Thyroid woes

Anyone who suffers from thyroid problems can relate to that medical doctors are pretty much useless when it comes to dealing with thyroid issues. Hypothyroidism runs in my family, so my experience is pretty much limited to underactive thyroid or hypothyroidism. I developed an underactive thyroid after the birth of my second son. The doctor who delivered my son told me to diet. My childhood family doctor diagnosed a thyroid problem. I had a resting pulse of 58. He told me that if I wasn't currently training for the Olympics, I had a thyroid problem. See how easy that is? And he was right! My doctor who delivered my son could see that the thyroid medication he didn't prescribe was helping me, so until he retired to a desk job, he monitored my TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) and continued to prescribe the thyroid supplement. For those of you who suffer from thyroid problems, you should be aware that the old standards (which most doctors still religiously adhere to) are that a "normal" TSH falls between .6 and 6. In 2003, the official Endocrinologist (gland doctors, for those of you not familiar with the term) organization decided too many people were being undiagnosed, so they lowered the standards to .3 to 3. If you're young, you probably want to be in roughly the "2" area, but for those of us a little older, we need to be in the lower range. Regardless, this is the best way to look at your perfect TSH. Normal shoe sizes for women are between 6 and 10. Normal clothing sizes for women are between 6 and 16. Following the "normal" guidelines for TSH, every shoe between 6 and 10 should fit you, and every piece of clothing between 6 and 16 should fit you? Make sense? Not at all. The bottom line is you have to find the "normal" that fits you.

In 2006, I developed a virus that attacked my thyroid gland. My new family doctor, who was an egotistical know-it-all (we fired each other) read my TSH of zero as that I was overactive thyroid. I knew that to be false, but when he suggested a gradual decrease in my thyroid supplement, I decided I would try it. Big mistake. His ego told him my agreeing made him right and he just about killed me. I gained 45 pounds in a little over a year, was irritable, couldn't focus or concentrate or stay awake, had severe muscle cramps from the neck down, my hair fell out by the handful, the inside and outside corners of my eyebrows fell out regularly, I had chronic sinus infections even though I'd never had them before, I began to snore, my skin was dry and pasty looking, I craved carbohydrates, I lost all the hair in my armpits and pubic region, I retained tons of water. Now you'd think my doctor would notice something was wrong, but you'd be mistaken. He couldn't get his nose out of the test results long enough to notice anything.

I found a new doctor who referred me to the leading endocrinologist in the area. It took her 3 1/2 months to fit me in, and then she told me, without ordering any new tests, that I shouldn't be taking any thyroid supplement, that my thyroid was habituated to being overstimulated, and that she doubted I'd ever had a thyroid problem - ever. I was furious. Back to the new doctor, who could see something was wrong, but couldn't figure out what it was. In an effort to try to feel alive again, I began taking kelp. Word of caution: do not take kelp if you are taking a thyroid supplement as this will drive your blood pressure to dangerous heights. She finally referred me to another endocrinologist, who diagnosed me with Grave's Disease. Yup. That's overactive thyroid. She was wrong too, but at least this got us all on the track that it was a virus doing all of this. When all was said and done, the endocrinologist (old school) was satisfied with my 4.7 TSH, even though that was clearly underactive thyroid by the new standards. My new family doctor agreed with me and put me back on thyroid supplement. I gradually increased the dosage until I felt well. I now take 125 mcg of Eltroxin and have a TSH of about .5.

The downside is that I was hypothyroid for long enough that my entire metabolism is messed up and even taking the correct amount of thyroid supplement isn't helping me to lose weight. Still, I feel alive again for the first time in a long time, and that's worth more to me right now than an immediate weight loss.

Herbalife is a failing proposition

Thinking of starting a Herbalife business? Is someone trying to convince you that if you're willing to work you can be rich beyond your wildest dreams? Read this first.

You have probably filled in contact information on a web page telling you about an incredible home-based business, which can make you financially independent. You have been contacted by a mentor/coach who spent a great deal of money to get your name and contact information. This person will be your “upline” should you choose to become a part of Herbalife. This person has a huge, financial interest in your signing up under him/her because in Herbalife, you only begin to make serious money when you get people to sign up under you (your “downline”.) Herbalife is MLM (multi-level marketing) or a pyramid scheme. Your mentor will dangle the possibility of making huge money under your nose and try to get you to sign on as a “Supervisor” because this is where you can begin to make serious money.

BUT WAIT!!!!!!

This is what you aren't being told:

It will cost you a lot of money to “run” your home-based business, and there is absolutely no guarantee that you will succeed, which they are quick to point out while at the same time telling you how rich you can become. There is about a 95% failure rate within Herbalife. To start, when you agree to sign up as a supervisor, you will be shipped a starter kit. This costs about $200.00 Then comes the “Supervisor order”, which will cost you approximately $4000. You will be overwhelmed by the stuff you'll unpack and wonder how the heck you'll ever get rid of it all! You will be told about people who have “moved” their supervisor order within four to six weeks, earning all their money back, and how they were on their way to a lucrative business. The truth is that most people won't be able to do this.

If you aren't willing to humiliate yourself by “wearing the button,” or spending countless hours putting fliers under the windshield wipers of every vehicle you see, or giving up every evening and weekend to be on the phone making cold calls to overweight, depressed and poor people, don't get started in Herbalife. You're going to spend most of your days and evenings on the phone, trying to talk people into buying the products (which are actually fantastic) and into signing up under you as your downline. The top of the hour will be follow up calls, the bottom of the hour will be calling leads or “dial sessions.” Even if you are willing to do this, there is still no guarantee of success, which Herbalife will also tell you (their constant legal disclaimer), but having said that, they will continue to try to whip you into a frenzy of greed to keep your hopes alive that you will become hopelessly and unbelievably wealthy. Remember the 95% failure rate?

BUT WAIT!!!!!

There's more!

Early on in the training, you will be instructed to sign up for the iOffice, which will cost you about $33 per month. You will be instructed to get a toll-free number, unlimited long distance and three way calling, all of which will cost you more on your phone bill. The toll free number is the least of it, but unlimited long distance (maybe you have it anyway) will cost you upwards of $15 per month, and having the rest of the phone stuff you'll need will cost you an additional $15 or so per month, depending on your phone provider. You will be instructed to register for two websites to start (later there will be three). Initially, these websites don't cost that much, but a year later they get expensive. These websites are where people can order sample packs (in eight months, nobody accessed mine) and another one where people can order products (in eight months, nobody accessed that one either.) In order to have these websites, you have to get yourself a merchant account. It costs about $150 to set this thing up, and then you get charged $25-35 per month for upkeep, whether you use it or not. If you cancel part way through the year, you have to pay the balance of that $25 – 30 per month for the months not used because it's an annual contract, plus there is a cancellation fee of $200 for the VISA and $175 for Mastercard. Then you will be told to sign up for “Connecting Point,” which you will need to use “Lead Blazer.” Connecting Point will cost about $40 per month, plus Lead Blazer has a huge fee also. I never signed up for Lead Blazer, so I can't remember how much that is, but I think it's more than $100 per month. You can purchase “leads” to make your cold calls. They cost just over $5 apiece, and you can expect about 30% of them to order sample packs, and about 30% of those will become customers (if your sales pitch works well). Your customers won't be enough to make you rich, so now you will have to purchase “media shares.” I never got that far either, so I have no first-hand knowledge of the cost, but my upline told me it was not uncommon to spend upwards of $2000 a month on “advertising.” I would assume these would be the media shares. You will be required to purchase business cards and other products from their affliliated company eTeamLeads. There are business cards, fliers, hot pockets, envelopes, address labels. They are ordered in quantities ranging from 50 for some items up to 3000 for others. The costs range from $50 to $185 depending on how many you order, plus exorbitant shipping and handling. There is no end to the money you can spend in hopes of succeeding in this business.

The training you won't receive is about the products. You will sell products you have no clue about. They are nutritional supplements, vitamins, protein bars, etc. You will not know or be taught what product is for what, and you will be expected to figure this out on your own. Can you imagine a doctor prescribing something and not knowing if it'll help you or not? Well, that's what you'll be doing to start with until you learn. Basically, you won't know what you're talking about and it will show. Your upline will be too impatient and pressed for time to train you properly or answer your questions, because for them, just like you, time is money. It will take you a year or two (in most likelihood) if you're diligent and persistent to start to make money selling Herbalife.

You can see that the outlay of cash to be in this business for yourself is phenomenal. Until you persuade people to also sign up under you (your downline), you don't have a hope of making any kind of serious money. (Do the math from what I wrote above). Finding a “downline” is difficult and expensive. You will have to pay for those leads (unless you're fortunate enough to find people in personal contact, such as friends and family, who are eager to sign up – unlikely to happen) and then whip them into a frenzy of greed and not tell them about all the costs involved, just as it happened with you. Everything in running this business is expensive. If you're not prepared to give up your life, your cash and your self-esteem to make this business work, leave your hard-earned money where it is – in your wallet. There are businesses out there that cost far less to run and administer with a greater success rate and payback.

My advice? The products are great. Buy them. Use them. You won't regret that. Sign up as a Distributor (you will still be profiting your upline – hope you like him/her!) to get a discount. That will cost you about $35 per year and then you will be entitled to a 30% discount on anything you order. As a Distributor, there are no other costs. If you can find others to start using the products and ordering from you, you will begin to earn a small amount of money – enough to pay for your own products. The downside to being a distributor is that if anyone signs up under you, you will not make a residual income from them – only your upline will profit from your downline. You will need many people as your downline before you should seriously consider moving up to Supervisor. Don't let your greed get the best of you, and trust me, your upline will try to manipulate you on that. Just remember that you're looking at many hundreds of dollars in operating costs every month, so becoming a Supervisor should only be done when you know you can earn far more than you will spend.

Don't quit your day job. Anything that sounds too good to be true generally is, and Herbalife is no exception.