Sharing what a holland and Barrett assistant told me today

[summer1953]

nipped in the health shop to ask about supplements for thyroid and the lady was very eager to help me. She showed me Kelp and asked me if my Dr had given me tablets and I told her yes. Are they working? She asked, I said no, there making me feel ill (which is true) she then said to me You must stop them! I was shocked she could say this to me so I asked her was she sure that was the right thing to do? Definitely she said then tryed to persuade me buy 2 bottles of kelp as they were on offer. Now if I hadn't been on here this last week seeking good solid advice from you all, I may have listened to her but I left the shop empty handed as I was a bit in shock at what she said. Does kelp cure your thyroid like she said? Thank you.

[cjrsquared]

No it doesn't. Kelp is rich in iodine and can make things much worse. Her advice could be very dangerous probably worth reporting .

[Lindsayf]

Wow just wow..... I would have taken her name and wrote into the Manager... I'm not one for showing people up HOWEVER what she is doing is damn right dangerous. What happens if you had someone who wasn't as fortunate as us to know about this forum and was so desperate to feel better they took on her advice!

[Raventhorpe]

Hi summer 1953

That downright dangerous in my opinion you should tell the manager as she could do some serious harm to people. Kelp is very bad to take if you have problems with thyroid. She should not be telling customers to stop taking tablets that the gp has prescribed she could end up killing someone.

[summer1953 in reply to Raventhorpe]

i will say something but will feel awful doing it but like you say her advice could kill someone.

[Shaza-1970]

I thought kelp was good to take for under active thyroid.

Is it not.

[Treepie in reply to Shaza-1970]

Low iodine is common in many parts of the world if low in iodine kelp will help. But for hypothyroidism it will most likely you ill as it will be too much iodine in addition to that in the levothyroxine you are taking.

[LuckyKat in reply to Shaza-1970]

The correct ratio of iodine and iodide is needed. Kelp would be very hit and miss.

[bluebug]

Please contact Holland and Barrett management both in store and online.

No one in a health food shop should be telling anyone to stop taking prescribed medicine. Also as the others have stated taking kelp is harmful to anyone with thyroid disorders.

[glo42]

I am shocked that the Holland & Barrett assistant is giving out this dangerous advice! Thank goodness you had the sense to ignore her, but I do think that you should go back or write and make the store Manager aware of this incident. NO WAY, should she be telling thyroid patients to stop prescribed medication and NO WAY should she be pushing kelp tablets to unsuspecting thyroid patients either. She is putting their lives at risk... please report her.

She must be doing this thinking it is correct advice, but someone needs to tell her it is not!

Continue with your prescribed medication, I hope you will begin to feel a little better soon.

[witchcat43]

Just make sure that 'she's' not the store manager before you write to the store and complain about her.

[summer1953 in reply to witchcat43]

Thank you I think she maybe actually because she's been there years. I'm not feeling up to writing or reporting her yet, I may just casually mention something to her next time I go in x

[witchcat43]

This is slightly worrying, if you go onto the Holland and Barrett website this is what it says:

'Holland & Barrett associates are now officially 'Qualified to Advise'.'

Does that mean they think they're Doctors? We all know how useless Doctors are regarding thyroid problems anyway so put that kind of power into the hands of a total novice is a recipe for disaster. Give anyone a modicum of authority and they will always, always abuse it. This urgently needs looking into at the top levels of Holland and Barrett. Luckily summer1953 was wise enough to ignore the advise but someone more gullible might have believed what she was told by the 'store expert'.

[summer1953 in reply to witchcat43]

That's not good is it. Thing is she got very excited as she explained that Drs didn't care about how the drugs they prescribe make us ill, she said she had contacts in the medical profession who had told her it's all about money. She was very convincing.

[witchcat43 in reply to summer1953]

That's even scarier, she's correct to a degree re the money but that doesn't give her the right to tell people to stop taking their prescription meds. A little medical knowledge can be a very dangerous thing in the wrong hands.