Do you know the most prescribed drugs in 2013-2014-2015? Synthroid to treat Hypothyroidism/Hashimoto’s. I have learned that 95% of Hypothyroidism patients have this autoimmune disease. The blood test is called Thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO)—the most common test for autoimmune thyroid disease -tested by your physician or an endocrinologist but neglected in many cases. I really wanted to take this 12 weeks online intensive practitioner training course but super expensive. I have learned that this institute offer 50% scholarship to 2 practitioners (they run twice per year). Well, I am very much left brain person. The writing an essay “in English” is the last thing I do well but I was desperate. Guess what? I got in. One of my “infertile hashimoto’s patient” told me the essay I wrote made her cry. I learned something myself by writing this easy – it took me only 10 min to wrote this. I can write!!! Here’s the essay I wrote:
“My name is Tamie Taniguchi Bilazzo, and I live in Boston, MA, one of the country’s major centers for bio-medical laboratories and major hospitals, both new and long-established. I am Japanese, and practice a gentle, Japanese style of acupuncture at my private clinic, Japanese Acupuncture Clinic (tamietreatment.com). I specialize in hormonal imbalances, with 70% of patients struggling with infertility, 20% with menopause and other hormonal issues, and 10% with pain and stress management. Nearly everyone who walks into my clinic diagnosed with “unexplained infertility” or “poor ovarian reserve” after having Western medicine fertility testing actually has some type of thyroid issue. Among my fertility patients, only 50% come pre-diagnosed as Hashimoto, and the rest show signs and symptoms of thyroid-related issues that their doctors may have dismissed, therefore never getting a diagnosis. The additional 20% of other hormone imbalanced patients come in with a variety of chronic symptoms, and very few of them have ever had their thyroid fully checked. The main reason doctors don’t run a complete “thyroid panel” in the first place is because it is not covered by insurance.
Here in Massachusetts, fertility doctors only test TSH. In order to get TPO and a full thyroid panel, patients must get on a 4 – 6 month waiting list with a reproductive endocrinologist. I have a few patients who went to see their RE after waiting for 6 months, and were still not able to obtain a full panel; they were only given Synthroid and asked to come back in 6 months. There are a few functional medicine doctors practicing in the greater Boston area, but I am in a unique position due to my ability to simultaneously test thyroid panel, help patients with acupuncture treatments, and give them diet and nutrition guidance.
I have studied your books, weekly blogs, webinars, and YouTube videos, along with books written by Dr. Kharrazian, Mark Ryan, Dr. Amy Myers, Dr. Tami Meraglia, Dr. Peter Osborne, Dr. Sara Gottfried, Suzy Cohen, and many others. I print out your articles related to thyroid, recipes, nutrition, diet, supplement guidelines, and why people need to eliminate gluten, dairy, sugar consumption. There is also great information on good oils vs inflatable oils, iron sources, and the danger of micronutrient deficiencies- especially magnesium and vitamin D. Doctors tell my patients to go buy prenatal vitamins at CVS or Walgreens!
If I can be accepted to this scholarship program, I will immediately implement the training into my practice. It can help the patients who come in with big, purple bruises from hormone shots, the patients who do not believe they will be able to conceive any other way than IVF, and the women whose biological clocks are ticking, are financially and emotionally drained, but still manage to get to a 6AM blood draw and ultrasound before work. One Hashimoto at a time, one baby at a time, I can make a difference for the women who are told they have “unexplainable infertility”.
I have been learning a LOT!!!
Hashimoto’s Institute (Izabella Wentz – author of “The Root Causes of Hashimoto’s”
Hashimoto’s Institute Summit (in 2015) Facebook
