Comment on Living with AutoImmune Diseases by Laurel Stephens.
Please consider seeing a functional medicine practitioner. This is an MD trained in a relatively new (10 years or so) field of functional medicine where the dr. finds and treats the cause of illness, not just the symptoms. My story is very similar to yours, and my traditional treatment for Thyroid disease for 15 years has been synthroid and prescription doses of advil for pain, based solely on TSH test results. I had to retire early and learned to live with limitations. After doing intense research into autoimune diseases I recently switched to a functional medical practitioner (an md) who did many more tests I’d never been offered before to find out why I developed Hashimoto’s in the first place. It turned out I was riddled with widespread autoimune inflammation, put on a strict diet limiting foods I tested positive for sensitivities to along with dietary supplements. 10 weeks later, my test results as of yesterday were all normal and, most incredibly, my thyroid antibodies were in the normal range for the first time in 15 years. I still must take synthroid because of past damage to my thyroid, but I am cured of Hashimoto’s and my widespread autoimmune inflammation is on the way to being cured. My body has stopped attacking itself and is on the road to recovery. Traditional doctors are trained to treat symptoms, not find cures. Functional Medicine doctors are trained to find the causes of illness and cure them. You may be able to cure your autoimune disease. Good luck!