Hello, I am hoping to get a bit of advice here. I recently had my TSH tested. I requested it having noticed I have a lot of symptoms of hypothyroidism (fatigue, dry skin, easy weight gain and difficulty losing, problems regulating temperature, depression, recently gave birth to a baby with multiple birth defects). It came back as 3.9. When I had my follow-up with my doctor (she's fresh out of school and acts a bit haughty), she said my thyroid is fine and that all I need is a dietitian to help me to plan my meals better. I asked her what she felt the cut-off was for TSH and she said 5 and that I'm well within the normal limits and that she wouldn't test me further. I put up a bit of a fuss saying that I had read the cut-off was 3 or so, and she went to consult a colleague (also fresh out of school). She came back to confirm that I didn't know what I was talking about, and refused to treat me further. I insisted on a referral to an endo, she gave one but said since my results are totally "normal", that it would take a year or more to get in. She is stick thin and was looking at me as if to say "just put the fork down and you'll be fine".

So now I'm stuck waiting at least a year to get further testing (doctors are hard to come by where I live). Is there anything I can do in the meantime to improve my thyroid function on my own? Has anyone had luck at a walk-in clinic for thyroid testing? I would imagine they would brush me off just the same as my family doc did?

I've begun a very low carb diet, as well as I can manage, and finally I am seeing some change in weight. I've tried for 7 months now (since my baby was born) to do moderate low carb with a few indulgences and have had a slight increase in weight over time. I exercise for about an hour every day, combo of light weight training and cardio. I live in Canada by the way.

PS: Sorry this is so long! Thank you for reading!

I'm not sure on the thyroid thing, but I'd surely be looking for another doctor. If you don't feel like your doctor is listening to your concerns and treating you like a member of the doctor/patient team then they obviously have a thing or two to learn still.

Thanks, I definitely want to get a new doc, but I live in a rural area that has a doctor shortage and no one is accepting new patients. The few doctors that stay in my area seem to be the ones with attitude problems. My previous doctor was even worse and once yelled at me for going to see him because couldn't I see how full the waiting room was and that he didn't have time to bother with my pregnancy hyperemesis, pain and form I needed for work. He told me to suck it up and that I chose to get pregnant. I was shocked, walked out and immediately dropped him, which I'm sure was exactly what he wanted because he took on too many patients. The only reason I have a family doc now is because she's so new and inexperienced that her roster wasn't full and agreed to take me because she wanted my baby boy as a patient to learn from him because he has birth defects :/

Does anyone know if I can do an online consult or something from Canada? I tried that stopthethyroidmadness website, but their Canadian links don't appear to be working? I'm feeling really hopeless here. Thinking I may just have to move.

An hour a day of exercise is too much. You'll lower your metabolism that way, by up to 15%. Read Phinney/Volek's book for more info.

Use this as a Google search and see if you can find more specific info for Canada:

Google search terms: canada doctors site:stopthethyroidmadness.com

Hm, well that sucks because I was actually starting to enjoying my exercise program. I'll have to look into that, thanks. I'm looking into the google search now.

They recommend limiting exercise to 1/2 hour a day and not every day of the week. Last thing you want is to lower your metabolism even more if you're thyroid deficient.

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Science-L...g/dp/0983490708

I was kinda general there. I should have specified I take one rest day per week, so it's 6 days a week at on average an hour, but it changes day to day depending on what's on the schedule. Sometimes 45 minutes, sometimes it lasts almost 2 hours but those two hours aren't constant motion, it's weight training with rest between reps. Thanks for the info

WOW. That last doctor you had would have gotten earful from me! What nerve! The new one doesn't sound very much better. :/ I wish I had a solution for you, but I don't. I can only wish you and your baby boy the very best of luck in finding a more caring family doctor in your area!

Oh... another thing, going to an endo isn't going to solve anything. They're even more indoctrinated than general practitioners. Don't waste your energy on it, unless you're prepared for another defeat. There are some online forums dedicated to thyroid and I bet you could get Canadian specific help on them.