I am hypothyroid. My diagnosis was made over 20 years ago WITHOUT the
standard blood work. My doctor at that time was an "old fashioned" country
doctor who used his years of experience instead of lots of expensive tests.
He asked me a series of questions and put me on natural thyroid hormone.
Sure miss that doctor!! He was really more into holistic treatment than I
realized until after his death. His approach to medicine was to use common
sense. Later another doctor convinced me to switch to the synthetic version
on the premise of more consistent dosages. A year ago, I asked my Nurse
Practitioner to switch me back to the natural. She was skeptical, but went
along with my request. I've felt fine. Still run low on the temperature but
I feel that I function better on the natural thyroid.