underactive thyroid!!!

[Jacki08]

Hi--- came on this site ten days ago , after RA ( my RudeAwakening) diagnosis.

Thanks for all the replies- steroid injection kicked in after 5 days , and it is only now ,when I am feeling much better, that I realise how ill I felt before!! I only hope that this feeling stays the same when I go on meds in 3 weeks.

Yesterday I got a Gp call to say that I also now have an underactive thyroid---- app this can often come hand in hand with my Rude Awakening-- has this happened to anyone else?

A mother of young children wrote on here last week, just after her diagnosis- has any one heard how she is doing? Bless her--- at least I'm at the grandchildren stage.

Thanks .

[Hidden]

I have recently been diagnosed with under active thyroid and I have PsA which was diagnosed in 2010. My gp thought that my symptoms were being masked by the PsA. I am on my third course of treatment and have started to feel the effects with more energy and less overall feeling of unwell. It was not until I looked on the Thyroid Uk site that I realised how much it effects your different organs and parts of the brain. So no wonder I feel better overall. Good Luck with both your journeys. x

[Barrister]

I'm like Georje, I have PsA, diagnosed last year then underactive thyroid and lymphocytic colitis diagnosed in April/May this year. Clemmie

[Hidden]

That's quite a double whamy for you isn't it Jaki08?

I'm neither a young person nor am I yet at the grandparent stage but I was diagnosed as Hypothyroid about 12 years ago and with RD three years ago. I always used to think hypothyroidism was nothing to dwell on or know much about and just took my Levothyroxine quietly and went up and down the doses at my GP's request following yearly blood tests. It never made me feel any better or worse to be honest - I didn't lose the weight I had hoped I would on it and I still felt very low in energy most of the time.

Then, when RA suddenly appeared, following the sudden and untimely deaths of both parents - I became much more interested in immunology generally re the gut and enzymes and other related stuff. I have slowly learned that these two conditions often go together as part of a person's autoimmune profile - as do other autoimmune add-ons and partner diseases. Once you have one you are more likely to acquire more and sometimes two even come along together like buses - as has happened to you.

I have learned where the thyroid actually is and what it does and also that I have Hashimoto's. I still know more about RD/ RA than I do about my thyroid condition and find it very hard to get my head around how preoccupied some on the Thyroid UK HealthUnlocked are with the fillers in Levothyroxine, amalgam fillings, minerals and vitamins, the poor attitudes of health professionals and conspiracy theories galore - but many on there are also extremely knowledgeable so I do visit sometimes.

So as long as you don't let people the TUK HU overwhelm you with these concerns then it is well worth joining that community too and learning more about how the thyroid actually works.

Good luck with the treatment and take care.

[Jacki08]

Thanks_ my head just mashed at the moment with hospital appointments etc. I am going on holiday next week so have decided not to start any meds until after I come back___ considering its taken 4 years to get a diagnosis I can't see that 2 weeks is going to make any difference! What is RD? Thanks again.x

[HevJ]

Hi… I was diagnosed with under active thyroid at the end of 2012 and started on Levo. I felt much better once the does was correct. I was then diagnosed with RA at the end 2013…. This also fits in with a skin condition I have - porokeratosis which is considered to be auto immune related….

I have to say I didn't think much about starting Levo, as my Dr told me I needed it and it is fine to take. However when it came to MTX I was given so much info on it and side affects which really freaked me! Its only after joining here in June that I have even questioned the thyroid meds!!!

All in all I feel so much better. Some days not so good - meaning I feel shattered and just low, but pain free and living a good life.

It would be good to have more info/peoples experiences of multiple auto immune conditions….

Cheers x