I need a doctor

June 19, 2015 8:20 PM

I had a really hard week with being really fatigued and I want to go to a doc and get my thyroid checked again, plus I will need to re-up my Synthroid prescription soon anyway. I have a bunch of questions about process for this and also, are there methods for staying awake that I don't know about?

So I have a prescription for Synthroid from my old doctor in my old city that's going to be running out soon so I need a new doc. But I don't want just any doc. My old doc was a primary care/endocrinologist whose approach was to prescribe just enough Synthroid to bring my test results into the bottom of normal range and call it a day. Her whole thing was that Synthroid was dangerous for your heart but necessary for low thyroid so just the bare minimum to keep your numbers up was enough and any more than that was bad. And I guess I wasn't that pro-active to keep going back even though I continued to feel tired all the time I guess because I've always been tired all the time and I didn't want her to tell me to stop drinking coffee or go to bed earlier so I just dropped it. Plus I was TIRED and didn't want to make appointments, take time off from work, and so on.

So what I would like to find this time is a doc who isn't going to take this approach and will let me try natural thyroid hormone. Or something. Maybe I have the kind of ADD that makes some people sleepy? I don't know. I just want to be able to go to work every day. Plus I read there's other low-thyroid symptoms I have too like your feet hurt all the time.

So how do I find a doctor who will work with me on all this stuff, without making me make 100 appointments spaced out over 5 years? I live in the East SF Bay area. I've been looking on yelp, and my insurance co's website, but most of the docs listed as endocrinologists are actually obstetricians, and the rest of them are way out West on the SF Peninsula. Which I can get to once, but regularly is time-consuming and expensive to meet with someone who I have no idea if they will help me. Do you know of one? Or... some way to deal with this? Because I can't think of any way to deal with this.

My other problem is that MAN this week was really hard, I was sooooo tired. How do I get through next week? I've read all the threads on here where the advice was like, stop drinking coffee, go to bed earlier, use that energy you markedly do not have enough of to get through the day to exercise somehow, violating all the laws of the physics. Is there something I'm missing?

My other question is, is is all of this natural thyroid hormone stuff a woo-woo scam? The websites that talk about it seem less than legit to me. I would like it to be true because it makes sense to me but the lack of sources that have pre-existing credibility make me confused.

posted by bleep to Health & Fitness (10 answers total)

I also have a low thyroid and, even with the correct dose, I am often tired in the afternoon. My boss just bought all three of us in my suite one of those easily-adjustable desktop stands that lets you change from a sitting to standing position to work. I think it will make a big difference in my droopy afternoons.

I also find getting out of my office for a 5-minute break outside to be helpful. I am not into alternative medicine. Synthroid works well for me.

Best wishes to you.
posted by harrietthespy at 8:25 PM on June 19, 2015

I nagged my MD into adding T3 to my regular thyroid meds. Made a big difference in my energy levels.
posted by Ideefixe at 8:32 PM on June 19, 2015

Not necessarily related to endocrinology, but is it possible you have sleep apnea? Once I was diagnosed many years ago and got a CPAP, my energy levels went way up.
posted by SquidLips at 8:45 PM on June 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm on Synthroid too and what really reverts me to "so lethargic, what's the point anymore" is if I'm dehydrated or low blood sugar. I now have to eat and drink way, way, way more than I am used to (probably because I was in hyper mode for many years) in order to stay energized. I also need more sunlight so I'm trying to get outside more too. YMMV?
posted by Hermione Granger at 9:04 PM on June 19, 2015

I was on Levoxyl for a couple of years (which is roughly the same as Synthroid) and switched to natural thyroid with a T3 kicker. I'm now on Natur-Throid and Cytomel, and since I've been on it, it's been a huge difference in energy levels. I feel pretty normal now, which I hadn't felt for years.
posted by bedhead at 9:32 PM on June 19, 2015

I googled and found this patient site where any doctor that is recommended has to willing to prescribe synthetic or natural thyroid medications.

Patient-Recommended Doctors (U.S.)

I take Armour thyroid because straight Synthroid wasn't working that well. I'm still not super energetic but much better than when I was on Synthroid.
posted by stray thoughts at 9:38 PM on June 19, 2015

If your thyroid dosage is correct you shouldn't be dragging. When that happens to me it means either I'm sick, dose needs to be upped or I need D3 supplementation - get that level checked as well. And yes - I take Armour and the T3 boost is helpful. Can't speak to finding a doctor where you are but others have covered that.
posted by leslies at 6:17 AM on June 20, 2015

So how do I find a doctor who will work with me on all this stuff, without making me make 100 appointments spaced out over 5 years?

Have you already tapped online communities of people dealing with thyroid problems for advice/recommendations?

(Also, my thinking now is that it might be worth the inconvenience of distance to get good, responsive care. If losing a couple of hours to travel every now and then means you're more functional for all the other hours, and don't feel you have to second guess your care, I'd say it's a reasonable trade.)
posted by cotton dress sock at 8:58 AM on June 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you are still tired there may be other things going on. You could be anemic. You could be vitamin d deficient. You could have sleep apnea. Etc. times 20. unfortunately in my experience the only solution is 20 doctors appointments progressing through your PCD to a sleep specialist. In the meantime - lots of caffeine.
posted by bq at 3:08 PM on June 20, 2015

Nthing the best thing to do is probably contact the thyroid sufferers community and get doctor recommendations from them. Mainstream, basic primary care doctors seem to under-treat thyroid, or believe the guidelines (which are probably insufficient) despite the continuing symptoms.

T3 or T4 also seems to help.

(I am certainly not a doctor)
posted by Jacen at 12:50 PM on June 22, 2015