I highly recommend you go to thyroidabout dot com and start reading. They have a long list of symptoms to check for. Symptoms can creep up on you so that you don't necessarily realize what is happening until things get pretty bad. For me, I started having symptoms in 2000 and my TSH was 3-something. The doc saw that it was "in range" and dismissed my symptoms. Over the next four years, my symptoms kept worsening. We had moved and I began seeing a new doctor and when I presented with my old plus new symptoms, he surmised it was my thyroid, ran tests and said I was in range, so "That couldn't be it." Then I happened onto a magazine article that changed everything for me. I learned that "in range" is bunk and the American Thyroid Association has been trying to change the range for some time. I presented that info to my doc and he threw it in the trash and said, "that's not what's wrong with you - - here - take some anti-depressants." (I had not said I was depressed and didn't feel depressed, although that can sometimes be a symptom.) I took one pill and felt suicidal (before black box warnings came out) and threw the rest away. I knew I wasn't depressed. At that point, my symptoms were really getting bad. I began seeing doctor after doctor in my area and all of them came to the same conclusion, that nothing was wrong with me, even though by this point, I had every single textbook symptom EXCEPT depression (just frustration over idiot doctors). My TSH was 5.4 by this point. I went to the above mentioned website and began researching, as I thought I might have to start treating myself. There's a link on there somewhere for finding knowledgeable doctors in your area. I found one and it took me 2-3 months to get in, but he completely turned my life around for me. He was an ENT and has Hashimoto's disease and he went through the whole ridiculousness of ignorance of what is taught in today's medical schools. It's not just about TSH, it's also about T4, T3, Free T4, Free T3, Reverse T4, Reverse T3 and their ratios to one another. He was so comforting to me on my first visit, I cried! Come to find out, I needed T3 because my body wasn't properly converting my T4. Therefore, Synthroid, the most prescribed thyroid drug that 99% of doctors think is the only thing anyone ever needs, probably wouldn't have helped me much ... or it would have sent my T4's through the roof to get my T3 where it needed to be.
Remember, doctors aren't gods, they just sometimes think they are. I asked my doctor why so many doctors are so clueless and he responded with: "What do you call a medical student who graduates at the bottom of their class?" I shrugged. He said, "Doctor." But not only that - many doctors just want to get a paycheck like a lot of "employees" today ... not necessarily doing the best job they can do.
Having lost most of your thyroid, I would venture to say all your T4s and T3s are out of whack and you probably, at the very least, need Armour, but a really good doctor would most likely compound something for you that would be specifically for your needs.
My most noticeable symptoms: internal lump in my throat (that I feel when I swallow), iron anemia, intolerant of hot weather or cold weather, hair loss, dry skin (feet, knees, ankles and elbows will crack), dry eyes (especially upon waking), fast weight gain, even when dieting and exercising, puffy face and eyelids, fatigue, muscle aches, joint pain, and "brain fog" (not being able to think of simple words, forgetting what you went into a room for, having trouble concentrating or problem solving).
A final word: I saw an endocrinologist and an ENT when I was in search of a "good" doctor. Both of them were complete quacks. The endo told me I just needed to diet and exercise (before asking if I already was, and I was!), and the ENT told me I had acid reflux. I didn't. Don't settle for less than what your gut tells you is a doctor that truly knows their stuff. They are just people.
|
Linear Mode
