Shell43-
Welcome!
I'm a Hashi's sufferer and what I've learned over the years is we pretty much have to educate ourselves on thyroid issues because most doctors- seriously- don't have a clue when it comes to understanding lab work, diagnosing problems, or dialing in medication to the right dose for thyroid.
I had thyroid symptoms for 9 years and my doctor kept telling me I was fine because I was in the "range" on the TSH test years before and he didn't want to run another. He never ran the full set of tests on my thyroid, ever. And I had classic symptoms- every single one of them. The weight gain, the hair falling out, the brain fog, you name it. I began having some other issues, which he assumed was unrelated, and he sent me to a specialist. The first thing the specialist did was ask, "Can I test your thyroid?" and sure enough my labs came back abnormal. My normal doc got the results and wanted me to run down to be put on Synthroid but my feeling was if he wasn't sharp enough to recognize I had a thyroid problem in the first place, how could I trust him to treat me for it? So I went to a Naturopathic Doctor and went on a natural desiccated thyroid medicine instead. She does have labs done, but she also asks me how I feel. She feels that labs give you a baseline, but she dials in my meds based on how I feel, not what the blood tests say.
There are some really good places to learn more about thyroid issues. Look up Mary Shomon, she's an author and has a regular email and also has a FB page. Get on some different forums. The thing about thyroid is while it's one of the most important glands in the body, many people- including doctors- really don't understand it. Even some endocrinologists don't really understand it. I personally think that Holistic docs and Naturopathic doctors (not the same as a naturopath, which may or may not have medical schooling) have the best knowledge of the thyroid and how to treat it but even then it's hit and miss. I think the first step is to educate yourself, and then when you're talking to your doctors you'll be able to tell if they have any real understanding. Since you had your thyroid completely removed, you may need more than just T4, you may also need T3. Synthroid/Levothyroxine is a synthetic T4 only. Desiccated thyroid such as Westhroid, Thyroid USP, Naturethroid etc. have T4, T3, T2 and T1. They don't even know what the functions are for T2 and T1 but they do know that the body has to convert T4 to T3 in order to use it, and some people have conversion issues which is why some people do better on the natural form rather than the synthetic form- it already has T3 in it.
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