Jacquie Beers has a thyroid condition that went undiagnosed for years.
 
"It took a huge toll on my social life and dating and everything. It was, it was very disappointing to me. It was hard," says Beers.
 
Throughout her 20's, she felt exhausted, a classic symptom of an underactive thyroid. Yet, the standard thyroid blood test showed her thyroid was normal.
 
"By the time I had come here, Dr. G had tested me that my thyroid actually wasn't normal and I have what they call hashimoto thyroiditis, which is an autoimmune disease of the thyroid," says Beers.
 
Dr. "G" is Family Practitioner Dr. Andre Garabedian. He checks a lot of thyroids and says a routine test to measure TSH, Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, is the first step.
 
"That's, those are the traditional tests. But we now know that those are not sufficient," says Dr. Garabedian.
 
T3 doctors can test for thyroid antibodies and other thyroid hormones besides TSH, including free T-3, Free T-4 and Reverse T-3.
 
"For the thyroid to work, you don't necessarily have to have only thyroid hormone in the blood. You have to have these hormones reach the tissue level and exhibit their thyroid function," says Garabedian.
 
Even if your routine test shows up normal, make sure you tell your doctor about all of your symptoms.
 
"There are a lot of subtle conditions now that we have discovered that have nothing to do with the blood test," says Garabedian.
 
Jacquie's relieved she finally got the right diagnosis and the proper treatment.
 
"Things are starting to go in the right direction, so... it's been a long time," says Beers.
 
Researchers are looking at links between abnormal thyroid function and high cholesterol, depression and infertility.