Now what?

[sandy bush]

I finally received my TSH results after bothering my doctor all afternoon. What they gave me was a piece of paper that said 3.45 on a scale of .3-5 (His nurse talked to me and said it was just fine.) I also found out that my doctor had tested me in 1999 and my results from then were 2.32.

My problem is this: My doctor said I was fine, but I still feel crummy and have for the last 20 years. It came on fairly suddenly, after the birth of my third child, and it has just been recently that it occurred to me that it could be my thyroid. I went to Mary Shomon's web site and I had about 7/8 of the symptoms listed.

What do I do now? Should I try to get my doctor to listen to me? Should I try to find another doctor? Should I try to treat it myself naturally?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Sandy Bush

[christyann]

What you need to understand about that scale is that while you are in the "normal" range; you are considered HIGH normal. That means that while medically your thyroid is functioning within limits, the number is still higher than in a perosn who does NOT have a thyroid problem. If I remember correctly, my doctor told me that a "normal" person has a level of 2.5 to 3.5 on a scale that stops at 5. So, if yours is higher than that you are likely to still experience the symptoms of hypothyroidism. I went to my doc abouthtis exact thing, and he was hesitant to raise my meds because fluctuations in the hormone can contribute to osteoporosis. So, I still have bouts of fatigue, weight gain and all that jazz. One ray of sunshine... if your doc won't consider a change to your T3 meds along with the T4..... I found that the Atkins WOE really helped lift a lot of those symptoms away. Even my arthritis (a related disease) is less severe! Hope that helps a bit. :yay:

[sandy bush]

Thank you, Christyann. One good thing all of this has brought about is renewing my desire to get back on a good, low carb eating plan. I will try that for a while and if I still feel like it is a problem, I will go to a local endocrinologist who was highly recommended on Mary Shomon's web site.
Sandy