Paul,
At 11:44 7/26/98 -0400, you wrote:

>On the other hand, I do feel that his accurate diagnosis of the hypothyroid
condition and rx did keep me from dropping into a very bad state of
depression and I was grateful for that. But I feel the condition was largely
diet-induced - he never considered that possibility - and just several days
ago stopped taking the pills. (Another MD I saw after him found I had been
taking too much hormone and already had reduced the dosage).
>
>(I think there is a small percentage of folks who find permanant thyroid
hormone treatment very beneficial. They may benefit greatly from an
alternative practicioner who recognizes the importance of T3, as well as T4,
in treating this condition. There may be a much larger group who have some
degree of hypothyroidism but can improve it satisfactorily with diet change
and exercise).
>
I had a similar experience with thryoid (also am CFS).  When I first started
taking a very small amount of natural thryoid extract I felt a tremendous
improvement.  But after being at a plateau for a long period of time, maybe
a year or so, and having tried increasing the amount, I looked over my tests
and found that my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) kept getting lower so I
realized that the medication in my blood stream was giving signals to the
pituitary that it didn't have to do anything.  I stoppped taking the thryoid
entirely in December of last year and voila', my most recent test shows all
thyroid levels well in the normal range.
So I agree, supplementation is great for an initial push when the body is
out of balance, but as diet, exercise, relaxation, strength improve the
system, it should not be maintained on a permanent basis or it causes
harmful imbalances.

Janis