NHS Vs PRIVATE

[Bellesbus]

Hi....

Just joined the group and I really need some help to point me in the right direction. I have quite a lot of symptoms that suggest I have Hypothyroidism: started perimenopause at 38 and full menopause at 46, body is tender to touch, awful forgetfulness, weight gain of 4 stone over the past couple of years and great difficulty in losing weight, enlarged tongue with scalloped edge, irritable/depressed, constantly tired. I'm due to see my GP in a week's time and ask for a blood test to check my thyroid levels. But after reading some threads on here, I'm wondering if going private would be better as it seems the GP/NHS are not to well up on the in and outs of thyroid levels etc. What are people's thoughts? Many thanks in advance for your help.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Bellebus

My advice would be to get a full thyroid/vitamin panel private blood test first. Put results on here for members to comment. Private doctors are NHS trained and generally toe the NHS line where test results are concerned.

Tests advised are

TSH

FT4

FT3

Thyroid Peroxidase antibodies

Thyroglobulin antibodies

Vit D

B12

Folate

Ferritin

You probably wont get all those done by your GP, certainly not FT3 at this stage, probably not thyroid antibodies either.

You can get the full test panel with either of these companies:

Medichecks: medichecks.com/thyroid-func...

Blue Horizon: bluehorizonmedicals.co.uk/t... - use code AUGUST20 for 20% off if you order before the end of August.

Both can be done by fingerprick or venous blood draw at extra cost if you prefer.

[Bellesbus in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks so much for your help. I'm going to order the test kits now. Luckily I have 3 very close friends who are nurses and I will ask one of them to get the blood out of me! 😁

[mcooper]

Hello sorry to hear you've been feeling unwell. I had symptoms of underactive thyroid for about 18 years , was fobbed off by the NHS. It was only when I had persistant swollen glands I decided to use private healthcare system through work to get an ultrasound. This included some blood tests which showed up the thyroid antibodies. The NHS don't even check for this routinely. IT was only following this private diagnosis that I managed to get treatment, and when I wanted to trial T3 I asked the private endo to give me a trial which I paid for - this proved positive and he wrote to my GP who then prescribed the subsequent T3 doses on NHS. So in answer to your question I would say private does help in some cases.Good luck

[Bellesbus in reply to mcooper]

Thanks so much for your reply. My glands have been swollen on & off for months. Things have come to a head because I was on annual leave last week and I had no energy to get any of the things done that I had planned to do. That's not like me. I've ordered the test kit from blue horizon and will post the results as soon as I get them.

[mcooper in reply to Bellesbus]

Its horrible and I know what you mean, you can never plan much as you don't know how you will feel, despite T4+T3 I never feel great, its all damage limitation. There is always something that is not right. I used to be someone that could hop out of bed in the morning now I am like someone in their 90's. Just be kind to yourself , some days are better than others.

[Bellesbus in reply to mcooper]

I'm actually hoping it is hypothyroidism so I then know why I feel so poorly.

[mcooper in reply to Bellesbus]

Best of luck, the antibodies blood test is a definitive one for Hashimotos (underactive) so hopefully you will find some answers when you get your bloods. Lots of information on here which has been a life saver for me.