High blood pressure

[josie-n]

Can anyone verify this please? My GP told me that untreated Hypothyroidism does NOT cause high blood pressure? Yes various medical sites and even the NHS website says it DOES....the GP told me not to use the internet....who do I believe? Josie

[humanbean]

Your GP is clearly suffering from a deficiency of googling. He needs to do more.

You could print this out, stick it in an envelope, and send it to your GP marked for his attention.

journals.lww.com/jhypertens...

[josie-n in reply to humanbean]

Thank you so much for replying - I will do just that !x

[Clutter]

Josie-n,

I expect your GP doesn't want you to use the internet because it shows up his ignornance

[humanbean in reply to Clutter]

I've read that doctors prefer the wisdom of 30-year-old textbooks to anything they might read on the internet.

[Clutter in reply to humanbean]

Humanbean,

Not all of them. Google was so overwhelmed with NHS queries on one day it treated them like a DDOS attack

[humanbean in reply to Clutter]

Oh, yes, I read about that too.

Doctors have various ways of attacking patients who know more than them about their own illness.

1) Doctor talks about googling as if it is a dirty, shady, underhand and immoral act, only commited by simpletons.

2) Doctor tries to make out that they know it all and have no need to stoop to committing a dirty, shady, underhand and immoral act like disgusting, stupid patients have to.

[Clutter in reply to humanbean]

HB,

Happily I've not been talked down to or treated that way. The last GP I saw used Google images to diagnose chilblains and as it isn't very common these days called in a couple of trainees to have a look.

[josie-n in reply to Clutter]

It really shouldn't be like that...you should be able to trust your GP who is paid fantastic wages...to kill you off it would seem! Thank you so much for replying x

[josie-n in reply to humanbean]

Mine certainly does! Thank you so much for replying x

[cazza1001]

it absolutely can if undertreated for a long time - print this out and take it along !!!! mine said the same thing and yet when I showed her this and evidence form a few GOOD web sites she shut up and doubled my Levo !!

Blood Pressure and Hypothyroidism

By some estimates, people with hypothyroidism have two to three times the risk of developing hypertension. One theory is that low amounts of thyroid hormone can slow heartbeat, which can affect pumping strength and blood vessel wall flexibility. Both may cause a rise in blood pressure.

Too low a dose of T4 can give us more problems as T3 is needed in all our receptor cells and the brain and heart need optimum to function. Also, a rise in cortisol from your adrenals as a way to keep you going in the face of a poor thyroid treatment can raise your blood pressure.

In his book, Thyroid Guardian of Health, Dr. Young states

“Also when patients are low thyroid, blood is shunted from the extremities into the body core, which tends to raise pressure by forcing the same volume of blood into a smaller network of vessels. This shunting is brought about by a constriction of peripheral vessels. Hypothyroid patients produce an excess of noradrenalin from the adrenal gland, which constricts blood vessels all over the body, another effort of the body to combat the low pressure. This in turn is partly related to the effort by the body to raise blood sugar levels when low. Production of Noradrenalin can actually be thirty times normal.“

It is a good bet that patients exhibiting symptoms of hypothyroidism most likely will have an elevated blood pressure and associated arterial stiffness.

You need to dose according to the elimination of symptoms, not the TSH borderline data.

[Sweetart in reply to cazza1001]

*That is just what has happened to me ,I have been over medicated for over a year ,I dropped my levo to come into normal range ,the closer I got to normal range, I had drops in blood pressure and loss of vision then,virtually the day I enter normal range (I had routine bloods the day before) I black out and ended up in casualty! 10 days on I have a really nasty spreading bruise of my calf which I belive to be a burst blood vessel from exactly what you have described above.

My dr did agree with me that it probably was.

Thanks drs for not double checking my bloods for a year and causing havoc in my body 🤕🤕🤕

[cazza1001 in reply to Sweetart]

that sounds truly terrible - hope you feel better soon ...

[josie-n in reply to cazza1001]

Thank you so much xx

[josie-n in reply to Sweetart]

I get the feeling that Doctors view Thyroid problems as insignificant? Pity they didn't get it! Hope you are better soon! x

[humanbean]

This page is worth reading although it won't do for your GP - not authoritative enough - but I've always liked the patient's story :

stopthethyroidmadness.com/b...

[josie-n]

Thank you so much for replying x

[dang]

I don't know the answer to this. But I was untreated for probably 15 years and have actually low-blood pressure and a slow heart as a result of it.

[josie-n in reply to dang]

You just don't realise what an awful problem you have until you are diagnosed with a Thyroid condition...I never dreamt it could be so terrible!

[Glynisrose]

In the case of not using the internet ask your doctor if its ok to ignore the British Heart Foundation website. My guess is that he/she will say it is ok to monitor this one! If you cannot access the internet where do you go for information! Your doctor will not supply it in fact I have yet to come across a doctor who explains the contra indications in meds or the interactions.

[josie-n in reply to Glynisrose]

I was told the internet was dangerous and I didn't know what I was talking about!

[humanbean in reply to josie-n]

There was a time when most patients believed every word a doctor said. Those days are now over and many doctors still don't like it. They want to be a patient's sole source of health information because uninformed patients are easier to control.

[josie-n in reply to humanbean]

Yes I fully agree...I will never trust another Doctor! x

[josie-n]

I took the printout with me from the NHS Choices website and it was flippantly tossed back to me unread! I have a new GP now...but I am scared to go!

[josie-n]

I think you are right! I just don't understand why they would want to intimidate you in such a horrid manner.....I feel afraid of Doctors now lol! x