Thyroid smyroid

[Shebw53]

When you mention that you have hypothyroidism people think you just put weight on and that’s all there is to it, they don’t understand that somedays you have to literally drag yourself out of bed and then you just want to roll up in a ball with a cover over your head and be left alone, people think you’re just lazy and it’s just a big joke at your expense,

[Catseyes235]

Oh yes ..and it’s so hurtful. If I’d known then what I know now I would have had handouts of all the symptoms how horrible it feels and that it affects everything at the cellular level including your brain. I overheard someone say I was in bed and too lazy to come down to be sociable when actually I felt like I was dying. See if you can get a handout to explain how you are feeling. Has anyone out there or Thyroid UK got such a thing??

[Shebw53 in reply to Catseyes235]

Yes really hurtful especially as when you feel so I’ll at times you don’t know what’s wrong with you all you know is you feel so ill you just need to go to bed and yes at times you think you are going to die it’s a horrible feeling , my husband thought exactly the same till he was diagnosed hypo and one of the first things he asked me was is it life threatening because he felt so ill, do people not realise that you get free prescriptions in the uk because it is such a serious illness

[RedApple Administrator in reply to Catseyes235]

Catseyes235, No handout by Thyroid UK that adequately explains how it feels, but a good list of symptoms can be found here thyroiduk.org/tuk/about_the...

It is incredibly hard for anyone to understand how you feel when they don't experience it themselves. Many of us end up being socially isolated, not just because we feel so awful, but because in the end, it's just easier than trying to explain the how and why of your thyroid condition's effects on your every waking moment 😢

[Catseyes235 in reply to RedApple]

I just think the physical symptoms are given more prominence than the mental.

[Shebw53 in reply to Catseyes235]

Thanks for the thyroid uk link I’ve printed it off, I’m going back to the hospital for the 4th time with nasal drip and severe choking that I’ve suffered for many many years and it’s terrifying when I can’t get any air into my lungs and suffocating, and my symptoms are on this list, but when I’ve asked the doctors if my thyroid could be the cause they have always said no it has nothing do do with my thyroid , just shows even most doctors don’t know enough about the illness, so a really big thank you because I can now go hospital with information they don’t know about and maybe get some proper help

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Shebw53]

Shebw53

Nasal drip can be dairy intolerance, which is very common with autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's)

verywellhealth.com/allergic...

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

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

[Shebw53 in reply to SlowDragon]

Dairy intolerance could well be my problem, if I eat milk chocolate I have to drink lots of water after as I can feel acid in my throat and it feels like it’s closing up, I have stopped using dairy on my cornflakes I have started using oatily barista non dairy (gorgeous in coffee) and I don’t have any problems with my throat, I’m going to try and give dairy a miss for a while and see what happens, am I glad I came on this site tonight

[Sugarplumb61]

I feel like that too. No one understands, my husbands drags me round walking and Im in tears. Tells me its good for me!

[RedApple Administrator in reply to Sugarplumb61]

Sugarplumb61, Tie a sack of potatoes around your husband's waist and then make him go up-hill walking. It might just give him a vague idea of how hard it is to put one foot in front of the other when you're affected by thyroid disease symptoms.

[Shebw53 in reply to Sugarplumb61]

As catseyes says see if you can get a printout of all the symptoms for him to read, and if you live in the UK tell him that the NHS gives you free prescriptions because it is a very serious illness and left undiagnosed can make you so seriously ill to put you in hospital, don’t tell him you could lose your hair because they think your exaggerating, if you are feeling more ill than you usually feel go to your dr and demand a blood test you might need a higher dose of your medication

[shaws Administrator]

If you are still on 50mcg daily I'd change the doctor. You are seriously underdosed at 50mcg which is a starting dose. I note that your last post was two years ago and you are not much better.

We have to become 'pro-active' so we know more than the professionals and have a healthy/active life.

Doctors should be able to restore our health, not make us worse or get other more serious problems. Thyroid hormones run our whole metabolism from head to toe and our brains and hearts need the most T3.

Levothyroxine (if you take this) is an inactive hormone. T4 has to convert to T3 (liothyronine) and it is this Active Hormone which is needed in the millions of T3 receptor cells in order for our body to work optimally.

Hypothyroidism means low energy and this is a list of clinical symptoms, and if we are optimally prescribed they should ALL be relieved.

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

You need a Full Thyroid Function Test and if your GP wont do it, you'd have to get a private one which and I'll give a link - just in case GP wont do all of them. These are home pin-prick tests and blood draw should be at the earliest, fasting (you can drink water) and allow a gap of 24 hours between last dose of levo and test and take afterwards.Make sure you are well-hydrated a couple of days before blood draw.

TSH, T4, T3, Free T4, Free T3 and thyroid antibodies.

Medichecks has an offer of some sort every week.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Put the results on a new post with the ranges. Ranges are in brackets after the results and members will respond.

[LunaMa]

I was only diagnosed as hypo last week, although I’d suspected for some time. It’s been one of the few times that I’ve felt lucky to have a husband with MS, because he completely understands the utter fatigue and has been very supportive.

Just because Thyroid UK doesn’t have an info sheet for friends and family, it doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be interested in doing one. Is there someone we could contact about it?