You wouldn't happen to have a link to the paper, would you?

:)