Hi Everyone.
It has been a while since I posted on here, because I have been chasing various doctors and psychiatrists to try and get myself sorted out!
I had posted my thyroid blood test results on here, but it appears that they were incomplete, because of no T3 levels, but my TSH and T4 results suggested subclinical hypothyroidism.
But the local doc told me , your tests are fine, so I sought further advice about what my physical and mental health problems actually were? Local (Omani) psych diagnosed me with clinical depression and put me on Mirtazapine. That was horrible, with massive weight gain, and they ran out of stock anyway after 1 month! That was then replaced with Prozac, which caused me a total blackout after the 1st tablet! And guess what? Nothing else was available here in Oman to treat depression!
I then consulted a Thai psych, who did tell me that I was showing symptoms of clinical depression (suicidal thoughts and self harm), and put me on Bupropion. That caused my "normal" fatigue/tiredness to become worse, and the dizziness got worse, tinnitus got worse, coordination got worse, and memory got worse! Found myself becoming very emotional, crying all the time for no real reason! He then diagnosed me with being Bipolar 2, because an antidepressant will cause someone who is Bipolar to become worse! He then placed me on Lamictal, and I titrated slowly in strict accordance with his instructions. However, I then became even more tired/fatigued, my legs "gave out", so I was almost unable to walk, and definitely could not go to work! I also suffered with my face becoming very red and a bit swollen, my eyes became sore and red, I got really bad shakes in my hands!
The Thai psych had actually asked me, based on what I had told him, if I had been tested for Thyroid problems? I told him that I had, and that the local Omani doc had said, "tests are fine", so he started to treat me accordingly?
Having read that treatment for Bipolar can cause Thyroid problems (mainly only Lithium related though?), I did a search about any correlation, and I found that someone had posted a very similar thing (but I can't find that post on here because it was apparently posted on the Bipolar forum on here?).
I realise that I cannot ask for any sort of diagnosis on here, but it will be a few weeks before I can see the Thai specialist again, so I just wanted to ask if my symptoms could maybe be hypothyroidism? Let me start with 1 basic question/info? I do go dinghy sailing when I go on holiday in Thailand, which is about 2-3 hours of sometimes fairly intensive physical exercise, but when I finish sailing, my legs turn to jelly, and my face becomes extremely red, and I sweat profusely for a few hours! All the other guys "recover" within a few minutes, and they have commented on my very slow recovery rate? Taking antidepressants caused similar "side effects" of a red face, dry mouth, dry/flaking skin, but the treatment for Bipolar (Lamictal) has been the worst ever! I stuck with the slow titration, until I reached the target dose of 100 mg daily, but I ended up with a very red and swollen face, sore and red eyes, extreme fatigue, almost total loss of coordination, really bad memory loss, slurred speech, hand tremors, etc! But the red "skin" only effected my face and neck and hands.
As an aside, for some further info, I also suffer with swollen feet when in warm climates!
May I ask if anyone else has experienced this?
I am still convinced that I may be hypothyroid, because of the red face, fatigue and tiredness, memory problems, depression?
I may find out in a few weeks time, when I talk with the Thai psych, and maybe get some proper thyroid tests done, but I am in a total mess at this particular moment in time!
I have stopped taking the Lamictal! I actually feel a bit better after not taking that for 5 days, but it has effected my life really badly recently!
I even called off my planned wedding to my fiancée, and we split up now because of it!
I am asking for some help and guidance, or info, to try and get to the bottom of my health issue?
In fact? Just really looking for a bit of moral support until I can get checked out properly in a few weeks time?
Has "undiagnosed" hypothyroidism totally destroyed any other persons life so completely?
Has anyone else gone through the same path as me, going undiagnosed with "possible" hypothyroidism, but then gone through years of being maybe "wrongly" treated for depression or Bipolar?
Which then ended up with a broken relationship?
Patez