Under active thyroid

[Wilky21]

Hello. I was talking to someone yesterday who has had an under active thyroid for six years but is not on any treatment. She tried thyroxine but she said it made her ill so her doctor said not to take anything and control it by diet alone. I have never heard anything as ridiculous in my life. Has anyone else heard this.

Her neck is very swollen. She feels like she is choking all the time Struggling to lose weight. Joint and muscle pains and fatigue. All the usual symptoms I advised her to go back to her gp who she hasn’t seen for a couple of years.

Any advise would be very appreciated

[Marz]

Maybe suggest she joins this Forum for a general feeling of the thyroid world. Private Home Testing could be a good place to start - post the results here for comments and suggestions.

[PurpleNails Administrator]

I do hear of this sort of thing & see it with many of my elderly neighbours I know.

Improved diet can help health generally but can’t replace thyroid hormones, the doctor knows this so they are being brushed off with diet advice as it moves them out the door and onto the next patient.

I think sometimes when people can just about manage in their lives they feel it’s best not to “bother the doctor” and they trust the doctor knows best, and will follow up on things that should be monitored, very often (almost always) they are not correctly monitored.

I hope they get the help the need but they sadly, most likely they will need to learn more about their own health issue and press for adequate testing & treatment to get anywhere.

[UrsaP]

Madness! But sadly not surprising. Thyroid health is being dubbed down and pushed off the medical knowledge bank. Having been left undiagnosed for 10 years, spending another 20 years fighting to make T4 work - it didn’t and TG another 3 years on combo, getting more and more ill, and then the last 10 years on T3 mono, an endocrinologist this last Sept announced that he didn’t know how secure my diagnosis was and I could try coming off my meds see how I got on. I politely declined that ‘offer’ of help. I was pushed to return to endo having avoided for 10 years, as bloods went to pot Feb 20 - I thought due to something else flaring. Have since been to rheumy ‘lupus’ specialist who declared after ‘extensive’ testing (One lot of bloods 6 months after ‘flare’) that I did not have connective tissue disorder and was happy to dismiss me. Having questioned the sicca symptoms they acknowledge, she agreed to refer me to eye and dental clinics. The eye clinic declared they are clearly seeing connective tissue disorder. Sadly they can’t identify what exactly.

Where is all the expertise? I have been seeing eye clinic specialists for decades told ‘scarring’ from ulcers, this latest lot are adamant it is not that.

Training is just not happening. But to leave a person who is hypo without any medication for 6 years is a) causing harm - prob a dr who has not taken that oath, and b) immoral, neglect!

[san_ray70]

I would suggest she go to another doctor.. I have had an under active thyroid for 16 years. My doctor retired, but I have the usual blood tests, so far so good, I am on the same dose and I feel fine. I hate taking tablets, but I was told I could get very ill, so I take them.