Not really the point of this thread, but before the TSH test, doctors diagnosed based on symptoms. The TSH test also has a multitude of issues including kind of not working:  In response to Dr. Weetman, David Derry M.D., Ph.D., a thyroid expert and researcher, based in Victoria, British Columbia, responded, saying: "Why are we following a test which has no correlation with clinical presentation? The thyroidologists by consensus have decided that this test is the most useful for following treatment when in fact it is unrelated to how the patient feels. The consequences of this have been horrendous. Six years after their consensus decision Chronic fatigue and Fibromyalgia appeared. These are both hypothyroid conditions. But because their TSH was normal they have not been treated. The TSH needs to be scrapped and medical students taught again how to clinically recognize low thyroid conditions."   http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/david-derry.htm http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/tsh-why-its-useless/  These people are already self diagnosing. I'm just getting rid of the excuse for not taking medication.