Advice

[anolan]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and looking for some advice. I have been suffering for months with fatigue, insomnia and depression (which isn't normal for me). Recently I've begun to put on weight, my skin is dry and scaly, my hair is brittle and breaking off and I can feel my what I believe is my thyroid enlarged in my throat. I have a strong family history of thyroid conditions, my mother is one of 5 children and 4 of the 5 of them have underactive thyroids or have had graves disease. I had bloods done last week, as my doctor agreed that it is likely that my thyroid is under active, however a phone call to the surgery today resulted in the receptionist telling me that the doctor has checked the results and they are all normal. She couldn't give me any more information. I intend to make an appointment to discuss it with the GP, but I'm wondering if anyone has any advice?

[Hidden]

Yes as I've been told ask for your blood test and put them on here and people will read them for you

[anolan in reply to Hidden]

Thank you, I will ask for him to print them off! Just needing some answers, I am tired of feeling ill! Its been suggested that I'm suffering with stress and depression, but I feel that its more than that. Depression doesn't explain the joint and muscle pains, dry skin and hair, lump in my throat ect.

[Clutter in reply to anolan]

Welcome to the forum, Anolan.

Depression can be a symptom of low thyroid but. as you say, doesn't explain your other symptoms. Post your results with the lab ref ranges (the figures in brackets after your results) in a new question and members will advise.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/diagno...

[anolan]

Thanks Clutter, I'll see my GP next week and get him to print off the results for me. My list of symptoms is long, and are not things that I believe are related to depression. Last week I was feeling awful, tired and cold all of the time, and noticed that my tongue has become scalloped and the skin is peeling off the bottom of it, I was truly shocked to be told today that my tests were normal. Thanks for that article, it is very helpful.

[JLTsirius]

You might like to ask your GP when you see them, do they normally leave someone is so obviously ill & suffering to not even bother to ask to see them again and see if they can be of help ............

It is utterly disgraceful.

I would say a lot of the symptoms you mention are HyPO symptoms.

Be sure to ask for tests for

Iron - saturation

Ferritin

D3

B12

I would also suggest you do some internet research.

Stop The Thyroid Madness website is excellent.

Dr Carolyn Deans website to.

I bought a lot of books to learn about HyPO

ALL THE ABOVE WERE COMPLETE EYE OPENERS.

I have also recently learnt that Seratonin production is key. It is also a precursor to other brain chemistry for sleeping. It is common with depression that Seratonin is not optimal.

I take Lamberts L-Theanine - is totally natural and triggers the brain to make Seratonin. See

helpyourselftohealth.blogsp...

You may also need to see how your adrenals are doing, high/low cortisol? & DHEA

This is not something a GP can do. There are testing Labs on the Thyroid UK website.

Folk here will be able to advise you when you post your test results.

DON'T BELIEVE YOUR DOCTOR WHEN SHE SAYS YOUR TESTS ARE NORMAL.

best

JLTsirius

[faith63]

Have them email your labs to you for interpretation here.

[faith63]

I'm sure they didn't do the right tests in the first place. Don't worry..their are ways around the doctors, if they don't help you. You can get your own meds and order your own labs. The people here will guide you through this.

[anolan]

Thank you all for your kind replies. I made a last minute appointment yesterday morning with my surgery and saw a student doctor. Big mistake! He went through my test results, my TSH level was 0.6 ( (0.35 - 4.50). I have no antibodies in my blood, I'm not anemic, my white cell count is fine, as are my liver and kidney function. He went through my symptoms, and again I was told that it is likely that I am suffering from depression. I said yes, my mood is low but I do not believe that it is just depression. Depression does not account for my physical symptoms. I have a very large patch of scaly dry skin on my chin, my legs and arms are scaly, my hair is brittle and falling out in clumps, I can't sleep for more than 3-4 hours per night, I am so tired that I struggle to make it through most days, my joints ache, I have IBS. The list of symptoms goes on and on. I was basically told by the student yesterday that there is not a magic pill that will fix my sypmtoms, I was given advice to eat healthily (something I already do), use moisturiser on my skin, get some exercise and lose weight. I eat healthily, exercise and yet in the last few months I have gained a stone in weight, again, something which is not normal for me, my weight has always been the same.

I've read some of the information on the websites posted by JLTsirus (thank you!). It all makes sense, I just need to figure out a way forward and get to the bottom of what is causing me to feel so ill. You are right, under other circumstances someone who feels as ill as I do wouldn't be turned away from their GP, but because one potentially faulty TSH test says that I am ok, they seem to believe that I am a hypochondriac.