Any advice please on hyperthyroidism and treatment

[Nixiepix]

5 weeks ago my husband ended up in hospital with a seriously high heart rate and was diagnosed with a thyroid infection and pneumonia. The pneumonia cleared up with antibiotics but the other symptoms seemed to get worse including feeling sick and being unable to eat much. He was pot on beta blockers and blood thinners, propranolol and rivaroxaban and told to come back in 3 weeks. This was a week ago - he has lost 2 stone and eats a minimal amount. This time we were told that they think it is not an infection but possibly hyperthyroidism. He was put on carbimazole and told he should notice a difference in a few days. There has been no significant change - he is unable to go out - walking from one room to another exhausts him and he is still nauseous and eating very little. Our next appointment is over a week away - we have not been told what to expect except that we should notice a difference in days which we haven't. We can't go to the gp as they have said it is too specialist an area for them to give advice. The only other option is to go to a&e which we have done twice and has involved waiting at hospital all day and then being admitted. This condition feels like it has come out of nowhere and we are not being given much information. Please if anyone has had similar experiences could you offer advice and is this lack of progression normal or should we be going back to hospital?

[Nixiepix]

Sorry I am not sure I was clear - we waited 3 weeks on the beta blockers and went back a week a go to be told the new diagnosis and start the hyperthyroidism medication

[Nanaedake in reply to Nixiepix]

It might be too specialist for the GPS but they are there to advise you how to manage your healthcare. Ring them in the morning and ask for a telephone consultation. In the meantime if he suddenly feels worse there's 111 although A & E might be more useful. If you have his consultant's secretary's number you could ring that and explain you need to see someone more urgently. Failing that, contact the PALS team at the Hosp and express your concern at not getting urgent apt. PALS is patient liaison team, every Hosp should have one, they might be able to help you negotiate your way through the system.

[Nixiepix in reply to Nanaedake]

Thank you. We were back in hospital last night

[Nanaedake in reply to Nixiepix]

I hope they were more helpful this time? Home made chicken soup is nourishing and has a lot of key nutrients.

[Nixiepix in reply to Nanaedake]

Yes they are keeping him in now for several days

[Nanaedake in reply to Nixiepix]

Good, let us know how he gets on.

[Nixiepix in reply to Nanaedake]

I have just been reading your post about thyroid disfunction and kidney disease. I don't understand it all at this stage but my husband had kidney problems due to leukaemia attacking his kidnies and causing too much protein to be produced. He had to be treated for his kidnies and the leukaemia at the same time. This thyroid problem seems to have come from nowhere and I feel it must be connected but no one has suggested there could be a link in fact they keep saying there is no connection but they did the same with the kidney problem until they realised it was connected. Can you give any advice on where to find more information?

[Nanaedake in reply to Nixiepix]

I really don't know much about the connections as I'm not medical. I'm just finding out things myself. I just do Google search and try to learn. The best person to ask would be a nephrologist. I think you can get thyroiditis as a result of an infection and then it settles down but with thyroid the symptoms can lag behind the thyroid disturbance. Like Gregoose said, if you can get a copy of blood tests you'll get a better idea of what's going on. Ak GP for copies and the hospital should be able to supply copies. He could also access his blood tests from GP online. You need to ask GP surgery to give a password and then you set it up online.

[greygoose]

Get his blood test results. That would give you more idea what's going on.