Thyroid problems?

[kim1sykes]

Hi last year I had a thyroid blood test by my GP which he said was lower than before but still normal and that thyroid does go up and down. I have since started getting red flushes on my face and on my neck throat very tight with swallowing you can see the sternohyoid on one side stick out when I swallow. does any of this sound like it could be Thyroid?

[Hidden]

Yes it could, what was your TSH last time? Your surgery should give you a print out of the test with ranges if you ask.

One way forward would be to get a full blood test privately - you can order them yourself off the Thyroid UK website links. You don't have to go to a private doctor. It costs, but no more than a new phone and at least it would help you to know what is going on. Even if it just excludes it.

You would test for TSH, Free T4, Free T3 and antibodies against the thyroid.

The NHS doesn't do these full tests on the off chance, partly because it would be stratospherically expensive for the tax payer - and also because they believe the TSH is a reliable measurement alone. Which no one on this forum thinks.

The other thing you could do is go to your gp and ask it to palpate your thyroid to confirm the presence of a nodule, and ask for testing of it if so. About 90 per cent of them, from memory, are cancer free, but you might get a thyroid scan out of it, especially if you stress your difficulty swallowing. By the way, if you raise your arms above your head and hold them there for several minutes, does your face turn bright red?

Personally I would do the private test first if you can afford it, then if you have raised antibodies you can take that result to the gp as well as the request for an ultrasound scan.

And come back and post your results here.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

PS, I refer to the GP as "it" above, as so many are reduced by the NHS guidelines to mere automata.

[kim1sykes]

I'm not sure of the results of will ask for a copy. The redness has just started happening the throat issues been going on I have mentioned it but as you say getting them to do things can be hard.

[Hidden in reply to kim1sykes]

And the arms above the head test? Give it a go...

[kim1sykes]

It doesn't seem to but It was only about a minute