Disturbing assessment of thyroid related illness.

[editfmrt]

It's always good to see posts from people who have made progress with GP and hospital appointments.

However, I am often disturbed by those that say things like, 'I've just been diagnosed with x,y, z so it wasn't my thyroid after all etc etc". They then proceed to advise that we need to take care not to put everything down to thyroid illness in case we miss something else.

In many cases this is correct. We do need to take care not to miss something else going on that is unrelated and could be more sinister.

Nevertheless, we also should not forget that thyroid malfunction can affect every organ in the body and CAUSE so many apparently unrelated conditions.

I wonder how many poorly treated thyroid patients have spent years of ill health being treated for one condition after another, sent for endless tests and had unnecessary procedures or operations because of the medical professions refusal or ignorance to acknowledge that a thyroid out of balance is to blame for the malfunction in the first place.

I wouldn't mind betting there are many people on this site whose so called separate conditions mysteriously repaired once their thyroid was optimally treated.

A starter for ten might be:

Respiratory conditions - asthma, repeated chest infections or simple breathlessness.

Digestion: gall bladder, indigestion, excess (or too little) stomach acid. Constipation... All leading onto more serious manifestation of stomach and bowel problems.

Heart and circulation issues - atrial fibrillation, enlargement, hypertension, fluid retention, high cholesterol...

Urinary - infections, kidney stones or disease,,,

Mental health - depression, anxiety...

Women's problems - no need to specify.

Other autoimmune conditions.

Yes they can whip out the odd gall bladder, womb and medicate for other complaints for temporary reprieve but that in my view is diagnosing and treating symptoms without dealing with the root cause.

Until the medical profession (and some patients who believe them) recognise this, they will be fooled into thinking its great they have diagnosed with seemingly unrelated ailments.

The big question for me is WHY have I developed x, y, z...

[Moggie]

You try telling my gynae that my ovarian cysts are thyroid related - she just looked at me like I was mad and then dismissed it when I told her what I had researched.

As you have said, the medical profession need to start looking at the bigger picture.

Moggie x

[editfmrt in reply to Moggie]

Yes Moggie. I have seen from your posts what a struggle you have had and it shouldn't be necessary for the patient to educate them.

There is plenty of evidence as you have found and so frustrating that they refuse to acknowledge it let alone act on it.

[Clutter]

Yep. An holistic approach is needed, rather than medication of individual symptoms.

The irritating phrase "I don't think this is thyroid related..." should always be met with "Why?" and "What do you think it is related too?" You'll rarely get an 'evidence based' response

[Marz]

I completely agree with your post. When chatting with folk they are so dismissive to which I reply - well at least rule out the thyroid being the problem. But then of course with the inadequate testing they are told they are ' normal '...and so they continue with their various conditions and endless medications.

Am in the UK at present and have met up with a friend who was diagnosed Hypo some years ago. I asked her does she have Hashimotos - to which she replied she did not know and wasn't bothered as her private Endo was excellent and her GP. I asked this question several years ago. The reason being that I knew her very brilliant daughter - now in her late 30's - is living in Holland, unable to work full time and under the care of a Mental Health team as she has Schizophrenia. I gently posed the question of thyroid many years ago to which she replied that she would have been tested - yikes.

I visited this friend last week only to learn that she now has RA and is taking medication and 150mcg T4. No interest in learning if her dose was converting. It did cross my mind that things could have been different had she taken steps to address the auto-immune aspect if it existed all those years ago. Any mention of learning anything new is met with scorn - and yes she is a very bright lady but does not have a computer !! Even my hubby was shocked at her attitude.....as he looked at us both - me on T3 and looking well and my poor younger friend struggling and poorly....

[PinkNinja in reply to Marz]

That is very sad

I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder many years ago and had to give up researching for my PhD. It was around the same time I was diagnosed with epilepsy, bradycardia and arrhythmia that caused fainting and blackouts. A few years later I was diagnosed hypothyroid after being told my thyroid was find all those years (I had pretty much all the symptoms). I saw a miraculous recovery of all my other illnesses when I was prescribed T3 only to see them return a few years later when it was decided that everyone had to have levo because 'it's better'. Since being back on T3 again, I no longer have those other conditions. It's such a shame your friend is not open to the possibility of thyroid being the possible cause of her illnesses

I hope the British weather isn't too much of a shock to the system! Enjoy your stay

Carolyn x

[helvella]

editfmrt,

It is so incredibly easy to blame everything on the thyroid. I do it all the time in my head, then retract it and decide it must be something else with some other cause. And I do this to myself, everyone I come into contact with, see on television, etc.

Frighteningly often I later revisit the question as to whether it could be thyroid-related and come down on the very definite, positive side.

I have come to wonder how many things actually have the effects they do because of how they affect the thyroid and/or thyroid hormone levels. Even if the prime cause is clearly not the thyroid itself.

Thanks for the post.

Rod

[PinkNinja]

My other 'conditions' miraculously disappeared on switching to T3 only. I still have joint pain but not nearly so bad. It's possible I do have the beginnings of RA but everything else is almost completely gone. I am convinced my thyroid is to blame for a lot of it.

I have to admit though, some of my recent symptoms were not down to my thyroid but low vitamin D. That is now being rectified and the symptoms are waning

Thyroid is responsible for so many things!

Carolyn x

[shaws]

Editfmrt

I agree wholeheartedly with you.

[Hidden]

Hi, my former GP wouldn't take my swallowing problems seriously and she put me on 2 different types of anti depressants, referred me for counseling (which I never got a letter for anyway) and diagnosed me with generalised anxiety disorder. They refused to test my thyroid despite me having a high TSH at 5.2 (0.27-4.2).

Also my periods were heavy and came early, so I wrote a diary whenever I experienced symptoms. They were planning on cutting me open to have a look without even looking at doing another thyroid test. I'm then diagnosed

with high anti tpo antibodies 2 months later, with me being declared hypothyroid 4 months later by my new doctor. Unbelieveable.

[Lilian15]

Quote: I wonder how many poorly treated thyroid patients have spent years of ill health being treated for one condition after another, sent for endless tests and had unnecessary procedures or operations because of the medical professions refusal or ignorance to acknowledge that a thyroid out of balance is to blame for the malfunction in the first place. Unquote.

I was one of those people. I agree they have to be careful but although the various consultants were only looking into their field and probably do not read all the rest of the notes, the GP has the bigger picture and surely looking at all those things wrong with me should have caused them to question. Oh, yes of course, they did question and came to the conclusion it all must stem from depression. Fortunately I came to the conclusion that it was my thyroid.and searched for a private doctor who also came to that conclusion.

The ironic part is that after getting so much better on T3 (much to the medics annoyance who despite seeing me getting better unbelievably still tried to stop me taking it) I had a change of doctor who insisted I stopped taking it and when I did as I was told and started to get all the symptoms back again he was only sending me to have the tests on each and every part of the body concerned all over again. What a waste of NHS money.

All that was needed was a T3 test. On my insistence he once requested one even highlighted that I was already taking it, but the hospital refused to do it, so he didn't take it any further. They are probably thinking that doing a T3 test is a waste of money. What a joke. For a few extra pounds they would have saved thousands. And the reason they thought it was not thyroid related was because my TSH at the time was 1.6

I had a test done from a private lab which showed T4 right at the bottom of the range and T3 below range. I showed it to my GP who raised my thyroxin and said they took no notice of T3. I suppose labs think why should we do T3 test when doctors are not going to take any notice of it anyway. That was when I decided to go to a private doctor with the results and T3 was prescribed.

[kiltis]

I think the below has got something to do with it..

For many centuries the medical profession was represented with the Rod of Asclepius which is single serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god Asclepius, a deity associated with healing and medicine.

[link to en.wikipedia.org]

However, at one point in recent history it was changed to the Caduceus, Rod of Hermes

[link to en.wikipedia.org]

What this simply means is the the God of Medicine, Asclepius has been replaced by the God of Commerce, Hermes.

[tilly83]

These are very interesting posts. Once my very high T4 (nearly 70) brought down my asthma completely went. Not had to use an inhaler... will really watch my kids for any signs. Had to fight medical profession to do up and down titration of carb with monthly blood tests but so glad as so far, touching every piece of wood, I am so much better on minimum amount of medication but maximum amount of changing my life for the better...