Advice please

[Alan55]

Seeing endo for first time tomorrow. I have had varying symptoms for 21/2 years but this latest attack on me which started beginning of April has been worst. Have been to eye hospital appointment today because of dry eyes and even though I have been using drops my eyes are still very dry and light sensitive.they have now given me antibiotic drops,steroid drops,and normal drops to put in my eyes 4 times a day.I have made a symptoms list to take to app.tomorrow and dr said she has sent blood test results.at the moment the only thing keeping me going is 12.5mg prednisolone daily and when I say keeping me going am not great ,about 20 percent of how I felt in March .can anyone give me some ideas as to what to expect from first endo app.please? Alan

[Clutter]

Alan, Height and weight are measured by nurse immediately prior to my consult. Bloods reviewed, symptoms/issues/progress discussed, throat/thyroid palpated, pulse taken, hands examined for tremors, coolness/heat/sweatiness, stethoscope if breathing issues and rapid heart rate/palpitations, feet/ankles examined if there is swelling, medication reviewed and request for TFT prior to next appointment issued. Consults vary between 20 and 40 minutes and I've never felt rushed even though they're usually running up to an hour late.

I hope it goes well tomorrow.

[Alan55 in reply to Clutter]

Thanks Clutter, will let you know how I get on.Alan

[mickstability]

Alan here's an interesting research article on COPD and Hypothyroidism - it might be useful to mention it to your consultant to get them thinking along the right lines.. sciencedirect.com/science/a... Best wishes Richard

[shaws Administrator]

Hello Alan,

I am not sure if your eyes are affected by a thyroid eye disease (TED for short). This is an excerpt from an article by Dr Toft.

4 How does thyroid eye disease manifest itself and how is it treated?

Most patients presenting with the hyperthyroidism of Graves’ disease will have some evidence of thyroid eye disease, ranging from lid retraction with excessive lacrimation in bright light to marked exophthalmos with limited eye movements, diplopia and reduced visual acuity.

The hyperthyroidism of Graves’ disease and thyroid eye disease are best considered as two separate, organ-specific autoimmune conditions, which frequently coexist. This explains why the eye disease may precede the hyperthyroidism or even occur for the first time years after successful treatment of hyperthyroidism.

The eye disease has its own natural history – a period of deterioration, followed by one of stability and ultimately of some improvement. But the ophthalmopathy will worsen if thyroid function is not controlled – whether through inadequate or excessive treatment.

The eye changes often persist for two to three years after successful treatment of the hyperthyroidism and although there may be significant improvement there is often residual disease, which can be improved by orbital decompression, strabismus surgery and eyelid surgery.

Of all treatments of the hyperthyroidism of Graves’ disease, iodine-131 therapy is associated most often with a worsening of the ophthalmopathy. For that reason it is relatively contraindicated in patients with significant eye disease. For these it may be better to use combination therapy with carbimazole and levothyroxine for the best possible control of thyroid function.

But if radioiodine is the chosen therapy, enteric-coated prednisolone 30-40mg daily should be prescribed for six weeks, as this has been shown to prevent deterioration of ophthalmopathy.

****

There is also another eye disease Sjrogrens

mayoclinic.org/diseases-con...

I hope you have a good consultation with your Endocrinologist.

[Alan55 in reply to shaws]

Thanks shaws got to go back to eye hospital 6th august for results of some tests they have done .Alan

[Ctb567]

Hi Alan55, its weird you say this because I'm going through the exact same thing at the moment. I've had long term constipation and I've been exhausted pretty much most of my life and then 2 years ago I started getting dry eyes, which like you said had to be one of the worst symptoms I have had. I also went to the eye hospital except I got plugs put in my eyes to help and I use the eye ointment/gel instead of drops because the drops are completely useless. I would really suggest getting the plugs put in because they make your eyes feel so comfortable and relieved. I was sent to the endocrinologist and on the first appointment you basically list every single one of your symptoms and then they will test for pretty much everything. Its handy to make a list of all your symptoms including the little ones and tell them everything. Let us know how you get on because I'm still looking for an answer to my dry eyes too, it seems to be really difficult to find out the cause of it. Good luck

[Alan55 in reply to Ctb567]

Thanks CarlyS123 will post again this evening after I have seen endo .Alan

[Carrot1]

I went to the doc a few weeks ago about my dry eyes which were really getting me down as I have been wearing contacts for 25 years. She recommended that I take a high dose of Omega 3 daily. I also had antibiotic ointment (which didn't help) and some eye wipes. After about a fortnight my eyes were quite a lot better which I put down to the Omega 3. Not perfect though but at least I can wear contacts some of the time. The doc didn't mention dry eyes as being a symptom of underactive thyroid.

[Alan55 in reply to Carrot1]

Hi Carrot1 ,I have had dry eyes which are very light sensitive for last 3 months, also dry mouth .lots of muscle and joint pain,weakness,dehydration,shakes,just to mention a few of my symptoms.dr seems to think my problems are glandular hence endocrinologists app.i really hope she is right as I have dropped my steroid dose from 30mg to 12.5mg over last 5 weeks ,but am struggling this week so if he does not come up with something will be increasing steroids tomorrow.many thanks ,Alan