663. Medication Truths: What Your Pharmacist Sees That Your Doctor Doesn't

0:00sleep, diet, exercise, in that order. And it really is that simple. We don't need a drug for it. And in fact, drugs just masks the symptoms. It's like putting a bandit on a broken leg. You know, you need to fix the problem. Why do you have high blood pressure? Why do you have high blood sugar? That's really what you need to ask and solve that problem. You know, treat the problem, not just treat the symptom. I just want to say thank you. The fact that you're here means that you have trusted me with something so valuable these days, your time. And I do not take that lightly at all. So if you're listening because you're exhausted, you're gaining weight for no reason, losing your hair, getting really frustrated, or you've been told that everything looks normal. When you know deep down, something isn't right. I want you to know that I see you. I've been where you are. And that's exactly why I created this podcast. My mission is super simple. To give you the information, the hope, and the tools

1:02that I wish someone had given me years ago. So my goal is you get to stop wondering what's wrong with your body and finally start getting your life back. So if these episodes have helped you add all, would you do me one small favor? Take it just a few seconds to follow the show, the little button in the upper corner, and then leave a review. Every follow and every review helps this podcast reach another person who's lying there awake at night wondering why they don't even recognize themselves anymore when they look in the mirror. Wondering what's happened to this amazing, energized, full of life person they used to be? You're helping them. And not only that, when you follow the show, you'll be notified about the hottest episodes everyone is listening to and everyone's downloading, along with any bonus episodes I drop throughout the month. Think of it as your insider pass. So thank you for letting me be part of your journey and thank you for your time. Now let's get into today's episode.

2:05If you're over 40, which many of you are and managing a thyroid or hormone issue, you know this feeling. You're doing everything right, but your energy is low, your strength might be slipping at the gym. The scale definitely won't move. And you hit just this wall, you just can't push through. So that was me. And what finally changed wasn't another energy drink. It was starting essential amino acids. So here's the simple version. These are nine building blocks that your body can't make on its own. They're what protein breaks down into, except your body absorbs them almost instantly. So no heavy digestion required. They go straight to work, feeding your muscle, building your muscles, supporting your metabolism. And that's what we all need. So since I started taking them every day, sometimes two, three times a day, I've noticed better energy, faster recovery,

3:07muscle building, yes, at the age of 52, alongside my hormones, way more consistency in my workouts. And I genuinely feel leaner and stronger. I really do. I have more muscle now than I had in my 20s when I was competing in bodybuilding competitions. More muscle now, because I'm feeding it the right way. So even on rest days, especially when I'm eating maybe a little bit less, I still take them to stay on track. The brand I choose and have been using now for four years is Keon. They're a sugar free. Nangemo, vegan, easy to digest, and they taste amazing. That's why I put them in my water all day long. So if you're trying to lose fat without losing muscle, if you're on a GLP, you better, you had better be taking these every single day.

4:09So you want to go to get Keon.com forward slash thyroid for 20% off. Get the nango, get the berry. They're just all good. They're all good. You will love it. You know, it's not every day that we can pick the brain of a compounding pharmacist. And not just any compounding pharmacist. One who has gone really deep into the body, is the body. And the body is the body. And the body is the body. And the body is the body. And the body is the body. And the body is the body. And so we are on really deep into the world of healthcare. In fact, even has a book out called Sick And How the Government Ruined Healthcare and how to fix it. I'm all about fixing things on this show. Can we actually fix this broken system? I don't know. We're going to talk about that today. But you know, a lot of you ladies are getting your prescriptions from compounding pharmacies. And I think it's important that we talk about what reality is

5:12inside a compounding pharmacy. And what reality is that those local pharmacies you're getting your meds from too. And what we need to really pay attention to when we're being fed misinformation, especially out there on Instagram, about medications, hormones, all the things. We're gonna bust some myths today. I am so excited to have my friend and colleague, Sean Needamon because listen, he's gonna be an open book with the book that he just wrote, which we're gonna tell you to go out and get for sure. This is a must read. Everyone in the United States, you must read this book. But now that I have him on the show, sitting on the hot seat, I get to ask some really juicy questions today. So Sean, welcome to the Thavertixer Podcast. Well, thank you for having me on, Amy, what a pleasure and an honor. I'm super excited to share my passion, which is basically educating and empowering people to take charge of your own health. And you know what, I share that same passion. That's what I always say as well.

6:12So I love it when guests say the same thing that I do. Because really, I mean, that's so basic, we get it so important. People have to be educated first in order to have the power within them to advocate for themselves, to get the help that they actually need. So that's where we have to start. We have to start. And I love the fact I have not yet had any pharmacist. Well, Isabella Wentz, yes, I mean, she's a thyroid pharmacist, but I had not had a concompanning pharmacist on the show to really dive deep and get answers to all those questions that are even on my mind. So thank you for your time today. And let's start with your book. I mean, I love the title. When you told me what the title was, I was like, oh, yes, yes, yes. You need to come on. We need to unpack this. So your book is called Second. So looking back, what was the moment that made you realize that our healthcare system wasn't just broken, it was actually incentivized to keep people sick.

7:15Well, it goes back a long ways, actually. And my book, Sick and How the Government, Roaned Healthcare and How to Fix It, came out in December of 2019. And if we remember right, if we back up, that was right before COVID. And it was perfect timing for my book to come out. I don't believe in coincidences almost seven years later, it still was pertinent as ever. But by then, by 2019, I'd been a pharmacist for, I don't know, 25 years. And I'd been questioning the system, a lot with my wife, Janet, who is also a pharmacist for at least 15 years. A good example, Amy, is statins. Statins are one of the first class of drugs that we ever questioned. It's like, no, wait a minute. Everybody's on a statin. My wife calls them vitamin statin. And yet, cardiovascular disease at an all time high, they're not working. What's going on here? And then I won't even go into the, about cholesterol being ubiquitous in our system. And we'll die without cholesterol. And I think the whole cholesterol causing cardiovascular disease is a scam, a total scam. I won't dive down that road,

8:16unless you want to ask me some specific questions and I will. So that was when we first started questioning the system. And then, but you just add another disease state on, type two diabetes. I mean, type two diabetes is not a drug deficiency. It is absolutely not a drug deficiency. Diabetes malitis literally means honey, siphon. It literally means you are urinating out sugar. Well, you don't need a drug to prevent you from urinating out sugar. Now, I get it. Type one and type two is different. We're not going to discuss that right now. But type two diabetes is lifestyle caused mostly by a diet. And the way to prevent yourself from urinating out sugar is to don't eat sugar. It's the right, it's like you said, about educating and empowering people about health. It's really simple. And it really is. But that's not what we do. One of my good friends, Robbie Rah, who's a nurse and now a health advocate, she talks about a pill for every ill. That's what we do in healthcare. And most pharmacists, I will just say it.

9:17Most of your pharmacists that work at your retail settings, they basically are copay collectors for insurance companies and dispensers and poisons for big pharma. That's it. And whether my colleagues want to get mad at me or not, that is just truth. So what makes us different as compounding pharmacists is my wife and I, we don't believe in drugs to treat most long-term disease. Type two diabetes is a great example. It's not a drug deficiency, hypertension, high blood pressure. It's not a drug deficiency. It's a metabolic health issue. You need to fix your metabolic health. Sleep, diet, exercise, in that order. And it really is that simple. We don't need a drug for it. And in fact, drugs just masks the symptoms. It's like putting a bandaid on a broken leg. You need to fix the problem. Why do you have high blood pressure? Why do you have high blood sugar? That's really what you need to ask and solve that problem. Treat the problem, not just treat the symptom. Now, I talk about bandaid medications all the time on the show because especially,

10:18and I'm sure you know this in the world, the thyroid or even hormones for that matter. I mean, paramedic pauses and menopausal women are getting prescribed antidepressants, statins, sleeping pills, and VP meds over just giving them some damn hormones or just fixing their freaking thyroid. So of those bandaid medications, I have to ask. Now, you might not see it as much because you are compounding. You're not at the CVS just pumping out the lower satin scripts, right? But even in your world, what is the biggest bandaid that you see the most prescribed bandaid? Well, I would say right now, and I think listeners and viewers will probably agree. And yes, we don't dispense them in our pharmacy, but the GLP wants, you know, for weight loss. Mm-hmm. Okay. And the gluten type, terzipotide, all those, they are a bandaid. You know, I ask people, so the simiglutide, did you have a simiglutide deficiency that made you gain weight? That's a joke. Because simiglutide is not natural to our bodies, okay? And the answer is no.

11:20I mean, the thing that made you gain weight is you're eating habits. That's what made you gain weight. And simiglutide, well, might be a short term fix to help weight loss. It's not a long term fix. And like with any drug, there are toxicities. And notice I said, toxicities instead of side effects. We've been taught as pharmacists in pharmacy school and doctors or anybody in the medical profession, we call them side effects from drugs. And really what that does that minimizes what's really happening. Side effects are actually toxicities, drugs are poison. And in the right amount, they will kill you, or the wrong amount. The side effects are toxicities. So it's very important to realize that. And the GOP ones are no different. Whether short term or long term, some of the long term ones we don't really know yet. I mean, the only way to lose weight is to change your lifestyle and mostly your diet. Now, I will say that, you know, I talked about sleek diet exercise in that order. Now, I will say this, hormones are a piece of the puzzle. Whether it be thyroid or whether it be sex hormones,

12:20testosterone, estradiol, progesterone. But I'll also say this, when a patient comes to me, and I would love to hear your comment on this when a patient comes to me, and they're getting thyroid medication, they're like, well, well, this helped me lose weight. I will be honest with them. I'm like, okay, well, first of all, yes, you do have a thyroid deficiency. And thyroid does help increase your metabolism. Ultimately, though, it's a piece of the puzzle. You still need to sleep right, eat right, move right. Those are just facts. What are your thoughts about that and thyroid? And wait, let's just... Oh, I always say you can't put thyroid medication. You can't put bioidentical hormones on a dumpster fire. It's not going to work. So unless you're doing the foundational basics, then I mean, we can increase your T3 and your testosterone and they're estrogen all day long, but it's not going to work. It's just not gonna work. And I actually see GLP ones or GLPs in general, one, two, three, whichever one you're taking. I see those not work. If someone, number one, I mean, yes, you can put GLP's on a dumpster fire and they'll overcome the dumpster fire,

13:22but then the person will just gain all the way back because they didn't stop eating pizza. They're just eating less pizza. But what I do see is that the GLPs, and I have so many more questions for you on that. They were unplanned, but popped up in my head in the last five minutes. I see that the GLPs won't work if thyroid and hormones are low and then thyroid and hormones won't work unless you have that foundation and clean up your dumpster fire. So it's kind of like building blocks one on top of the other. Absolutely. And the most important building blocks, pretty simple. It's sleep, diet, and exercise. In that order, we will die without sleep before we die without food. Those are facts. As humans, we're pretty good at storing food. That's why many Americans have a big waistline because we're pretty good at storing energy. So most of us can go three weeks without eating. Now, I'm not going to say that's going to be pleasant, but we can usually go about three days without sleep before we start going to the psychosis. And so sleep is more important than diet and diet is more important than exercise. And here's why we do not need to exercise

14:22to live. Now, being said, we're much healthier if we do exercise, but we don't need to exercise this day alive. Right. So most people get it wrong, Amy. And you probably see this all the time. It's like, oh man, that gal is in great shape. She must exercise three hours a day. No, probably not. She probably exercises three to five hours a week. But she's very careful about what she eats. That's the most important part. You cannot exercise your way out of the bad diet period. I've tried, and I'm an endurance athlete, bike rider. So I train hours a week. You can't exercise your way out of a poor diet. You can't. Right. Right. Now, I totally agree. Totally agree. All right. I have to bounce back to the GLPs. And again, this is these are questions I did not plan, but they popped up in my head. What made you, as a pharmacist, and you own your own pharmacy? So we know, Sean, that if you made the GLPs, you'd also make back. Right. So you're literally giving a cash flow

15:24into your business by not manufacturing or make, I don't know what the term is, producing the GLP. Why? What was it that made you make that business decision? Well, I just think it's ethical. And so here, my wife and I have a podcast where we preach sleep, diet, and exercise. And we talk about how important that is. And we've said over and over, there's no magic drug. For anything, including hormones. Now, I want to back up a little bit. 95% of our practice is hormone replacement from thyroid to testosterone, estradiol, progesterone, and so on. That's where we make them a majority of our money. But yet, I will still tell people, look, hormones are a piece of the puzzle. They're not an end-all fix all. You still have to work on the basic foundations. And here's what we found out over the last, at least decade of preaching stuff like this, is that people respect honesty. And as two pharmacists that don't believe in drugs to treat long-term disease,

16:25people think, wait a minute, how do you make money? Now, we make money on compounding hormones. But also, we'll also tell people that they don't need something. And on the same subject, supplements, we're a pharmacy and we sell supplements, vitamin D, vitamin C, whatever. Sure, but also we'll tell people, you can't supplement your way out of a poor diet. Right. So we're not going to sell 20 different supplements to somebody that has a poor lifestyle. So we just honest, and I'm a frugal person myself. I'm a less is more kind of guy. And I treat my patients the same way, because I want to be cost-conscious with them. And just honest and ethical, and our healthcare system, you know, our traditional healthcare system that builds insurance and government Medicare and Medicaid, all that, is so unethical. So unethical, it's not transparent. There's surprise builds, it's so unethical, there's add-on services that are just done because the insurance covers it. I want to remove myself from that as far as possible. Now, is that going to possibly cost me income in the long run?

17:25Sure. Or in the short run, sure it might, within the long run, you know, God willing, I live to be 85 or whatever that is. I can look myself in the mirror and I can say, you know what, I did the right thing. Yeah, yeah. And there's not many of you out there anymore. So we appreciate, you know, someone actually doing the right thing and looking out for us and for our health. So mad props to you, hats off. I really appreciate that, because it's so rare these days. So now, I want to dig into your book because you said, like the healthcare system and the government are literally trying to keep us sick. Now, of course, yes, if we rewind six years, we can kind of see that. I mean, the fact that you wrote this in 2019 is mind blowing because I bet at the time, if we asked readers of your book or people that maybe came across your book, they say, no, come on, that's conspiracy theory. Do you have like a little tin hat on their shan? Well, now I mean, one year after your book is released,

18:27everyone's like, oh, yeah, it's probably right. I'm seeing it now. So it's a lot more evident to where people may not have bought in to this concept in 2019. I mean, definitely 2020 and after you go, yeah, I can see it. But I still think that there are things that people aren't thinking of. So even let's take, and then I'll shove and actually let you talk. But let's take the group of people that are like myself that did not get the COVID-VAX. But yet I still use microdosing GLPs. To your point, I don't know what the hell the long-term side effects are. I actually don't even know exactly what I'm putting in my body. And God forbid I actually get one of the GLPs that was made by Lillier Novo. Who the hell knows what else extra? And that's really where I kind of want to pick your brain too. Like, can they put whatever the hell they want in it? And it's a patent. We don't know. I could have the COVID vaccine in my monjaro and not know that I'm being Vax because of the big conspiracy theory that I now believe in.

19:30Well, I mean, that's just it. And I will tell you. So my wife and I have been, we've been questioning the system for two and a half decades and believe me. It was more so in 2019 that we were called crazy. It will be 24 years next month, 24 years ago next month where we completely stop billing insurance at Moses Lake Professional Pharmacy. And we were called crazy. We were called crazy by our family members, by friends. We had people that workforce says you guys won't be in business in a year. And of course, fast forward, almost two and a half decades later, we're thriving. Whereas our pharmacy colleagues that kept going down the road to billing insurance and all that kind of stuff, I mean, they're suffering and they're probably out of business and they were in so much debt they had to fall bankruptcy. And there's a lot of those. So our business model really worked for us. I think that's one thing to be said about ethics. And I think it's very difficult to be ethical in today's environment insurance. If you're billing insurance as a healthcare provider, I think it's really hard to be ethical because you have to find ways to make money

20:30because you lose money everywhere else. So you gotta find a way to make money. Yeah. So we were called crazy 25 years ago. Now, when COVID came out, it's like, I just couldn't believe what was happening. I mean, I could, but I couldn't because I didn't trust Big Pharma. But when people like Ryan Cole, who's a pathologist, started doing tests on the COVID and find out all the stuff that was in it. And then there's no ingredient list on it. There's no package insert. And as a pharmacist, it completely derails everything you've ever learned. And then it makes you question, oh my gosh, what did I learn that was just wrong? Now, that leads me to my new book I'm writing now. Why is I learned in pharmacy school? Yeah. It's a grasp of Big Pharma. Oh, yeah. That's something I want to. December of this year, hopefully. Beautiful. Yeah. So the lies I learned in pharmacy school now, obviously there's lies after pharmacy school and they're still happening every day. But when they started recommending the COVID vaccine to pregnant women, my wife's like, this is a red flag.

21:31You just never give a drug to, we were taught in pharmacy school. Never give a drug to pregnant women unless there's studies to prove and there were none. So now I don't know Amy. I don't know if we can trust them at all. What's in Manjaro? I don't know. I don't know if we can trust it. And that's why we don't do that anymore. We just don't do those things anymore. Because we just don't know if we can trust them. And there's just better ways to get healthy. I mean, drugs in general are not what make you healthy. So, you know. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, okay, you've seen prescriptions from thousands of physicians come in. So, what is the one thing that you see as a pharmacist every single day that most doctors probably don't realize is happening or they don't even realize what they're writing for? Like what's the most mind blowing thing that you see? Well, you know, I think what you're getting at, you know, I'll just give an example. We already talked about it a little bit but I'll give the details of it. So, statins are the go to standard

22:34for preventing cardiovascular disease. Would that be number two under GLP's then? Probably right now. Now, up until the COVID vaccine, statins were the number one selling drug ever. Mm-hmm. Now, another thing, I get distracted, I'm sorry. Because I'm thinking about my book because there's a chapter in my book about birth control pills. Birth control pills are right up there. Right up there. Yeah, that's a whole other thing. And do you know how birth control pills screw up hormones including thyroid? Yes. So, I mean, these doctors write for these statins. And, you know, to lower cholesterol and statins are great at lowering cholesterol. They are great at it. There is no doubt about it. And cholesterol is supposed to be what causes cardiovascular disease. So, these doctors just think they're saving all these lives by writing these statin medications. Now, so here's the rational thought. And I write about this in my book, why is I learned in pharmacy school? Cholesterol, okay. Cholesterol is ubiquitous in every cell in our body. We will die without it. Our brain is full of cholesterol. Sex hormones cannot be produced.

23:35By the way, estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, DHA cannot be produced without cholesterol. Vitamin D has a cholesterol backbone, okay? Now, we will die without cholesterol. Breast milk, human breast milk is full of cholesterol. A newborn baby has high cholesterol. 80% of all the cholesterol in our bodies that floats around in our blood is made up in our own liver, indoscientously. Not from what we eat. Indoscient our own liver, 80% of the cholesterol. The yoke of a chicken egg is concentrated in cholesterol to sustain a baby chicken. Now, all of these things I just talked about cholesterol, are you telling me that God designed our bodies wrong? Is that what you're telling me? And as humans for the last thousands of years, we have thrived on this earth. With all those things I was talking about cholesterol, and yet all of a sudden, the last 40 years, cholesterol's bad, it makes no rational sense. No, man, that being said,

24:35where does cholesterol come from in our diet? Mostly animal sources from animal meats and eggs, right? And as humans, we have thrived eating red meat and eggs for thousands of years. It's how we sustain ourselves. Whether it be wheeled abyss, whether it be caribou, whether it be elk, whether it be deer, whether it be cattle, we have thrived on red meat. And yet for the last 70 years, they've said that we need to minimize our red meat, minimize our eggs. It makes no sense whatsoever. Yeah, none. None. And they lowered the total cholesterol. We'll say cut off number. And this is just what your doctor goes by. They lowered that standard lab value range from 300 at one time was the top total cholesterol cut off. To where if you were a 301, you would get flagged high. It would be colored in red. Now it's dropped down to 200. Whereas, I mean, when we look at in our world,

25:36of course, of proper medicine, we'll say, not sick care medicine. We go, well, just because of everything that you just said, Sean, you need cholesterol. So maybe we'll start to worry if your total comes in at like a 500 or 600. But until then, don't even talk to me. Like you're fine. Yeah, but maybe. I mean, maybe. Now, if you watch the movie, Lip and Energy Model, I think that's what it's called. It's on Netflix. An engineer did a study and he did it like a typical engineer would. He just found that cholesterol had no relationship to hard. Did he at all? Yeah. Well, yeah. And here's what he found out. So I'm going to give an example of Sean Baker. Sean Baker is an author of the Carnivore Diet. He's an MD, orthopedic surgeon. It's probably been 20 years ago now that he maybe 15. He's been on Joe Rogan a couple times. He eats beef only. Carnivore only. And his cholesterol is a little bit high. And he tells a story. This is one of the things where after he told this story, I'm like, okay, because you know,

26:37being in doctorate in pharmacy school with cholesterol being bad, I'm like, okay, well, you know, somebody has a cholesterol 300. It's, it's bad. It's just bad. I don't care what somebody says, right? Mm-hmm. But then this is what he did. He did a study on himself. He did a home cholesterol test. You know, that you can buy from your local drug store or whatever. And his cholesterol was about 215. Okay. And he fasted for 36 hours because he wasn't doing anything. He wasn't doing any activity. So he fasted. And being carnivore, he used to eat one meal a day. So fasting's just not that big a deal because when you eat meat only as you know, Amy, you get satiated. You're satisfied. You don't get hungry two hours later. Like if you eat Oreos or potato chips or something. So he checked his blood cholesterol a day and a half later, 36 hours later. It was 360 was his cholesterol. So now imagine this. You go into the doctor's office. You got a cholesterol 360. They are going to freak out. Oh, yeah. Freak out.

27:37Oh, yeah. On one number, yet 36 hours before that, it was 215. Okay. Now, first of all, Amy, does it make sense if we can change a number that fast, a metric that fast as it makes sense. It's a good marker of cardiovascular disease. No, no, no, no. It makes no sense whatsoever. Right. If you can change it that fast, it's it's not a good marker cardiovascular disease. And here's the theory and this theory in that Netflix movie has kind of been proven lip and energy model. So if you're not constantly fed, what happens? Your body starts burning fat as fuel. And where is cholesterol store cholesterol stir in our fat? So all of a sudden your fat gets released and your cholesterol gets released, your cholesterol goes out. Yep. I mean, it makes total sense. Yep. So the whole cholesterol thing has just been in my opinion completely above. Now, here's what I will say. I want to go into a few things here. First of all, this is another thing that makes no rational sense.

28:37Let's say you got a patient. There are 100 pounds overweight. Their cholesterol is 250. Do you think Amy giving them a statin is really going and lowering their cholesterol is really going to decrease your cardiovascular risk? Nope. Not all. None. Nope. I don't care what study you show me. I don't care. OBS related disease kills more Americans than anything. So if there are some numbers in your lipid panel that are good to look at, I would look at triglyceride to HDL ratio. And the only reason I would look at that is because it's a pretty good indicator of your metabolic health. If a triglyceride over your HDL is 2 to 1 or less, then you probably have good metabolic health. That means your liver is metabolizing things well. That means that your blood sugar is probably not high. That means you're not insulin resistant. And it just goes usually hand in hand. Usually those same people that have a good triglyceride to HDL marker also have a good fasting insulin. And if there's one test that you can check, overall for your own metabolic health, if

29:41it's a lab test, I would look at fasting insulin. Because fasting insulin is more important than any other marker when it comes to metabolic health, which means health in general. That's the lab I would test. Now, that being said, I think the most important marker of our overall health and I would love your comment on this Amy, is the mirror test. What do you look like in the mirror? Let's remember, my wife says this often. Veteranaries can look at a horse. They can look at a dog. They can look at a cow and they can say, oh, that cow's sick. Now I, as a pharmacist, I can't look at a cow and say, well, that cow's sick. But I can look at a patient and say, ooh, that patient has low thyroid. Oh, that patient has low testosterone rocking out. You can tell that, ooh, that patient has low progesterone. You can tell that, right? Yeah. So a vet can look at a horse and say, oh, that horse is sick. They do it by looking at him. They didn't drive their blood. They didn't do some fancy imaging. The mirror test is the test. It's the most important when it comes to our overall health. What do we look like in the mirror?

30:41That's really the most important part. Unfortunately, we have a world now that says if we say that, we're fat, shaming and all this kind of stuff. But there's a reality. I love all people, including people at our obese. And I've been obese myself. And the reason I talk about this is because I want to be truthful because I love people and I want to save their life. Yeah. Yeah, 100%. No, I actually recorded a specific podcast. I can't remember when it released, but I called it the other F word. And because when I was writing my book, I specifically put in there and my publishers were kind of like, oh, I don't know if you can use the word fat. I'm like, I'm sorry. Fat is the word that people use. Women aren't grabbing their hips and thighs going, gee, I would really like to get rid of this adipose tissue. They go, no, I'm fat. I don't like it. And I said exactly what you just said because of the body positivity movement. We're now watching our peas and cues and not calling a spade a spade.

31:42Like it's fat. It's fat on your body. And that fat is going to put you at a greater risk of disease. If you want to rock your tight dress and you feel confident and amazing at 220 pounds, fantastic, but it's not healthy. Like I applaud your confidence, but it's not healthy. Exactly. I got to give you a great example. So a few years ago, you know, first of all, we tolerated obesity and then we embraced it and then we celebrated it. So a few years ago, I don't remember the model's name, but she was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. And she was like 511 240. And I did a post on social media and I said, and here is my question. I didn't ask if she was beautiful. I said, is she healthy? And oh my gosh, the comments started coming out. You know, and they were saying she's beautiful. And I'm like, you know what, you're right. I agree. She is beautiful. I ask is she healthy? Then the people were like this, well, you don't know what her lab tests are. You don't know this and you don't know that. I'm like, remember what we just talked about, the mere test. You don't have to. I mean, you can look at her and she's 20 some years old.

32:44This is only going to get worse, right? And you know, the reality of it is we need to just be honest with people. Obesity related disease kills more Americans than anything. The most dangerous thing you can do, statistically speaking, is an American is to be obese. Kills more people in cancer, kills more people in car wrecks, kills, you know, and by the way, I would make a great argument that more people die of cancer when they are obese than if you had a healthy body. I think that's absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. We definitely know that now. Okay. I have to pick your brain while I have you. I'm going to shift you a little bit to thyroid and hormones because I really want to learn from you here. I want to know how often because you are compounding pharmacies. So you're probably not getting a whole lot of T for only prescriptions, but I do have that question. Like how many people do you see come in where maybe it is just written for T for only? And then if it is, do you have to kind of pull that person aside and go like, all right,

33:48I'm giving this to you, but I'm just going to tell you it's probably not going to work. We normally do C T for and T three together. How do you address that when you see or do you not get the T for only script? I mean, that's a wonderful question. First of all, we get very little T for because once they've got to us, they've already learned that the T for didn't work. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So that also being said, I will say that in 2016, we both are rock scene, generic centroid, also known as T for. Yep. It's thyroid for. It's a simple molecule. It's four iodines and an L tyrosine amino acid. And there's four iodines on it. That's what they call it T for. T three has three iodines. Okay. So in 2016, the lipotharoxane T for was the number one selling drug in the United States. Right. So that being said, I'm going to say this, Amy, I don't know the percentage of how many of them were doing well. I got to think that some of them were. Now the ones that aren't, hopefully they end up finding somebody that says, well, yeah,

34:50your thyroid's really not normal. I mean, oh, it's normal by the test they check, but it's not optimal. Right. Right. So hopefully they find us because, you know, the symptoms of low thyroid are just for your listeners and viewers are cold extremities, fingers, toes, losing your hair, tired, decreased libido, fatigue, weight gain. Those are all low thyroid symptoms. And that standard of care, the gold standard test is TSH, thyroid simulating the hormone, which is a pituitary hormone in your brain. It tells your thyroid to make thyroid hormone. And it's a good screening at best. It doesn't tell you the whole story. It doesn't tell you how much thyroid hormones really float around your blood. Right. It only says how much your pituitary kind of sees. So really to have optimal thyroid, you need to have TSH put it in there because if you don't, somebody will say you missed it. And but a free T4 and a free T3. And notice I say free levels. That's the level that can act in your body and actually work at the receptor site.

35:53And free T3 is actually the most important. Free T3 is more active than free T4. And free T4 does convert into free T3 in some people, but not very well in some people. So the patients that do well on free T4 are probably converting to free T3, the more active form of thyroid. And there's some minerals that are important, salineum is important, iodine is important, vitamin D is important. If people lack those, they won't convert very well. So they won't feel optimal on T4. Even though their TSH level will say, well, it's normal. So that's why it's important to get a complete thyroid panel with TSH, free T3 and free T4. And most patients will do better on free T3. Yep. But let me tell you, what did I learn in pharmacy school? I learned how dangerous free T3 is in pharmacy school. Right. Yeah. And how can cause osteoporosis and how it can cause heart attacks and all this kind of stuff. And the more I've learned, the more I just realized that that's just been deboned.

36:58Don't give a 55 year old lady that's been deprived of hormones for the last 20 years of her life. Don't give her thyroid. That can increase bone turnover and possibly weaken her bones. But yet, she's lack estradiol, progesterone testosterone for 20 years. Did the thyroid cause the osteoporosis or did the lack of the sex hormones cause the osteoporosis? Well, there is no better bone building drugment testosterone period. So her lack of testosterone is probably what caused the osteoporosis, not the thyroid. And when it comes to the racing heart or the heart attack, it's just, it's largely, you know, over talked about. You just don't see it if you dose appropriately. And I will say that, you know, after talking to some intensivist doctors, ICU doctors, endocrinologist, that would dose people with CHF congestive heart failure in the ICU. They would dose them with 500 micrograms, IV of T3. I realize that given 50 micrograms of T3 orally is probably not going to hurt somebody.

37:58You know what I mean? Seriously. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Well, I used to take 150 micrograms. Now I'm down to 100 per day, 50 split up. But I have patients that are on 200. I mean, it's all about what's going to work for you or an end of one experiment. So you had to find that, that perfect combo. Exactly. I mean, you know, you have to ask the question, some doctors will realize this when they say, well, what's the max of dose of thyroid or what's the max of dose of progesterone or estradiol or testosterone? Usually when you respond like this to the doctor that's prescribing, you ask them because they'll know this. What's the maximum dose of insulin for diabetic? Well, it depends on what their blood sugars are. Oh. Oh. Yeah. Okay. Exactly. Exactly. Okay. On the NDT front. And really as we're recording this on July 20th, 2026, we have no idea what's coming down the pipe in the next couple of weeks. That's technically the cutoff for, you know, the three-letter government agencies to decide

39:03whether or not we get to keep our NDT medication. I haven't heard anything that it's, you know, coming down the pipe to pull it. Maybe you have. So that's question one is have you heard any updates on NDT? And then I'll follow it with question two along the lines of NDT is I also see this and I want to get your opinion. I see a lot of integrative and functional medicine providers out there. And I would say these are more the ones that I call them jack-of-all trades master of none. They don't really specialize in the thyroid. You know, their website will be like autoimmune and adrenal and brain and hormones and thyroid and gut and your big toe and we do everything. And then they only prescribe NDT. And it's like, that's still 80% T4. What if they don't convert? So I see this like NDT craze with the functional community that I want to pick your brain on. So question one and question two. Okay. Question one. First of all, I want to clarify what NDT is. For your listeners and viewers that don't know, natural desiccated thyroid.

40:06What is natural desiccated thyroid? It's also known as porcine thyroid usp. Porcine means from pig source. It is literally ground up pig thyroid and it's been around since the 1800s, the late 1800s. So it is grandfathered in from the FDA because it was around before the FDA was. It was the first thyroid hormone to treat low thyroid. Yeah. It's over 100 years, obviously, very safely. But it's not FDA approved because it was grandfathered in. And just to let you guys know, it also is standardized to a T4 T3 ratio. So even though it's ground up pig thyroid, we do know that it's standardized to a 38 microM to T4, 9 microM to T3 ratio. And there's other things in it. I and I and T1, T2, that we don't know how much is in there because they don't standardize it to that. It's worked great for over 100 years. So the FDA does not like things that are not FDA approved. So they have been, this is nothing new with natural desktated thyroid.

41:09They have been hammering this for at least two decades, for at least 20 years. So about 15 years ago, Janet and I decided because what was happening, that's 15 years ago, we were still compounding, we get the raw chemical porcine usp thyroid and we would compound it because it was hard to get armored thyroid, NDT. So we were compounding it. Well now it's not illegal to compound, but you have to have a biological license and most pharmacists don't do that anymore. But about, I don't know how many years ago, 15 years ago or so, we stopped compounding it and here's why. Because we knew it was on the FDA's hit list. And even whether it was manufactured commercially by an FDA approved product or whether we compounded it, we knew the FDA had on the hit list and it was going to constantly be a battle to try to get the chemical because even with compound pharmacies that were compounding at the FDA would hold the chemical up at the border and they wouldn't let pharmacies get in and all kinds of nefarious stuff that the FDA does to try to shut compound pharmacies down.

42:10So we decided, you know what, we're just going to, because what was happening is we were having to switch our patients back and forth. Yeah. And we decided, you know what, we compounded up a T4, T3 combination. And we know this, we know that T4 and T3 will never be a problem because there's commercially available FDA approved products out there. Right. So the FDA is not going to outlaw, you know, leave out their oxygen and liofyronine, which is T3. They're not going to outlaw that because their buddies in big pharma use it. So they're not going to outlaw them. Yeah. So we compounded up a T4, T3 combination and we also make a sustained release because T3 has a short half life. So we make a sustained release, so it's solely the recess throughout the day. So you can do a once a day dosing in the morning. And the great thing is is unlike the commercial available stuff that is from pig-based, which some people have a problem with and some people have an autoimmune issue with. Think of, yes. Yeah. Yeah. Ours is bioidentical, exact copies of what's in your body and we can change the ratio of T4 to T3.

43:11So unlike the NDT, you can't change that ratio. So if they need more T3, you have to also give them more T4. So there's other ways around that. You can give them commercial available T3, just playing T3. But anyway, patients like to save money and they like it to be easy. I like one capsule in all. That's why we do a T4, T3 combination. Well, that other beautiful thing that I think a lot, sorry, but I want to throw this in that I think a lot of people don't realize is you're also not putting the fillers into it that would be in, let's say, a generic levo thyroxin from sigma farm. You can actually compound it free of gluten, free of whatever else somebody is allergic to or has a sensitivity to. Yeah. Lactose, free of lactose. You know, basically our base is a cellulose base, which is a plant base, which would be basically impossible to sustain a life if you were allergic to cellulose. Okay. People say they are, but I mean, you would not be alive.

44:12If you were allergic to cellulose, you wouldn't be alive. That's those are just, you know, pretty much facts. So now what was the second question? Or did I have to both of them? Well, I guess it doesn't really imply because if you're not actually compounding the NDT, then no, you're not going to get the scripts from, you know, functional medicine providers for armor, armor, armor, armor, you know, and then all they do is increase the armor. So are you seeing, because you can change the ratio, and I love that you said that because I always talk about that. I'm like, listen, what if you just need a ratio change? Maybe your body doesn't like 8020. Maybe it wants a 6040 or a 4060s split with more T3. So the fact that you can do that is just absolutely amazing. I love it. But you probably don't see the scripts come in for, okay, let's go from 120 armor to 150 to 180. And just like you said, the ratio is off. People aren't converting or maybe people are reacting to that animal based product. So where they're like, this medication isn't working. It's like, well, not, I mean, it is on your numbers, but you're just reacting to the animal

45:16based product. Yeah, I do know that, you know, we have patients that we are, you know, doing their sex hormones and they're getting their thyroid from a retail pharmacy because they are on armor thyroid or what have you. Right. And they're doing the same thing you're talking about, you know, DOSA to try to find that happy medium. And probably the question we get the most is, hey, you guys have armor thyroid, you know, because it's just, it's hard to get now and it's getting more expensive and it's only going to get worse. And as much as people say, well, RFK juniors in office now and he's going to stop the FDA from taking it off the market, I'm not an optimist when it comes to that. Yeah. I'm just being super honest. I'm just not. It's, you know, so it's kind of like RFK junior is going to make sure it's legal to compound peptides. Yeah. Right now, it's still illegal to compound peptides and I'm not just so sure that he's going to fix that. Yeah. I want to wait and see on that one for sure. Yeah. But I mean, the fact that you can make the thyroid medication literally fit that person free

46:17of fillers. Why in the hell would anybody come and be like, do you do armor? How about you? Can you do me some personalized thyroid medication? Please, and thank you. That sounds way better to me. Yeah. And I agree and believe me, it's a pretty easy selling point for us because, you know, there's just some disadvantages of armor, which, you know, it's immediate release. So you use that to dose it twice a day to get the T3 effects all day long. And it comes from pigs and it stinks and it stinks. Yes. Yeah. And it's going to be harder and harder to get. So why not just try a combination product and, you know, like with any thyroid, it takes some time to get it the right dose. But why not try that? Because the chances of that ever be take off the market is really, really, really slim. Yeah. Exactly. Okay. Now, you had mentioned supplement, you carry supplements as well. So because you see pharmaceuticals and supplements and, you know, you're actually caring enough about your customers to diving to the world of lifestyle as well, when they come in, maybe

47:21looking to bandaid themselves with supplements, in your opinion, what is that one supplement category where you just think, you're just wasting your money. Like, obviously, you're not wasting your money on a vitamin D, right? But where are people wasting their money, loading their bodies down with supplements? Man, that's a great question. You know, I think when they are targeting a specific disease long term, I mean, I don't know how to say this, Amy. Supplements shouldn't, in my opinion, once you get your diet on point, you shouldn't need a supplement long term. Now, I will say this, there probably are some things I take vitamin D, I take vitamin D three. I think that's something everybody, especially in the Northern latitude should take. I think most of everybody has low vitamin D. There's probably no reason to even check it because most of everybody is low. And so I think that's a good one. I think, you know, a good omega three is probably good for most people. Do I take that every day? No, I don't. Yeah. But I don't have a cardiovascular risk. Right.

48:21And I'm in general healthy. So probiotics, maybe everybody wants some probiotics. Yeah. And probiotics, but here's the thing. And that's a good one. That's a good example. I'm glad you brought that up. And probiotics are great if you have a GI problem. If you have a GI problem, whether it be Crohn's disease, whether it be Ulceric Clitis, whether it be constipation, diarrhea, whether it be reflux, I think a good probiotic is a great start because you need good bacteria in your system to treat or to prevent those GI diseases. But once you get your disease reversed, I just don't necessarily, and you start eating well, you know, I mean, obviously, if we eat well, there's good bacteria on food and meat and that is supposed to be in our system. And if we eat well, we'll put those things back in our system without taking a supplement. But at first, you might need a supplement. So you know, overall, I don't know what the major category would be, but you know, we just see patients that come in and they have 20 different supplements. And it's like, you just want to start from scratch. I mean, I'm a pharmacist that doesn't believe in 20 different drugs to treat your disease

49:23or to try to fix your body. I'm no different with supplements. And I'll tell people this and it ruffles some feathers in the industry I work in. You know, if you go to a functional medicine doctor and the first thing they do is they want to take $4,000 or $5,000 with a labs and they want to sell you $2,000 or $3,000 with their supplements, you're in the wrong place. Yeah. Yes. Amen. I mean, here's the reality for a couple hundred dollars in lab tests, the mere test and maybe a few supplements. You can fix a lot of things. Yeah. Because let's face it, once you see the mere test, if somebody's a hundred pounds overweight, there's no supplement that's going to fix them. There's no drug that's going to fix them. You need to spend the time, you need to talk to them about their diet and their exercise their lifestyle period. And I think it's good to get a baseline of some labs. So you know, you can show them what's the clean that their diet, how their labs respond. But you know, $3,000 to $4,000 with a labs and somebody like that is just a waste of money or almost with anybody. And I think, you know, maybe it's a good time to talk about it. Maybe it's not.

50:23Are you familiar with Brian Johnson? Of course. Sure. Yeah. I'm kind of gastritis. I did not know that. It's big in the news right now, Amy. Okay. And you know, he used to brag about taking a million dollars of the supplements a year and going to live forever. Right. He does a million dollars of lab testing or whatever. I mean, he's a perfect example. You know, think about, Jan, I always talk about this on our podcast. Think about what our great, great, great, great ancestors did and they thrive on this earth. They ate real food. They moved all day. They slept at night. Every once in a while, they would move really fast and sprint and they lifted things all day and every once in a while, they lived something really heavy. All right. Let's just copy what our great, great ancestors did. We don't need a bunch of fancy lab tests, a bunch of fancy supplements. I'm not saying they're not necessary at times. And when we talk about hormonal placement, we do have to talk about our environment is different now than it was a hundred years ago.

51:23So the foods are different and the nutrients are different in them because of the fertilizers and our environment is different. We have a lot more toxins now. So wire, min's, testosterone's lower now than they were partly because they lead to sedentary lifestyle. You know, their video game in all day, their drink and beer and eating cheetos on the couch and taken sands and taken sands. There you go. Right. Yeah. But also it's the toxic burden with Xenoestrogens and stuff like that. Couldn't play a role in that. But ultimately, the fix is not some magic supplement. The fix is not some magic lab test. The fix is sleep, diet, exercise in that order because if you optimize those, you will have a good, healthy immune system. So when you are hit with toxins, your body can respond to them. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. I love it. Perfect answer. I asked some rapid fire questions to close up for you. So just, you know, the deal first thing that comes to your mind. Okay.

52:24These are always fun. One medication you wish had never been invented. Birth control pills. Oh, damn. Now I can't rapid fire. Are you going to give me? I know. I know. You can't just stop there. You want me to expand on that? What's end on that? Okay. Expand. We will put a plug in. Birth control pills have put two or three generations into menopause. Birth control pills are synthetic hormones that basically take a woman's hormones and stops in doctor's production. That's why she's not cycling anymore. That's why she's not fertile anymore. That causes osteoporosis, depression, bipolar, insomnia, cardiovascular disease, cancer, all kinds of problems. And birth control pills I would never ever ever have to farm to recommend them ever or any hormonal birth control. Okay. Yeah. No, that's amazing. Well, no. I mean, I wanted to end on that, Dad. I wanted to end on that one. Okay. Well, no. We'll end on this one because it does tie to your book. What is the biggest healthcare myth? The biggest healthcare myth is that the best health insurance that you have is something

53:30the government provides or your employer provides or you buy as a policy. That's the biggest healthcare myth. The truth of the matter is the best health insurance we have is right here. Far and away. The best health insurance we have is how we take care of ourselves. And that's what chapter six in my book talks about is that you have to be educated and empowered to take care of yourself. That's the best health insurance. Not some policy that you can buy or your employer can buy or the government can give you. Staying away from the healthcare system is the best health insurance you can have. Am I taking care of yourself? You stay away. You know, that health insurance doesn't even mean a lot. Yeah. Yeah. Beautiful. I love it. Thank you so much, Sean. Can you tell people where they can get a copy of your book? And then any other connection points that you want people to know so they can find you? Probably the biggest connection point is our website, which is mlrx.com for Moses Lake Professional Pharmacy. So mlrx.com. There's a link to our podcast on there.

54:30There's a link to my book on there. But if you go to Amazon and you type in sick and how the government ruined healthcare, my book will come up. It's 10 bucks. It's 120 pages. It's a short read. You can read it in two hours. And it will basically tell you the history of our healthcare system and how we got where we are today and how to liberate yourself from our healthcare system. You do not have to stay in the traditional healthcare system. There's a parallel system already. We don't need to invent anything new. We don't need the government to do anything besides just get out of our way. There's a parallel system where you can access it and you can be in charge of your own health. Amazing. I'm going to encourage all of you. God, spend $10 and get the book to just educate and empower. Those are the two words. Educate and empower because it is going to give you the power in your hands to not be controlled by big pharma, big insurance, big food, all in the above, big government who all want to dictate how you live your life and really dictate your health and your

55:32health outcomes at the end of the day. So Sean, thank you for writing that book because it's, yeah, it's one of those messages that just needs to get out. It's truth that people don't want to hear, but they need to hear it. So thank you once again for your time today. Let me, let me pick your brain and thank you for writing the book. We'll put all the links down in the show notes as well. I love it. And I want to put a plug in for my new book. I'm writing lies. I learned in pharmacy school and how to escape the grasp of big pharma. You definitely want to follow that. So when it comes out in December, you can be one of the first ones to get a copy. Yes. 100% absolutely. We'll just have you back on the show to talk about it too. So thanks so much for being a guest. And if you love this episode, share it with someone that you know needs to hear it as well, which is, you know, everyone. So until next time. The information shared on the Thiratfixer podcast is intended solely for informational and educational purposes. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

56:34Always consult with your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, treatment or before making changes to your healthcare regimen, including medications, supplements or other therapies. Use of the information provided in this podcast does not establish a doctor patient or client provider relationship between you and the host or between you and any other healthcare professionals featured on the show. Any medical opinions or statements made by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or affiliated parties. And regarding dietary supplements or health-related products mentioned in this podcast have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Some episodes at the Thiratfixer podcast may include sponsorships or affiliate links. The host may receive compensation for discussing or promoting certain products or services. Any such sponsorships or affiliations will be clearly disclosed during the episode. All opinions expressed are those of the host or guests that do not necessarily reflect the views of any sponsors.

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