Misdiagnosed?

Hi my name is Mike and I'm 25 years old.  The last year and a half has really had it's ups and downs.  Out of nowhere I started getting extremely down and anxious and getting extreme sleeping problems.  It seemed like it just came out of nowhere and I panicked.  I went to every doctor I could find to see what was wrong and they all assured me that I was medically fine.  This left me extremely uneasy because then I started worrying and thinking oh my god I'm crazy or something.  My ability to focus and concentrate was and still is (although better then it was) pretty hard.  It's affecting just about every aspect of my life.  I'm putting on weight, I'm having trouble holding a job (I'm losing interest in everything and constantly changing my mind to find a way out), I don't really want to be around anyone, and all I think about is how to get better but can't find a solution.  I'm a guy who used to love going out with the guys on the weekends and having a good time, blowing off some steam and socializing.  The fact that I blow off friends and family now to go out bothers me, I guess it's because I know deep down I would normally love to go but the last year or so I really just have no energy or enthusiasm about anything.

The reason for this whole post is, how long did it take for anyone reading this to be diagnosed with a thyroid problem?  I was tested for it a year and a half ago when my symptoms first started and according to the doctors at that time they said my levels were "around" normal levels.  My mother has thyroid problems, I believe its Hypothyroidism.  This is why I thought that it could be exactly what I have.   I guess it's just me hoping its not just depression/anxiety.

Basically I'm just tossing around teh idea in my head to go back to the doctor and get retested, but I don't want to get let down again.  Plus, financially with work being such a problem lately I don't want to waste all the copays on a result that is probably not going to show anything.  I really wish it was a thyroid problem though, atleast I'd be able to just get on the medicine my mothers on and be able to get back to feeling good again.

Mike, there are multiple patterns of hypothyroidism - most of the patterns do not display as high TSH levels, and so these types of patterns do get misdiagnosed. As Joy says below, it is important to get tested against a full panel and to ask to see the results.

Most doctors (including mine) test against the lab ranges, which are not accurate.
The functional range for TSH levels is 1.58-3.0 mU/L

I have just responded to another post from today with functional ranges for the other tests as well.

I found my anxiety level increases when my thyroid is off balance. I would get unexplained waves of depression at times.

Yea that's exactly what I have Bellember, I will forget what I am saying or doing right as I am doing it. People at my job are like shocked sometimes how bad my memory is. I can't help it I'm just a walking 5 minute machine. If it didnt happen in the last 5 minutes I don't remember it. And I too catch myself trying to figure out what Im saying or doing while doing so. Kind of relaxes me a little bit to realize I'm not the only one with these probs and that other people who have thyroid problems battle with the same things.