Endocrinologist at Warrington

[Emyloulou]

Hi, so after 2 weeks off sick and 4 trips to the gp I have been referred to the endocrinologists. Gp agrees that it's highly likely that I'm not converting but his hands are tied so he's hopefully they can help me.

Has anyone had any good experiences of Warrington hospital or even the surrounding areas?

I did get the list from Louise but most of the consultants seem to be down south 🙁 x

[Nanaedake]

Warrington had a temporary Endo only there for a month from abroad at one point so best to check.

[Emyloulou in reply to Nanaedake]

That doesn't bode well but thank you x

[Nanaedake in reply to Emyloulou]

Better to choose someone on the list even if you have to travel.

[Emyloulou in reply to Nanaedake]

Unfortunately that isn't an option. I can do Liverpool/Manchester etc but London is to far with having fit round work.

[Nanaedake in reply to Emyloulou]

As tcpace says, people will help if you post latest bloods here as it sounds like you'll have to travel a long way for suitable Endo.

[tcpace in reply to Nanaedake]

My wife has seen endos at Warrington and Liverpool (Aintree). She was lucky to get one at Warrington who was reasonably knowledgeable about hypothyroidism and put her on T3/T4. Unfortunately he's moved on and I doubt whether he's been replaced by anyone as knowledgeable. The last one we saw at Warrington was a specialist in amputating limbs for diabetic patients and he didn't have a clue - I don't think he'd even heard of liothyronine. We've seen a couple at Aintree who have grudgingly accepted that my wife needs to be on T3 although the one phrased it in terms of my wife "thinking" she should be on T3 as if it was all in the mind. My wife has a PhD in commonsense and perceptiveness (awarded by me) and certainly knows (rather than thinks) what is and what isn't best for her! Overall I think you'll be lucky to get someone in the NHS (North West) who knows how to deal with the more difficult cases of hypothyroidism (e.g. TSH in range accompanied by all of the classic symptoms). Sorry I can't be more helpful although I would add that you might get more feedback from this site if you gave some details of your specific problem (especially blood test results).

[Emyloulou in reply to tcpace]

Thanks for your reply.

I work in Liverpool(for the NHS ironically!) so aintree is an option that I can look into.

My recent thyroid bloods only show tsh as that is all the labs will do even though ft4 and ft3 have been requested. My last tsh was 1.6 which was well within the norm but thankfully my gp is very good and increased my thyroxine after that test.

I ordered a test kit from medicheck yesterday to test them myself so I will post them when I have got them.

As for all my vit d, b12 etc they are all now at the top end of the normal ranges after 6 months so it's not a problem with them.

I just need to know I'm not going to waste my time going to the wrong consultant.

[tcpace]

A TSH of 1.6 sounds reasonable but lower would probably be better, which may be why your GP is prepared to prescribe you an increased dose of T4. However, the TSH test is meaningless without T4 and T3. Presumably you still have most if not all of the classic hypo symptoms which suggests your T4 to T3 conversion may be impaired. Have you been checked for antibodies and has your thyroid been scanned? In your position, I'd be inclined to go for Aintree if only because it's local and you should be able to get some of the preliminary tests done, e.g. T4, T3 and antibodies as well as TSH (for what it's worth). At that stage, it'd be worth posting the results to this site as, in our experience, you'll probably get advice as good as (more probably better than) most endos you're likely to encounter in the NHS.

[Emyloulou in reply to tcpace]

Thank you for your reply. Both my gp and I know it's not all about the tsh however the hospital will not test the t4 or T3 despite being asked to do them 😡 that's why I've order a test kit from medicheck.

I do have high antibodies so it's definitely hashimotos and my tsh when I was diagnosed was 147 so I expected to have some symptoms still.

All of a sudden I have developed persistent nausea though to the extent that I have lost 17lbs in 2 weeks, thankfully I have it to lose having put 5 stone on over the last 3 years but it's still not good. If I eat 4 pieces of gluten free toast and a banana it's a good day at the minute. This is why I am being referred because up until now I was quite happy with the care I was receiving from my gp.