I have now heard the words of two different doctors in two different countries state the same thought: they remember the 70’s with sadness.

It was the 70’s when the TSH lab first came out–Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. It was hailed as a sensitive measure to determine either thyroid over-activity (hyper) and thyroid under-activity (hypo). Before that test was established, doctors made a diagnosis by symptoms alone. So now, doctors had a modern and sensitive test to accurately determine a thyroid problem.

Bull.

Doctor #1 stated that he was at first dubious, but decided to fall right in with the excitement of other physicians about this new test. He used the TSH test. But, over just a few years, it became clear to him that even when the TSH test was NOT showing the patient to be hypothyroid (i.e. their number was in range), the SYMPTOMS of these very patients WERE showing hypothyroid. He was not amused.

And Doctor #2 had a memory of the 70’s as the decade of the synthetics. Wistfully, he remembers not understanding why it was created when desiccated thyroid was doing the job so well. He watched desiccated thyroid treatment “just fade away”, and the synthetic T4’s take over.

And we, too, are wistful. Why, oh why wasn’t there a doctor out there who questioned this new TSH test? Why wasn’t there a doctor out there who questioned the use of synthetic T4-only treatments? Why did doctors become so dull-brained…….soaking up all that information as if it was the holy grail, and failing to ask questions when patients came in REEKING of symptoms in spite of a “normal” TSH, or in spite of being on T4 medications?

It is the MILLIONS of us who have suffered who also look at the 70’s and subsequent years with sadness.

P.S. Below this entry is a previous post titled HAHAHA. I hope everyone has read the comments.