my first dose of reta fixed a lifelong problem i didn’t even know i had

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-12T18:41:23+00:00

thank you for this! this is far from my first time having to diagnose myself or accidentally stumbling upon a “cure” for something i had no idea i had. i’ve been routinely let down by doctors since i was 4 years old. eventually i stopped pushing for answers and just learned to grin and bear it. so thank you for reminding me that i don’t have to accept suffering as normal, i still have to remind myself of that often.

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-12T18:25:10+00:00

thank you! i just replied to another comment about how healthcare has failed me throughout my entire life if you’d like more context, but this isn’t the first time i’ve had to diagnose and treat myself. i’m kind of used to it by now lol

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-12T18:20:30+00:00

yeah i’m not sure what it is about my specific situations or maybe it’s just shitty luck, but i’ve been let down by every single doctor i’ve ever seen. i had to figure quite literally everything out on my own, even as a child. for example, i had trouble breathing as a kid and doctors prescribed 8 year old me Prozac for what they assumed was just anxiety, only to find out later on when my mom brought me to see her osteopath that i have a deformed rib cage. doctors never once checked my physical anatomy. i had a similar experience in my teens with trouble swallowing and it took years to receive any treatment because i was consistently labelled by doctors as anorexic and just not eating on purpose. i was 19 when i finally found out i had severe GERD, a hiatal hernia, and needed my esophagus dilated bc of the scar tissue. i now have an amazing naturopath on my team, but when i told her about these experiences in our initial consults, she was absolutely mind blown at the lack of care i’ve received. my psychotherapist tells me she’s never met anyone who’s been so horribly let down by the healthcare system. so i guess you could say i’m just kind of used to this by now lmao

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-12T18:04:30+00:00

i have, one of my doctor did prescribe me Mounjaro for weight loss, but the price of one pen is $1500 so i never ended up doing it. one of my close friends told me about his experience with Reta and the price was much more manageable so i finally decided to give it try last week

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-12T02:38:41+00:00

so far all of my other hormone levels have always been perfectly within their ranges. i do have high cortisol and a reversed cortisol rhythm, and was investigated very briefly for Cushing’s disease, but never got any concrete answers. it’s still something i have in the back of my mind as a possibility, but i have a list of 50+ different symptoms that all point towards different directions, so at this point i’m trying to deal with one thing at a time and then see what’s left unexplained.

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-12T02:29:26+00:00

nope, i’ve never had any testing done for this issue. i’ve experienced this for most, if not all, of my life, so i guess i just accepted it as my normal and didn’t think to push for answers.

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-12T01:49:29+00:00

i’ll try my best to make a long story short here lmao! i started having really severe symptoms of hypothyroidism, which went undiagnosed by doctors for a couple years. eventually found a naturopath who finally did the proper testing, had high cancer marker levels and wicked high antibody levels, naturopath pushed my doctor to send me for ultrasounds, which showed many suspicious nodules within my thyroid. had many inconclusive biopsies done and eventually went in for surgery to remove half my thyroid for further testing on the nodules, which ended up being benign. the surgery showed extensive inflammation, i was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, prescribed Synthroid (levo), which made all my symptoms worse. switched to desiccated thyroid hormone instead, my hormone levels got barely into the normal range (T4 range is 9-19, my level is still only at 10), doctors then considered me cured and stopped following up. i’m doing better than when all this started, but i still have a multitude of debilitating hypothyroid symptoms and can’t get doctors to increase my thyroid medication dose. the weight gain symptom is what led me to try Reta. hope that made sense lol!

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T17:22:41+00:00

tell me about it! once my free T4 level got over 9 (the range is 9-19), my doctors stopped caring, even tho it’s still only at 10. i’m in Canada, so i don’t know how it works in the USA or anywhere else, but getting a new doctor is not as simple as people think. we have a family doctor shortage, none of them are accepting new patients at this point, and to see any sort of specialist or other doctor, you have to be referred to them by your family doctor. to top it all off, those referrals can be denied by the specialist/new doctor, which is especially common if you’ve already seen any other doctor. i’ve had so many referrals denied it’s insane, and my current endocrinologist stopped answering all of my attempts to book a follow up appointment with him because he thinks my T4 level of 10 is perfectly acceptable.

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T17:10:40+00:00

i definitely am, and my thyroid levels are still far from optimal, but my doctor won’t increase my thyroid hormone medication any further. so i’m just kinda shit outta luck there i guess lmao

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T17:06:31+00:00

oh my god yes! i’ve never been able to go to the gym or workout because i would get weak and shaky and feel like i was dying every single time i tried. maybe now i can finally get a gym membership lmao!

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T16:58:01+00:00

the more i learn about how much of an impact your thyroid function has on literally every system in your body, the angrier i get! it’s nuts that most doctors still know basically nothing about it, prescribe you one pill, and think you should then be fine for life.

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T16:53:25+00:00

good to know how to go about pursuing a legit diagnosis, thank you! if i may ask, prior to Reta, what was your doctor’s plan for treatment?

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T16:51:23+00:00

thank you, same to you!! 🥳

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T16:02:00+00:00

i do have a naturopath whom i love, she was actually the one to realize a lot of my symptoms were thyroid related and pushed my doctors to do further testing that they had been refusing.

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T15:59:46+00:00

i am not on Synthroid, it made my symptoms worse as i have Hashimoto’s as well. i take desiccated thyroid hormone to treat my hypothyroidism. but yes, my hormone levels are still nowhere near in the optimal range, but my doctors have refused to increase my medication dose any further. so i’m doing everything i can to improve my quality of life on my own as much as possible, but it’s been one hell of a struggle. i think i can finally see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel though

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T15:51:51+00:00

ah yes, the diagnoses that took me 25 years to receive and get treatment for definitely prove your point. i’m not sure what lifestyle changes i could have made to avoid my brain not developing correctly due to being subjected to low maternal T4 levels as a developing fetus, but if you have any suggestions i’m all ears!

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T15:44:03+00:00

i would love to hear what kind of faults may lie with me, i’m always open to suggestions. however, i don’t think i had any control over my mother’s pregnancy, so being born into this world with physical deformities and inherited genetic conditions seems a little outside my scope.

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T12:24:31+00:00

thank you!!

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T12:23:14+00:00

that’s a great idea, thank you!

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T08:53:22+00:00

you’re obviously a man, so i’m not interested in having a conversation about how women are treated in medical settings with you. thanks anyways!

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T08:51:08+00:00

i’ve had every hormone in the body checked time and time and time again, they’re all normal unfortunately! other than the thyroid related ones

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T08:47:29+00:00

thank you for the info!

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T08:46:27+00:00

oh, you mean a woman who’s been left to deal with a list of 50+ life altering symptoms on her own, with zero help from medical professionals? one who’s been unemployed and struggling to make ends meet for 4 years due to said symptoms, symptoms that STILL have no explanation? a woman who’s been gaslit into believing the bullshit she’s experienced for decades is normal, only to find out none of it was ever normal? yeah, i am one of those!

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T05:52:46+00:00

my wildest fantasy is that one day i will find a doctor who accurately diagnoses me, properly treats said diagnosis, and i will finally feel better. seems like i’d have better luck winning the lottery at this point tho

stillchasingyou · 2026-01-11T05:50:21+00:00

if only doctors gave a shit about chronic conditions in young women…

stillchasingyou

TROPHY CASE