Very Positive Consultation with Endo about my Hypothyroidism

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I am over the moon today. My long wait for an appointment with an Endocrinology

specialist is over, and it was excellent!!

(the NHS choose-and-book system choose to not book me....:-( )

Background

I had some (non-thyroid related) problems and my GP did a routine blood test - I

have been self-medicating Natural Thyroid (180 mg per day) and Nutri Adrenal

Extra for some time. I hadn't got up my courage to explain this to my GP at the

time.

When the blood test results came back I had some explaining to do - she thought

I was seriously ill because of the TSH suppression.

I think I did a good job of explaining the results. This wasn't my regular GP

because he was on leave, but the youngest member of the practice. Once she had

got over the surprise at what I was doing she seemed open-minded. We agreed that

she would refer me to an endocrinology specialist. She also said that if he was

agreeable she would prefer to prescribe properly quality-controlled natural

thyroid on the NHS rather than me buy questionable drugs over the internet (from

Thailand).

I heartily agreed with this.

Anyway, that was 6 months ago.

Endocrinology Appointment

Today I saw the endo specialist Dr C. I have to say I was a bit nervous and

prepared to be combative. I really didn't want to mess around with synthyroid,

and risk returning to a worse state.

I came equipped with my graphs of temperature related to dosage, symptom lists,

all photocopied for the doctor, and lots of TPA backup material plus D-P's book

and other material.

My GP had written a short, but clearly worried, letter. He asked me to explain

myself, and was immediately sympathetic. He was very understanding about " Dr

Durrant Peatfield advocates " said it was on the fringes of conventional

medicine but if I felt it was doing me good, then he was supportive and that he

would write to my GP so I could be prescribed Armour on the NHS (rather than

buying it on the internet from Thailand).

We had a discussion about cortisone, and measuring your temperature. he said

that my own awareness of my body was probably more important and that I should

use that as a guide to dosage; we discussed how dosage of Natural Thyroid

relates to T3/T4. He made the point that Armour was produced to high

pharmaceutical standards and that the bottle of generic Thai thyroid extract I

showed him could well be of poor quality or have fluctuating amounts from batch

to batch (which I agreed with).

The only bit of covering his back he did was to say that I had " what appeared to

be symptoms of hypothyroidism, and the methods I was using appeared to be

relieving those symptoms or at least I believed they were making me feel

better. " I think he was just saying that so he can have a get-out clause if the

BTA or somebody like that accuses him of not going down the conventional route

they advocate.

I have had a battery of blood tests.

He's going to copy me in to the letter he will write to my GP. I feel confident

that she will prescribe me Armour or equivalents.

Sheila suggested several alternatives to Armour, " including Erfa (Canadian)

'Thyroid'. The latter is excellent and the MHRA state that NHS doctors can

prescribe this. It is licensed in Canada. "

So I'm going to ask my GP to prescribe this. I want to make sure that she also

does not do anything that might get her into hot water with the bureacracy;

obviously if this is a success then she will be more open to helping other

hypothyroid sufferers.

I'll update this post after I've seen the GP.

I hope you will take heart from this my fellow sufferers: not all doctors are

blinkered and the dear old NHS does come up trumps from time to time.