Thyroid the back story

I've always had issues with my Thyroid and didn't feel that my Endocrinologist was properly treating that aspect of my endocrine issues.  So I sought out a new doctor who would take some more time on my thyroid and leave my diabetes up to my regular doctor.  I did a little research and decided on two local clinics.  One clinic didn't take insurance, so I went to the other one.

Some of the symptoms I've struggled with having low thyroid are typical, and others, I didn't realize were because of low thyroid.  Here's a list from Web MD, suffice it to say that I have MOST of them.  

Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

Symptoms of hypothyroidism may be vague and can often mimic other conditions. They may include:

• Changes in the menstrual cycle
• Constipation
• Depression
• Dry hair and hair loss
• Dry skin
• Fatigue
• Greater sensitivity to cold
• Slow heart rate
• Swelling of the thyroid gland (goiter)
• Unexplained weight gain or difficulty losing weight
• Carpal tunnel syndrome

The clinic that did take insurance, we'll call them "Fancy Thyroid Place" came highly recommended.  I knew a lot of women who have their thyroid treated there.  So, I booked my appointment for Fancy Thyroid Place and showed up not really knowing what to expect. The lobby looked like a spa and all of the employees dressed in black- felt like a fancy spa.  Anyway, I met with the doctor and right off the bat he was pretty rude to me.  I tried so hard to keep an open mind and I feel like I did eventually warm up to what he had to say.  We agreed to get some blood work done before making any changes to my regimen.

I had my blood work drawn and scheduled an appointment for three weeks later to have a look at things.  He opened up my file and right away said I had Hashimotos (hypothyroid) and that I needed to be gluten free.  He went over the rest of my thyroid numbers with me, told me they were all out of whack and wrote me a prescription for a different thyroid medication.

I took to the internets asking for help with this and was surprised when an endocrinologist friend told me that Hashimotos and gluten free don't necessarily need to go to there.  I wanted to be a good patient though and so I cut out gluten and started taking the new medicine.  I corresponded with this doctor friend a little more and she advised me that the medication this Fancy Thyroid Place was giving me, wasn't really a recommended or trusted treatment.  So.  I really had some decisions to make.

I kept with it and did the follow-up blood work about a month later.  In the mean time, I felt.  like.  crap.
I wasn't sleeping as well, I just wasn't myself.  But I sure was trying.

Follow up blood work suggested nothing.  Basically no change.  So in the end, I quit this doctor and went back to my old treatment plan.  And back to eating wheat.  (for a while at least).  See the continuation in these posts: New Country, New Doctor (part 1) and Part 2: New Doctor, lots of Test