How to Optimize Your Thyroid for More Energy

Episode 77:

How to Optimize Your Thyroid for More Energy with Elle Russ & Evan H. Hirsch

Evan H. Hirsch, MD 00:08

Hey everybody, welcome back to the energy MD podcast where we are on a mission to

help people with chronic fatigue MECFS, long COVID And now m casts or mast cell

activation syndrome so that they can live the life that they deserve. So really excited

about today's topic because we're going to be talking about some of the deficiencies

that we talked about in our program. We're gonna be talking about thyroid with my friend

Elle So let's learn a little about about Elle Russ. So she is a number one best selling

author, world renowned thyroid health expert and master coach. She is the author of

confident as fu CK and the Paleo thyroid solution, a book that has helped 1000s of

people around the world regain their health. She is also the creator of the most

comprehensive thyroid course on the planet, the ultimate thyroid course I love it. Elle

has written for Entrepreneur Magazine has been featured in Success Magazine,

HuffPost MindBodyGreen, podcasting, magazine prevention, and much more. Now has

been coaching people all over the world in a variety of areas for over a decade. She is

also the host of the Elle rush show, a weekly show intended to inspire, motivate and

educate. Elle has been podcasting for eight years with over 500 interviews and 20

million total downloads. Oh my goodness. l thank you so much for joining me here

today.

Elle Russ 01:30

Thank you so much for having me. It's an important topic as people are being diagnosed

every day, people were having issues with it every day, we're talking about 200 million

people in the world already known with a thyroid problem. 25 plus million Americans

and 60% are unaware that they even have a problem probably due to misdiagnosis. And

then also, they just don't know or they think it's something else. So it's huge. Yeah,

Evan H. Hirsch, MD 01:53

yeah, so let's get into some of this. Let's talk first about how someone knows if they

have a thyroid problem.

Elle Russ 02:01

Symptoms are obvious. And um, I have a list on my website. And in my book, I have

about 40 of them, I had like 30 of the 40 in there. Now, here are the very common ones

that come up. The most common would probably be the inability to lose weight. So

matter no matter what you're doing, you know, you're gaining weight, you're trying to diet,

you're exercising, you go keto, nothing's working. But you probably wouldn't just have the

weight thing, you would be cold because it affects temperature. So if you're always cold,

and you know who you are, because you're the one that's in summer needs a sweater

and you're always freezing and no one else is freezing, then that's That's it. The other

would be things like hair falling out, dry, cracked skin on your index finger and also

cracked heels. I mean, that's also gonna be like diabetic signs, too. But for the most part,

you get like really dry cracked skin, horrible constipation. That's a common one as well.

Overall, absolute exhaustion, I mean, and when I say that, it's like, it takes you three

hours to get it together in the morning, you might need a ton of coffee, you're also taking

a nap, and you're going to bed early. Now there are some scenarios where because of

the way that thyroid affects adrenals, there are some times people get a resurgence of

energy after 6pm. And then they're up all night. Either way, when you correct the thyroid,

it all gets corrected. So yeah, so I'll just start there and see, see where we want to go.

Evan H. Hirsch, MD 03:23

Yeah, that's perfect. And so then people listening to this right now are like, wow, I think I

have a thyroid problem. And so then they go to their doc, their doctor runs some labs,

and the doctor says, Nope, you don't have a thyroid problem. So with that, what's wrong

with that situation? Yeah,

Elle Russ 03:38

happened to me, that happens to everybody. So by the way, whenever I run into anyone

in life, and they go, oh, yeah, no, my daughter tested my thyroid, it's fine. I go, is it? How

do you know, is it? I don't believe it, send me the tests. I have yet to be wrong on this.

And that bothers me because it shouldn't be right, which is I'll say, show me the test.

They didn't take the right tests, they didn't comprehensively test it, and therefore the

person is still suffering because the doctor completely missed it. So now the doctor

goes, Oh, well, you have depression, we'll give you Prozac that'll last three months and

then it won't work because you didn't get to the root of the problem. down the rabbit

hole we go now you're getting patched up like a frickin quilt. And no one's ever getting to

the root of the problem. And it starts with the Annette 99% of doctors. Unfortunately, no

offense to your MD are uninformed on thyroid. And so they are taking tests from 1973. I

was born in 1973. That's 49 years ago. Okay, so you know, so yeah, so that's what

happens. So then the patient just like me, I had a doctor test my thyroid the wrong way. I

was bloated. I'm like I'm gaining weight. All these things happen. My hair's falling out

and he tapped my gym shoes in the office. He goes just eat less and use those more. So

you get accused of having a secret eating problem you get accused they accused of

these things. In look now, by the way that doctor kept me sick for a long time I was

having bleeding issues. gynecological issues are very prominent, by the way, that's

another symptom again, you know, I could list 1000. But that's, that's a big one. I want to

talk about the mental effects in a minute because it affects our brain in terrible ways.

But yeah, so aside from things like being sensitive to light, sound and smells, that's

usually related to adrenal, so that can happen. So anyway, you go in, you get tested, and

then they're, they're discounting you, or let's say, the hormonal issue, you're like, Oh, I've

low progesterone, low testosterone, they test the thyroid incorrectly give you the

hormone replacement therapy, they haven't solved the problem. The thyroid is critical in

the production and regulation of your sex hormones. So I'll give an example there was a

25 year old guy who came to me he had a really low testosterone. Now, a 25 year old

guy should not have low testosterone that is extremely rare. So what did the doctor do?

He instead of going well, why do you have low testosterone? So no one asked why he

just tested this guy's thyroid, he realized they did a horrible reverse T three hypothyroid

situation. That's what needed to be corrected, in order to correct the testosterone. So

what happened was the doctors giving testosterone, nothing worked, nothing got better.

He came to me, I was like, you don't have a testosterone issue. You have a thyroid issue,

we'll get the thyroid issue, right, you get off the testosterone, your testosterone comes

back, which is exactly what happened. So you could be in your 30s, as a woman be

having hormonal imbalances, and think it was a hormonal balance. I did too. I was

bleeding all the time, I was having periods when I shouldn't. So you know, you think, Oh,

my hormones are off. It's the thyroid, like nine times out of 10. It comes from there. So I

had Doctor give me progesterone, I was 30, you know, a doctor, Do this, do that. And

then it turned out, you know, I was just getting tested incorrectly by all of these doctors.

And then I finally took my health into my own hands. The reason I became a thyroid

expert is because no doctor would help me and I live in Los Angeles, I went to expensive

hormone doctors that like, we're on the back of Suzanne Somers books and Beverly

Hills, and they charge 700 ollars. And like, that was it, you know, and so I finally did the

research myself. And I actually dosed myself back to health, I had to be my own doctor.

That shouldn't happen. I had great insurance. I had a PPO, I live in Los Angeles, the best

doctors I can want in the world, some of them and, you know, this is what goes on. So

it's really about incorrect testing. There's a couple things that go wrong. They're testing

it incorrectly. So they're not even seeing the prop. Or they're testing incorrectly, they see

a problem where there's no problem that happens to the test correctly. They don't know

how to assess it correctly. Okay, or they test correctly, they assess correctly, they don't

know how to treat correctly. So so many things can happen at all of these stages, like

I've met, you know, clients, doctors who like got like, three fourths of it, right? You know

what I mean? But then like, couldn't treat it. And so, so this is the problem. It's and that is

why if you think you have a thyroid problem, you need to educate yourself. I also put my

health into the hands of a doctor, I was like, they know, I don't know. So when he tapped

my gym shoes, it was like, whatever I was like, I guess I don't have a thyroid problem. I

guess it's a hormonal problem, or it wasn't. And I went through horrible bleeding, I had to

go through getting a polyp removed from my uterus and a fibroid that was there. And I

mean, all of that, from from just getting misdiagnosed because doctors don't know the

right test to take because they are steeped in 1970 outdated ways of testing and

trading.

Evan H. Hirsch, MD 08:27

Yeah, so let's talk about the correct testing.

Elle Russ 08:31

Let's do that. I don't know if it would benefit everyone. If I described the thyroid feedback

loop correctly before going into testing. I'm open. So you know, first of all, for everyone

listening, this might sound confusing to you just know, I was terrible math and science

as a kid, okay? hated it. So so I'm going to explain it to you in ways you understand. And

even though I'm saying things like t 43. Don't worry, you'll get it. So the thyroid loop

feedback loop is it's an amazing, it's really an elegant, amazing system. And it's got all

these built in ways to sort of protect you and help you throughout your life. And I'll

explain why. So thyroid hormones, or particularly just the biologically active thyroid

hormone, T three is the thing that makes you feel good or don't if it's too high, you have

hyperthyroidism, you got a problem. If it's too low, you have hypothyroidism, but T three

is the only biologically active hormone. Here's the thing though, it's really potent. It's kind

of like gasoline. So our bodies have sort of a slow release mechanism in a way you

could envision it by which it has a storage hormone called T four and T fours job is to

convert into T three the active one throughout the day as you need it. You know so let's

say you're a normal person. You're Hello, oh, thyroids working fine. You wake up, you

have coffee, you go to the gym, after the gym. This is what will happen. The brain, the

pituitary at the base of the brain will sense that your body's low in thyroid hormones and

it will go Hey, yo, wake up that signal that is being sent from the brain to the thyroid is

called TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone. Here's the problem. If you are out there and

your doctor has only tested your TSH, you are with one of the most uninformed doctors

of history of doctors, okay, so And here and you'll understand why but so what they're

doing so TSH is usually the test. And that's the bane of every thyroid patients existence

because of a doctor's only testing TSH, and you'll get this by the end, they're missing it.

So TSH is not a thyroid hormone, it is just a signal, it's a wake up call from the brain to

the thyroid to get moving. Now, when the thyroid is working great, the thyroid says thank

you for the message in the wake up call. Now I'm going to pump out about 80% of this

thing called T four that's like a storage hormone. These are rough percentages, by the

way, but this is kind of what has been assessed. So let's say like 80% of 80 to 90% of t

four. And then your body will also release some of the direct biologically active hormone

T three, but like nine to 20%. So let's just say at 20. Okay, so the thyroid releases these

hormones throughout the day, the T four were built up, and it will convert as you need it.

So again, like you've exercise, you just took a five mile run, you maybe you're depleted,

the body would go hey, great, produce more T four. So throughout the day it converts

into the thing is needed. Now, whatever is not converted from T four to T three gets

flushed out. That's the way we just wait to look at it gets flushed out through a

mechanism called reverse T three. So we have T Sh, t four, T three, reverse T three, these

are kind of the main four things to think about when you're looking at this. So again, your

body senses your low and thyroid hormones, the brain sends the TSH signal to the

thyroid, the thyroid pumps out a bunch of t for a little T three. Throughout the day, the T

four converts like a slow release mechanism into the powerful stuff. That's the fat

burning stuff that makes your brain work makes your hair right like all the things. Now

whatever's not used flushes out what's reverse T three, it's just the inactive form of T

three. Why is it there? If T three is the only biologically active thyroid hormone that we

need to live really, because T four is useless unless it converts into that thing, then why

do we need this middleman of t for like what's the point? It is really a protective

mechanism. So for example, reverse T three is there as an emergency brake, I'm going

to give an example of someone let's say you're stranded on an island, okay? You got no

food, maybe maybe there aren't fish, all the fauna is gone. And you're starving, okay? Or

you're starving yourself because you're anorexic and you're working out too much. Either

way, the primal perspective of the body is oh my god, she's starving. Let's dial it back.

We don't want to give her any more of this fat burning T three, we're gonna dial back the

t four by converting it into the inactive form. Okay, because she didn't have food, she

doesn't know nutrition, right? So when an emergency happens, for example, they test

reverse T three in the ICU because reverse T three is really a good general marker of

wellness and unwellness in the body. And so when you have Okay, so let's say you got

into like a horrible accident, okay, you got limbs broken, all this kind of stuff, you know,

the thyroid feedback loop also might dial it back. Or if you have a flu or really sickness or

cancer do reverse T three might be driven up. If you're under serious stress in life, you

can get a reverse T three thyroid problem without ever being on thyroid hormones or

ever having a thyroid issue. The signals we send to our bodies, our our bodies are

always trying to save us and that's what this thyroid feedback loop is. Now here's the

problem though. When you get tested, you need to test the TSH thyroid stimulating

hormone. But you also need to test free T three and free T four most uninformed

endocrinologist and doctors only test TSH and T four so let me explain why that is Dum

Dums because they're testing t so some of them only test TSH so they're only testing

the signal. Did the package get delivered. If you order something from Amazon, it

doesn't show up. You don't keep ordering it you look at the tracking. So the doctors that

are Dum Dums are out there they're looking and they're just looking at the TSH it's a

1973 tests are just outdated stuff. They're only looking at the signal they're not seeing is

the T for converting the T three or some endocrinologist will test T sh and T for just

those two. Again, you can't get the picture from there because is the T for converting

into the thing that matters which is T three and how much of it what are the levels so

people have remained sick gone through miscarriages there's all sorts of horrible things

because a doctor's only testing the TSH and T for so I can always bet on it. When I talk

to a client they've been sick for a long time. I'm like go back to your paperwork. I bet

your doctor only tested these one or two things. So it's important that we test the TSH

the free T for the free T three now. There are other tests like total T three and just T four.

Kind of don't care at this point and I'll tell you why. Free T four For Free T three means

what's free, unbound and available. And it really corresponds with how you're feeling. It's

not that you couldn't take a total T three test, but the main four that you want to get to

go do i or do I not have some thyroid f3 going on, that would be TSH, free T for Free T

three and reverse T three, you can't miss reverse T three. Because if you missed it, and

you did have a thyroid problem with the other three tests, that doctor would put you on a

medication that would make the reverse T three worse because most of them would

give you T four. And here's the thing to know, T four is the only thing that converts into

the reverse inactive T three and T three doesn't. So that is why it's critical that free T

three also always get tested in reverse T three. Now, most doctors will balk at the

reverse T three, they won't test it because they don't know what it is. They're ego ridden

afraid of it. I'll tell a story I took a woman who used to work for our company who didn't

speak English very well. I knew I just knew she had been on T for only treatment for

many years. She was fat, bloated High Blood Pressure depression, I mean all the

symptoms and I figured she's got a reverse T three problem, I'm pretty sure but so I went

to her endocrinologist with her. The endocrinologist was so mean. I mean, didn't even

ask her anything about herself or how she fell through and looked at her. And I said to

this endocrinologist, I said, Look, I I'm concerned about your patient here. Can you

please just test reverse T three? And she goes, That's old school. We don't do that. And I

said, Well, you know, it's really funny. You said that because I myself just got over a

reverse T three issue. And so it's pretty new school to me. Then she says, Well, fine, I'll

test it. But I don't know how to evaluate it. Okay, we need to stop right there. That's the

problem. Do you see what she just did there? She just patron and I said to her, I go, did

you just patronizing me for asking you about a test that you are telling me now you

know nothing about? This is a problem. Because Where's the patient here? That is ego.

Notice how she dropped so quickly, we'll find but I don't know what it is. That would

literally be like me saying you do not go see the new Transformers movie and you're like,

Oh, God was a bad and I go oh, no, I didn't see it. That's literally what that is. This is

crazy making stuff when you're dealing with these kinds of people. So finally, I'm like,

can you just take a test? She did? Again, I was right. Again. I'm not the business has

been right. I don't want to be right in these situations. But she did she had a horrible

horrible reverse T three problem. Now, the endocrinologist has no idea what in the world

to do there. So So, TSH sends a signal, your thyroid releases to foreign T three, the T

four converts into T three is needed. Whatever is not needed of the storage hormone T

four gets flushed out through a reverse T three, elegant system. If there is there are

conversion problems from T four to T three. There's lots of things that can happen

within this feedback loop. But those are the four main tests. Now, I also if you're first

getting tested for the very first time, it's important to rule out the autoimmune form of

hypothyroidism, which is Hashimotos. And there are two antibody tests for that most

doctors only know about one and only test one, you can be positive for one and not the

other, you have to rule them out. And those two tests are TPO antibody, thyroid

peroxidase antibody and TG antibody, thyroglobulin antibody. So we got a main six Do I

have a thyroid problem, you wake up black coffee, water or tea, no food, no

supplements, no medication and you go into the lab within a couple hours of waking up

and you get TSH free T three free T four reverse T three the TPO antibody and the TG

antibody. Now I have a free thyroid guide in my masterclass that lists them all and then

there's some other tests you should get to like a comprehensive iron panel because

hypothyroid people can't hold on to iron, vitamin D, often they're low in vitamin D Yes,

you know, all of these, you know, extra B 12. Like Sure. But if you're just like do I or do I

not have a problem? Those are the blood tests. However, you can also assess this via

temperature because thyroid is completely regulates our temperature and our heart

rate. So in the morning, our basal temperature and when you guys are out there, a lot of

people don't even know really how to test basil. When you test basal temperature, it's

like you have the thermometer next to the bed. You don't even get up to pee in the

morning. You don't sit up in bed, you don't even pull the covers off, you just reach over,

you stick the thermometer on your time. That's your basal. The basal should be between

97.7 and 98.2. Someone say 97.8 Sorry, 97.8 to 98.3 Whatever, let's just say 97.7 and

98.2 most hypothyroid people are well below 97.7 When I was hypothyroid my

temperature didn't give above 96 degrees even in the afternoon in California during the

summer. So so you're going to be cold you are going to be below 97.7 That's And

indicator now I'm not saying you would treat hypothyroidism without getting blood tests.

But if you don't have the money right now, or you just want to see at home, then you if

you do five days of basil and afternoon, you're gonna get an idea. Now in the afternoon

when we take our temps we're talking three 330 If you're the person that wakes up

seven 8am kind of thing, and you just want to make sure you're not you know, you didn't

just run a marathon, smoke a cigarette, drink alcohol, take a hot shower, you know, like,

any of those things. You're just sitting there, chillin, you haven't done anything for a while

you're just sitting there. That's when you take your afternoon temp. Now, this can vary

between people. But we are humans Goldilocks, not too hot, not too cold. And we're

looking at 98.6. If you're 98.4, is that a problem? Not necessarily. But you look at the full

picture of it. So we can really diagnose in a lot of ways of preliminarily, thyroid, and also

adrenal insufficiency. That's a whole nother conversation through looking at temps in

the way that they work. Now, pass ovulation, your attempts will increase a bit. So it's

kind of better to get maybe in that first couple of weeks, you know, the five days of basil

and afternoon because they will rise after that. But those are that's one way to test it.

And it's also one way for people who are on thyroid hormone medication like like me, if I

sense that something's off for some reason, like I'm on too much or too little, I would

actually go right to temps, and then I would go get a blood test to maybe confirm it. But I

would go right to temps and at this point in my life, I would probably be able to gauge

correctly. Now. We're not You're not dosing yourself to hit 98.6. But again, just looking at

averages here. So those are two ways to look at like, do I have a thyroid problem? And

then once you assess whether you do, what are you looking at in those tests? Well, this

is a long discussion, but I'll just give everyone a quick pointer, which is your free T three

results. If you are a normal human being in this world, and you're not a pro athlete with a

ripped body and 10% body fat because they're gonna have a little bit lower, your free T

three would be in a range of 2.0 to 4.0. In the United States 3.1. I bet if we tested your

thyroid, I don't know if you have your thyroid results. But I bet if you don't take thyroid

medication, I'm assuming that yours would be that way too. So most normal people that

I know my brother, whatever, they will have their TSH in the middle of the range, roughly,

maybe 2.0, whatever, they will have their free T three a 3.1 and a range of 2.0 to 4.0. And

their free T four will be at about 1.301. That's kinda like standard. So if a doctor sees

that it's even within the range, you'll get discounted, but it's not optimal. So you want to

be at least if you're not on thyroid hormone medication, you're Albans world, you want to

be in the middle of the range on free T three, but you could be discounted if you're at 2.8

and 3.1. A say so and then a doctor will kind of discount you though it's close enough

kind of thing. But you can even be discounted if it's 2.2. Now there is a caveat here I

mentioned the RIP bodybuilder types, like if you are a pro athlete, you have really lean

body, you are metabolically efficient, you're just one of these beasts out there. They're

going to have a lower free T three. It's something that I coined T three efficiency,

because they're so metabolically efficient. So calorically efficient, that actually need less

to operate on. And they don't have hypo symptoms. I mean, that's the key. If anyone is

suspicious of your labs, but you've never had a Hypo symptom in your life. Are you fine,

you know, now there are some people were I'll dig deeper. Like I had a client, some

people bring their children to me, you know, because they've got kids who have

hypothyroidism and one of the kids, she was like a teenager, and her mom was like, you

sleep a lot. Like you're tired. Like you take a lot of nap. You know, I mean, she was kind

of telling me about her energy levels. And the teenager goes, she's like, well, I just, I just

like sleeping. Yeah, that is a hypothyroid statement. Because the energy, you just want

to sleep. And you can imagine having the energy and it's just something you want to do.

And it feels so good. And you just love it that you can't imagine not loving it kind of

thing. It's almost like when I used to be a smoker back in the day, just the thought of

ever even not wanting it and quitting seemed weird. I know. That's, and I'm sure people

who have obesity and, and eating disorders same thing. It's like, you're like, No, I don't

want to eat less food. I want to eat more food than a meeting now and I don't want to

don't tell me I am going to do a diet where I'll eventually want less food. Like that sounds

great to a lot of people but some people that sounds like horrible right? So I get this the

sort of like the way that people look at it. Sorry, I'm gonna stop there and see what I

could clear up or Expand. Expand on.

Evan H. Hirsch, MD 24:35

That was excellent. So So then to review you said free tea for you like it above 1.31?

Elle Russ 24:43

Well, no. So people would have it about 1.31 in the US range of point seven 7.8 to 1.7

and it would be about 1.3 Sorry, yeah. 1.31 and the free teeth Rihanna range of 2.2 out

of 4.0 would be 3.1. So they're kind of like or two. And it depends like in Canada, the

range is like three to six. Well, then we look at the middle of the range there. Now, where

are you assess your labs when you're on thyroid hormone replacement, completely

different story. But if you're not on thyroid hormones, and you're just out there in this

world, that's where your labs should roughly be. That is average. And if they're not, and

you have symptoms. Yeah, you need to investigate a little bit further. And listen, I mean,

the Paleo thyroid solution is it's not about oh, you got fat with hypothyroidism go paleo

lose weight, that's part of it. But it's also because the principles of paleo primal nutrition

are most aligned with our adrenals. And most align with our you know, blood glucose,

and those things do have a factor aren't important. synergistic with thyroid. So, you

know, it all works together.

Evan H. Hirsch, MD 25:57

Okay, that's helpful. And then so then TSH, did you say 2.0?

Elle Russ 26:02

Well, that's the standard range in the States for TSH is like, point four, five to 5.0. Now,

here's the thing to be wary of, though. The doctors that only test TSH this is this is I've

had this happen to me a couple of times, someone has woke, they're fine, they have no

symptoms, they wake up in the morning, they go to the gym, and then they go get their

blood tested for their annual paper, their annual whatever. And the doctor sees that the

TSH has gone to like 3.5, maybe the top of the range is five or 4.5. And they go I'm

concerned, I'm concerned. This is again, really done based on what I just said, you

understand, he just worked out the brick, it's just the brain asking for more how ever the

top of that range is usually five for TSH? When you see people that are horribly suffering

that have almost zero t four, zero T three, I mean, how are they alive kind of labs, they

will have a TSH of like 150 If the top of the range is five, so when you see something like

a 10 want, you know or 150. What you know what that 150 is that 150 will always

correspond something that high for TSH will always correspond with an extremely low T

three and T four. Why do you think based on what I said, the brain is screaming,

screaming, you're empty, you got nothing, they got nothing, please wake up, wake up.

And that wake up is 120 versus like an eight or a five or whatever. So so many people,

even mark Sisson who was my mentor and the creator of the Primal Blueprint and

primal kitchen foods. He has happened to him a couple times. Even Brad Kearns his

New York Times bestselling co writer, they would go get the wake up workout, go get

fast go to take the bloodwork and the doctor was like I'm concerned, you have a thyroid

problem. And they were like we've never I've never had a thyroid problem in real life. And

then they give me their labs, no free T for no for T three, no reverse T three people are

actually given thyroid medication based on a TSH Test that should never happen. It's

borderline malpractice. It's extremely irresponsible, you are not looking at the full

picture. And you can hurt somebody.

Evan H. Hirsch, MD 28:10

Well, and even you know, I learned in conventional medical school that diagnosis is

really made by history and symptoms 90% of the time. And then labs and physical exam

are 10%. And so once again, it's a you know an example of leaning too heavy on your

labs. Because if somebody's you know, regardless of what their labs look like, if they've

got low thyroid symptoms, you have to consider fixing their thyroid

Elle Russ 28:32

came with higher so there'll be people that are on thyroid hormone replacement. And

their free T three might be at the top of the range, or they might need to be a little bit

over and then a doctor again will do the same thing. But the other way they will

mistakenly be like oh my god, this person is hyperthyroid. They're not hyperthyroidism is

not a lab. It also goes along with a lot of symptoms. I've been hyper before I have been

on too much T three, I totally understand what this feels like. Both ways are extremely

uncomfortable. They both ruin your limitada how it ruins your metabolism and your

energy. People think of hyperthyroidism because T three is an energy hormone. It gives

us energy. That's why you're always exhausted and brain fog and live out I want to talk

about the mental aspects of it. Because this one is really important for everyone

listening to know one of the scariest things that happens with hypothyroidism is what

happens to your brain. And this is hard to express to people because this is like secret

quiet in your brain place that you're thinking about yourself and it's hard to go. I think I'm

getting dumb over here. I think my brain is not working right? It's a weird thing. Here's

what happens. We have more receptors in our brain than a lot of other places for T

three. So this is what happens. You'll have messy handwriting, you'll have brand new

hand dexterity issues. You might be very athletic and coordinated, but all of a sudden

you're bumping into stuff and you're just like what is wrong with me, that kind of thing. A

hand eye coordination and then also general malaise. I mean hypothyroidism does bring

about depression but what it will really manage So itself as it's kind of like a precursor to

probably like some suicidal thoughts where you're like, you kind of like you were

passionate about stuff before. And now you're like, why bother? You know, kind of like

this? What's it all mean? Anyway, I don't want to do that shout on fun care, I don't even

care anymore about the stuff that used to excite me like you really don't even care. It's

not that you care that you don't care, you're just you because it's so inherently feels like I

just and so aside from taking naps, and being tired and puffy face, puffy eyes and all

these other symptoms, the brain stuff is so here's the other way it affects the brain. If I

have to go off my thyroid hormones tomorrow, I bet you that a few days from now, I

would start like slurring my words a bit. Now, I'm already a fast talker. So I'm bound to

jumble a few things, but I'm also very articulate and so I would normally slur my words,

okay, sort of like a drunk person around drunk. But then I would also not be able to find

them. So what you'll find is you'll you're speaking dyslexic Lee, your words are jumbled,

you're not getting married, you can't find the word. There was a success story in my

book, she quit her people quit their jobs. She was a numbers and accounting. She

couldn't remember anything. Something that you can't even remember your own

address. I mean, it is bad. The other part that people talk about his brain fog. Now

everybody in the world knows what brain fog is. Except for that. The only difference

between the brain fog that people feel in the world, it's usually with a cold. Everyone has

had a really horrible sinus, bad cold. We're just blowing your nose all day, that worst day

of it, where you're staring into space. Nothing's fun. You don't want to do anything. And

and I think, you know, it's just it's like a you're just brain that. That is what it is with

hypothyroidism without the stuffiness, you can get into accidents. It's you know what I

mean? You forget so many things. And then also you become a huge party pooper. You

don't want to go out you're exhausted all the time. You don't know what's wrong with

you, because you've been to 50 doctors that are on informed. Hi, that was me. I went

over two dozen endocrinologist and doctors in Los Angeles, nobody could help me. I

was left in the dust that's still happening, or else I wouldn't even have a career. Do you

know what I mean? And so, so these are this is the cascade of things that kind of go

down, but the mental stuff is scary. And I was describing this like I am to you now. A

couple of years ago, I had a friend over and I said I'm sorry, I have this podcast. So she

was like, oh, I'll just be on my phone over here. I get off the podcast, I turned to her and

she's crying. This is a friend of mine. I've been friends with for eight years. I never heard

about hypo symptoms. She knew all about my hypo thing I and she said you just

described how I feel in my brain. And I was like, oh my god, I never thought we should

get you tested for thyroid function she has Hashimotos you know, I mean, this is like, we

had no idea. I thought that she she kind of was a little narcoleptic. Sometimes, like fall

asleep, and you know, not like instantly, but she was always like, never could go through

a movie. And she was always kind of like there's some low energy things happening, but

I just never chalked it up because she never complained. And then she heard me talk

about the mental stuff. And that got her. So that's why I want to bring that up. Because

it's the scary thing that people don't know how to say.

Evan H. Hirsch, MD 33:13

Thank you. Yeah, that's important. So then, just so I'm clear about the the labs. So in

terms of optimal ranges, it sounds like you're talking about kind of like normal, how does

the optimal range for like free T for Free T three TSH, what are you looking at there?

Elle Russ 33:27

Well, those are all those are all optimal for normal human beings. So TSH, would roughly

TSH again, not we don't care about it so much because it's going to have the other tests

with it. So we assess it all together. But the TSH again, between four point point four,

five and 5.0, it should be 2.0 ish, or 2.5. Somewhere in the middle of the range, three T

three. Again, the range is usually points eight oh to 1.8, it should be about 1.31. That's

again, these are for normal people not on thyroid hormone who are doing great. And

then the free T three should also be in the middle of the range. So in the range of 2.0 to

4.0. We're looking at about 3.0 3.1, something like that. That is the classic profile. And in

my book, I have my brother's thyroid labs. He's He's fuser on me. He's extremely, you

know, optimized, physically, he's healthy, he's got no issues. And you often see the exact

same labs like Mark says, you know, any one of these people that are just fit and healthy

and doing well, that's what the labs will look like. So again, that would be optimal for

someone who is not on thyroid hormone replacement. And if you are a normal person

out in this world, you've got some symptoms and those labs look different than what I

just said. And they're lower than that. Not necessarily the TSH. This is why the TSH is

not the the measurement we go by. So for example, I had I don't know how I got

hypothyroidism. Okay, like it doesn't render my family. I don't have Hashimotos Could it

be that I was a smoker for many years? I don't know. Could it be that I overworked and

uh Under ate myself into it, possibly. I was on a low carb low fat diet way back then

before anyone knew anything about stuff, and it was just terrible, probably over

exercising. And I had the labs of what we call euthyroid six syndrome, which essentially

is starving. So you will see with people that have overdone it, whether it's like you're in a

bikini body competition, or you're just, you know, like I was just an actress trying to have

the right body for the roles and all that stuff back then. So that's kind of like how that will

go.

Evan H. Hirsch, MD 35:33

Okay, and then what about reverse T three? What do you like to see from? Yeah,

Elle Russ 35:36

so reverse T three, usually, the range is somewhere between like, eight and 30, or nine

and 34, something like that. So let's just go eight to 30. What you're looking for is for it to

be at the lower part of the range. But you have there's a caveat here. Did you just have

COVID And you got tested two weeks later your reverse T three might be elevated? Did

you just go through flu cancer? Okay, so we have to look at that stuff. What we still do

some people do it some people don't I still do it I do you do a ratio between the free T

three results. And the reverse T three results, there's an online calculator, you can just go

online reverse T three calculator, you put in the units of measurement, you're from a

different country or Yeah, test in different places, you got to do math to figure out what

the values are basically, you do a ratio, the result of 20 and higher is ideal. Does that

mean if someone has a reverse T three to three T three ratio of 17, they have a problem

no 15 and higher as a ratio, as ratio number could be okay, if you have no issues. But

let's say you did have 17. And you were kind of suffering a little bit, well, you know what

maybe that would be a take some Selenium to help us conversion and do some other

things to support the thyroid, maybe you need to change thyroid hormone replacement

up if you're on it. But you are looking for me too low. Now when I had a reverse T three

problem, my reverse T three in and of itself was 3032. Or so it was it's the very, very high

end of the range. So what happens when reverse T three gets really high. That means

the T four is over converting not into the thing that matters, the life giving T three, it's

over converting into the protective emergency braking mechanism. And it's flushing into

reverse T three. What causes this look, there's nutrient deficiencies, lifestyle, stress, all

that stuff. And there's also just a genetic component of the inability to convert. So one

of my fellow authors, I only suggest two other thyroid authors. One is Jamie bowthorpe.

And the other is Paul Robinson. Paul Robinson suffered for Oh my God, so many years

because he had a thyroid problem. But they kept giving him t four. And they did all these

tests in the jealousy. Nothing ever worked. Finally, the only thing that helped him was to

go on T three only, which is pretty much when I'm on. So he just takes T three, he has

gotten rid of the middleman entirely doesn't care if T four is there to store and convert

and whatever out of there. And it solves the reverse T three problem because T four is

the only thing that converts into reverse T three, not T three. So what happens when you

have a reverse T three problem? It's horrible hypothyroidism, because you can imagine it

like I do a diagram in my book. It's a metaphor. But you can imagine, like there's a guard

standing in front of the cell, not letting T three in. And it takes a while to take like eight to

12 weeks to really kind of we say clear the receptors. I mean, again, these are all

metaphors to help people understand it. It's not like you wake up after 12 weeks of teeth

reopening. You're like, oh my god, am I true? I feel my receptors are clear. It's just that

things can really get much better and healthier beyond that time. It takes some time for

this to happen. So I have had hypothyroidism. So what does that mean, when you have a

reverse T three problem that is unresolvable, some of them are resolvable. But when you

have one that's unresolvable, you really can't take T four, because you're taking the thing

that's converting into the thing, that doesn't matter. It's just converting into more reverse

T three, back to why I said if a doctor test TSH, free T three, free T four, they've gotten

some of the picture. But if they test that and they go, Oh, you're hypothyroid and give you

medication, they'll give you T four T 43 combo, and now you've got a problem. They're

going to make the reverse T three problem worse because they're giving you the thing

that caused it. So that is why you always rule out reverse T three. And sometimes it just

says really dumb stuff like oh, well you just need more of this and you're like more of

that is going to drive me further into a problem. So I'm one of the only authors out there

that had a reverse teeth problem. What Paul Robinson discovered we have two

enzymes, they're like do Denyse I don't even know if that's the correct pronunciation. Dr.

Denise, they wanted to now they didn't have tests for this back then. But Paul Robinson

suspected perhaps had a genetic inability to convert T four to T three somehow big As

of these enzymes, well, later on in life, many years after reading a book and doing all this

stuff, I don't know, maybe he's 65 Now or something, he went and got a genetic test. I

mean, I think this was like $600 from just figuring this out for the D one and D two turns

out, made perfect sense his whole life made sense. So the whole time these

endocrinologist, right, here's two formulas, try some retort, we'll try this different to four,

we'll try this different random Tifa. He could never convert the T four to T three, you

need things to happen to do that. So if you're not converting, look, I've been on T three

only for more than like 13 years. It's the last resort choice for every hormone

replacement. It's not ideal. Okay. But it is the only answer for the people that cannot

resolve a conversion issue. Do you know what I mean? It's, it's, it's all we have, we'd be

dead without it. If we only had it for in this world, I'd be dead by now. So that is why

reverse key three is important. We need to see where it's at why, let's say you're not on

any thyroid hormone replacement. You go to the doctor, you're feeling high, but you had

like 30 symptoms, you go in, they test you and they're like, Oh, my God, this is terrible,

right. And let's say you do test reverse T three, and like I have a really good run, in that

case, that would absolutely dictate the levels and dosages of thyroid hormones for that

person. And you would probably want to put them on a little bit of t for mostly T three at

first. You know, you could do t 43 combo, but you might need to adjust those levels. And

so knowing that is it's critical. It's critical.

Evan H. Hirsch, MD 41:35

Okay,

Elle Russ 41:37

I had one, I had one client in Hawaii, and they said, My doctor said that they don't test

reverse d3. I said go back and push them on it. And then went back and push notch

because well, it's like we only test that if you're in the ICU. And I was like, doesn't that in

and of itself say how important the reverse T three tests? I mean, can we just talk about

that? Like, if they're testing that in the ICU? How will we test it before for the frickin ICU

man, I mean, there's a reason they're testing it in the intensive care unit when you're

about to die, right? That's an important test and again, for some reasons, because it

could indicate heart failure. I mean, there's there's so many things that reverse T three

look I have a friend right now who is going through a bad injury a lot of stress at work

over the past year, they never took thyroid hormones never had a thyroid symptom in

their life. They have a reverse T three problem right now. It's just from stress, you know

what I mean? So, in that case, sure, you can treat the adrenals you treat the stress stuff,

but again you can get a dial it back reverse T three problem without taking any t for it

could be doing it with the the T for that your own thyroid is pumping out. So we have to

look at all these components because is it converting? Are you getting the package the

package that matters is T three let me tell you something I've lived with almost zero t

four in my body for a long time. I also went sure on thyroid hormone replacement This is

specifically for people on T 43 or two three, only your TSH will be like 0.01 Nothing

wrong with that. This is another problem though, with thyroid hormone patients when

doctors are afraid of a suppressed TSH if they're on T 4343. Only I can get into why

that's a false fear but so so basically why does the sing Why is the signal zero because

I'm getting enough direct T three in my blood and it's fast acting like I said it's gasoline

and that's why we got like the it kind of peaks and dissipates within four hours it's not

like it completely disappears but it's volatile which is why that T four is there is a nice

like you know store and convert store and convert is doing it for you. When you're taking

T three directly like me it's it's a completely different ballgame. It's more of a pain in the

ass. We are removing the middleman of conversion but then there's a problem because

I'm a human being and we've got human minds and how am I supposed to tell what I

sell you really need? I mean I can there's a process by which you know, I coach people

we go through a duel myself. It is better. The most ideal thyroid hormone replacement

for almost anyone suffering with hypothyroidism that needs it is a T four T three combo

exactly how our bodies do it. The problem with the treatment is that most doctors and

endocrinologist will only give T four and I'll tell you why. In the late 1800s There was this

brilliant English physician people had goiters who just like enlarged thyroid glands like

100 Next, and he did something genius he extracted sheep thyroid gland and injected it

to humans and they got better. Thus was born natural desiccated thyroid we call it nd t

so it comes from pigs now not cheap. All right. The ratios are kind of similar to ours in

the winter thyroids dispense. People were using it forever and ever until the 1950s when

Drug companies could not patent natural desiccated thyroid, then they came up with

Synthroid. And when they came up with Synthroid, which is T for only just one thyroid

hormone, just the storage hormone, they started to put out a bunch of propaganda for

MDT. Oh, it's unstable. It's this is from pigs, not for humans. So people then got switched

to T four, and then like, weren't doing well. Then about 1520 years ago, 20 years ago,

probably people started to get back in the game, you got like more natural alternative

integrative doctors coming out there, they go back to the old school, the old school, you

know, a non patented like MDT 80 year olds were like getting out of the wheelchair, like,

you know what I mean, people were getting better. And then this really became a thing.

So if you've got a doctor whose only solution their first solution is to just give you T for

only. And this is also the reason why T for only therapy often fails. People, it's not even

true and your can mimicry. It's just not. And then for the person that let's say they go into

they have a thyroid problem, the doctor is just looking at their TSH and T for maybe the

TSH is 120. Maybe their T four is really low. So the doctor is like, Oh my God, you need

thyroid hormone, but they give that patient T four How do they know that's the right

thing unless they tested the reverse T three. So now they're hurting the patient unless

they had could easily have prevented it by just taking a test. Because if the reverse T

three was high in that situation, the first order of business would not be to give someone

T for only therapy again, T four being the only thing that converts into reverse T three,

not T three only so so so then what Hannah it's a lot what

Evan H. Hirsch, MD 46:39

happens when that conversion happens, what happens in the body or how to how to

people experience that when they're going through when you're converting that T four to

reverse T three.

Elle Russ 46:50

The so when you have a reverse T 33 problem, it is reversed. It's just hypothyroidism. So

you can have it when you're on thyroid hormone medication. So I was on a t 43 combo I

was on natural desiccated thyroid. The major US brands are in nature thyroid armor, and

PSL. I had been on armor. I was doing great for a couple years. Then I started get these

hypo symptoms. But see at the time, I didn't think I was like this. I've taken thyroid

already. I already went through that. Already did that thing with thyroid. I figured that out.

So I was like what, but I had all these crazy hypo symptoms. And one of the things that

really did it that I was like, oh, was I had dry scaly crack skin on the inside of my index

finger. It's such a random one. I don't know why it's always the right hand, even if you're

left handed just to snap. And so it's a weird thing. And I remember this and knew that

and I, my doctor didn't know at the time didn't know what was going on. I reached out to

Janie bowthorpe who wrote stop the thyroid madness. She did not have the website

then yet. But she I reached out to her. I'm like what's happening to me like that? It

actually goes, I think you have what we sort of just learned about called the reverse T

three problem. And there's a guy out of England named Paul Robinson, who wrote a

book called recovering with teeth. Three, you should get it that saved my life saved my

life. I mean, I could just cry right now thinking about those two people who helped me

help myself rich Paul Robertson's book was practically my Bible when I had to dose

myself out of a reverse T three problem I had to get my T three from other countries no

doctor, give it to me, you're gonna kill yourself you're gonna have a heart attack all of

these false fears around T three, just absolutely insane. And so that was just lucky that

he had just written the book I mean, had been a few years prior I don't know that anyone

would have even known what reverse T three is. And Jamie both arts just always so on

top of it over the years that like, Thank God, she recommended that to me. So what is it?

It's just severe hypothyroidism. So you can be on thyroid hormone medication and be

hypothyroid meaning not enough, right? You can be on a lower dose and you're like I still

have symptoms and you're like well, you're probably not on enough of it. And then also

you can have reverse T three hypothyroidism even if you're on thyroid hormone because

again, the T four in my armor thyroid, my natural desiccated thyroid was over converting

into reverse T three, and I didn't know it and my reverse T three was 30. I was a disaster I

again, all the symptoms, I gained another 20 pounds again, I cracked skinny adrenal

fatigue, like every single thing came back. So I basically had two horrible bouts of

hypothyroidism. One being a reverse T three problem in my 30s, about seven years of

my 30s was just shot and you can imagine I had already fixed myself with MDT. So when

this came up, I'm like, You got to be kidding me. And then again, went to the doctor and

she threw up her hands at me. I went to the doctor at the time that I thought got it. I

thought she got it because she knew MDT and she knew the stuff and I thought okay,

great. I'll finally find a doctor on fixed I'm good. I'm not hypo anymore. Thank god that's

over. then this happens. I gained so much weight that my bra looks like a Playboy bunny

triangle nipple cover, you know, like tiny bikini, my bra looked like that. And I stood in

front of her, I took off my clothes officer list in front of her, I go look at me, I can't think I

got acne, my hair's falling. And I said, Look, this is the problem. Here's my labs, I have a

reverse T three problem. I know how to treat it. And she threw up her hands. She goes,

Oh, this is too complicated. And you know, and you know, there's someone out there

crying right now hearing that, and I'll tell you why. Because that is just I went into the

parking lot, I just bawled my eyes out. Because I realized that the second time in a

decade, I was left in the dust by myself to have to go solve this. And I said to her at the

time, I said, so the MCAT word. Fuck fucking difficult, like organic chemistry test wasn't

complicated, fucking medical school excuse my language wasn't complicated. But this

is she didn't try to look to help me. She didn't look complete, left the dust and I cried in

that parking lot. And I thought, Oh, my God, I'm on my own again. And now I'm on my

own with something that almost no doctor understands. Holy, like, you know what I

mean? I look, I was ordering my medication from Mexico for the longest time, because I

didn't have a doctor up until I wrote my book, I really was my own doctor, especially after

the reverse teeth root problem. And there was a shortage of it in Mexico. And listen,

thyroid patients like me, were having meltdowns all over the world, because that was

where we were getting it from. I got ripped off. And I mean, I had to buy this I was just so

terrible that I just couldn't find a US doctor who was willing to give me the thing that I

needed. So I basically doctored myself out of to horrible, fiery problems, but glad I did,

because I had to learn it all in order to help other people. So you know, it was a it's

everything in my life that it seemed seemingly seemed negative. And I've had a very

blessed life. This was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me.

Evan H. Hirsch, MD 52:07

Nice. So a couple a couple of last questions before we adjourn here. So one of the

things that I found you were talking about, you know, the causes of hypothyroidism or

Hashimotos is that Bartonella, which is a Lyme type infection, Mercury mold. I find that

when I find that when I remove those, that I'm able to wean people off of their thyroid

medication is that been your experience as well,

Elle Russ 52:33

mold can cause Hashimotos it called Dave Asprey was famously the bulletproof coffee

guy, he got Hashimotos from from mold, and then it disappeared, because he got rid of

it cleaned up the mold. If you will have a proclivity to Hashimotos gluten 100% ignites

the antibodies. Just, it's just true and for most autoimmune diseases, so that's the thing

too, sometimes people just like you'll see someone's test, you see the TPO antibodies,

they go, are you eating a lot of gluten like, Are you and they're like, gosh, I haven't eaten

pizza, and you're like, okay, and then they cut it out. Like sometimes if you catch it

quickly, dietary interventions can nip Hashimotos in the bud. Really? Look, there are so

many natural ways to solve this. That is my point is not taken on thyroid hormone. In

fact, it's avoided, like let's see if we can work it out. But if someone's been working for

one, two years and eight months, I mean, here's here's what happens. Someone's

suffering for lots of years, I'm going to uninformed doctors. They're like, oh, I want to do

a detox and you're like, why would you bother? You have a terrible body with a terrible

baseline with nothing to support the detox. You know what I'm saying? So at some

point, at a certain point, depending on how long the person is suffering, they almost

have to go on thyroid hormone replacement get fixed get right now they're at a baseline

that temps right that at i o now the last inflammations down, then you can go about

correcting all of the things. Then when all those things are corrected, then you go now

I'm going to try to get off thyroid hormone replacement. That's another thing that

happens to also infections. I know someone that got Graves disease, which is the

autoimmune form of hyperthyroidism overactive from a tooth infection. So yeah, I

always ask people with Hashimotos Giuliana plays with mold, like what are you know

what I mean? Like, what could cause it and but again, some of it can be kept at bay. And

then there's also another intervention that's called low dose Naltrexone. And I'm sure

you've heard about it but low dose Naltrexone is amazing for a lot of people, some

people doesn't work with but for a lot of people, it's amazing and it can reduce

antibodies. And that could be a way to stave off thyroid hormone replacement and also

solve Hashimotos. But if it's gone on too long, there's a certain point, you know, I'm

saying where it's futile to be like, Oh, I'm gonna keep trying natural stuff. You're like

you've been suffering. You've been in a disease state for two years, things are going

wrong. And like cascade is about to come down on you. You gotta get on the thyroid

hormone. Correct all the stuff. Yeah, thank God for it. But you can't even detox. You can't

even do this stuff if you're if you're completely hypothyroid. Now, some people have

Hashimotos antibodies, and they could detox from mold because the rest of their labs

are okay. But if you have Hashimotos, and you have like no T for and no T three, and

you're really suffering, and then all the natural stuff doesn't work. You might have to go

on thyroid hormone replacement for a minute there for not a minute, but you know, for a

while and get up to par so that you can then detox and do these things. You know, for

example, like you would never want to get pregnant while you're hypothyroid we will

have a miscarriage, why would you want to go through that? Gender domain. And so I

always tell people to like if you can plan, catch your thyroid tested before conceiving if

you can like and then you need to get tested. And if you are also on thyroid hormone

replacement, you need to probably even increase your medication during that pregnancy

because the demands of the baby but these are these are scary things because, you

know, I had a success story that had several miscarriages and she was treated by an

endocrinologist for over a decade, they only tested TSH and T for for the entire 10 years.

They never tested her for Hashimoto, she didn't even know she had it. She started to

gain weight, she started having issues that doctor blamed her for having a closet eating

disorder. She had been like a tall, skinny woman who had like always been fit. And she

was like, again, not gonna have a closet and disorder. And she had two miscarriages.

And when she found out that essentially they were probably prompted by an uninformed

doctor. The day she learned she had Hashimotos the day she learned that the doctor

was wrong and the tests and the stuff. She bawled her eyes out for an entire day and

curled up in the ball. I mean, you can imagine have to go through two miscarriages. And

then by the time she finds this out, it was a little bit too late in life for her to have it. This

happens to a lot of people. Another woman on my course Barbara, she had her uterus

removed unnecessarily, by the way, one of the most unnecessarily and overdone

procedures like Oh, problem with the woman's uterus, just take it out. It's like, hold on to

these things, ladies, if you can. And also she didn't need that to happen. And she didn't

want kids. I mean, I have heard the story. So many times I've known people with thyroid

glands that were removed that didn't need to be removed. So I mean, look, when I was

misdiagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome when I was hypothyroid. I don't have

polycystic ovarian syndrome. I had hypothyroidism induced polycystic ovarian

syndrome. If you looked at the ultrasound, you wouldn't diagnose me with PCOS. It was

clear. But the question was, why? Why does this healthy 30 year old with never a

gynecological issue? Normal? Why, why? And so that doctor was just ready to put me on

Metformin, or whatever it was at the time they're doing, is that what they're still doing?

So it was I don't know what it was, but something like that. And again, when I look back

on that, I think, Oh, my God, you know, like how many more fibroids or polyps or

whatever would have developed if I didn't catch the thyroid problem? And then would he

have taken my uterus like, would they just again, like, Oh, we don't know what to do. You

got a bunch of fibroids cylinder. So a lot of people to you know, get diagnosed with

PCOS. And they think I have PCOS. And I go, do you? I mean, I'm not saying you can't,

individually without a thyroid problem. I'm saying, No, I'm going to be suspicious. Let's

test your thyroid because it causes stuff like this hypothyroidism.

Evan H. Hirsch, MD 58:19

Yeah. I think what you're saying, which I totally agree with is the fact that everything

works better in the human body when thyroid is optimized.

Elle Russ 58:27

It's the master gland. And not because I said so. And so when that's off, you get the

cascade of problems, right? The skin, the hormone balance, and then that leads into

something else. And now you got another problem, you know, and so in like blood

pressure, that's another thing or your doctor is like, Oh, my God, your lipid panel is

terrible, is it? Because, again, like when I was hypothyroid, my lipid panel was terrible,

too. Then I want an MDT, I got optimized. I'm doing great. My lipid panel was great. So

you're gonna have doctors unnecessarily as they already do anyway, but in this case,

they'll unnecessarily prescribe statins, blood pressure medication, this stuff is all related

to thyroid, you know what I mean? So yeah, if there's anything else I can clear up. I know,

we've, we've I know, I've gotten done a lot here. But

Evan H. Hirsch, MD 59:13

no, this is great. So where can people go and learn more about you?

Elle Russ 59:18

You can go to lrs.com. You know, look, I have a free hour and a half thyroid masterclass,

where I just kind of go through all of this. It comes with my free thyroid Guide, which

lists all the tests, it even lists like questions to ask a doctor on the phone to see if you

want to waste your copay on them. You know, like, it's questions you could ask the nurse

practitioner before you get in. They're like, Hey, does the doctor prescribe this than the

other and they're like, no, he only prescribe Synthroid T for only like, click right so you go

to the next and it also has a wonderful audio book of guided healing meditation and

there as well. I know it was so it's so lonely and it's so tough to go through this

especially when like, you feel like your doctors aren't helping you and so I No, I was

helped by other people's guided meditations and thinking a little bit better about my

body because you know, when you're falling apart and your brains not working and

you're depressed everyday you look in the mirror and you're like, Ha, you know, there's

nothing positive. You know, it's really, really tough. It's tough to be someone's friend. It's

tough to be in a relationship. There are married couples that have come to me, you

know, they're like, this isn't my wife. She has been to 1500 doctors now they think she's a

hypochondriac. What's happened to this woman I married she's not. This happens all

the time. It ruins relationships, it ruins careers. Paul Robinson, the guy talked about who

had that inability to convert based on the enzymes. He still to this day, you can tell he's

very sad about the fact that because he was heipo all those years and didn't know what

the hell you know, he lost a job. He couldn't be a great parent, you know, you're not best

attitude, things like that. And I mean, it ruined the relationship with his children. I mean,

he's still to this day feels like you could tell he's currently blames fire rate for that, and I

get it, because it's this horrible thing. And so, anyway, free thyroid masterclass.com. You

can just go there hour and a half video of me talking about the stuff in depth, my free

thyroid guide guided healing medication. If you need to go deeper. I did. Like you said I

had the most comprehensive thyroid course on the planet. I do. It's 30 hours long. That's

like a semester in college. It is. MD tutorials from Dr. Gary Forsman, who was on my

book, he's an integrative functional medicine physician in practice for 30 years. It's other

health experts. And it's also me. And in that one, the reason why it's the most in depth is

I do go through lab examples, videos, everything. So if you really, really need to get into it

and do this to figure it out, which I suggest you do, because if you have a thyroid

problem, and it's going to be a while, you're going to need that and you can just go to

ultimate thyroid course.com

Evan H. Hirsch, MD 1:01:49

Awesome. Elle. Thanks so much for joining me today. I appreciate you taking the time.

Elle Russ 1:01:53

Thanks so much for having me.