Aw dawn...I'm so sorry. Did the doctor explain to you WHY this torture was necessary?

Of course you feel bad if you're not able to take meds that are supposed to help you.

MButterfly typed the words I was thinking.

What IS the endo's reasoning?

I must admit that I would have sought another opinion before agreeing to something like this...

All of the issues you've been having indicate that you need to be on thyroid hormone supplementation.

Again, why is this happening?

Me again....

Are any of the doctors on the following list anywhere near you?

http://www.thyroidchange.org/patient-recommended-doctor-list-us.html

I remember your earlier post with your labs and you were severely hypothyroid back then.

I hope you consult with another doctor. It seems you are suffering needlessly.

This new dr said that he wants my system clean and 2 months off of desiccated thyroid(which I have been experimenting without the supervision of a dr). I like him better than my 1st dr, and the natural dr I went to said to eat more greens. Great. This is awful. I went on vacation and ride my bike for 7 days and a total of 450 miles and something like 38,000ft of climbing. I burned no less than 1800 kcal per day. And not one pound of weight loss. Just ridiculous. I'm stuck. What other choice do I have ?

Sorry but, your latest-greatest doctor makes no sense.....no sense at all.

While "cleaning your system", you are dealing with inadequate thyroid levels that can cause all sorts of issues "behind the scenes"....such as elevated cholesterol, glucose, BP, heart rate and all sorts of other problems.

The FreeT4 level you shared last month was below-range! That is dangerous.

I really, really think you should see another doctor....and keep on meeting new doctors until you find one that recognizes the obvious: you need to be on thyroid hormone.

The link I shared contains *very* recent recommendations since the Thyroid Change patient initiative is slightly over one-year old.

Why don't you see if there are any doctors within an hour's drive from you?

I think it will be well worth your effort.

(for whatever it's worth, I had to kiss 4 toads before finding my prince(ss)

Yes, some of those drs are near me. I went to one that was on Mary Shomon"s website. i thought he would understand me.

Thanks. I'll do some research an see if I like any of them.

Dawn-----my best help was when I wanted to change drs I would call the doctor office and ask to talk to his nurse. If they ask you if you are a patient say you are thinking of changing over and want to see if it is a good fit for you. I have did that and it does work and gives you an idea of the skill of the nurse there. Most times I would just get a nurse triage that answers phones for all the drs in that clinic. But that is ok too. Run past her what you said here and tell he you need to get some help. The way I look at it is the nurses in the clinic are a reflection of the drs there because they interview and hire them.

Best wishes with your health.....this is my opinion and what I have did that worked well for me.

Thanks bluesapphire, mbutterfly, cd!

BTW- the new dr has ordered the following tests: Vit D,25-OH, LCMSMS, TSH, Free T4, Total T3. i asked for the Free T3, and he said the Total T3 will give him both bound and unbound T3 so Free T3 isn't necessary. Is this true?

The FreeT3 level is vital.....it measures unbound hormone which means it's measuring the hormone that is usable by your body.

Why your doctor cares about bound hormone (unusable hormone) is beyond me.

For whatever it's worth, my first 3 endos and my now-former GP would not check my FreeT3 level.

My current thyroid doctor (an internist) was incredulous to hear this because, as she said, "FreeT3 is the active hormone".

(our thyroids make two main hormones: T4, the storage hormone and T3, the active hormone T3 is created by a process called "conversion". It's not uncommon for people with hypothyroidism to have trouble with conversion and that's why it's vital to check the FreeT3 level as well as the FreeT4 level (both of which measure unbound, usable hormone)

me again

You may be aware of Mary Shomon, thyroid patient advocate, author of several thyroid-related books and extensive author of online articles.

She recently created a free e-book that addresses thyroid basics, including all that's involved with thyroid blood tests.

You might be interested in downloading it:

http://iamthefaceofthyroiddisease.org/free-ebook-thyroid-101/


As I've mentioned previously, I suspect your doctors have been confused by your "normal" (aka in-range) TSH level.

We've discussed the fact that thyroid antibodies can keep TSH lower for YEARS while the patient is suffering from hypothyroidism.

As you will see from the book, some people dealing with hypothyroidism have TRab (TSH receptor antibodies) to blame....that's exactly what's causing my hypothyroidism.

TRab mimic the action of TSH so the body's response is a lower TSH level than would normally be seen with hypothyroidism.

TRab can also block the production of thyroid hormone and thus, cause hypothyroidism.

This is explained in the e-book.

Your doctors should be aware of these things. If not, that tells you they are not proficient in thyroid care. Unfortunately, this is a global problem as evidenced in the following patient initiative:

http://www.change.org/petitions/endocrinologists-patients-with-thyroid-dysfunction-demand-better-care

However, there *are* doctors out there who "get thyroid".

Many people have had success with "non-endos" such as internists, DO's or alternative MD's.

I truly hope you get the care you deserve.

It is really worth the effort.

Cd is giving you correct, and current information.

Before throwing my meds away for THREE MONTHS!!!! I would have to KNOW what his reasoning is and agree with it. After all, it's my body we're treating, ya know? (in this case you're body).

If you don't check your Free T3 and Free T4 levels you won't know what's really going on with you. The other things he wants to check is fine, but to leave out the Free's is negligent on his part. Especially considering he's asked you to do without meds for 3 months.

He could have run all those tests exactly where you were while on your meds. You don't have to be "clean" to get those tests run. I agree with Cd - he makes no sense at all according to what you've told us here.

There's no good reason for your misery.... He would have to explain that to me....

I'm so sorry you're going thru this...

MButterfly just shared this link in another thread:

http://breakingmuscle.com/health-medicine/understanding-thyroid-why-you-should-check-your-free-t3

I think it might help you understand why Total T3 is totally useless.....how does the doctor know just how much T3 is bound (useless) and unbound (free for the body's use)?

And, I suspect it also will help you appreciate just how important FreeT3 testing is....

I found this sentence to be quite telling....

"But, many times TSH is misleading if one does not consider that Free T3 can be low even with a completely normal TSH levels"

I hope this isn't TMI and, instead, I hope that you recognize that I'm providing information to you because I care.

The stuff is out there but it can be hard to find. Obviously, this is where thyroid forums can be very helpful to help the patient cut through the bs that doctors can sometimes spew.

Thanks again to MB for sharing the link that I'm already paying forward :)

Thanks for the article. One of the drs on that list is close to me. How do I know that he is going to understand what I'm going through? I just don't want to waste my time and money on someone who is going to look at me and tell me I'm fine.