New to the list and finding a new doctor

[Guest guest]

Hi, I just joined the list. I spent some time trying to read back through some

of the more current threads this morning.

My endo that I went to for a few years died last year. He was the one that

figured out I had Hashi's. The other doctors that saw me were clueless, I could

barely get out of a chair and had out of control asthma that wasn't responding

to anything.

His treatment for me was synthroid and I did ok on it. He treated based on both

your blood tests and your symptoms. So even if you blood work was showing normal

ranges if you were still having considerable symptoms he would increase your

dose to see if you improved or not. I don't think this was completely optimal

treatment but I at least got my life back. Before he died suddenly I was

planning on asking him at my next appointment about trying some medication

changes like Cytomel or Armor to see if they worked better.

The only other endo doctor in town I could find that didn't have a horrible

reputation or was part of a clinic group I can't use was a waste of time. His

staff were horrible, condescending and rude. He did a pretty through exam, asked

me lots of questions and did an ultrasound of my thyroid so they could look for

anything abnormal. They told me they would call me after my appointment to let

me know if I needed a medication adjustment. His nurse called me to tell me they

were lowering my dosage based on the bloodwork they did. They did a T4 and a TSH

and nothing else. She said the TSH was out of range so they were cutting my

dose. I pointed out that the dose I was on was working fine and she very curtly

told me they go by tests, not symptoms and the higher dose was going to damage

my heart. I asked about other treatment options and she basically told me this

was it. A couple of weeks later I had been gradually feeling worse, lots of

fatigue, brain fog, increase in body pain etc. I sent the doctors office an

email hoping I might get the doctor or someone else on staff who wasn't going to

just shut me down. I got repeated replys from the same nurse telling me it was

all in my head. A month later and my hair is starting to fall out again.

So it is obvious this is not working. I live in a smaller city so I have limited

options. I looked through some of the thyroid websites and Armor's website

trying to find a doctor that would at least be open to something other than just

shoving synthroid at me and telling me to live with it. I have not had any luck

there and hate to drive 4 hours to a larger city only to find out that doctor is

a waste of time too.

I have seen mentions of Osteopaths but I really don't know how they treat

people. Some of it mentioned being based on muscle and bone structures. I don't

know enough to know if one of these doctors would be worth seeing or if they are

very case by case on who knows enough and is willing to put more effort into

finding a decent treatment.

I had considered asking at the compounding pharmacy in town if they know a

doctor that prescribes Armor or some of the other natural mixes for thyroid

replacement. I am just not sure how to otherwise determine that doctor's

capacity for properly handling my case. I have wasted so much money already on

doctors who did nothing but make things worse.

Any advice?