Thyroid and Hashimoto’s Care in Queen Creek, AZ

Tired no matter how much you sleep. Weight that climbs without a change in what you eat. Cold hands when nobody else in the room is cold. These are the symptoms that bring most people to us for a thyroid workup — usually after being told their labs looked fine.

Dr. Kris Berkner and Dr. Traci Price run a full thyroid panel, read it against what you are actually experiencing, and build the plan from there.

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Symptoms we hear most often

• Fatigue that sleep does not fix
• Weight gain, or weight that will not move despite real effort
• Brain fog — losing words, rereading the same paragraph twice
• Hair thinning, dry skin, brittle nails
• Being cold when the room is not
• Constipation
• Heavy, irregular, or newly painful periods
• Fullness or swelling at the front of the neck
• Low mood, or a flatness that does not feel like your usual self

Thyroid problems are far more common in women, and they often show up in the same years as perimenopause — which is one reason they get missed. If that describes your timing, our women’s hormone care page is worth reading alongside this one.

How Hashimoto’s gets treated here

Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune condition. Thyroid hormone replaces what the gland can no longer make, and for many people it is necessary — but on its own it does not address why the immune system is attacking the thyroid in the first place. So we work both sides at once.

Depending on what your labs show, a plan may include:

• Thyroid hormone when your labs and symptoms call for it
• Correcting the nutrient gaps that blunt thyroid function — iron, vitamin D, B12, selenium
• Digestive work, because autoimmune conditions and gut problems tend to travel together (see IBS and gut health)
• Blood sugar and nutrition strategy you can actually keep up
• Sleep and stress load, which are not a footnote in autoimmune disease
• Repeat labs at set intervals so we are adjusting to data, not to guesswork

If you are already taking levothyroxine and still do not feel right, that is a common reason people come to us. Being on medication does not mean the case is closed.

Questions we get about thyroid care

My TSH is normal. Why do I still feel like this?

TSH is one marker, and it is a lagging one. Free T4 and free T3 show how much usable hormone you are actually making and converting, and antibodies show whether your immune system is involved. It is entirely possible to have a normal TSH and active Hashimoto’s at the same time.

How do I know whether it is Hashimoto’s or just an underactive thyroid?

Antibody testing. TPO and thyroglobulin antibodies are what separate autoimmune thyroid disease from other causes of low thyroid function, and the distinction changes the treatment plan — not just the label.

I am already on thyroid medication and still exhausted. Is there anything else to try?

Often, yes. Dose, the form of hormone being used, conversion of T4 to T3, iron and vitamin D status, and gut absorption all affect how you feel on the same prescription. That is worth reviewing rather than accepting.

Can Hashimoto’s be managed without medication?

Sometimes, and sometimes not. It depends on how much thyroid function remains. What we will not do is promise you can come off medication — that decision follows your labs, and we will tell you honestly what they show.

Is my thyroid connected to my other hormones?

Yes. Thyroid, adrenal, and reproductive hormones all influence one another, which is why a thyroid complaint often turns into a broader conversation. See hormone replacement therapy for how we approach that side.

Do you take insurance?

We do not bill insurance. We provide a Superbill that you may submit to your insurer for possible reimbursement.