Mis Diagnosis

[silverbelle51]

Why are doctors so addicted to lab values when you have no symptoms at all. It happen to me and sent my body into a rage - hyperthyroid until I finally got the courage to trust my own instincts and research and with drew gradually, telling him what I was doing , but I am still left undoing the damage done by the levothyroxine . Don't they realize the damage even a little bit of a hormone can do to the human body ? I read this blog for encouragement and knowledge, so many people have gained on their journey.

[greygoose]

Because symptoms are not 100% reliable as so many of them can be both hypo and hyper. And, where thyroid is concerned, there are over 300 known symptoms. A lot of which people might not even suspect has anything to do with thyroid.

Because doctors know nothing about symptoms, therefore take no notice of them even when you have them. They vaguely know something about the numbers - not a lot, but more than about symptoms - so go by them.

Because the numbers don't always - in fact rarely - correspond to the numbers. You can be very hypo with a TSH of over 100 and not think you have any symptoms at all, whereas some people can be very ill with a TSH of 2.5.

Because when you've been hypo for quite a while, the adrenals take up the strains and make more cortisol to make up for the loss of thyroid hormone, masking your symptoms for a while...

Welcome to the forum, silverbelle.

Do you have Hashi's?

[serenfach]

Many of us here have been misdiagnosed, the numbers not read correctly or interpreted correctly, the damage done ignored or explained away. It is a shame, almost a crime, but the only thing we can do is gain the knowledge from this brilliant forum and not totally rely on our medical professionals, choose our own path and try and gain our own health.

Yes, it upsets me. Yes, it makes me furious. Almost worse is the patient blaming, telling us we are imagining it, its all in our heads, turning us away with condescention, so we question ourselves, cry in secret, despair of ever feeling well, and there is no where to turn. Well, there is - this forum. It changed my life and others like me.

No, it should not be like this, but we have to take our health into our own hands, gain the knowledge (not easy with brain fog) and go our own way.

Maybe one day, when I am dead and gone, there will be a change in the teaching of thyroid problems and others will get the help they need. I can only hope.

I would like to thank all here who give support, knowledge and help. It really does change lives.

[silverbelle51 in reply to serenfach]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! you have stated as I feel, but so much better. I am wondering how reliable the labs that run tests are? Have you ever heard of Now Brand Super Cortisol Support and what you think of it. When we changed Doctors due to insurance I told the Doc I had started to use this and he actually read the bottle label and commented it contained a lot of good things. A friend I found on another site who told he she had a broad background in such stuff and had worked/working at Gov, related labs in the U.S.A. recommended it. I believe it has helped greatly. I have learned so much and the support site it is why I joined too.

[serenfach]

Here in the UK the labs are often the same ones that the GPs use, so are accurate. The problem is the GPs not reading the numbers correctly.

"Your TSH is 2, so that is fine". It was actually 0.02 (I take NDT so not worried). Here in Wales the labs can decide what to test even if the GP has requested a certain test. They will not do Vit D for example.

I have not heard of the Cortisol support. It may be worth starting a new thread on this as I think others will be interested.