hello :) / I lived before in Berlin and was diagnosed Hashimoto there. I live now in London and I would need to find a specialist here ...

[victoire]

Could someone recommend me where I could go ? Also I would like to change the medication, I feel side effects and I dont feel too well. I take only T4 and I read now while researching that this is not enough. I would like to think of alternatives, maybe natural. I would be happy if someone could share with me some information about Hashimoto, their experiences with it and what worked for them ? Also what I should do if I am only NHS Patient till now. I would really like a second opinion from a specialist. I cannot accept till now that nature couldnt help also here in my case.

Would love to hear and share some thoughts. Thank you !

[helvella Administrator]

In the UK almost everyone has an NHS General Practitioner. And, most of the time, other doctors will not offer you an appointment without being referred by that GP.

Assuming you have not seen an endocrinologist so far, you could ask your GP to refer you to an NHS specialist. Or you could ask for a private referral to anyone you like. Usually you contact the private doctor (or secretary) and discuss - then ask your GP to send a referral letter.

This web site has most private consultants listed:

drfosterhealth.co.uk/consul...

You can get Thyroid UK's list of doctors from here:

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/About_...

We recommend most people to get tested for:

vitamin B12

folates

iron/ferritin

vitamin D

Many people who are hypothyroid, including Hashimoto's, are low in one or more of those.

I expect others will add their bits of information.

Rod

BTW Ironic that you have come from where Hakaru Hashimoto did his thyroiditis work.

Also, a very long time ago, I lived for a while not very far from Charlottenburg Palace.

[victoire in reply to helvella]

Thanks a lot Helvella/Rod !

I asked for a list from Thyroid UK.

Unfortunately the other link when I tried to put all the criterias in, didnt function and it said, page was not found, maybe they have a server problem, hopefully it will work again at some point. Will try again later.

I will definetly get tested on these vitamins and minerals - thanks !

Thats funny with Berlin. A weird coincidence

Nice you lived there ! Hope you liked it !!

I am not sure I would have known so much about my condition if I would have stayed there, thats even funnier !

Vicky

[Pink_Bear]

Hi Victoire

Welcome to London.

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's almost 3 years ago. My treatment is guided by an Endocrinologist who advises my Doctor on medication. I've found a book by Dr Alexander Haskell really useful - Hope for Hashimoto's. There is also a website with the same name with a very good series of presentations that help you understand the condition.

Hope this helps as a starting point.

Mary

[merissa in reply to Pink_Bear]

I was very interested in your post, can i ask please are you doing well having hashimotos? I will have a look at the book you suggestive.

Thanks

x

[Pink_Bear in reply to merissa]

Hi Merissa

I've come to the conclusion I'll always have ups and downs with Hashimoto's, but I seem to be having more ups than downs these days. I've just had about 4 months when I've felt really well, unfortunately I'm a bit down at the moment. Last year my Endo got me started taking vitamin D supplements and that was a big step forward. More recently I've gone gluten free and I think this was a major factor in feeling so well recently. I'm pretty sure I feel better when the weather is warmer and can't wait for this cold spell to be over. What about you? How are you?

Mary

[victoire in reply to Pink_Bear]

Dear Mary,

thanks for the welcome and a very big thanks to introducing me to Alexander Haskell, I just watched all his videos and they were a huge eye opener to me !

I can just recommend this to anyone who suffers from it. Really again many thanks for this, it was so helpful and indeed gave a new perspective on it. It was also so interesting to see how complex this condition is and that there is hope for a better life !

I was just wondering if you would come to an Endocrinologist and would like him to go with you step by step through this process so that at the end you can hopefully be for a while without medication, the ideal case, if he would accept to try it out ? Have you tried this process that Haskell is describing ?

Very curious to know !

All the best,

Vicky

[Pink_Bear in reply to victoire]

I am following Dr Haskell's advice to a large extent and am in his Stage 2 now. Stage 1 was getting stable on the right dose of levothyroxine and I estimate I got there last summer, after getting on the correct dose and starting vitamin D supplements, which made a big difference to me. Now I am supplementing with Selenium as well and have given up gluten - this is with the hope of reducing the antibodies that attack the thyroid. It's early days, but when I got a private test done in February after 4 months on this regime there was indeed a small fall in the antibodies. I don't know if I'll ever get to his stage 3 - no antibodies and restarting your own thyroid into action, but all I can say is I am better now than I've been for several years.

So far I haven't talked to my Endo about this. Our medical profession in the UK generally don't take any notice of the antibodies and once you're diagnosed they are never checked again to my knowledge. This always seemed alien to me, to just accept that you had them and that they would attack your thyroid until it is destroyed with no attempt to prevent this. However I am due to see him quite soon and I'm thinking of talking it through - I think he might be interested. I will certainly post an update once I've done it.

Let me know how you get on.

[victoire]

Interesting to hear this and shame that in the UK they don't do it. But maybe there is hope to find also here someone who is really interested in this and want to help for real. There must be one !

Let me definetely know what happens after your talk and I will update you too !

Best,

Vicky