anyone used dr schulze's herbal products?(specifically interested in treating thyroid

[kaybee]

just wondering if anyone has used these products and what the general reputation for them is...

im at the end of my rope, have been trying for quite some time to treat a number of symptoms that have, as of yet, not really been definitively diagnosed: most problematic (and debilitating) is daily "brain fog" from about an hour after i get up until approx 3 pm, regardless of adjustments to schedule,diet, eating times, sleep schedule, location, etc etc etc, but also including low energy, fatigue, muscular stiffness and aches and pains, less-than-ideal skin condition, inability to lose weight, etc. i have been pretty much raw for the last year and a half, though with some occasional "cheats," and with some short periods of less than 100%,due to travel, etc, but also with longer periods of 100%. i havent noticed any improvement in this condition, which has been going on for over 18 months, and has seriously interfered with my ability to get my schoolwork done and have a "normal" life....

my dr. suspects hypothyroid and/or female-hormone related condition, but my blood test results didnt seem to be radically out of normal range, though he said some of them could be "better." he recommended treatment with armour or synthroid (i wont take armour due to its animal origin),and also treatment with the wiley protocol of hormone replacement therapy to rebalance my system. i chose not to undertake either of these treatments at the time (about 5 months ago), despite the frustrating and life-compromising effects of the health problems i was dealing with, because i did not feel comfortable putting drugs into my body to treat symptoms for a condition that was not really definitively diagnosed; ie using these drugs to treat the symptoms even though there wasnt really a conclusive diagnosis. AND also I didnt want to go on something that would treat the symptoms of a condition but would not heal the condition; ie i dont want to be dependent on a pharmeceutical for the rest of my life--im only 29. but jeez, i sure would like to feel better; i feel like im losing out on life because im not able to fully function for part of each day, and also have these other symptoms too. i did go on a high-potency iodine supplement recommended by the dr. but after 3 months still noticed no improvement. i have tried juicing, otc herbal supplements, coconut oil, supplements, increasing exercise, decreasing exercise, schedule changes, green smoothies, etc. and have found no change. im about at the end of my rope and about ready to just go on synthroid or something, since everything ive tried hasnt worked. but i still dont really want to do that...

anyway, i came across the dr schulze stuff online, just wondering if anyone has used it to treat anything? im not sure what formulas i would use, as his index of conditions and suggested treatment for them doesnt list either hypothyroidism or "brain fog.".... so if anyone has any suggestions on this either, i would appreciate it. it does seem like his protocols focus on cleansing and detox, and i feel like my body should be pretty clean, because i was vegetarian for the last 13 yrs, mostly whole-foods vegan for the last 5 or so, and mostly high to 100% raw for the last few years...which makes me wonder whether i really need his cleansing and detox formulas.... but SOMETHING is not working, and coming across his stuff feels like a last straw before having to resort to the meds cuz im just tired of losing my life--but i really dont want to be dependent on pharmaceuticals that are not really healing my body... schulze's website didnt seem to provide any opportunity to inquire about treating specific conditions, apparently due to US law and the illegality of giving medical advice, so it makes it difficult to figure out how to treat any condition thats not listed there.....
-i also dont really want to spend any more money on any more things that arent gonna work, im at the end of my rope with trying all these different products only to find no change in my condition and wasted money....im living on a student budget at the moment, also, no health insurance...

sorry for the long post, help much appreciated.
thanks all--

kaybee

[Stina]

I read his book and was very dubious at how unprofessional he was with the crude vocabulary and swearing in the writing. I'd personally recommend colon hydrotherapy and Blessed Herb products.

[Dimond]

His Female Balance formula is the best ever for PMS. You can e-mail customer service for product suggestions. They'll probably suggest his bowel cleanse, among other things.

[Revvell]

I suggest you call the company and find out what is suggested.

I've known Richard for over 21 years now... since he was called Professor Cayenne. His products are top quality. I'm thinking they may suggest the colon cleanse as well yet, dunno for sure.

Revvell

[luckitri]

Keep us updated kaybee! I just received Rx for hypothyroid diagnosis. Today is my first day on that Synthroid and I believe that it has made me weak anxious and depressed. I have no idea how long it takes to make one feel better.

Meanwhile I am frantically looking on-line for alternatives.

I found a company called www.HealthyChoiceNaturals.com that has a product for thyroid that looks good. . . (now I just have to figure out how to get the $!)

With Dr. Schulze's products it helps if you are absolutely sure what you have. His formula 1 and 2 for cleaning the colon did nothing for me I believe and part of it I could not take because I have severe reactions to some of the ingredients.

[CaliRaw]

I used his colon cleanse and let me tell you, it was the best one that I've ever used! I've previously used and didn't like Tiao He Cleanse, Garden of Life Perfect Cleanse, and Dr Natura Colinix.

I used Dr. Schulze's Formula #1. I didn't get to Formula #2. There was hard, rubbery beige stuff coming out of me that had little round-shaped, yellow globs inside of it. I'm not sure what THAT was. It wasn't the squishy long rubber that came out with Dr. Natura. This was HARD rubber-like and it looked like it could have sat inside an intestinal fold or something.

I am going to do it again. I know what was coming out wasn't the product that I was using for the cleanse, which I believe is the case with Dr. Natura (colonix).

Dr. Schulze's is the only one that I've used that I actually felt was doing something.

[Stina]

Do the products use psyllium?

[jaydee]

I'm currently using Dr. Schulze's Intestinal Formula #1, SuperFood, and his Echinacea Plus and they are great!! I would strongly suggest you call or go to his website for detailed info. The phn# is 1-800-HERBDOC(437-2362).

Hope this helps and good luck!

[CaliRaw]

I'm currently using Dr. Schulze's Intestinal Formula #1, SuperFood, and his Echinacea Plus and they are great!! I would strongly suggest you call or go to his website for detailed info. The phn# is 1-800-HERBDOC(437-2362).

Hope this helps and good luck!

Oh yeah, I forgot I had the superFood and echinacea too. How long have you been using the Formula #1? What's great about the products?

[CaliRaw]

Do the products use psyllium?

I think Formula #2 does, but I don't have the product in front of me to say for sure. I think the website is www.herbdoc.com

[whatchadurian]

I've used his products for years and have consistently found them to be very high quality and extremely effective. Some people are put off by his frankness, but I find it refreshing even if it's not my personal style.

[luckitri]

Hi kaybee. My thyroid Rx patient information sheet said that the Synthroid is responsible for 10% of all hospital admissions and 25% of all nursing home admissions. This warning is to impress apon the patient that you need to take it on time every day. I am not so regular sometimes when alot is going on I can forget if I am in a rush to get out the door early.

Also greatly upsetting to me is that Synthroid can cause osteoporosis which I already have severely. It is known for causing heart conditions and some kind of brain misfunction that I don't have the proper name of yet. Synthroid is only T4 which is OK if your body is able to synthesize it into the T3 as well. But some peoples' bodies are not capable of making that synthesis. The 'Syn" means synthetic. Currently there are warnings against Armour - they do not want people on it unless they have already been taking it for years. I know I ruled it out because of being from animals as well. . . . . but have wondered if I need to reconsider.

I am still looking into alternatives. Here is a site belonging to a doctor has several books about the iodine thyroid relationship.

http://www.drbrownstein.com/

I am going to try a combination of seasalt and iodoral product. I am overwhelmed by figuring out how to get proper dose of iodine/iodide since I read that iodine is both good for thyroid but also can be very bad and have not learned the whys and hows yet. I was wondering if you combined your iodine supplement with seasalt or if yours was the same product that I am considering?

I am getting the iodoral from this place 1-800-974-1879. If you need help understanding they have a clinical researcher that you can speak to but it is not an 800#. Right now I am not understanding so much but trusting as I am desperate and my condition is getting worse daily. Even my voice started getting squished this week and I cannot sing anymore. My nightmarish history with pharmaceuticals leads me this way.

When I went to fill the Rx for the Synthroid the pharmacist could tell me very little (did not seem very sharp at all) except that he did say that he had just started on this Rx himself and that he felt better than he had in years. He is quite old and I realized that if he gets a heart attack from the Synthroid, due to his age, it will probably just be chalked up to his age and the Rx never considered. (Makes me mad.)

Regarding your frustration with not getting a conclusive diagnosis. I was told that I have a thyroid problem 30 years ago and that I needed to beg the doctor to give me a trial with the Rx because traditionally they thyroid tests do miss a huge amount of sufferers. (Never could find a doc willing.) They have never devised a perfect test to catch it which tends also to lend credence to the theories that our changing environment has increased this illness.

Also google Lugols. This was the predecessor to the iodoral and just as good to the best of my knowledge. Only problem with Lugol is the nasty taste and if it spills on your clothes you will need to throw them away.

http://www.altcancer.com/lugols.htm

[kaybee]

hi--

thanks for all the comments. i am going to call the dr schulze order line number and see if they can recommend anything; though their website said that if you call or email them they can only give info about orders, etc; they cannot give any advice regarding treatment, etc, which gave me the impression that the only info that was available to me was whatever was on the website, and i couldnt find anything regarding treatment of thyroid conditions on the website; it wasnt included in the list of health conditions that they gave recommended products for... anyway, ill give them a call and see.

luckytri--yeah, i was on iodoral; i took it for 3 months, 4 tablets a day and i was pretty consistent. i noticed NO improvement. its supposed to be a high potency, easily absorbed, but it didnt help me, which seems to me to indicate that my problem is not related to lack of iodine...besides, id been using a fair amount of sea veg before i started on the iodoral anyway and that didnt seem to stave off my problem either... i didnt specifically take the iodoral with sea salt, didnt know anything about that, but i did use unrefined sea salt rather freely in my food anyway, and occasionally in my water. when i stopped taking the iodoral, i didnt notice any worsening of symptoms either. NOTHING i have tried has really seemed to make the condition either better or worse. the most incapacitating part of my problem is this brain-fog thing that goes on daily, and i was even evaluated by a man who is trained in neurofeedback training, who did an evaluation using electrodes etc of my brain activity and determined that part of my brain that should be active is actually "sleeping" during part of the day.... so i dunno.

anyway, i had no luck with iodoral, but good luck to you; i was told that some people notice an immediate difference upon taking it. not me, unfortunately. also, thats scary stuff about the synthroid.... i had the impression it was fairly safe and saw little on the internet in regards to warnings. yeah, im well aware that the syn part of synthroid means synthetic, but ground up animal glands wasnt something i wanted to put into my body either.. ick. the only other thing ive come across, and might be willing to try at this point, if i have to resort to drugs, and IF i had insurance, which i dont, is a specific protocol that has been used to treat i think its called wilsons temperature syndrome, which is a type of thyroid disorder where the test results show up normal but there are still symptoms, including low body temperature. anyway, theres a specific protocol to follow very closely and with a dr trained in the protocol and they give you a t3 drug not a t4, and somehow it "resets" peoples t4's in some cases and they can actually get off the meds entirely. id be willing to try something like that if it were directed towards actually fixing the problem and getting me off the meds, but i dont have any health insurance at the moment, and anything i get is not going to cover a preexisting condition and bloodwork etc is SO expensive if youre paying out of pocket. there has GOT to be a way to do this without drugs, but i havent found any improvement with anything ive tried yet, and it gets frustrating and exhausting. in my case, i dont think this is a detox issue, but i dont know what it is, unless its stress-related, which is definitely a possibility. crazy that stress could cause this severe a condition though.... anyway, just wish i knew how to fix it. good luck. ill keep you updated if i try the dr schulze stuff; my inclination is that the bowel cleanses 1 and 2 arent going to solve my problem, same as you experienced; since i dont think its a toxin issue for me..., but i wonder if the cayenne or brain formula or anything like that might... or i just dunno. just tired of trying stuff, getting my hopes up, and then finding yet another thing that doesnt work while i continue to not have the energy and vitality to really live out life.

good luck.

k

[luckitri]

Well when you call the Dr Schulze place they can be helpful to an extent.

In my travels I have read that stress can cause this but lots of other things as well. Pesticides on our produce is a huge one and even fluoride in the toothpaste. I went and got the Dr Bronners in tea tree oil flavor and hope that is better and not as abrasive as the baking soda although often I do forget to brush with raw. It is the slips that really make my teeth noticeably needy of brushing. Unfortunately I am not in a position to go organic so am wondering about the pesticide one. I am just going to go and stare at the organic section and figure out how I can do it. They have very little selection. A supermarket chain has a huge organic section near me but I really don't trust that it is truly organic. All the organic prices are just through the roof - better for someone who is more advanced on raw and needs less food.

As far as the iodoral and iodine - the guy told me that it would be impossible for me to eat the amount of seaweed I would need to get it naturally.

I think that my next area of inquiry should be low levels of radiation from TV's, computers, etc. I have been constantly bombarded almost 24/7 for 20 years now due to my work environments, TV having to be on at home (I didn't even have one before married), and now cell phones. I get a lot of learning from this computer but maybe it is zapping me too much. Even if I learn that the radiation could have caused it - removal of the radiation does not necessarily mean that I will heal naturally at all.

[luckitri]

http://www.adopitron.com/#

I don't have time to explore this now - it is the first site I have found specific to this question.

[kaybee]

luckytri--i just spoke to someone at dr schulze, she said they were just given this ?new? information, and that for balancing out thyroid, they recommend the female formula for BOTH MEN AND WOMEN who have thyroid imbalances. call and double check, becuase there is a regular female formula and then also a female balance formula and i think its the regular one, not the balance one, but im not positive. the lady ordered it for me when i was on the phone. she says take it 4x a day till the end of the bottle, (i guess about 20 days worth) then go back to dr and have the thyroid levels checked. im not going to go back because i have no insurance at the moment, but i think i should be able to get some idea of whether its working based on if i am feeling any better. my test results the first time werent radically radically abnormal anyway, still sort of within normal range, which is why i couldnt get a definitive treatment diagnosis, just a "probable hypothyroid" to treat by trial and error... probably should have ordered 2 bottles though. ah well, at this point, anythings worth a try. i specifically asked if they recommended the bowel cleanse, or anything else, along with this, and she said i could do a detox or somethign if i wanted, but that they really recommended this female formula. so what the heck. cant hurt at this point; im desperate to avoid synthroid, etc if i can, but i NEED to feel better since this condition has caused my graduate work to drag on an extra almost 2 years so far.... hoping this formula might be even more helpful than just treating the thyroid too, because dr. said i might have some sort of female hormone imbalances too; maybe this will treat both......

goodluck luckytri, hope the synthroid is maybe making you feel better by now?

kaybee

[luckitri]

Hi kaybee. I tried the Synthroid 1X and realized it was not for me. It made me even more fatigued, physically weak and depressed. This reaction caused me to question whether or not it would suppress the remaining natural action of the thyroid. Of course the doctor still has not called me back. In my travels on-line I finally found something today that confirms my suspicion. Unfortunately I got interrupted and need to figure out where I was. Basically the article said that the pill will replace and suppress your thyroid production so that if the pill is less than what your thyroid is already still making - you will have the negative reaction that I did of getting even sicker. I certainly do not want to take more of it either.

I also joined a thyroid forum but it does not seem to be very active as I am not getting any answers. (Everybody must be down with the hypo! LOL!) Ah well, I was hoping to get some shortcuts to understanding but that is not in the cards for me. Anyway, after what I experienced and then read today, it appears to me that if I stick with the Synthroid I will be married to it for life because it will suppress my thyroid. Fagetaboutit!

Also my reading says that the iodine works with the tyrosine. I had purchased the L-tyrosine and then returned it. The person I got the Iodoral from says I do not need the tyrosine supplement. So I still have not got my confidence up to start this. I need much more reading.

I am wondering if your Dr. Schulze formula is iodine loaded. The amount of times to take it per day is the same as the Iodoral iodine supplement.

Also this is very important because I am now seeing what is wrong with my son. His "Slow Cognitive Tempo" is somehow related to hypothyroid. There are also psychological problems and personality problems related such as atypical depression and avoidance personality disorder (yep thats me). So now I need to find a pediatrician that will help with him in a natural way. Or I need to get confident enough to give him this iodine and be sure that I am not harming him. Interestingly enough, for years he has intuitively been trying to self-medicate by piling on the salt - table salt - in frightening amounts.

Table salt is sodium chloride. Chloride is a halide just like iodine. Chloride is however, apparently, dominant. Meaning that the chloride in the table salt will stick to your iodine recepters and prevent the iodine from absorbing. (Not that I was eating table salt but maybe some reader will appreciate this info.) So the government mandated iodine be added to salt 80 something years ago and all a wasted effort because very little of it is actually bio-available.

This really is a severely life-curtailing illness and very complex. (There are so many other illnesses that tie into it or are known to co-exist with it.) Also the testing for thyroid has always been a joke. Actually I read that they did a better job of diagnosing back in the 1970's before they started using the current tests. I am hoping that I can pin all my ills on this donkey in the hopes that I can get healed once and for all. Please let me know how the Dr. Schulze formula works for you - I am very interested.

[juliebove]

You might try the thyroid newsgroup. I no longer post there now that my thyroid is under control. Lots of smart people there.

[luckitri]

Thanks for that juliebove! It is so good to hear that someone has it under control! Do you mind sharing if it was natural means or synthetic means that helped you? If you take Rx do you have to adjust it if your weight changes or if your body goes through extra stress? mmmmm. . . . I guess I can just go to the site!

[kaybee]

luckytri--

the dr schulze formula is all herbs. i guess some of them could contain iodine, but theres no iodine added. it was initially created as a female hormone balancing formula, not specifically for the thyroid, but i guess they probably are finding a connection between the 2?...maybe when one thing is out of whack another is too so if you correct the first imbalance it helps correct the second? i dont know. dr schulze lists the ingredients on his website, if you want to have a look. i know it has chasteberry, dong quai, and some other stuff.

just my opinion, but i wouldnt worry about the safety of the iodoral; i'd go ahead and give it a try and/or let your son give it a try. my dr. said its really pretty safe, and the warnings on the package for side effects seemed pretty mild, if i remember correctly (metallic taste in mouth if you take too much, etc.) also, he told me that many many people are iodine deficient. im just sorry it didnt help me...and i think that if i was going to notice any improvement, i would have seen SOMETHING at least, some indicator, in 3 months of use. but i would say for you to go ahead and give it a try, dont think it would hurt and dr. told me some people notice a difference immediately. im just not sure what my problem is because ive tried offering my body additional nutrients that the thyroid needs (iodine, zinc, selenium), and no change, and i also know that my thyroid IS functioning at least on some level, because of the bloodwork...just dont know what i need to do to help it function more/better.

thats really frustrating about the synthroid SUPPRESSING the body's own production. it would seem preferable to just have somethign that would make up for the difference between what the body is producing and what it should be producing. i guess thats why alot of people recommend armour, huh?, cuz i bet armour just directly supplements instead of suppressing. too bad armour is from such a yuck source.

ill keep you updated on the dr schulze when i get it. also thinking of trying the cayenne and maybe the brain formula, but gonna start one with just the female balancing first.

one further note: one thing i was pretty impressed about when i called the dr schulze number is that the lady checked her literature and then told me the female balancing formula was recommended. she didnt try to sell me the starter kit, the bowel cleanse 1 2 and 3 etc etc etc, or any of their other products. i specifically asked if there was anything else that was recommended that i do in conjuction, and she said that all that it says is that they recommend the female balancing formula. she said i could do a detox or something too if i wanted, but she didnt push me or tell me that was part of the protocol. my point here is that im sure bowel cleanse etc helps in a lot of cases, and im not minimizing that it could be helpful, but just i was impressed that they didnt try to sell me everything they sold, they just tried to sell me the specific formula that was recommended for my condition. in my eyes, that gives them more credibility.

kaybee

[luckitri]

Hi. I just took the first Iodoral. I assume that I am to take the 4 tablets spread out over the day. The book is encouraging and speaks of many other conditions that iodine helps with including breast cancer, especially pre-cancer conditions and prostrate. (Dr David Brownstein book.)

[luckitri]

kaybee, I am wondering why this iodine did not work for you. Just one day on it and I feel better already. In the Dr. Brownstein book he keeps writing that he combines nutritional supplements and herbs with the iodine but he does not state what those are. He also mentions combining a "natural" thyroid supplement with the iodine. I assume he is referencing Armoural.

[kaybee]

weird.... maybe thyroid is not my problem then...maybe its something else or a combination of factors... like i said, my symptoms are that of hypothyroid, but my test results werent radically off the charts, mostly low/normal i took that stuff pretty faithfully, 4 pills a day for like 3 months..and noticed nothing. nor did i notice feeling worse when i stopped using it... maybe im part alien or something...seems like everything i try for all sorts of ailments that works for other people never works for me. ggggrrrrr.

anyway glad it helped you out. hopefully the dr schulze stuff will help me. maybe its a different hormonal problem i have, not just thyroid. i wish i knew.

kaybee

[luckitri]

Hey, I am far from well yet. I need to go to bed now after I finish my salad. I am still very weak. Also I can get in trouble if I don't find someone to monitor my levels.

If I run across any ideas in my travels I certainly will be thinking of you.

[luckitri]

Well now I am so confused. Felt good this a.m. but body crashed. I have no way of knowing what is going on. The doctor finally finally called back and explained things from his perspective. . . . and no he won't work with iodine. He says that iodine suppresses the thyroid from producing any hormone. Maybe that is what is happening to me today. Maybe that is why the iodine did not work for you at all kaybee.

I would be embarassed, and I kind of am, but hey, I am trying to get well and I am trying to learn and when you have the thyroid foggy brain it gets just that more difficult.

So at this point I need more information yet still. I suppose that tomorrow I will try to find a doctor that works with the iodine instead of just telling me that the only people in US that are deficient live in the Midwest. Although this young doc is special in that he does call you back - even though one has to do battle with staff and machines to get to him.

He says that the Synthroid does not shut down the thyroid - it supplements what the thyroid is already making. He does not know why I crashed so hard from the Synthroid so he told me to cut them in half. * He says I may not notice any better feeling for 6-8 weeks. He says that doctors do not like to prescribe the other Rx's out there for thyroid because they have a tendency to cause hyperthyroid with too much T3. From that statement I am assuming that they are trusting the body to know how much T3 to make from the Synthroid (which is only T4). Yet again here is more conflict as I have read that some people do not synthesize the necessary T3 from the T4. I have to wait another 6-8 weeks to find out?

Anyway, I have the Hashimoto which does not respond to iodine like other types of thyroid disorder - it is written all over the internet. Also written all over is that iodine can make automimune thyroid like Hashimoto very much worse and is very risky. They just warn - they do not explain why.

Dr. Brownstein's book has a special section (very small) for Hashimoto that states that iodine loading (what I am attempting) was historically the treatment of choice for Hashimoto like he is just trying to get back to using a time-honored successful treatment. However on Mary Shomons' about.com page there is a quote from Dr Brownstein in one of the articles that appears to contradict himself about use of iodine. (I will try to find it.)

At this point I am getting conflicting information and don't know which way to go. If I harm myself with the iodine I do not know if it is reversible or not. And on some sites I read that the Synthroid basically does shut down the thyroid gland - directly opposite of what the doc said. aAAAAHHGGG!

* Logic tells me that if I have to cut the Synthroid in half - then obviously it is suppressing rather than supplementing the natural action of my thyroid - contrary to what the doctor said with his mouth. Can anyone help me here? Am I thinking straight?

[luckitri]

I see that the same studies are used by the allopathic community as the naturopathic alternative community and they both will interpret them different ways to suit their preferred mode of treatment. This is very hard to sort through. They actually take the exact same study and get 2 very different conclusions!

[carolg]

I'm a big fan of Schulze too. I have not done his cleanses but many of his other products (tinctures). I love his direct approach. He gets right to the point and people don't have to read in between to figure it out. I also believe his products are top quality.

I have wwaiting for my use #1 and 2 cleanse. Any idea how long they can hang out here/

Also his newsletter is fabulous reading. I get it in the mail, free, but maybe online too.

carolg

[wantsandwishes]

Hi, I just found your thread now. I just wanted to add my two cents. I love his products. He is frank and uses whatever language he wants but I for one find his products to be a lifesaver. I use the formula #1 daily and without it would be so sick. I have used the bowel cleanse at least 6 times and cured a hemorroid with that as well. Also I have cured at least 5 bladder infections with the kidney cleanse. A major weak area for me. I love his products have used almost all of them except the liver cleanse (doing that next) and the male formulas of course. I have used his products for over 6 years and he is amazing. Take care hopes this helps
Lisa

[jeniferselly]

Hi
I am just starting Dr. Schulze's Herbal product.I was suffering from thyroid and after using this I feel good and some problems reduced like I lost some weight.I am very thankful for Dr. Schulze's product.

peo companies (http://www.xcelhr.com/)

[Revvell]

I use them as well. SuperFood and Heart Tincture are my mainstays.