Thyroflex why do they not do this in UK, advise needed

[ironsides]

Thyroflex,I am currently in Australia and have been feeling like cR@p so had the Thyroflex test done, this shows I have Thyroid issues I’m now having blood test done. What should I do on my return to UK. I’m getting. Pies of all results. Just concerned as my Tsh and T4 are always classed as normal. But I have all the symptoms.

[bantam12]

It is available in uk but I can't imagine any GP acting on results from it.

[ironsides in reply to bantam12]

Why do you think this, it’s common to have this test here then in depth blogs which I’m now having that they don’t do in UK without a fight

[ironsides in reply to ironsides]

Bloods

[knitwitty in reply to ironsides]

Ironsides, one of the reasons is probably due to cost, and the increasing denial in the medical profession that you can't have thyroid problems if your TSH is below 10!

I know this is unbelievable, but it enables doctors to deny there is anything wrong with you and thus refuse you any thyroid hormones, however they will be quite willing to give you statins ( to cope with the high cholesterol), painkillers ( to cope with the muscle aches and pains), antidepressants (to cope with the low mood), blood pressure medication ( to lower blood pressure) and PPI's (to treat high stomach acid when in all probability you have low stomach acid) all of which can be due to untreated or undertreated hypothyroidism.

I am not suggesting individual doctors have a vested interest in keeping patients unwell and on a variety of medications, the vast majority seem to be constantly rushed off their feet and have precious little time to spend with their actual patients. But those higher up the medical "food chain" may well have vested interests in maintaining the status quo, they might even have shares in pharmaceutical companies, I don't know. They are probably the ones making the rules for prescribing and forming the guidelines that all doctors are instructed to follow.

I also suspect that the longer you have hypothyroidism the more cynical you become, or maybe that's just me!

[humanbean]

I just used the search to find posts on HU that mention Thyroflex. There are 11 of them. It would be worth reading them.

[ironsides in reply to humanbean]

Thank you I’ll check them out when I’m back in UK in September. Hope to get some answers here, just fed up of feeling rough. My biggest worry is knowing my father was diagnosed late and now has a host of medical issues. I don’t want this to happen to me.

[humanbean in reply to ironsides]

Err... I meant that you should use the search option on this website that I am currently writing on i.e. HU = HealthUnlocked = this website.

[ironsides in reply to humanbean]

Yeh I had a quick look. But still can’t do much till I’m home in UK.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to ironsides]

When you get back getting FULL Thyroid and vitamin testing privately is next step

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if Thyroid antibodies are raised

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies or all vitamins

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

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have special offers, Medichecks usually have offers on Thursdays, Blue Horizon its more random

Does your father have autoimmune thyroid disease also called Hashimoto's diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies?

If so it's more likely you may too

[ironsides in reply to SlowDragon]

Dad was diagnosed late and has to many other medical issues now, heart disease and vascular degeneration to name a few, so on lots of different medications.

[SmallBlueThing]

Thyroflex looks attractive to the type of practitioner who wants or needs to be independent of testing laboratories. quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRe...

Given your family history, getting tested in the UK shouldn't be a problem, but I'd ask for testing every six months, to spot any appreciable variation. Some symptoms could be due to sleep apnoea, for example.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to SmallBlueThing]

Never believe anything you read on quackwatch without a lot of independent research. if the contributors were paid they'd say T3 and NDT were quackery (perhaps they already have).

[SmallBlueThing in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Any specific arguments about their assessment of Thyroflex?

[Margareta3]

I had it done (in UK) without even asking for it by a private doctor trying to figure out what was wrong with me. But, it was an old school doctor educated in South Africa.