Posted by bleauberry on September 26, 2008, at 10:22:44
http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/shamestsh.htm
Hi Phillipa,
Thought I would pass this along. Good book on thyroid, especially geared toward people who have doctors treating them by labs instead of symptom improvement. Here is just an excerpt from it, with a nice section on how to write a disclaimer so your doctor can prescribe what you want to try.
You could change the disclaimer to whatever particular dose or med you want.Also in "Thyroid Power", we have a special section that can help you enormously in getting the dose you need from your health provider. It is called "Show This To Your Doctor". In addition to this support, we have another powerful suggestion for you. In asking your practitioner to aim for a low-normal TSH, you might have better luck in if you write up your own disclaimer ahead of time. A simple statement, inserted into your medical chart, could go as follows: "I understand that Dr. _________ has advised me that the amount of thyroxine on which I feel most comfortable results in a TSH level that is considered less than optimal by the doctor. I hereby release and hold harmless the doctor for allowing me a clinical trial of this dose. The pro and con have been explained to me."
Keep in mind that this high a dose of thyroxine, and this low a TSH result may not be needed forever. Optimal thyroid dosing is an ongoing process. The ideal level is always a moving target, depending upon many factors. These may include age, constitution, illness, stress, pregnancy, menopause, other life crises, and in addition - how long you have been on thyroid medicine.
poster:bleauberry
thread:854182
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080926/msgs/854182.html