Still no definitive answers...

I finally got a hold of my doctor today. I ended up going for my third blood draw in three weeks to check my thyroid levels and I was anxious to find out how they came back. She shocked me by saying they were "normal". She told me they came back at 5.60 which is lower than the 6.52 they were the first time. I told her that my OB went ahead and did his own labs, and he told me that the week in between those readings, my TSH was at 4.88 and he also considered them "normal". So let's recap: week one my levels were 6.52, week two they were 4.88, and week three they were back up to 5.60??? OK, I'm not a doctor, and I knew my readings were probably not all going to be the same number, but those three readings seem screwy to me. And the odds of having one fluke test I'll consider, but three flukes?? Nope I'm not buying that one.

Anyway, she then said she wanted to keep checking the levels periodically to see if something might be up, but I just cut her off. I told her I'd been reading up on hypothyroidism, and not only do I have a lot of the symptoms, but most of them are symptoms that I had no clue were something worthy of even complaining about (I'm not going to make a doctor's appointment for dry skin and changes in my hair!). I told her it's not like I can't live my life, but the majority of these things are annoying and I'm unhappy. I feel like crap all the time, I'm tired, I'm depressed, I feel gross with the way my body has changed, and I'm just frustrated with being told there's nothing wrong. I told her I want to start the synthroid just to see if it might help alleviate the symptoms. She said there was no harm in trying it, so she put in a scrip at the pharmacy for me. She also asked me to start keeping a log of how I'm feeling off the meds and continue it when I'm on them.

Now here's the kicker: She's PCSing come the second week in September (for you non-military folk, it means she's headed to her next duty station and won't be my doctor anymore). She admitted that there are a lot of doctors at the clinic who would strongly disagree with what she's doing, and told me point blank not to go back to my previous doctor because he will take me off the meds. She said that given my complaints and everything I've talked to her about, she really does think it's worth looking into and gave me the names of two other doctors at the clinic that share her view when it comes to thyroid problems. I'm bummed that she won't be able to follow through with me, but I'm grateful that she gave me the heads up and referred me to a couple of doctors who would actually try to figure this thing out.

So there it is. Nothing concrete, no for sure answers or solutions to my problem. But at least I have the chance to find out if this new medicine will make me feel normal. She told me to see my new doctor in one month (or sooner if I'm not feeling right) to discuss what may have changed and to have my levels taken again. So fingers crossed there are major changes between now and then.