It gets complicated, because the endocrinologist I was seeing about my thyroid problems was as forthcoming about what exactly was happening as a brick. Communication with him was one way. All I had was little sheets saying that such and such level was high, and then 2 weeks later, the same levels were reversed. My current therapist called him and asked for an answer, and got a "well, it's possibly thyroiditis" or something like that, and after a few months of monitoring, including uptake scans and imaging, he still didn't have any kind of answer as to what had happened. My levels have been "normal" for the past 6 months +.
What would I be telling the doctor who will perscribe my HRT? I had some odd fluctuations in my thyroid levels, and sex hormone levels, and nobody knows what's going on? I'm sick of people sticking my arm and drawing blood, then spending money to get it analyzed, only to be told "we don't know what's going on" one month, and "you're normal" the next month. If there was a diagnosis, I would tell the HRT percribing doctor in a heartbeat.
My thyroid itself was enlarged (called a goiter) during the tests, weather my levels were high or low (T3 is converted into T4, yet my T3 would be very low and my T4 very high one month, and then T3 would be high and T4 low the next month), and now that I've been "normal" for 6 months, my goiter is more painful, larger, and worse than it was before, when my levels were out of whack.
The other problem is, the doctor I'm going to get HRT from is 300 miles away. They aren't covered under my insurance. I can have blood labs done, my local endoc, while he might not have any bedside manners at all, is willing to work with her for local testing, since, believe it or not, HRT blood level monitoring would be covered by my insurance. o.O;
If you can't tell, I was left frusterated and confused by the entire thyroid thing. I don't want additional frusteration of going up to the new doctor, saying "hi", then being told I'd have to get blood labs done and come back in 2 weeks. I can't afford that, and if my thyroid endoc is correct, my thyroid has been "perfectly normal" for over a year now, even though it's still swollen and painful (the circumfrence of my neck is almost 17 inches).
