Guest guest Posted August 20, 2012 Report Share Posted August 20, 2012 The doc is an idiot. The AACE states that anyone with a TSH over 3 and SYMPTOMS should be treated. If he cannot see someone outside of the system, his best hope is a referral to an endocrinologist who may or may not help. >> my hubby has been having problems with being tired and fingernails breaking. he went to the DR today for lab results.> his TSH was 4.8 ... the DR says he will NOT treat him until his TSH goes over 7.> somehow this doesnt seem right to me.> > what do you think ?? I dont know what to do for hubby, he goes to the VA clinic and is assigned a DR.> my TSH is under 1 and I feel great. when mine reached 9.6 I was sleeping 15 hours a day, my hair was falling out, my skin dried up and my fingernails broke if you looked at them.> > I would hate for him to wait til he is that sick.> > is it justbthat men's thyroids are different from women ?> > I just cant imagine a DR not treating til 7 or above.> the DR says the chart is 0.5-5.0 ..so to me if its over 5 he should be treated.> and he is at 4.8> > Lin> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 20, 2012 Report Share Posted August 20, 2012 I hope your husband can find a better doc or at least educate the one he has. In my thirties, I had a doc who would say to me, " Yes, your thyroid is low, but it's " low-normal. " I was ignorant then. I didn't know there was no " low-normal " on the TSH test results. I ended up untreated for almost 50 years. Who wants that?!?! I think many docs have beliefs that would be called old wives' tales if anybody else told them. Unfortunately, their old hand-me-down stories can harm a lot of lives. Wishing both of you good health, kidbobo > > my hubby has been having problems with being tired and fingernails breaking. he went to the DR today for lab results. > his TSH was 4.8 ... the DR says he will NOT treat him until his TSH goes over 7. > somehow this doesnt seem right to me. > > what do you think ?? I dont know what to do for hubby, he goes to the VA clinic and is assigned a DR. > my TSH is under 1 and I feel great. when mine reached 9.6 I was sleeping 15 hours a day, my hair was falling out, my skin dried up and my fingernails broke if you looked at them. > > I would hate for him to wait til he is that sick. > > is it justbthat men's thyroids are different from women ? > > I just cant imagine a DR not treating til 7 or above. > the DR says the chart is 0.5-5.0 ..so to me if its over 5 he should be treated. > and he is at 4.8 > > Lin > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 what gets me , is the lab report states the range is 0.5-5.0 so I dont understand why his DR wont treat him until it gets to 7. shouldnt anything over 5 be treated? hubby goes to the VA clinic, you get assigned a DR. and I dont know how he would go about getting a new one. but I'm going to ask him to ask the DR for a referral to an endo. I'm just worried they'll say the same thing. I told hubby I thought something was wrong, because he had this beyond normal tiredness, it just wasnt like him... and I said I bet its thyroid. which is why he wanted to see what his TSH was. but if the DR says its ok. then hubby wont discuss it anymore. so he just left. he doesnt go back for 6 months. I'm worried in 6 months it could be much higher. I know I got very bad when mine was going up. at 4.2 I was having all sorts of problems, but I too had DRs that wouldnt treat me until it was high. so when it hit 9.6 they put me on meds. if I had known better back then I wouldnt have waited so long. now I know... and I dont want hubby to suffer with it longer until it satisfies the DR. Lin > > I hope your husband can find a better doc or at least educate the one he has. > > In my thirties, I had a doc who would say to me, " Yes, your thyroid is low, but it's " low-normal. " > > I was ignorant then. I didn't know there was no " low-normal " on the TSH test results. I ended up untreated for almost 50 years. Who wants that?!?! > > I think many docs have beliefs that would be called old wives' tales if anybody else told them. Unfortunately, their old hand-me-down stories can harm a lot of lives. > > Wishing both of you good health, > kidbobo > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 well here's another thing. his mom has been on thyroid meds for several years. HER Dr (in New Braunfels) wont do anything about her TSH of 8.5 he signed off and told her not to worry about it. she takes medication, low dose synthroid. I tried talking to her, but she doesnt want to change Drs and she seems to think if HE thinks its ok, then it must be ok. I was shocked. she has complained about being super tired. but doesnt seem to have any other symptoms. so DR says dont worry about it. and now Hubbys DR doing the same thing. if there something hubby can do for his thyroid? any supplements ,maybe since the DRs wont help ? Lin > > > > my hubby has been having problems with being tired and fingernails > breaking. he went to the DR today for lab results. > > his TSH was 4.8 ... the DR says he will NOT treat him until his TSH > goes over 7. > > somehow this doesnt seem right to me. > > > > what do you think ?? I dont know what to do for hubby, he goes to the > VA clinic and is assigned a DR. > > my TSH is under 1 and I feel great. when mine reached 9.6 I was > sleeping 15 hours a day, my hair was falling out, my skin dried up and > my fingernails broke if you looked at them. > > > > I would hate for him to wait til he is that sick. > > > > is it justbthat men's thyroids are different from women ? > > > > I just cant imagine a DR not treating til 7 or above. > > the DR says the chart is 0.5-5.0 ..so to me if its over 5 he should be > treated. > > and he is at 4.8 > > > > Lin > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 It's really unfortunate, but your hubby's experience is not unusual for military doctors. Is it possible you could go to someone just to get him started with his thyroid treatment, which he absolutely needs. Did they test for antibodies?  You might try harassing the doctor - that sometimes works with military doctors in my experience. [Note, I am not the only one with these experiences - you can google and find lots of horror stories about medical doctors - mine is quite horrendous as well, but not relevant to this topic.] Obviously, we don't recommend self medication on this board. There are general lifestyle things your hubby can do that might help including dietary changes and exercise to tolerance.  In my experience supplements just cannot replace adequate replacement thyroid hormone. There are thyroid glandulars you can buy OTC but in my experience they are generally very, very low dosages (for obvious reasons).  And, as usual, you need to make doctors aware of any supplements he might be taking. But, again I'm sure the VA doctor could care less. .  what gets me , is the lab report states the range is 0.5-5.0 so I dont understand why his DR wont treat him until it gets to 7. shouldnt anything over 5 be treated? hubby goes to the VA clinic, you get assigned a DR. and I dont know how he would go about getting a new one. but I'm going to ask him to ask the DR for a referral to an endo. I'm just worried they'll say the same thing. I told hubby I thought something was wrong, because he had this beyond normal tiredness, it just wasnt like him... and I said I bet its thyroid. which is why he wanted to see what his TSH was. but if the DR says its ok. then hubby wont discuss it anymore. so he just left. he doesnt go back for 6 months. I'm worried in 6 months it could be much higher. I know I got very bad when mine was going up. at 4.2 I was having all sorts of problems, but I too had DRs that wouldnt treat me until it was high. so when it hit 9.6 they put me on meds. if I had known better back then I wouldnt have waited so long. now I know... and I dont want hubby to suffer with it longer until it satisfies the DR. Lin > > I hope your husband can find a better doc or at least educate the one he has. > > In my thirties, I had a doc who would say to me, " Yes, your thyroid is low, but it's " low-normal. " > > I was ignorant then. I didn't know there was no " low-normal " on the TSH test results. I ended up untreated for almost 50 years. Who wants that?!?! > > I think many docs have beliefs that would be called old wives' tales if anybody else told them. Unfortunately, their old hand-me-down stories can harm a lot of lives. > > Wishing both of you good health, > kidbobo > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 24, 2012 Report Share Posted August 24, 2012 well hubby called his DR 'again' today .... and this is what they told him. message sent from my hubby.... "Dr does not want to start me on thyroid meds now, but wants me retested in one month" I was diagnosed in 2003, my TSH was 9.6 and I was suffering a lot. I take 120mg of armour thyroid daily. and am doing very well now. but I remember when mine hit 4.2 how bad I felt. hgubby has a lot of tiredness, beyond normal tired. he's now having trouble with sleeping. his hair has dried out a lot. and his finger nails break. but apparently thats no reason to be concerned according to his DR. how do I find a DR who WILL take care of him ? San Texas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 24, 2012 Report Share Posted August 24, 2012 Unless he can get a referral to an endo, he will need to go outside of the VA system. Can he ask for a different doc within the system? Would your doc treat him? Otherwise, he will need to seek out an alternative doc such as those on our list. It is criminal for docs to be so reluctant to treat an obviously hypothyroid patient! Re: need advice on TSH well hubby called his DR 'again' today .... and this is what they told him. message sent from my hubby.... "Dr does not want to start me on thyroid meds now, but wants me retested in one month" I was diagnosed in 2003, my TSH was 9.6 and I was suffering a lot. I take 120mg of armour thyroid daily. and am doing very well now. but I remember when mine hit 4.2 how bad I felt. hgubby has a lot of tiredness, beyond normal tired. he's now having trouble with sleeping. his hair has dried out a lot. and his finger nails break. but apparently thats no reason to be concerned according to his DR. how do I find a DR who WILL take care of him ? San Texas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 29, 2012 Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 Jan I was telling him he might need to go to my clinic, to at least get on the meds.. then maybe the VA will continue them ? we cant afford a private dr right now, and esp. not an endo. he asked for a referral to an endo at VA, and they wont give it. I dont know if he can get a new DR in the system, but it might take until next year to do so. so we're trying to figure out what to do for him. his Moms TSH is at 8.5 and her DR refuses to raise her synthroid. he just tells her dont worry about it. DRs are really frustrating me right now. we're in San , are there any good DRs around here ?? Lin > From: Texas_Thyroid_Groups > [mailto:Texas_Thyroid_Groups ] On Behalf Of Jan > Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2012 9:47 PM > To: Texas_Thyroid_Groups > Subject: Re: Re: need advice on TSH > > > > > > Unless he can get a referral to an endo, he will need to go outside of the > VA system. > > > > Can he ask for a different doc within the system? > > > > Would your doc treat him? > > > > Otherwise, he will need to seek out an alternative doc such as those on our > list. > > > > It is criminal for docs to be so reluctant to treat an obviously hypothyroid > patient! > > Re: need advice on TSH > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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