by Joyce Gross

source: Campaign for Truth in Medicine, Credence Eclub

Hi everyone (especially the women ),

Some of you may remember that last year I was touting soy along with the rest of the medical profession regarding its beneficial effects. I was consuming soy for its phytoestrogen effect to alleviate menopausal symptoms. I was duped like so many other non-suspecting consumers.

I developed Hashimoto's Disease or acute Hashimoto's Thyroiditis which is an acute autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid gland. (In basic terms this means that my thyroid is attacking itself and I can no longer produce thyroid hormone.) My initial symptoms included things like severe joint pain especially in my hands, "trigger" finger(s), carpal tunnel syndrome, excessive weight gain (I gained about 25 lbs. in 3-4 weeks which, of course, when you are a Registered Dietician you can calculate how many calories you are taking in and it just doesn't correlate with the amount of weight one is gaining.), chronic fatigue syndrome, a "brain fog", depression, among others. (Classic symptoms of hypothyroidism are that you gain an unexplained amount of weight in a short period of time and that your hair falls out).

It took almost 4 months before everything was figured out (by me) and it was not really diagnosed properly by my physicians. 

About 3-4 months after I initially started the soy supplement I had been taking (now this would also include any soy isoflavone pills you may be taking as well), I developed a "hyper" state, where my resting pulse rate was 125, and I was having 100's of palpitations a day.

Of course, so many of the symptoms I mentioned above can be related to so many other diseases or conditions (especially menopause and when you've never been in menopause before - how does one know what is normal and what is not?) but of course, when the "heart" thing started, this got me to a cardiologist and fast. I didn't know if I was having a heart attack or what. The only thing I could think that I had done differently, as I was waiting for the cardiologist to call me, back was the soy. So I went onto Google (www.google.com), put in "toxic effects of soy", and thyroid disease (especially hypothyroidism) came up. Well, I'm saying to myself, "that doesn't make sense". How can I be hypothyroid with a resting pulse rate of 125! So it's in the back of my mind but I'm thinking it's not feasible. 

Anyway, I go to the cardiologist, have all kinds of tests, echocardiogram, Holter monitor on for 24 hours, etc. I am told that "there's nothing wrong with me. Go home and take your oestrogen and you'll feel better." Well, I won't tell you how angry that made me. I insisted that there was something wrong with me and told the doctor to have my labs faxed to me and I would look for another doctor to help me. When my labs came through my fax machine, I almost fainted. They did a TSH (the indicator for thyroid disease) and it was elevated! (which means that I had an under-active thyroid). Later on, after researching this thing to death, I found out that my symptoms of the "hyper" state are sometimes quite common and many women wind up in the emergency room as a result. Apparently, in Hashi's, just before your thyroid stops working completely, it can go "haywire" and put you into a hyper and hypo state.

It has taken 8 months now for me to start feeling better. Adjustments in thyroid medication take some time and I have finally been losing weight, have no more carpal tunnel syndrome, etc. 

So, this brings me to my word of caution. If any of you, or your wives, are taking soy products, isoflavone pills or homeopathic-type menopausal products, please be careful. I have since found out that Hashi's can take 8 years to diagnose (we don't build up the antibodies overnight to it) and from an email that I sent out to a few of you the other day, I know that some of you are also hypothyroid. There are tons of websites to go to for more information or email me if you are affected by this and I will be happy to help you find some. The soybean industry is a multi-billion dollar industry in this country so it is are trying to keep this quiet, even though there have been doctors in the FDA who have written position papers regarding the dangers of soy. 

Just before I started writing this note to you, I received an email from a woman in the United Kingdom who is interested in my testimonial, along with many others. She is a consumer representative on a government committee which is looking into health concerns over phytoestrogens. I have also been in touch over the past several months with people in New Zealand who are also "on the bandwagon" regarding the dangers of soy. They have several documented animal studies showing the ill effects of soy.

With so many new products coming out containing soy, and the continued "touting" of it as a major benefit, more and more women are going to become hypothyroid. I am currently working as a nutrition expert in treating depression, bi-polar disorder and substance abuse problems. I can't tell you how many of the women who are admitted for depression are also hypothyroid to the point now that the medical doctor automatically first checks their TSH before the psychiatrists even start prescribing their meds. If I hadn't been so adamant about taking over my own health issues last August, I could have very easily wound up being a patient in my own hospital. Menopause doesn't mean that we are supposed to be depressed. Menopause is great, though I used to tell people that was a whole lot of rubbish several months ago.

If you are having any of the symptoms mentioned above, don't assume it's the menopause. It is estimated that there are about 10 million women out there who have hypothyroidism and don't know it. Are you one of them? Have your TSH level checked every few years and if you are taking soy, you may want to give serious consideration to stopping it.

My guess is that a class action suit will eventually develop out of all of this but, of course, the way things work it'll probably take a few years. I am going to be very actively involved in this area over the next several months assisting those groups and individuals who are publicising this health concern.

If any of you are, or have been experiencing any of what I've told you, just go onto 'google' and type in "symptoms of hypothyroidism" for more information regarding the symptoms.
Joyce Gross, M.A.,R.D.,L.D/N.

CTM Comment; It is important to distinguish between fermented soy, such as soy sauce, miso and tempeh, and the soy additives and 'soy protein' found in so many foods. The fermentation process removes most of the potentially harmful compounds that are found in more modern types of soy additives and non-fermented soy products. For a more direct examination of soy, see our article entitled 'Soy Story' which appeared in Eclub December 15th 2001. 

For more information on the soy issue, please see http://www.thedoctorwithin.com/articles/magic_bean.html