Thanks to everyone who posted comments on my blog post about my visit to Dr P. Today I went to see my GP. I took with me the written diagnosis from DR P, along with his recommendations of what I should take. I also took his print-out "understanding treatment of lowered metabolism".
The consultation started like this:
Me: "oh dear, what have you done?"
Him: "I walked into the car boot. The boot won"
Me: "Yes, I can see that"
Him: "How are you feeling now"
I told my GP I had stopped taking thyroxine for 10 days. Bearing in mind what others said, I didn't say that Dr P had told me to take NT only. I'm going to consider that and may go back on 25mg of thyroxine.
He read the diagnosis and has even kept the metabolism print-out so he can read it later.
I said that I now think ME is actually complex endocrine malfunction and that it started becoming prevalent in the 70s when thyroid blood tests were introduced.
You are going to love his reply (I swear, this really is what he said)
"You can't diagnose thyroid problems just on blood tests, you have to go by symptoms"
I didn't ask him why, in that case, it's taken 5 years of hypo blood tests AND symptoms to get a diagnosis of any kind!!! I thought I'd let that pass.
I did say, though, that thyroid isn't the whole answer for. It was the clue I needed to find out where to look.
He says I should come back within 2 months to get another blood test.
A thought came into my head on the way home. If I really do get better - well enough to travel again, well enough to sing again, should I ask the practice if they would give me the opportunity to do a presentation to the doctors. My symptoms and story are not unique. They must have other patients in a similar situation that could, potentially, be helped. Patients for whom thyroid is just part of the problem and who are, therefore, slipping through the net.