Thyroid Treatment

We are thyroid experts and can get your thyroid right.

Dr. Scott and Nurse Practitioners Elise Lewis and Sue Miller are all highly experienced at diagnosing thyroid issues and thyroid treatment, utilizing holistic as well as standard medical protocols based on the latest medical discoveries and research studies.

Unfortunately it is all too common to find those who have many or even all of the symptoms of thyroid disorders who were “tested” earlier and told that everything is “normal”. Or, in some cases, were put on thyroid medication that did not resolve their symptoms.

At the office of Leigh Ann Scott, M.D., we have found that a much more thorough testing protocol results in isolating issues with thyroid function that are often missed with traditional testing.

As well, individualized, correct thyroid treatment does result in most patients beginning to feel better within days or weeks of the first visit, with the majority showing great improvement shortly thereafter.  

Is it time for you to feel better, have more energy and reclaim your life?

Understanding the Thyroid Function

Thyroid is known as the master hormone. Thyroid regulates metabolism and body temperature among other functions. It can have everything to do with one’s energy levels, body weight and even cognitive function.

Thyroid hormone helps remove cellular waste, increases fat breakdown, improves hair growth of the scalp and eyebrows, and reduce cholesterol levels and body weight. It is vital in the prevention of cognitive deterioration.

Thyroid hormone is also critical for fertility in women. Many women who go through expensive infertility treatments simply need thyroid hormone replacement.

Common Thyroid Disorders

We are able to treat a wide variety of thyroid disorders including:

• Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)
• Hashimoto’s Disease
• Other thyroid disorders such as problems converting T4 into T3

Hypothyroidism or Under-Active Thyroid

An underactive thyroid is the most common disorder of the thyroid that we treat.In short, hypothyroidism is a condition where the thyroid gland is not providing enough thyroid hormone, or is not properly utilizing the thyroid hormone that is produced, to adequately drive the metabolism of the body, causing symptoms associated with a slow metabolism.

Common Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

Not everyone has all of these symptoms and severity may vary. A lot of our patients tell us that they have been diagnosed and treated for Hypothyroidism but they are not feeling any better. In fact, many of our new patients have this complaint. There are a few reasons for this.

Many doctors, including endocrinologists, do not test every aspect of your thyroid gland function; it is common for them to only test your TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) level, and if that falls in the “normal” range, then it is assumed that there is nothing wrong with the patient, or, that it might be another condition such as Depression.

Our providers ALWAYS run a comprehensive lab panel which does include the TSH test. As well, they also take your symptoms into account. You should realize that the definitions of “normal” vary from doctor to doctor, and even from the labs that do the testing. Lab results also take your age into account. What they call “normal” at 55 is considerably different than “normal” at age 35. We don’t want you to feel more run down as you get older. We want you to retain your youthful, healthy state.

Our initial appointments are two hours long and follow ups are one hour in length; this enables our providers to spend quality time with patients and take into account what symptoms are being experienced and how the patient feels, so your thyroid treatment is based on a complete picture.

Additionally, the TSH level test in and of itself will not reveal other underlying conditions which may cause Hypothyroidism. The “standard” treatment for someone with an underactive thyroid is to prescribe Synthroid (or its generic form, Levothyroxine) which is the inactive form of T4. In order for the cells to produce energy, they must have adequate amounts of active T3. Normally, T4 is transformed into T3 mainly through the liver, however, some people’s bodies are unable to do this.  So, you may be taking medication for your low thyroid, but it’s not doing you any good.

Hashimoto’s Disease

Hashimoto’s is an auto-immune disorder. It is the biggest cause of Hypothyroidism but can also cause Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) symptoms  and can swing from one condition to the other. The reason for this is that the body views the thyroid gland as an invader and produces antibodies that attack it. This can cause a drastic drop in the thyroid hormone levels, which can cause the gland to secrete excess hormone which causes spikes. As the antibodies attack the thyroid, it can also become depleted and fail to produce enough hormone causing Hypothyroidism.

Hashimoto’s Disease affects 1 in 4 women and usually occurs between ages 45 and 65. However, it can occur at other ages and does affect men as well. In order for it to be diagnosed correctly, antibodies have to be detected in the blood. This will not show up on a standard TSH test.

Because it is an auto-immune disease, thyroid treatment of medication alone isn’t enough to treat it successfully. It can be caused by Vitamin D deficiencies, Cortisol or DHEA deficiencies, and low levels of Iodine, and Selenium. It is important to address these issues as well and it is our standard protocol to test for all of these things plus a lot more. For more detailed information on Hashimoto’s Disease, click HERE. 

Thyroid Treatment

Using very thorough lab testing and assessing your symptoms we will tailor your thyroid treatment to exactly what you need to help relieve your adverse symptoms and restore function. There are also many options for Thyroid Replacement to fit individual needs as some may find that certain Thyroid medications don’t resolve their symptoms. We can address this as well.

About Insurance Coverage

In order to delve more deeply and locate underlying causes of conditions and to provide optimal treatment we find that we need much more time with our patients and more treatment options than insurance companies are willing to work with. Thus we are out of network for insurance.

However, if you have a PPO type of insurance plan, it is possible that your insurance will reimburse you for some or all of your office visit costs. Minimally, the costs should be able to go toward your deductible. You will pay for the appointments at the time of service and we can provide you with the necessary papers to file for reimbursement with your insurance provider. If you are on an HMO plan, most likely your insurance will not cover any of the costs of your office visits, but will likely cover all or a majority of your lab work.

Regarding the comprehensive lab work that will be required, many insurance plans will cover your labs. However we do recommend that you check with your insurance company to make sure as some plans have changed how they pay for lab-work and may require you to meet your deductible before your insurance pays anything for labs. This could mean a significant increase in your cost for lab-work. In order to better serve our patients at Renewed Vitality, we can offer you a significant discount through Quest Diagnostics for self pay.