Sorry if this post includes things that many other people ask but I'm new and very pee'd off after a visit to my GP at the request of my Dermatologist.
To make it as short as possible i was referred to a Dermatology Consultant last year due to chronic hives and intense itching all over, been on monitored high doses of 3 antihistamines. I also had nerve conduction studies on my arms and wrists as was having constant pins and needles with loss of feeling in my hands and arm muscle weakness, i had also been to opticians as having trouble with iritated and sore eyes. Anyway many blood tests later and the consultant has ruled out allergies/liver problems. My thyroid tests came back within normal limits apart from the antibodies that were elevated at 700?? (don't know what the range is) anyway after a conversation with a haematologist she said it may be a good idea to see my GP and explain my other "symptoms" and she would write to him to explain the findings.
Been to see GP today he basically made me feel like crap. Making me feel like I'd made it up after googling. Saying the consultant doesn't know what shes on about as she is only a skin person and that my other problems are just coincidental. I told him i lay awake itching and wake up in the night itching and he told me to "go buy some piriton" to make me drowsy. I felt like crying. The Dermatology consultant had said that i could try a low dose throxine to see if it would help but the GPhas made it clear that it is not going to happen. I feel so stupid, very cold and itchy right now. Sorry for venting. He wouldn't even give me my thyroid actual results asking what i would do with them!! Has anyone else encounted this or am i being a hypocondraic 😞😞
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Obijedi
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Oh, dear. I'm so sorry you've been subjected to this level of GP ignorance and arrogance. They really can be horrible! And, for some reason, they will do anything to avoid diagnosing and treating thyroid problems. They just hate it.
You mustn't feel stupid. I know that's easy to say, because your horrible doctor set out to make you feel that way - believe me, he did it deliberately. Probably because he objected to the 'interference' of the dermatologists. But you really aren't stupid at all.
As for him not giving you your results, if you live in the UK, he is breaking the law. Yes! He's not as all powerful as he thinks he is! The law gives you the right to a copy of your results, under the 1998 Data Protection Act. So, as you've asked, and he's refused, there are further steps you can take - and take him down a peg or too at the same time! Hopefully, someone who knows about these things will come along and explain the next step. Then, you ought to find a new doctor, one with a little humanity and humility, perhaps.
I wonder if they have a selection of negative responses they randomly use ranging from you don't have a clue what you are talking about to clearly you are 'just' (and rightly so because you feel so damned ill and fatigued) depressed - here have some pills.
You are not a hypochondriac or stupid - he's just incompetent and too pig-headed to credit another professional's opinion. I don't have kids but that doesn't mean I can't see poor parenting!!
Dr Toft, leading endocrinologist and past president of the British Thyroid Association, has written about where there are antibodies present then Levothyroxine should be started 'to nip things in the bud'.
"If thyroid antibodies are found, then you may have Hashimoto's disease. If there are thyroid antibodies but the other thyroid tests are normal, there is evidence that treatment will stop full blown hypothyroidism from occurring.
Dr A Toft, consultant physician and endocrinologist at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, has recently written in Pulse Magazine, "The combination of a normal serum T4 and raised serum TSH is known as subclinical hypothyroidism. If measured, serum T3 will also be normal. Repeat the thyroid function tests in two or three months in case the abnormality represents a resolving thyroiditis.2 But if it persists then antibodies to thyroid peroxidase should be measured.
If these are positive – indicative of underlying autoimmune thyroid disease – the patient should be considered to have the mildest form of hypothyroidism.
In the absence of symptoms some would simply recommend annual thyroid function tests until serum TSH is over 10mU/l or symptoms such as tiredness and weight gain develop. But a more pragmatic approach is to recognise that the thyroid failure is likely to become worse and try to nip things in the bud rather than risk loss to follow-up."
If you email louise.roberts@thyroiduk.org.uk she will let you have a copy of the article.
As far as your test results are concerned, you need to make a Subject Access Request. There is an old post about this which might help healthunlocked.com/thyroidu... and if bluebug is around she should be able to offer advice.
Your GP is a disgrace. If possible find a new one.
By the way, there are two types of antibodies - Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO and Thyroglobulin (TG). The NHS generally only does TPO. You can get them done privately and I would suggest getting vitamins and minerals tested as well, as pins and needles, and possibly muscle weakness, oukd be a result of low levels. You can do a home fingerprick test from Blue Horizon that covers everything you need bluehorizonmedicals.co.uk/T...
SeasideSusie yes my TPO Ab was 720! Thank you so much for that information. The itching is really severe especially in the evening from my chest upwards. I just want to cry as no dose of antihistamines is helping. My one last option to try and GP won't listen. Having googled tonight apparently itching is a common symptom as is everything else i mentioned. Unfortunately i don't see one particular GP as they don't stay very long at our three practices!!!
Take your new found Information and see whoever you can. If still no joy then ask for a referral to an endocrinologist. I'm not sure but it may be possible to see one because you have antibodies even though your other test results are (apparently) within range.
If you consider going private to speed things up, then email Louise (address as above) and ask for the list of thyroid friendly endos, see who you can get to and ask on the forum for feedback from other members.
This is the third doctor in a few short hours who should all lose their licences. Never mind the Associations pursuing good and kind and sympathetic doctors and putting them under such stress and one lost his licences because they care about their patients, i.e. Dr Chandy, Dr Peatfield, Dr Skinner and others - all trained in symptoms and blood tests used to clarify. Now it is all on a dot on a piece of paper (if tested) with complete disregard to the patients' pleas for help and complete ignorance of clinical symptoms for which you don't need blood tests.
Did you get tested for food allergies? I had similar problems and was tested for allergies but they only focused on chemicals! I later followed the recommendation of this forum to go gluten-free to help reduce antibody attacks, and found that a lot of problems disappeared. Doctors are so ignorant that I have pretty much given up on them. The last one that I saw told me that a lot of people live with chronic fatigue and that I should accept that they couldn't help me. That's when I got onto the internet and found this forum. Feeling much better now after self-medicating with NDT, supplementing with vitamins D and B12 and going gluten-free. Still waiting for the eyebrows to grow back though!
So sorry you have been treated like this..!if you phone your surgery and ask for the result/including numbers for TSH and FT4 (if they have done it )and post on here there are lots of people who will be able to help. They don't seem to like us asking for OUR bloods results but yes as Greygoose says we are well within out right to ask for copies of our results. Thyroid diagnosis and treatment appears to be very controversial in the uk. Thank had to buy my own recently. Take care and keep posting xxx
Hi Obijedi - like so many here I have been there with GPs. And endocrinologists. And many others. Keep reading and educating yourself and cultivate a healthy scepticism toward the medical establishment..! I want to applaud your dermatologist for thinking outside her box.
Something to keep in mind regarding the itching: Histamine intolerance. You could self test by eating only low histamine containing foods for a couple of days. Proper thyroid and, if necessary adrenal, treatment, optimised gut health and nutritio as well as stress reduction would all help if that's the culprit....
Can I just add to all the brilliant advice you have been given - I have just learnt yesterday that chronic hives is linked to Low or deficient vitamin D blood levels. I was checking this out for a friend.
Also look into low or deficient B12 for your Pins and Needles.
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