Could it be thyroid?

[Payney15]

My older sister is convinced I have underactive thyroid but my doctor wont do anything as hes convinced I don't as i am too young .

My dad had three thyroid stormss before he was diagnosed and my sister developed myxedema before she was diagnosed at 25.

Im almost 23 and I've got many symptoms my sister thinks is linked as its how she started.

The first was sudden weight gain. Approx a stone and a half in 6 weeks yet i eat very healthy. Theres been no change in my diet or exercise.

Around the same time thr following symptoms started.. loss of eyebrows, my joints swellinf up and have arthritis like pain, skin pigmentation. I've also gone on to more recently suffering with a sore throat that feels like ive been straining my throat. Breathlessness in certain positions and it feels like my heart skips and anxiety attacks. My periods have also become irregular which is abnormal for me.

Does anyone else agree. Should I push t be tested?

*p.s sorry for typos my knuckles are currently flared up

[Clutter]

Welcome to the forum Payney15.

Your doctor is showing appalling ignorance if he thinks you are too young to become hypothyroid. He should do thyroid blood tests to check and you should insist, or see another doctor, if he refuses.

Your symptoms certainly sound hypothyroid. Arrange the blood draw for the earliest morning appointment you can get and have a fasting test (water only) as TSH is highest early and before food.

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

[Anthea55]

You have the family history, you have the symptoms. You are not too young.

Definitely ask to be tested. If necessary see a different doctor - maybe another doctor in your usual practice will be more sympathetic.

If still no luck you can get tests done privately.

If you haven't already done so, read as much as you can. The thyroidUK website is very useful and so is Stop The Thyroid Madness.

Keep fighting. Good luck.

[Heloise]

Hi Payney, you keep asserting yourself and don't be fobbed off by these obstinate people. Is there any chance this is a pituitary problem as well? Insist on a full battery of tests so they can tell you what is going on. It's terrible that you have to prove how sick you are to people who are supposed to NOTICE.

Is your sister being well treated?

[Payney15 in reply to Heloise]

My sister was my age when she started getting symptoms. She went 3 years suffering before the doctor's believed her and they only tested her because her whole body swelled up and looked deformed ans she was covered in hives. Now at 33 shes loads better as shes on the right medication. Shes actually managed to shed all the weight she put on!

If it wernt for her i wouldn't of put two and two together.

I wil definitely be pushing for tests as something isnt right.

[Payney15]

**UPDATE**

so I've been doctors.

You might want to sit down.

The doctor has said the pain and stiffness in my shoulder is because of a rotary cuff tear!!! Yet i explained to him this pain and stiffness effects every joint.

anyway I stood there like a teenager not getting their own way and hes sending me for blood tests even though he is certain ALL will come back normal.

Clearly something isnt right yet he thinks I'm making it up. Urghhh

[violapiano87]

I had all the symptoms yet the revered TSH test came back normal. However, after much persuasion from determined friends, I went to a private doctor and had different tests, but more importantly was listened to and looked at. Surprise, surprise I have an underactive thyroid and have been on Levothyroxine for years. I once read that British doctors have the widest reference range for normal in Europe on the blood tests. I also think modern doctors rely far too much on blood tests rather than their own observations and instincts for many diseases.

You are not too young for hypothyroidism. I know of a child who was diagnosed at the age of six and my friend was born without a thyroid gland and has been on Thyroxine all her life. Good luck