Doc appt. did not go well

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If you read Mediboard too, this is a repost from there, so you can skip it.

Sorry.

I need help on what to do now.

The endo said that I do _not_ have a thyroid problem. He basically thinks I

am a nut.

I went through my list of symptoms - fatigue, cold all the time, low body

temp, painful joints, no energy, not hungry, memory problems, weight gain,

blah blah. Gave specifics on all of these. I noted that my FT4 has been

stable but on the low end of normal for almost 1.5 years now and could this

account for my symptoms.

Answer: no. He said he doesn't usually do FT4 and FT3 tests because they

" aren't the true tests of thyroid function " . Their results are unreliable

and the only conclusive test is the TSH. I asked that weren't the FT4 and

FT3 the measurements of the thyroid hormone itself? He said, no the TSH

indicates how the thyroid is functioning. OK, now I know in my head that

this is not true, but what to say now? So I tried a different path. I asked

if it wasn't true that the antibodies in the underlying AI disease could

interfere with the receptors on the pituitary and thus give false readings?

His answer was that it has never been proven that the antibodies do any of

this and in fact there are studies which disprove it (I haven't seen any of

those!) So now what? Is this really true? It doesn't seem like it is.

I asked if this is true then why are my TSH levels fluctuating so much when

the FT4 isn't, what explains all the wild changes? He said that TSH levels

change throughout the day (duh, I know that) and that on any given day your

TSH could be fluctuate from .5 to 4.0 (not sure if I believe that or not)

and that if he took a " normal " person, their TSH would alter significantly

over a period of time also.

He then went on to say that I definitely don't have a thyroid problem and

that he wouldn't recommend any replacement T4 because my TSH was .73 and we

wouldn't want that to go lower and risk more bone damage, never mind that my

FT4 was .96 - completely irrelevant. Makes me wonder if I would have gotten

further if I asked for T4 when my stupid TSH was 2.81!

So I asked what would be causing all these symptoms I have? He asked if I

had checked into arthitis or things like that. I explained that I had been

to a rheumatologist and that doctor tested and said I don't have arthritis,

lupus, or anything else like that. And she also said that my joints pains

were related to the changes in my thyroid. Now I have 2 doctors telling me 2

different things. One says I have a thyroid problem, one says I don't.

Then I told the endo today that I've already been feeling bad for most of a

year and a half, so when is it going to get any better if I don't have a

thyroid problem? And if it's not my thyroid, then what is causing all the

symptoms? And why did I feel better for 2 months last Oct. and Nov. and then

felt bad again? Was there no correlation betweem those labs then and how I

might have felt? Again, he didn't feel it was thyroid related and had

absolutely no answers for what else it might be. Didn't even have anything

to suggest to check. He did suggest that maybe if I stopped thinking that it

was my thyroid, I might feel better. I'm pretty sure he thinks it's all

psychosomatic.

I didn't say anything about getting another opinion (not that I didn't think

it) but he also happened to say that he wouldn't want me to go

" doctor-shopping " because I probably could find someone who would treat me

differently and " get myself into more trouble " . Maybe he's right about that,

too. Maybe if I did find someone to give me some replacement T4, I'd go

hyper again. How am I supposed to know who or what is right?

Sigh. I managed to hold it together until I got to the car. I just wept most

of the way home. I don't know what to do now. Maybe he's right. Maybe I

don't have a thyroid problem. Maybe I should get used to how I feel. Maybe

this is my new " normal " .

So now I don't know what to do. I'm thinking about just giving up and

accepting that this is how I feel now. I suppose in the big scheme it's not

_so_ bad. Could be worse. People live with arthritis and MS and fibromyalgia

every day and this isn't as bad as that. I'm not sure I can deal with

another new doctor telling me I'm imagining it and that there's nothing

wrong with me. And maybe I'm asking for too much. I'm already pretty lucky

that I went euthyroid without and meds. Maybe I should just shut up and be

thankful for that.

So that was my depressing visit. Seems the only way I'm ever going to get

anything done for me is to get lucky and get my labs done on a day when my

TSH is over the normal limit. If anyone's got a plan for what to do now, I'm

in need of one. (Pam - do you have a Plan B?) I'm afraid if I try another

doctor, I'm just going to get the same thing. So far it's been 4 doctors

(not including the rheumatologist) and none of them has done _anything_ to

help me nor could even give me any answers as to what is happening.

Now I even begin to doubt myself. I don't know what is true anymore and what

isn't.

" You don't have a thyroid problem " B.