Melanie’s Story

This is a different type of story, but oh so inspiring. Namely, Melanie of Australia had already found a doctor to allow her to be on Natural Desiccated Thyroid, and it changed her life! But… she had to suddenly move and go through the daunting process of finding a new and open-minded doctor. And she certainly found a good one willing to listen and learn! So you can also learn from Melanie!

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I’ve just come from an incredible appointment with my local GP.

Let me explain that over the past few years, I’ve spent thousands seeing a handful of functional Drs and had some wins and many misses. At times felt so ripped off and unheard. Miserable and deflated when I got my hopes up.

I did eventually find a Dr who put me on NDT and I’ve been doing much better on it along with supplementation, addressing other underlying issues, plus diet & lifestyle changes that lead me to finally regaining a normal life again. Sure I have my bad days & sometimes they turn into a bad week or month at times. But generally I’ve never felt better. I had thyroid cancer years ago, PCOS, endometriosis, insulin resistance, MTHFR and a host of other issues, so it’s been a rocky ride to get here.

So after doing better on my new changes, I then had to suddenly move interstate and lost access to my former functional GP and had to start over again. It was a daunting task.

At that point, I realized that I had come a long way with my own knowledge, understanding and confidence in my thyroid management. I read alot by now and wanted to try something different and cheaper on the wallet! 😜 I felt stronger and thought it’s time I start finding a Dr who will work with me in my local area. I was sick of making expensive appointments weeks or months in advance just to get in the books and tired of taking half a day of my life just to drive to a Doctor for NDT!

I decided to try a visit to a local GP. I sat down and explained to him my journey and how my health had improved since going off T4-only medication. He was interested in my story and listened to me. He said he would prescribe the same medication and support my health. He believed me when I said I’ve researched and tried everything. I showed him the proof in my test results from years of Endocrinologist appointments. I was not rude or short to him and I asked him for his support.

He wrote my scripts and ran my bloods as requested. I was on cloud 9. 🌈🦄

For the second visit, he was happy to alter my dose and add in some T3 medication, as we had built trust. He didn’t know alot about dosing or thyroid overall and openly said I know more! Ha! I asked him to add Reverse T3 testing this time to my form which he was willing to do, but didn’t know a lot about it at this stage. However, he tells me he’s been doing a functional training course, as he’s becoming more and more interested in preventative medicine. He wants copies of my previous functional tests to keep on file and look at.

The third appointment, I noticed a big change. He sees that for the first time in history I’ve been able to reduce my Reverse T3, from years of being over range, to being mid range! He thinks this is incredible from just a small dose change of adding T3. He knows I worked hard to address other causes such as gut health and nutrient deficiencies.

So for the 4th appointment, he tells me he’s been researching and learning alot about Reverse T3 & T3. Everything that was coming out of his mouth was like music to my ears and pretty much what you read in the Facebook FTPO groups, on Stop the Thyroid Madness, etc. He’s telling me that T3 is the biological active hormone but it can have problems being converted from T4 to T3 and can go to RT3 (in the presence of a cortisol or iron problem, for example). He’s telling me that we need T3 especially in my situation where I have no thyroid at all. He’s telling me that my RT3 should be no higher than about 160 (on the Australia range) and that Drs don’t even test for it or even know about it but he doesn’t know why. He went on about adrenals, proper cortisol testing, nutrients effecting the endocrine system, MTHFR, and more. He acknowledges that I already know all this and have researched well, plus he’s impressed at how stable my labs are and my continued progress on NDT, despite having no thyroid. He knows it works.

I said yes, it took me years of being on T4-only, feeling like hell & spending thousands on the best private Endocrinologists to say I’ve had enough. It took hitting rock bottom for me to get here. I said if I felt fine on T4 and how they treated me, then why would I go looking for something more? He agreed. He actually understood that a thyroid patient is poorly treated & was compassionate about their difficult and complex situation.

He’s gone gangbusters at advancing his knowledge, opening his eyes and really wanting to help his patients. I see a Dr now that is so caring and genuinely wants his patients to get well and prevent disease and illness. He’s passionate about being a Dr again and it’s so refreshing to see.

I noticed he’s now even stocking an impressive range of glandular products in his waiting room from adrenals to lymph and brain! They’re sourced from Australian and NZ animals (if only we could get porcine thyroid. I think it won’t be long as glandulars are becoming a very popular trending product in the functional medicine industry). He’s being doing high dose IV vitamin c for a while too and growing a small range of targeted nutrient supplements.

I left his office today with a test referral form chock a block with as much testing he could do on Medicare and a few others he couldn’t do on Medicare but left it for me to decide if I could afford to do them. He’s included sex hormones without me even pleading for it! Yes incredible. He’s telling me to research organic acid testing and let him know if I’m interested next time to get it done! Wow!

He even asked me which is the best way to test iodine. Of course I said the spot test is not accurate and the 24hr loading is the best we have. He ordered it 👍🏼

Not once has he said I’m in the too hard basket & palm me back off to another Endo.

I realize this is not a normal GP. He’s exceptional. .However, I just wanted to share with you that there are even regular GPs out there who are sick & tired of the pharmaceutical industry and they want better. So don’t give up trying. They are changing, especially the younger ones.

Work with your GP if you can before spending ridiculous amounts of money. Don’t be pushy but calmly and rationally explain the situation the best you can. Be patient if you can, but firm. Research and learn about your own health and be in a better position to discuss it with your Dr, but know when to walk. 😩

I know what it’s like to have your Dr ignore you & treat you like a child. I spent years and years of it. That’s how I ended up sick. I gave up on any of them and developed an attitude towards “all Drs” for a long time because I was an injured patient by the medical system.

I thank the growing number of functional Drs out there that are changing the way they practice medicine. It takes strength and guts to do it.

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