Hashimoto's Thyroiditis...

...I have it, for sure.

I finally visited with the local endocrinologist (not RE, just E) today and had an interesting experience. We'll call him Dr. Hippy due to his obvious hippy type nature, I mean, come on, he had shoulder length hair, Indian beads sewn around his stethoscope and he definitely had loafers on without socks. Regardless of his appearance, he gave me the info I needed straight up and with lots of detail, just like I like.


First of all, he and I had met before. About two years ago, I was invited to his office to do a seminar for him and his staff over lunch where I explained the correlation between diabetes and hearing loss and the fact that they should regularly screen their diabetic patients for hearing loss (and refer them to me for hearing aids of course). I remembered the prior meeting shortly after I first made the appointment and he recognized me right when he walked in the door. It was nice to have something to break the ice.
It was also nice when I was able to lay on the exam table fully clothed and without the use of stirrups. It was fantastic when he did the ultrasound and didn't have to put it in an uncomfortable place (you're thyroid is on your neck, not in your vagina, just fyi for those who weren't aware).

After the ultrasound and a mildly uncomfortable discussion about my food intake, exercise habits, overall disposition, hygiene and bowel movements, he was able to make a diagnosis:

Hashimoto's Thyroiditis based on hypothyroidism with bouts of hyperthroidism as well as the appearance of the thyroid on an ultrasound.

Results in infertility, early miscarriage and pre-term labor as well as lower IQ scores of offspring if left untreated.....great (said sarchastically).

He made some recommendations:

1. He recommended putting off TTC for 6 months until my thyroid is under control (this recommendation is still being taken into consideration)
2. He switched up my routine for pills (but not the dosage) including thyroid meds, vitamins, and other daily pills (done)
3. He recommended that I have my thyroid levels and antithyroid-antibodies checked immediately at a different lab in case the recent extreme values of 0 and 32 were incorrect (done)
4. He recommended I have things rechecked at 2 months and at 4 months (will do)
5. If the immediate labs are different, he will change his recommendations (OK...sounds like a plan!)

What I found most interesting is that he is willing to take some alternative possibilities for my infertility into consideration. He is willing to do a panel of auto-immune bloodwork testing including testing for NK cells. His exact words were "show me the evidence and I'll write the order".

So I guess that means I have some homework to do.