A System of Glands

I cannot count how many months it has been that doctors have argued over my thyroid and what to do with it. One says it's fine the other says it is low ... or maybe high ... I can't keep track anymore. The truth is that no one really knows how our endocrine system works.

To give you a little history of testing thyroid levels, a few years back the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) decided to change the acceptable range of thyroid levels from [ .05 - .5 ] to [ .03 to .3. ].

This more narrow range seemed to cause allot of problems since the number of people with thyroid problems had possibly as much as doubled. What to do with all of these people with thyroid problems? Causing a division within the medical community, the end result was to change the range back the original and tell everyone they are fine.

So, here I am stuck with a thyroid level of 3.4. That seems fairly reasonable to me but, given my other symptoms, it is substantial enough that no one can agree as to what to do about it. From the literature, it appears that a small number doctors suggest treating the patient if the symptoms are there and not treating the patient if the symptoms are not there. This makes sense to me but it is apparently not logical enough for any doctor to work with another.

Again, with my doctorate from Google, I am forced to diagnose and make my own treatment plan. In fact I am so tired of dealing with it that I am posting this as-is and forget the rest.