30 years on Thyroxin

[Clarabel2607]

Have been on Thyroxin for around 30 years. Suffered from varying degrees of depression since my late teens. Have a stressful full time job and all the normal challenges everyone has to deal with. However my Dr's have never explained the symptoms of an under active thyroid and it's only now, at 50, feeling so tired, very low and struggling to keep my head above water I want to understand if any of it has something to do with my thyroid. Been on high doses of anti-depressants for the last 15 years and my GP gas always insisted I must remain on them and now telling me my symptoms are pre-menopause. If that's the case I have been pre-menapausal for 20 years!!!!

[Mandavb84]

Have you ever seen an endocrinologist for your thyroid/hormones? They look and treat things differently than a GP

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Mandavb84]

Most of them are diabetes specialists and unfortunately know very little about thyroid so are quite often no better than a GP. There are very few actual endos whose speciality is the thyroid.

[TSH110 in reply to SeasideSusie]

SeasideSusie

I did get a good Endo at Guys who was very compassionate and did get me back to almost human again. I'd say it might be worth a punt as long as one can see through a useless one. It is only an opinion at the end of the day. I feel we ought to force them to actually do what they get paid for and challenge them wherever possible. A good one would not feel threatened by a patient wanting to be actively involved in their treatment. I guess by the law of averages one is not likely to get a good one though.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Do you have any thyroid blood test results?

If not, if Thyroid was tested fairly recently ask receptionist for copies of your last set of test results. You are entitled to them

It would be helpful to also know vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 levels if they havd been tested

Also if thyroid antibodies have been tested

[Clarabel2607 in reply to SlowDragon]

Drs have just changed my dose and I have to go back for another set of blood tests in 6 weeks time. Will get results from my last tests that were run 4 weeks ago, thank you for replies

[shaws Administrator in reply to Clarabel2607]

see my response below.

[Nanaedake]

I'm sorry you're feeling unwell and that your doc seems to know nothing about endocrine conditions. I'm going to have a rant now... but it does make me mad when doctors tell women their symptoms are menopause, it's such an easy get out to not look into things properly. In any case, menopausal or not, we are entitled to have ill health investigated as more than ever women need to stay well into older age.

I'm sure if a man rocked up to the docs feeling ill they would look into it properly and not just dose them up with anti-depressants, pat them on the head and say never mind, it's all down to the manopause.

Oh no, the doctor would fly into action and ensure the man got tested for heart, cholesterol, bloods because they of course have to be helped to carry on working!

Thyroid imbalance can cause all sorts of problems including depression. I just think it's dreadful that doctors seem to know nothing about restoring health in endocrine disorders and half the world are women who by necessity of child bearing have highly exquisitely developed endocrine systems with amazing capabilities which doctors should know more about ... sorry for my rant, but, poor you.

Do get your blood test results and post them here.

[Hidden in reply to Nanaedake]

Well said. This ongoing parade of people (mostly women) appearing every day on the forum asking for help after sometimes years of neglect is frankly enraging me more and more every day. Rant away! Anger is a great motivator for change 😡. And we desperately need it!

[shaws Administrator]

I don't understand doctors. They know none of the clinical symptoms of hypothyroidism. Know the patient is hypothyroid and instead of making sure he/she is on an optimum dose are content when the TSH is somewhere in the range. Not so. Our TSH should be 1 or below. instead they will tell you that will cause osteo or heart problems which are rumours. Too low a dose might cause these.

Once you realise doctors are poorly trained in anything to do with the thyroid gland, except look at the TSH and pronounce patient is fine when they're anything but. List of symptoms below and tick off the ones you have. We should have none if on optimum dose and a thyroid hormone which suits us. Unfortunately all we get offered is levothyroxine which is fine for many but not for all.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

If hypothyroid, as it is a fatal disease if untreated, we cannot stop taking thyroid hormone replacements. Make a new appointment for a blood test. It has to be the very earliest possible, fasting (you can drink water) and allow a gap of 24 hours from your last dose of levothyroxine and the test and take afterwards. This helps keep TSH at its highest as doctors adjust dose if TSH is low which is wrong.

Always get a print-out from now on of your results with the ranges - ranges are important for comments to be made.

Ask GP to test TSH, T4, T3, Free T4, Free T3 and thyroid antibodies at the same time as B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate. Deficiencies also cause clinical symptoms.

You can say you've taken advice from the NHS Choices for advice/help on dysfunctions of the thyroid gland, Thyroiduk.org.uk.

You can have private tests for the thyroid hormone ones the lab wont do and we have recommended labs which will do them.

Always get a print-out of your results, with the ranges, for your own records and post if you have a query.

[TSH110]

I got all that claptrap about it being the menopause even when mentioning hypothyroidism in several close family members and thyroid cancer, not one GP I saw bothered to run any thyroid tests when I told them of obvious symptoms which were investigated in complete isolation one by one.

I had terrible depression most of my adult life. The medical profession could not wait to shovel antidepressants down me. I did eventually get diagnosed wit overt hypothyroidism, pretty much on my way out by then.

I did not feel well after 2 years on Levothyroxine and eventually swapped to natural desiccated thyroid (NDT) which is basically pig thyroid and simply not offered here as a hormone therapy replacement option, despite a very long and successful history of treating the condition. My depression miraculously evaporated along with a shed load of other symptoms Levo had never resolved.

I would be highly sceptical of anything a doctor tells you about your condition or how to treat it properly. But you can certainly have hope that you can greatly improve upon where you are now with the support given here. Knowledge is power 😊 As you learn from people here you can start to take the necessary action to improve your condition.

I hope you are soon on a journey back to good health ☘️🍀☘️

[Clarabel2607 in reply to TSH110]

Thank you everyone for your advice. I am going to get a print out of my results when I go in 4 weeks and will def post them here. I feel relieved to have discovered this community