I live in the UK - so for me, getting a thyroid-aware doc is going to be a case of working my way through the NHS surgery in the town until I find one. So, one down … seven to go. What really annoyed me, well, two things, well, actually, several ... but this isn't an essay…but it could end up that way ... I went to my doc with a list of physical things that weren't right with the body I have had for quite a while now and based on those years of experience I was angry at the arrogance of someone telling me on a few minutes acquaintance, that I was making a fuss over nothing. I included in that list a summary of my diet and exercise regimes in case I was going to be fobbed off with “get your face out of the food trough and get your butt off the sofa”. I think the points I made were reasoned. This is affecting the quality of my life - my work has suffered and I need my income. My job may end soon, I need a good reference and some va-va-voom to go into interviews with. My new boyfriend is rather nice, I’d like to keep him. My flat needs decorating, my garden needs digging and I have to move house soon. I am not overwhelmed by these things, but I need the energy I lack to achieve them (plus a small, but useful team of people - shame you girls are in the US !). His attitude of "Well, it's not thyroid" and the implied, “So off you go”, was unacceptable. Just because something has been eliminated, it has not answered the question "What is wrong with me?" So I persisted. The patronising look he gave me said the unspoken word, “hypochondriac”. An arrogant, lazy doc like this is just dangerous. My poor old mother went to a doc like this and also had a list of physical problems: post-menopausal bleeding, vomiting, weight loss - was told to pull herself together and given anti-depressants. By the time she went to a different doc, the cancer that should have been picked up on previously by anyone half competent was out of control and she died. I will not let such a doc be around me or mine.

Thanks for the info and advice. I will keep you posted!