So this is my first post here please be gentle!!.I am a 45 year old male just back from the doctors.I have a blood test booked with the nurse next Thursday and am dearly hoping i have an under active thyroid.Until last week i had only "heard " of under active thyroid and did not even know what the symptoms were.I thought i was depressed and was given AD's around two years ago.To be honest i WAS at the time due to all the symptoms i had ,and i had these for most of my life.Anyhoooo they did the trick as far as mood was concerned but all the other symptoms persisted as usual .I just though that this was as good as it got.So i slowly got myself of the pills around 5 months ago and my "mood" has stayed fine I am not depressed. However the other symptoms and more have persisted so i decided to keep a note of them for when i visited the Doc as my memory has deteriorated over the last month or so to.Below is the list please bare in mind i wrote all these down before i had even looked at thyroid disease
Tingling/ slight pins and needles in hands and feet
Lots of pain in shoulders neck and lower back /pelvis area
Pains in elbows causing fingers to cramp , need to uncurl finger with other hand
Complete lack of interest in anything, no motivation or energy
Get tired after minimal exertion
Dry flaking skin on hands and elbows
Feel tired a lot
Memory problems, feel a bit like in a bubble forget what i am doing a lot
Anxiety
Feel bloated
Weight gain for no reason over a stone since xmas although have been gaining weight in short bursts all my life
Puffiness around eyes
Ear drum vibrates when listening to certain sounds
Increased sensitivity to light an noise ,
headaches
Mood swings cry at anything
Feet and hands and occasionally whole body feel cold
Breathlessness after minimum activity
Palpitations
No libido loss of sex drive and interest , cannot maintain erection
Bouts of clumsiness and poor coordination, usually lasts a day
Itchiness to skin and a feeling like I am being pricked with a pin felt “in “ the skin mostly arms and hands
Also my weight i have put over a stone on in a couple of weeks without any change in diet, throughout my life since childhood this has happened.i am 19 stone and 5ft 7!! and it has always been the same my weight plateaus adn stay the same and then boom i gain a couple of stone in a very short time. never gradual.I used to be able to lose it although it was very hard but now nope i lose around 5lbs which is probably fluid then nothing.
So i have been to the docs presented him with my list, and other info about weight gain etc and the first thing he does is zoom in on the anxiety comment and says i could be gettin anxiety attacks instead of depression i am not i just get a anxious feeling in my stomach at times usually combined with many other symptoms which would make anybody feel anxious would it not.He did say "whats causing the anxiety?.......to which i looked at him and said "your the doctor"
He kept going on about depression, i told him i was categorically not depressed as i knew what that was like and my mood was fine to which he pointed to the crying comment.I expalined that i cried for no reason at silly things but had no other "mental defects".I said i wanted a blood test for under active thyroid as my mother suffers with it.To his credit he said ok but he also said that i had a blood test in early 2007 at a well man clinic and it was fine.I am salesman by profession or was until i lost the will to do anything and know full well when i am being fobbed off he thinks i have depression.He has given me some anti inflammatory to deal with the pain in my shoulder,s back , hips and legs and thinks if i sleep a bit better i will feel better. He did not check my throat or thyroid and as i was leaving said he better check my blood pressure which was very high indeed which threw me a bit as i thought it would be low.However there appears to be a link between BP and thyroid disease well at least according to the 10 mins research i have done as that is the only thing that does not tally with under active thyroid.
When i found out about Hypothyroidism by comparing symptoms it was like a light coming on in my mind and i felt positive about the future, but now i know its going to be a battle, all i can do at this stage is hope my blood tests come back with the right result which i have no idea what that should be.Really dissapointed with my dr's response tbh and angry as i feel ignored and helpless and a bit scared.
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simon45
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Hi Simon,welcome aboard...no need to worry we don't bite
Your story is ever so familiar. Like you I have a history of depression and I find it's incredibly hard to shake that label off once it's there. As I am sure you have found out when researching thyroid disorders anxiety,mood swings,crying spells can all be thyroid symptoms and coupled with a family member being hypo you are very likely to be a candidate.Your doctor's response is also sadly very common
For now all I can say is to wait for your blood tests results and make sure to ask for a copy of them so that you can come back here and post the results with the ranges so that people can comment and offer advice/support.
Low blood pressure is a symptom of hypothyroidism. But if the condition is left untreated for long enough then blood pressure can eventually go high. Read this page, including the patient story.
8.30 is good Another thought with your pins and needles might be worth asking to be tested for b12 and folate as these, if deficient or low, can give pretty annoying pins and needles. I'm folate deficient (currently on treatment) and have been low on b12 and my pins and needles drive me mad! Also the palpitations you get makes me wonder if it might be a good idea to have your thyroid antibodies tested too as Hashimoto causes palpitations.
They are more tingling than full on pins and needles, will I have to push to get these tests done or will they do them automatically. I was just wondering as I am largely ignorant on these things...The blood test I had seven years ago, due to the nature of the ailment could your blood tests sometimes be ok and way different on another as the thyroid isn't working properly? or am I making wild guesses lol.
If you have an autoimmune thyroid illness, which means your body is attacking itself by making antibodies, then your thyroid levels can swing from normal to abnormal all the time as the attacks are not constant but happen in fits and starts.
Mine ranges from mild tingling to full on pins and needles depending on the day. It is a little better now that I am taking high strength folic acid so maybe I'm on the recovery road for that.
Do you have the results from 7 years ago? Results can be declared "normal" by doctors but that doesn't mean it is normal or right for you. They could also be borderline and a lot of doctors won't look twice or think anything of it. So yes it is totally possibly to have "normal" results but actually have a problem. Thyroids are so complicated,there are so many different things that can go wrong like a conversion problem or your body not actually absorbing the thyroid hormone at a cellular level and these two examples might not come up in standard thyroid tests.
It can be a battle to convince doctors to run some of these tests that is why so many people turn to private tests. But it is worth asking for them, can't hurt it can it? I would start with the tests next week and then go from there.
Is he only testing thyroid or is he doing full blood count and others? If you have anything else tested then feel free to post those results too because sometimes there can be clues in those too.
I feel for you as myself, and many others on here, have sat in front of GP's just like yours. Is there another GP in the practise that you can see - someone with a bit more sympathy and empathy as to how you are feeling. I had to try five different doctors at my surgery until I hit on the right one - and even then she's not perfect but is definitely the best of the bunch.
Thanks Moggie means a lot,you feel a right fraud as you look ok, well except the fact that you are many stones overweight lol.If I get no joy I will do that.i have just contacted a good friend who is a Dr for a chat and hope he can help in what to do etc.
Chihiro, no I don't have the results don't even remember having the test tbh.makes sense what you say ,cant do anything till I get the results.My wife gets BUPA through her work think it might be time to use it
Your tale of woe is so familiar, probably to most of us! But keep coming to this site and we will help you - there are so many people on here who have fantastic knowledge of this problem. One thing I will say to you, which I know from personal experience, get that blood test done as early in the day as you can - if you have an afternoon apt for the bloods, change it to the first apt in the morning. This is because the circadian rhythms - (basically your body clock) will give a higher reading in the morning and will be at its lowest in the afternoon.
Mine was vastly different, but the GPs Lab would not do the TSH test again because it was so soon after the previous one - you will be surprised to learn that the Lab was in control, and I ended up doing a private blood test at home at 5am which produced a much higher reading, which is what you want!
Reading your post I would hazard a guess that you have joined our happy little club!
I wish you a straightforward and fast diagnosis Sheenah XX
Thanks all, just heard back from Dr "mate" and he is happy to have chat on his day off so that s a start.I have a lot of reading to do, in short bursts obviously as I cant concentrate for to long!!!!........do you know you have to laugh about it sometimes or you would go mad.Thanks again
Oh dear, that sounds pretty miserable for you.
Afraid to say that many of us on here have been told by GPs that we're depressed and they seem to know very little about thyroid disorders.
It's also worth bearing in mind that GPs receive a large number of funding points for managing depression. After all it's much easier to write a prescription than actually using their brain to investigate. Many of us have been let down by the NHS and have had no alternative but to take control of our health and, if necessary, go the private route.
You've been given loads of good advice already, it's a lot to take in but definitely worth doing. Good luck.
Sorry to hear how you are feeling. Keep strong and stay on here and gather as much info that you can get. Don't let them poo poo your thyroid and send you on your way with anti depressants.they did this to me too. Good luck.
Must say I am over whelmed by the response, yes he certainly seems to think its depression. The frustrating thing is the reason I presented him with a written list of symptoms was so he wouldn't look at them in isolation and hopefully see a bigger picture.An example was the weight gain he asked about eating habits and did I have fizzy drinks........for god sake man how many fizzy drinks would it take to put a stone on in a couple of weeks.Who does he think I am Tango man
Hi Simon. It definitely seems to be that they try to pin every other label on you, rather than an actual diagnosis. My GP has come out with some right stupid statements too! Stick to your guns, you know how you feel, and you know you're not depressed. You will get so much information and support here x
I'm sorry you are having a hard time. My doctor thought I might be depressed too when I described my symptoms! It made me cross. I said 'I'm feeling low because I'm unwell and I believe that is due to my undractive thyroid'. I'm now taking T3 and T4 as off yesterday so hope that will help. I really hope you get the support and medical help you need and deserve. This group will help you I'm sure. Take care.
Hi Simon
My blood pressure goes high when I'm undermedicated for my hypothyroidism and is good when I'm optimal. I can't add to the great advice already given here. Getting as much info and opinions will help you become well again so just to say good luck, welcome to the club and looking forward to your future wellness... Liza
Hi Simon, I joined this site last year, hypo for 7 years and long family history (Dad's mother, brother , 2 sisters and half my cousins- all hypo) I thought all I had to do was take a pill-very wrong. You need to learn a lot and this site is brilliant for support and advice. After a very rough time in November I asked GP for a TPO antibody test, it was high. I am now exploring the paleo diet, no gluten or dairy as these increase the antibodies.I have resorted to private blood and urine tests for Iodine, selenium, VitD, B12, Folate, Ferritin, Zinc and Magnesium.
Don't be surprised if you have a raised cholesterol (I do not take statins) and a poor kidney function , my GFR (glomerular filtration rate is 59%) = kidneys only working at 59% efficiency. Cholesterol came down once I was on Levo and I hope the kidneys will improve when I go on the Paleo.
Do hope you get sorted soon, don't give up, there is always someone on here who can help you or point you in the right direction
Good luck Simon, another GP might be more sympathetic and informed about hypothyroidism. Low thyroid hormone levels cause high blood pressure, I can use blood pressure readings to monitor my treatment - it's that sensitive. Also levels of anxiety and depression swing with levels. It's remiss of them not to have checked you for thyroid conditions, given your family history though.
I can relate to 3/4 of your symptoms at least, and I have an underactive thyroid for which I take Levo. I have never been treated for depression but my daughter was once and pins and needles and tingling in hands and feet can be down to the medication, which she could not tolerate. Doctors love to feed us tablets for depression. I would not advise anyone to go down that road if it can seriously be avoided. Hope you get the readings from your tests then you can start to get better. lots of luck
New to this too but upon reading your post I had to say 'wow that's me' as I'm sure many people who have read it have. I currently have all those symptoms and have been given ad 's which I'm reluctant to take cos I'm not depressed just fed up! Any advice? Blood test normal no further action!
I had my blood tests on Friday so have to wait for the results,i would suggest posting your test results on this forum for the members to have a look at , I haven't a clue at this stage as I am a "newbie" to thyroids !!
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Another thought with your pins and needles might be worth asking to be tested for b12 and folate as these, if deficient or low, can give pretty annoying pins and needles. I'm folate deficient (currently on treatment) and have been low on b12 and my pins and needles drive me mad! Also the palpitations you get makes me wonder if it might be a good idea to have your thyroid antibodies tested too as Hashimoto causes palpitations. 
Angry after GP appt
So confused 
