Stomach pains and sore throat

[rosypo]

Hello everyone, I'd be very grateful if someone has any suggestions for this.

My son is hypothyroid, he's on Levothyroxine and has been ill for 2 years now following glandular fever. He is still not well, but one of the main problems he gets is gripey stomach pains and sore throats which tend to occur mostly together. These come and go, but can last a couple of weeks. Does anyone else get this problem? Has anyone got any suggestions why he is getting this?

Many thanks

Diane

[Jackie]

Hi Children of any age are always a worry. Has he had his tSH, T4 and Free T3 tested recently? Does he always ask for his blood results and ranges, this is not the data protection act, simply that it is his blood.If his T4 is near the top of the range and FT3 middle or lower, it may mean that he needs some T3 too.This is common. Is his voice effected and swallowing? If so then he needs an ultra sound, he may have nodules, nothing to worry about , but if so, routine needle biopsy under a radiologist and ultra sound.. It could be totally unconnected to thyroid, do not rule out that possibility either. How is his white blood cell tests, for infection level. ? Gut problems are common with thyroid, if autoimmune, most is. If autoimmune you can often develop other autoimmune diseases, many are recognised as such now. I would also be sure that he does not have Caeliac disease, autoimmune. Quite common with thyroid disease. There is a blood test or biopsies under a colonoscopy. However, even they are not fool proof. The best way is to rule it ut by the caeliac diet for 8 weeks, but not until after any tests for it. The diet is horrible but my Endo, an expert in motility says that that often is the only way of finding it.

I hope that gives some ideas but he does need medical input.

Best wishes to you both.

Jackie

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[rosypo in reply to Jackie]

Hi Jackie,

Thank you so much for answering,

He's had the stomach gripes and sore throat ever since he started being ill, then he was found to be hypothyroid. Thy did a barium meal, actually, because, Martin, his dad had Crohns Disease when he was Josh's age, so they were keen to rule that out.The Consultant said that they could do more tests, but they are quite invasive and as the barium meal came back normal we have held fire on that.

The latest blood( 3 May) test was

free T4 23.7pmol/l (12.0 - 22.0)

TSH 0.08mIU/L (0,27 - 4.20)

free T3 7.6 pmol/L (3.9 - 6.7)

I know that generally people feel better if T4 and T3 are at the upper end of the scale. Josh was on 100 Levothyroxine at this point, but as he actually wasn't feeling well on this, us and our GP agreed that it should come down to 75 Levo as the stomach pains seemed worse lately and I was wondering if the Levo has something to do with it. (It's been about a week since we lowered the dose and he isn't any better)

Josh did do a short trial on gluten free, but we hadn't prepared very well and after a week he didn't seem any better so we abandoned it. Maybe we should give it a longer try as you pointed out it should be tried for 8 weeks. Apparently he hasn't got auto immune hypothyroid, but our GP reckons that he could be a bit autoimmune even if the tests come back negative to that.

It's a mystery as the sore throat and stomach pains tend to come together, and Josh finds some relief for his throat with strepsils which you would imagine would be the case for a throat infection.

Thanks again, Jackie

Diane

[Jackie in reply to rosypo]

Hi Diane, I am not sure if he is under a good, Endo, but he should.be. Also one carefully chosen by you, unless a brillant GP!.Personally and going by my own very good Endo, I would say those levels are too high. T3 takes about a month to be at optimum and T4 too, so of course, that also works in reverse if lowering the dose.Gluten Fee for a test has to be eaten for 6 weeks, so therefore it follows the reverse is also true.Too much of any thyroid drug will cause diarrhoea or any way the pains you describe. What ever age? A colonoscopy with biopsies would be more useful. It is just a scope, heavy sedation, so no knowledge of the procedure. The bad bit is the preps ( at home)for at least 24 hours ( may be longer) before hand. I have had many. My son had one when young too. My husband had one, he is a terrible complainer and was fine! They show inflamation, often Crohns, Caeliac and UC, if lucky ! However, I would start with a good Endo and try and get the levels right. He should have had blood tests before each rise in Levo, then 6 weeks after the rise. My Endo does not go just by blood results, but I know she would be horrified at those results. If seeing an Endo already, I would find a different one, always after careful research. If that does not help, then a Gastroenterologist, but they more than any specialist, need careful choice. I have seen them for 40 years, only I! ( the first one) I considered any good at diagnosis. Actually , some things diagnosed by Endo and some by cardio, another by a liver specialist. The 2 gastros I was seeing in that time, could not diagnose them! Has Josh had blood tests for infection? He could still have a residual infection from the Glandular fever, but I would bet it is the over treated thyroid.

If I can help further, get back to me. best wishes, to you and Josh.

Jackie

[rosypo in reply to Jackie]

Thankyou, Jackie,

We have now decided to go to a private endo. The NHS one discharged him so left it to the poor GP to sort out! We will start, like you suggested, with the Endo, and go from there.

Many thanks again for your help, this site is such a help in trying to understand the condition.

x Di

[Jackie in reply to rosypo]

Hi If you do not know a good Endo, do lots of research, they vary so much. I am glad you have decided to do that. Any consultant will ask the GP to do tests NHS and of course the drugs are always done like that for safety. Just tell them you are self funding and ask, never a problem, I see loads. Louise has a lits of some good ones but mostly nHS, she also has my private one, who is wonderful. You do need an endo, not a private doctor., totally different. I always find new consultants my self as GP only knows very local ones and I need to see them from a large, well known teaching hospital. I have to go in there a lot ,so important. I look up a very good hospital, cross reference to fairly local private hospitals, near the NHS good one. The private sites often put info on, also then with a name look for their CV on the WEB. Then you can phone their private hosptial and Fish ie try and find out which treatments they like etc.

I did wonder, how soon he was put on treatment after his Glandular fever, it does mess the body up, do you think it may have been too soon.

Send me a PM ( click on my name) to let me know how you get on. Some Endo`s have worked in motility units as registrars, as mine, which would be useful.

Best wishes,

Jackie