Not sure whether to pursue this...

[Lcheggs]

Hi everyone. I am 40 and have the following symptoms: weight gain, difficulty losing weight, anxiety, headaches, palpitations, very hot restless legs, croaky voice after few minutes talking, neck discomfort when swallowing, fatigue, muscle aches and spasms, joint pain, dry skin, hair loss and loss of libido. About 2015 my TSH result was high. I was told to retest and it was then ok. 2 months ago I was tested again and my TSH result was 6.1. I've been told to test again in 6 months. Sounds ridiculous this, (and it could well be my anxiety) but I just feel like something isn't right. Should I be waiting to retest or should I insist on further investigation now. Many thanks.

[Daisylain]

My tsh was always in a "normal range" but when I found a doctor to test further, my free t4 and free t3 were not. You have serious symptoms. You might need a new doctor

[Valuv in reply to Daisylain]

My GP said that my TSH was in normal range so no more test is needed but I'm still not satisfied can i get more tests done how do I go about it can i ask for a private consultation and if so what kind of Doc do I ask to see

[ROADBLOCK78]

insist on finding out if thyroid, adrenal glands are working. You will need to see an ENDOCRINOLOGIST for this. Good Luck. XX

[SJB1234]

Well you sound just like me, back in 2011 my thyroid was tested it came back at 4.6 like you my Doctor said it was slightly high come back in 6 months, next test it had gone to 7.6 my heart nurse told me to get Doctor to get in touch with Hospital when I told them they said it was border line. Anyway in 2015 I had ablation for AF and after that I kept getting fast heart rate, I just thought anxiety but last May I ended up in A&E with irregular heartbeat had all the tests and the only thing they found which could have caused it was overactive thyroid, now under investigation as I have nodule also been taking carbimazole which has now made it go to 4.6 so now cutting dose down. So getting to my point is keep on at them so they can get it under control.

Sorry to be long winded, but good luck.

[ROADBLOCK78 in reply to SJB1234]

Thank you for replying. Sorry I didn't get back to you quicker, but been through battery of tests, so here are some results. Final Cortisole was 209nmol/L, which means nothing to me, but they gave me, Hydrocortisone 10mg, a.m. and 5 mg, p.m., so I tried it, and OMG they made me sooooo drunk, I couldn't walk or talk straight, so off, them I came, took me 48 hrs, to come out of that, then they sent me for an Synacthen test, put cannula in at elbow, and off we go, injected stuff as they called it, and OH BOY it was stuff all right. Same result, and by the time I got home, I had to ring duty doc, as I was so unwell, I now know why they build sinks right next to toilets!!. A wee bit longer recovery. to hell with this. You see, I'm an ex-alchoholic, I've stayed off the drink for 20 years, and I'm not taking a drug that's going to make me drunk every day for the rest of my natural..........Then my darling hubby died 10/4/17 of Endocrine lung cancer, with secondary in the brain. So it was the brain cancer that killed him, we home nursed for 3 weeks, that's all the time we had after being told chemotherapy wasn't working. I know what Billy would say to all of this, but can't print it***. Bye for now, and good luck with your health. XXXX.

[Hidden]

Restless Legs .. you have an uncontrollable urge to move them to relieve an unpleasant sensation which can be painful? If so you should ask yr gp to measure your ferritin level, and read Johns Hopkins site on RLS... drs there take ferritin high in these cases. In some cases iron transfusion helps. Stop iron supps until the test.

[MandShef]

I had similar before my diagnosis. Symptoms plus high TSH, but not high enough for them to treat (often Drs don't treat until TSH goes over 10). However, my Dr agreed to treat after doing an antibodies test, which showed that I had autoimmune thyroiditis/Hashimoto's. I think if high antibodies are present, Drs are more willing to treat, because the antibodies will continue to attack the thyroid, so the condition will only get worse. I would suggest you ask to get tested for antibodies as a next step - if they come back as high your Dr may be more open to trialing you with some Levothyroxine. Don't just let them get away with only testing TSH, or you could end up getting fobbed off for years (I was!).

[SewingBee]

Personally I think you should be tested sooner; say in two months. I remember being in your position and no one listening and, for me, it's never fully gone away but my bloods proved that I needed medication which then led to it going up and up. 175

Ten years have passed and now it's going down... so still feeling rubbish but going the opposite way. 110 ish. It's my opinion that the symptoms of over and under can present very similarly as I have a tendency to overheat these days no matter what. It really annoys me when the medical staff try to say it's the anxiety causing the problem when thyroid problems are also the cause of anxiety. It's all so misunderstood.

[eeng]

The level your TSH has to get to before treatment in the UK is higher than most civilised countries. In some countries they will treat you with a TSH of over 3. The TSH of 95% of people who don't have thyroid problems is between 0.5 and 1.5. You clearly have an underactive thyroid. Next time you have a test, make sure it is done first thing in the morning because TSH varies throughout the day and is highest in the early hours. Do you have a swollen neck/goitre at all? Your doctor does sound slightly unsympathetic - when I had my first high TSH result I was told to come back for a retest after 3 months, not 6.

[Lcheggs]

I am so very grateful to you all, thank you. I feel like I'm going mad. I have just battled for 2 years on the NHS for treatment for a degenerated disc in my spine and I'm so fed up having to fight to be taken seriously. I should also mention that I have had a folate deficiency too which I'm not sure is relevant. I'm back at the Doctor tomorrow and will push for further exploring. In answer to one question, yes I feel discomfort when I swallow and I told the Dr this but she said there is never any physical symptom with the actual thyroid. This confused me as it totally contradicted what I had read. Thank you all for your support and encouragement.

[Hidden]

I empathise with you as I have very similar symptoms. I'm new here and posted last week with my TSH of 5.9 which the doctor dismissed as needing no attention. I was diagnosed with restless legs syndrome following a sleep study when I was 25 and am medicated for this. I'm 28 and feel like my health is worse than my 87 year old Nan's! Doctor is refusing to listen so I have changed GP's and paid privately to get the bloods reallyfedup123 is suggesting.

I feel terrible at present and can easily believe you do too. Please don't give up!

[Lcheggs]

Well. Just been to see the Dr to express my concerns. She's said all my symptoms are down to anxiety and that TSH normal in 6 and mine was only 6.1 so it wasn't that out of range. It's awful when you feel you can't question a Dr's opinion. So frustrated!