What to do? Completely confused

[SuziOz]

My OH has symptoms of thyroid problems. His mum and brother have underactive thyroid whilst his gran (mum's mum) has overactive. Finally he is being tested annually. Last year he had these problems but bloods came back as normal, as they did few weeks ago. He is struggling to put one foot in front of the other- he doesn't give in lightly so he must be really bad. GP said they won't prescribe àny thyroid meds if bloods are normal. What test does he need to ask for? Sorry my memory is bad due to my condition plus my concentration is limited. He's really not himself and the more i see him like this the more i believe it's thyroid related. Many thanks xx

[galathea]

Assuming that the doc is relying on the tsh test. This is a pituary hormone which supposedly rises if there isnt enough thyroid hormone in the blood. The problem is that in many countries a tsh of more than 3 would mean you are treated, but in the uk, you may not be treated even with a tsh of 10..

Really tsh on its own tells you very little, he ought to have his free t4 and free t3 measured, along with antibodies.if the doc is unwilling, you can get a full thyroid profile done privately for around £100, Details inder testing on the homepage. thyroiduk.org.uk

Also, take a look at this video which might explain it better.... youtu.be/tOb2POQGE6g(Not working as expected?)

Xx. G

[Marz]

It would seem that many people with thyroid problems have swelling around the jawline and neck as portrayed by your husband in the upside down picture ! There was a time when Docs actually looked at their patients and could make a diagnosis. Now they look at numbers on a screen.

So obtain copies of the thyroid test results with ranges that have been done and post in a new post here for people to comment. If only the TSH test was done - then at least you will know that is only part of the story and more needs to be done. You are entitled to have copies of all your tests legally.

Tests needed are - TSH - FT4 - FT3 - Anti-TPO - Anti-Tg ..... also FERRITIN - FOLATE - B12 - VITD. Bet they are all low. Never accept normal from a GP - we all want to hear that word. What he means is that your results are in range - but it is WHERE they are in the range that is important.

galathea above has given you a link to the main website of Thyroid UK - check out the list of Signs and Symptoms and tick the relevant boxes of symptoms hubby has for the Doc.

I do hope soon hubby receives the treatment he deserves and feels better .....

[Heloise]

Hi Suze, welcome to the world of thyroid neglect and indifference. After several years of seeing this kind of response to people who are very apparently ill, I recommend getting started on helping yourself. When you are struggling to put one foot in front of the other, you have no more time to delay doing something.

There is a lot of support here for acquiring natural desiccated hormone or synthetic T4 and T3 at reasonable cost and your own monitoring I feel is far superior to any that a doctor can do. Think about that as you attempt to locate any GP or Endo who has the capacity to or willingness to help you.