Have I got an under active thyroid? Fed up with symptoms!

[Widz18]

I am 18 years old and went on a trip to Italy with my Nanny who has Under active thyroid, she noticed that I was wanting to sleep all the time. I had never noticed it to be a problem until she had pointed it out.

I sleep for at least 8-10 hours each night and sometimes 12, I still feel I could sleep through the day too. I wake up feeling more tired than when I went to bed. I have also put on 1 stone in the last few months and I have got to the point where I don't want to leave the house, I don't want to do anything, I have no motivation to do anything that I used to enjoy doing. My boyfriend is fed up with my mood swings and I cry over nothing. I get pins and needles in my toes a lot and I have had enough! Do I bother the doctor for my symptoms, I have been reading that people feel like me and are not diagnosed because the blood tests have come back all clear.

Help please!!

[Hennerton]

You have come to the right place. Yes, do go to your doctor, as your symptoms definitely sound as though you may be hypo and the sooner you do it the better it is for your health. As soon as you have blood test results, post them here with the reference ranges and someone will comment. By the way, always keep copies of these as a record for yourself. Do not fear the worst with doctors. There are many good ones as well as the poor ones you have read about. Good luck! xx

[skyfall]

Suggest you check out this symptom checker - it'll take you about 15 minutes to fill out. It includes symptoms and signs from the NHS for a load of autoimmune conditions including thyroid where fatigue is a major symptom.

This site deals with the top 12 autoimmune disease including thyroid.

Hope it helps...you'll probably find you have other symptoms that you may not have noticed are really symptoms as well...you can always use this to start a discussion with your GP. You can also ask for feedback from the site practitioners.

Also if there's a history of thyroid problems in the family that increases the likelihood it's your thyroid...

wilsonhealth360.com/#!wh360...

[Duchy82]

I went to the doctor with exactly the same symptoms and said i think i might have hypothyroidism listed all the symptoms the doc asked if it runs in the family i said yes, she send me straight for a blood test including: TFT, B12 and iron. Within 1.5weeks i was on thyroxine so i would say yes, go to the doctors have it checked out and soon.

[sandi]

Agree with others, do go to drs. You may well have a really good one and your bloods may immediately show an obvious problem. So one step at a time - GP first!

If you had any photos taken in Italy look at your face in them and compare to earlier photos. When I look back now I can't believe that I or anyone else didn't see how different I looked when ill and before diagnosis! Puffy, change of shape and looked not all there!

Good luck and hope you get on top of this soon.

Sandi x

[redcatstar]

Pls get ur antibodies checked as well due to it running in ur family, I was over 20yrs before diagnosed 2of my daughters 20 and 26 have the antibodies and are on a maintenance dose,good luck

[SkinnerFan]

You sound exactly like my 18 year old. I recognised her symptoms because I'm hypothyroid too.

Hopefully your blood tests will lead your GP to prescribe you thyroxine and at a level that will restore you to normal health.

If, like my daughter, your thyroid blood test come back as normal and your GP cannot offer thyroid treatment then you may want to take the same route as my daughter. Now you are 18 you can consult a private practitioner. To the best of my knowledge there is only one in the UK who specialises in hypothyrodisim and will treat you according to hypothyroid symptoms and use your blood results as an additional diagnostic tool, instead of relying only on blood results. If I am wrong I warmly welcome news of other doctors who do the same. We had to travel a significant distance to see Dr S in Birmingham. Despite my daughter's normal blood results I am happy to say she is now starting on thyroid hormone replacement treatment based on her debilitating symptoms. We are now hopeful that her health will improve and that her final school exams will not be adversely affected by her symptoms. This approach has worked for many women I know and we are currently fund raising to send people with comparable symptoms to see Dr S after he successfully improved the quality of life of three our of four women with undiagnosed hypothyroidism who had been told by other medical professionals that they had fibromyalgia or ME.

Good luck. I'm happy to pm you Dr's info if you'd like it

[Widz18]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I am going to the. Doctors for a consultants meeting on Wednesday.

Thanks again x