PCP in Chicago area

@caitliny
Welcome to Mayo Connect, many members have experience Hashimoto’s, including myself.

Hashimoto’s is a thyroid condition that once diagnosed and stable most PCP are capable of handling. If you're having problems, have you consider seeing an endocrinologist?

I have Hashimoto since 15 years old and now 68. After original diagnosis, it involved yearly blood test to monitor TSH levels. If outside of normal, my PCP adjusted dosage of levothroid / synthroid.

Are you on Synthroid (or generic version) and still having problems?

Hi there, I'm in the Chicago area, not too far from Naperville. Unfortunately, I don't know of anyone in the suburbs because most of my care is at the downtown campus for Northwestern Medicine. I don't have Hashimoto's but I do have an autoimmune condition and complex chronic pain conditions, so I think we'd both need someone understanding, willing to look deeper and take more time if need be, and look at the big picture.

I love my PCP, Dr. Anna Jonas, in the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Northwestern... But I just tried to establish my parents with her and she said she has a 1-year wait for new patient appointments =(. She sees a lot of the more "complex" patients. I don't have to wait that long as a continuing patient. I had to wait months originally, but I'm glad I did. Before her, I had tried 3 or 4 other PCPs...? It was not fun being on that merry-go-round.

If that kind of approach interests you, I've also had a few appointments with her colleague, Dr. Mary Ella Wood, and I was told the wait to see her is much shorter.

My mom has thyroid nodules and also a complex history, and we're seeking a new PCP for her. I found someone in Glen Ellyn, but haven't met the person, so can't vouch for him yet, but can report back in a month. He had openings in less than 30 days.

@caitliny Welcome to Connect. I have also had Hashimoto's and I say "had" because I no longer test positive for it. In my case, it was metals in dental work and old silver amalgam fillings that seemed to be triggering it. I had thyroid nodules that were biopsied and not cancerous. Those were decreasing in size over the years. I am now metal free and have safer composites for dental fillings that were done by a biological dentist. When I still had the old silver dental fillings in my mouth, the readings for antibodies with Hashimoto's were off the charts. After replacing them with safer composites, these levels dropped to a low level and could be read, and now are negligible.

The doctor I saw who helped me with this was an environmental medicine doctor. My current integrative medicine doctor is part of the Forum Health group in Bloomingdale, and there are doctors in Chicago. I am in the Chicago area too.

Here is the link to Forum Health which is a group of integrative doctors across the country.
https://forumhealth.com/clinics/illinois/

@caitliny I’m afraid that we are unable to recommend physicians for many reasons. What I might suggest is that you look at this map to see if any hospitals are in your state. Hospitals usually have a section titled “Find a Provider”. You can find a doctor near you. MAYO CLINIC CARE NETWORK MEMBERS
https://www.mayoclinic.org/about-mayo-clinic/care-network/network-members
Another suggestion is to call one of these organization and ask for recommendations of doctors who specialize in Hashimoto’s.
NORD (National Organization for Rare Diseases). Https:// rarediseases.org/
GARD (Genetic and Rare Diseases Organization). https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/
Do you think any of these suggestions will work for you?

Another thought I had: I don’t know how you feel about signing up for another online support group, but there is one called Inspire that has various communities and a similar setup to Connect. I’ve found it’s very active and often members do exchange recommendations for providers. Many of the groups also have moderators who are familiar with the conditions (at least that is the case for the EDS/HSD group I’m in), which can be helpful. I won’t post the link because I’ve done so before and sometimes it gets screened out for being “marketing,” instead of sharing a resource. But it’s called “Inspire.”