A life-changing discovery

[lonely_pioneer]

It's been a year since I moved to London. Since then I've discovered the wonders of the NHS, but before that, I spent 6-months stateside troubleshooting dosages by cross-referencing bloodwork.

This is how it all began: medium.com/lonely-pioneer/d...

[Lora7again]

I will read this later because I am very interested because not many men suffer with thyroid disease

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Lora7again]

Many men suffer from thyroid disease.

Primary hypothyroidism

In areas where dietary iodine is adequate, such as the UK, the prevalence of spontaneous hypothyroidism is 1–2%. It is up to 10 times more common in women than in men [Vanderpump, 2011].

Approximately 8% of women (10% of women over 55 years of age) and 3% of men have subclinical hypothyroidism [Vanderpump and Tunbridge, 2002].

A meta-analysis [Madariaga et al, 2014] of thyroid dysfunction in Europe which included 17 studies with sample sizes ranging from 992 to 388,750 found that:

The total prevalence (diagnosed and undiagnosed) of hypothyroidism was 3% (95% CI 3–3.1%).

The prevalence of undiagnosed hypothyroidism was 4.9% (95% CI 4.7–5.1%); 6.4% in females and 3.4% in males. Of these, the prevalence of overt hypothyroidism was 0.8% in females and 0.3% in males, and the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism was 5.9% in females and 3.4% in males.

The incidence rate of hypothyroidism was 226.2 (95% CI, 222.3–230.2) per 100,000 people per year; 370 per 100,000 per year in women and 72.5 per 100,000 per year in men.

cks.nice.org.uk/hypothyroid... (Simply because it was quick and easy to find.)

That is, hypothyroidism is a common condition but within that already very large number, more women than men suffer hypothyroidism. So the number of men with thyroid disease is actually pretty large.

The statistics do vary somewhat as we go through the other thyroid issues.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

Have often been tempted to regard thyroid hormone as "the god hormone" - it has profound effects on the self inside us all.

(This is NOT intended as a religious comment - no particular god is intended.)

[Hidden in reply to helvella]

No gods were harmed in the making of your statement.

[Rosie2m]

Very good, I think there is ALOT of people who are suffering numerous ailments caused by thyroid conditions that go untreated for so long due to either not being tested or being told they’re in range when infact they’re not. I honestly believe the nhs would probably save a lot of money treating the thyroid condition rather than all the other issues caused by it!

[Lora7again in reply to Rosie2m]

I see a lot of overweight middle aged women and think do they have undiagnosed thyroid disease? My cousin is grossly overweight but barely eats anything and is on a permanent diet. I have suggested to her she might have something wrong with her thyroid but she does not seem interested and continues to count the calories and yo yo diet.

[Hidden in reply to Rosie2m]

Yes but then they wouldn't get all the jollies from the good companies selling products for all those other ailments.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Welcome to the forum

Interesting bio. Thanks for adding link

[DippyDame]

"I want you to be the best version of you that you can be"

That should be the ambition of all medics....

[Yppah in reply to DippyDame]

Or even as a start interpreting “do no harm” as not denying necessary testing and treatment 😂

[DippyDame in reply to Yppah]

Agree!

[bragglinz]

Which medication are you referring to when you say it was night and day? Prozac or the levotyroxine? Or combination of both?

[lonely_pioneer in reply to bragglinz]

Thanks for the response. Though I don't doubt that prozac contributed a little bit, I'm specifically referring to the levothyroxine to lifting the fog.

[jgelliss]

Welcome to our community where we all help each other to navigate our thyroid journeys. What a great write up of your thyroid journey . You summed it up exactly how it is for many of us men/women/children. I'm just wondering if you heard/read the book "Recovering With T3" by Paul Robinson . You remind me of Paul Robinsons thyroid journey . Paul Robinson takes the reader through his thyroid journey and many of your experiences that you share and Paul Robinsons are very similar in many ways. You might want to read his excellent book just to see your not alone in this journey and find it very helpful from a mans prospective . Thou many women found Paul's book very valuable and very helpful too .

Best Wishes .

[lonely_pioneer in reply to jgelliss]

Thank you for the recommendation! I'll definitely check it out.