Just thought you fellow thyroid patients might like to now about a conversation I have just had with my Doctor.
Doctor: "why do you need a retest of your TSH"
Me: "because I realise that I hadn't stopped taking by Biotin prior to the test"
Doc: "that wont make a difference"
Me: "it affects the TSH results"
Doc "how do you know that"
Me "because I read a lot and your surgery Pharmacists confirmed that back in April"
Doc "how can you be sure that your TSH results are wrong"
Me "because I have fatigue and muscle/joint pain headaches" etc....
Doc: "I have never heard of those symptoms"
Me " also could you add Vitamin D to the retest as this was missed out before"
Doc "why"
Me: "because Vitamin D should be at the top of the range"
Doc " well I have learnt something today"
WHAT IS GOING ON GUYS? CAN WE NOT EDUCATE OUR GPS JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THYROIDISM..........JUST A BIT WOULD GO A LONG WAY. ITS LIKE OUR LIFELONG ILLNESS ISNT RECOGNISED.
WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE PEOPLE THAT DONT RESEARCH THEIR ILLNESS AND JUST LET THE DOCTOR MAKE ALL THE DECISIONS - ARE THESE THE PEOPLE THAT ARE IN CONSTANT PAIN, STRUGGLING TO WAKE UP IN THE MORNING, OVERWEIGHT, SUFFERING HAIRLOSS...THIS LIST GOES ON
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barb62
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Yes, I was one of those who thought GPs and specialist endocrinologists knew what was best for me 14 plus years ago with a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, wind on 12 years and you get 'dead-end' diagnosis like fibromyalgia, and just pain management, and doctors who, unlike your Gp, won't 'learn something today'.... so DIY with forum members help and ability to set money aside for private tests and 'meds'. I am glad you have found a Gp who is prepared to be open- and he will treat you, and any future patients, with an enlightened approach.
I have lost count of the number of people I have spoken with who have hypothyroid symptoms who refuse to question their GP’s judgement and tell me that they cannot have hypothyroidism as their doctor has checked for it and it is ok. (The noise you can hear is me banging my head against a wall.)
Hmmm. I recently stumbled across information online regarding Biotin affecting thyroid lab test results, did some further poking around and found there is an FDA warning about this. webmd.com/vitamins-and-supp...
My latest TSH result was 0.626
(0.300 - 4.200 uIU/mL)
Although I have been treated for hypothyroidism for at least 20 years, in the past nobody had ever tested my free T4 and T3 levels. This doctor tested both in October 2017 and results were fT4 = 2.08 (0.60 - 1.70 ng/mL), and fT3 = 2.64 (2.57-4.43 pg/mL).
I'm lucky she didn't reduce my Synthroid Rx, thinking I was being pushed toward hyperthyroidism.
She had suggested I try biotin for my hair loss, but I had already bumped my intake from 5,000 to 10,000 over a year ago. Scrambling for a solution, I started throwing all B vitamins I could find into the mix, plus D, E, calcium, and magnesium.
After I found the biotin lab test warning, I stopped taking all supplements and emailed my doctor about the biotin and asked to be retested for thyroid and Vitamin D.
She responded that she had never seen biotin interference in her practice but she did agree to have the testing redone. I am going to wait until next Monday to get the tests done, giving everything time to clear out of my system and my body time to adjust.
You are not alone. Most Primary Car Docs are clueless about Thyroid testing; some Endo’s are too. Now, since Insurance industry has pushed medicine to only do TSH test as the main screening test...many more will not get evaluated...LIKELY because, if the patient cannot convert T4 into the more usable T3, they can take the synthetic T4 all day long, and get no relief of symptoms. THIS has become so pervasive, that SOME Docs actually have been heard telling patients: “Don’t expect relief of symptoms, just because you are taking a thyroid replacement”.
And, more patients are clueless, too, so don’t know to ask more questions, and, don’t realize their Docs are clueless about it.
Think about this: We live in a world with tens of thousands of manmade chemicals, MANY of which are hormone [all of them or some of them], and nutrient interrupters.
That means, you can have “normal” TSH, yet, the cells cannot get the Thyroid they need to work, causing symptoms.
AND, insurers and Pharma have been trying hard for many years, to get rid of the Natural Desiccated Thyroid that help so many...they’ve used all sorts of lame excuses I’ve herd. It’s down to a witch hunt now, as with DT’s import tariffs against China, where much of the freeze dried thyroid comes from, it’s been unavailable for a few years, to the point no pharmacies near us have any USP NDT to compound it with, and, company that makes Westhroid Pure [WP], and NatureThroid, can’t get what they need to make their products, either. Many years ago, Armor changed their formula, and many stopped using it, because it no longer worked right. NOW, Armor is all the pharmacies around here offer...and, the doses differ from other NDT brands.
IF you get it compounded, be really sure the pharmacy isn’t faking it...I got a useless batch last time. This time, I stopped to getting what they had..Armor....and it does help some [well, better than the compounded stuff had], but not entirely. Chalked that up to Pharmacists and Docs something still have bead attitudes, and really think their patients are faking it, so they do stupid things to try and fake them out. IF you experience this, report them!
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