Why has my gp not sent me to see an endo?

[Sophiesmam]

Hi, I'm new to this site but have been suffering for about seven years. At first my gp said I had post natal depression, then post traumatic stress and irritable bowel. It wasn't until me and my husband had been trying for another baby for 3 years and my periods stopped that I as testes for my thyroid. It was very low and my auto immune antibodies were through the roof. This was about 2 years ago. I've been on levothyroxin since but have never felt well, I sleep all day while my daughter is in school, have a very poor appetite and have been putting on weight. My gp hasn't been con acting me for my follow ups and I thought they were checking while they were doing all my other bloods. I stopped getting periods again in January so I made an app for my bloods which is when o found out I hadn't been checked for over a year. My levels were severely low. I e just had more bloods today but they only check the one level. The medication doesn't help and my gp has refused to do other tests. Should I have been sent to see an endo to find out what is behind the low levels in order to treat it better. I feel as though the gp only wants t give me the media then send me on my way and job done! I had to take a year out from uni but am going back in September and would like to feel leas exhausted to be able to do my work.

[Tweetypie28]

Hi Sophie

This is so sad to read. It sounds like you are trusting the doctors to do what they are supposed to do and make you well which I'm afraid unless you are very lucky, they do not seem to know or want to treat thyroid sufferers appropriately.

I was like you and had to learn the hard way. You have to take responsibility for your own health. You have to educate yourself on your condition and push the doctor yo understand you and treat you correctly. You know yourself and the quality of life you have right now must be horrible for you.

I'm so glad for you that you have found this site because without it, I dread to think where I would be now.

First things first, you need to know what blood tests are being carried out and what the results are together with the ranges the lab are quoting. You have every right to know and have this information. You can then post on this site and the lovely people on here will help you all they can.

If your antibodies were sky high, you possibly have hashimoto thyroid condition, I do not gave this myself, many people do and they will help you understand that.

There are then further tests that your doctor should be carrying out. Have a look at this link to give you an idea:

stopthethyroidmadness.com/r...

Don't get too scared/anxious by all of this though. Basically, your vitamin and mineral levels need to be optimal for your body to absorb/distribute the thyroid tablet you are taking.

If your doctor flatly refuses any of these tests, you can pay for them privately. Have a look at the Blue Horizon Medicals site.

How much thyroxine have you been prescribed at the moment?

It sounds like your doctor has been useless, I'm so sorry for you, you shouldn't be suffering like this. Your bloods should be checked every 6 weeks until your levels are sufficient and then they need to be checked every year (I think, some may say every 6 months). However, if during this period of time you feel unwell with any thyroid symptoms, you need to go back to the doctors. Doctors should treat your symptoms and not just go by blood tests, sadly not many do so you need to educate yourself so you can make yourself better.

Never feel alone, come on this site, we are all thyroid sufferers too and understand. Sending you hugs xxx

[Sophiesmam in reply to Tweetypie28]

I am on 100mg at the moment but asked for bloods a few weeks ago because I've been feeling worse. Only managed to have them done today as they find it difficult to take my bloods. I will ring Friday and ask for a print out of my test results and post them on here. We've just had a new gp at the surgery so I'll ask her about the other tests. I was wrongly being treated for crohns disease last year with steroids and chemo tablets which made things worse so I'm in the process of trying to get all my records. Hopefully I'll get to see all ,y previous results.

[Hidden in reply to Sophiesmam]

Sophiesmum, it worries me that you've had steroids to treat you for something you didn't have. I wonder if these could have upset your adrenal function, which can make you feel terrible. You have had such poor treatment, it's absolutely inexcusable. There's some good stuff re adrenals on the Stop the Madness site also.

You can buy an adrenal stress profile test for about £80, from Genova if you're concerned. I know it's all money, but also another fight with doctors if you do have this problem too.

[Tweetypie28 in reply to Sophiesmam]

Gosh, it sounds like they have wrongly diagnosed you with quite a lot of things, it really is disgusting. You must feel so frustrated. I do feel for you.

You are absolutely entitled to all your medical records and hope you do not have any problems.

I got so frustrated with the doctors surgery that in the end I just booked myself in for a full blood count through Blue Horizons. This gave me a thyroid profile, iron, ferritin, vitamin D, vitamin B12 & folate results together with white and red blood cell counts. With these results and armed with a bit more of an education I went back to the doctor who thankfully then prescribed all the relevant tablets I needed. Unfortunately, I still do not feel right and requested to see an endo which the doctor duly referred me. I've been seeing her for 6 months now and am slowly beginning to get my life back.

There is definitely something wrong if your periods have stopped.

It will be really interesting to see what your latest test results show x

[vanessa2]

You would be wasting your time anyway. Not too sure what there purpose is in life. I am told they are there to help us with our medical issues. Well by all accounts from what I have read on here about them & my own experience they serve no purpose at all. I put them on part with flies, should be squatted.

[shaws Administrator]

I am so, so sorry you have been given the run-around with your health. It is very common nowadays for this too happen. They either do not test your thyroid gland for any dysfunction, or rely on the TSH alone to diagnose which is not reliable for any diagnosis. Also, they haven't a clue about clinical symptoms which before the blood tests came in doctors knew off my heart and could diagnose from 40 paces a patient who was hypo/hyper.

You have to read and learn as much as possible in order to get back some reasonable health. We cannot rely on doctors, especially the one you appear to have.

If you have difficulty giving blood, always be hydrated beforehand as it does make it easier to draw blood.

If you are on levothyroxine, you should not take your medication on the morning of your blood test as it can skew the results. You take it afterwards. You take levo with one glass of water on an empty stomach as food can interfere with the uptake. If you have eaten you must leave two hours each side of the levo.

There are a couple of laboratories on Thyroiduk.org which it may be worth getting a full thyroid function test as NHS labs wont usually do them if the TSH is 'within range'.

Ask GP for a B12, Vitamin D, iron, ferritin and folate to be tested as we are usually deficient.

You are among the many misdiagnoses of people whose thyroid gland has caused the problems.

[Sophiesmam]

Thank you for your replies, it has been very distressing and affects my daughter as i am not feeling well enough to do all the fun things she wants. Hopefully with some research and trying to get the gp to do more tests I'll start to feel better soon. If not I'll have to go private (money is tight but I'll get there!). I think they have been concentrating on everything as seperate issues and not putting them together but I'll discuss it with the new gp rather than my usual one. Thank you for all your advice, will hopefully be able to post my test results tomorrow.

Kelly x

[Sophiesmam]

I went into the surgery on Friday to get my results and the receptionists said they cant access results only the notes that are with them. The note usually say no action or change prescription which is usually there for me already. This time it said that I need to talk to my gp asap. I asked to speak to the dr and she said well she's away all next week so it needs to be the week later. I told her that it may be dangerous to be waiting that long so she said she'll get one of the other drs to call me but they can't do it until Wednesday. They don't seem to understand how ill I'm feeling and how i need to speak asap. So 'im still waiting after a weekend away where I have felt awfull! Hopefully whichever dr rings will agree to print out my results for me.