Doctor was helpful and listened

[Spotydave]

Hi all.well i went to the gp today armed with a file of print outs and info from thyroid uk regarding my symptoms and sat down and went through them. He was great he listened and said would you like to go on a trial of low dosage of levothyroxine .and have bloods in three weeks to see how its going.. he also said he will check for vitamins aswell.. i was completely taken back by this...

[greygoose]

What does he call a 'low dose'? If it's 25 mcg, it could make you worse, rather than better, and then testing at 3 weeks, he could justifiable say, 'well, it's not helping, so obviously it's not your thyroid'.

What you actually need is 50 mcg levo, retested at 6 to 8 weeks. Then, you might see some progress.

[Spotydave in reply to greygoose]

Its 50mcg.... He said three to see if your starting ti feel any better and mabe make the dose higher..

[greygoose in reply to Spotydave]

Oh good! So many of them thing that a triel of levo means taking 25 mcg.

But, even so, three weeks is not long enough. It takes at least six weeks for the levo to be fully synthesised by your body. There probably won't be much change in three weeks, so that will give a false idea.

He can, of course, ask you how you're feeling - I wish more doctors would! - but even if you're feeling better, by the end of six weeks, you could be feeling back to square one. That just means that you need an increase in dose, not that the levo has 'stopped working', as many people think.

The normal protocol is to take a dose for 6 to 8 weeks, retest, and increase dose by 25 mcg. And, to continue that proceedure until all your symptoms have gone. And not until your TSH is somewhere - anywhere - in range, as some doctors think. Make sure he doesn't dose by the TSH!

As shaws said, make your appointment for the blood draw as early as possible in the morning - before 9 am - and fast over-night. Leave a 24 hour gap between your last dose of levo and the blood draw.

[Spotydave in reply to greygoose]

Hi grey goose...do you think i should ask fora trial for6weeks and then bloods?? And explain that it takes that long before.resulys are expected ?? And the 3weeks might be to short ?

[greygoose in reply to Spotydave]

You could try, yes. It would be a fairer trial.

[shaws Administrator]

Well done - I think you may have shocked him with your new knowledge. It should be a six weeks test as I don't think three weeks would be classed as a sufficient trial. Remember to make an appointment now for six weeks ahead so you get the earliest blood test and 24 hour gap between last dose and test and take afterwards.

[Spotydave in reply to shaws]

He did say thyroid uk will know more then he will as they specialise.... I only have 28tabs... So would it be better to ask for more tabs and 8weeks then bloods ? Or keep it to three ??

[FancyPants54 in reply to Spotydave]

You could just "forget" to book your blood test for 4 weeks and then phone up to book it at the 6 week point. You need to book a bit in advance as you need the earliest test you can get. I make mine between 8 and 8.30 am, the nurse doesn't start until 8am.

[Spotydave in reply to FancyPants54]

I might just do that... I can go to a an e and get there for the start time of 8am

[MissGrace in reply to Spotydave]

OMG - you have a doctor that accepts Thyroid UK know more than him? How many of us on here are thinking - ‘I wish I had one of those!’ Good luck with the trial, you have a decent doctor there. 😀

[shaws Administrator in reply to MissGrace]

I think those training to become Endocrinologists should be directed to HU TUK and I think that will enable them to become knowledgeable about everything to do with dysfunctions of the thyroid gland for those patients who don't recover on levothyroxine. There must be millions who don't have internet access but they will be treated by doctors who know clinical symptoms and taking account of them, as well as the TSH to be 1 or lower and not 'somewhere in the range'.

[Spotydave in reply to MissGrace]

Fingers crossed all my symptoms are due to the thyroid... And hopefully i will keep under this doc.they have a habit of disappearing

[shaws Administrator in reply to Spotydave]

Request a prescription for sufficient tablets to take you to up to and over your blood test telling him a six weekly blood test is needed with 25mcg increase in dose until you reach an optimum dose (i.e. you have relief of syptoms) which is around a TSH of around 1 or lower.

[Spotydave in reply to shaws]

I have a repeat prescription on so i can get hold of the tabs ...

[janeroar]

Well done sounds like you got what you needed from your doctor. It’s really important to have a GP on your side even if they don’t know everything they need to to help you. That and additional advice from the good folk on here will hopefully mean you’ll be feeling much better soon. Doing your own research helps. The website thyroid pharmacist is also a good source of information. Good luck.

[Spotydave in reply to janeroar]

Yer im slowly gettin there with the info. But at present im in the to much info position lol .

[Gcart]

Very sorry to say, is the poster male? Good luck to you and great u have found a good gp .

Just being cynical 😄😄

[Hidden]

However, there are other (Males) on this site that don't have any help from their GP's so good for you.

[Spotydave in reply to Hidden]

I just hope the gp doesn't disapear likethey tend to do

[Hidden in reply to Spotydave]

Exactly I had a brilliant one in Southampton but I moved.

[Spotydave in reply to Hidden]

Always the way. Its very frustrating