Consequences of undertreatment with levothyroxi... - Thyroid UK
Consequences of undertreatment with levothyroxine (LT4) in the common non-communicable disease, hypothyroidism.
Sorry! Not sure why you’ve posted this. Don’t think there’s any new information there for most of us.
Do you have a question relating to the info in the link?
There are always new people coming on Board who need to understand what they are up against. Also Rod may want to add this to his collection and missed it.
What is your point Heloise? I just wondered whether this was simply an information share or whether there was a question.
It’s quite unusual for people to just post a link without preamble
Maybe for people to read? Not sure why you have posted this response 😂
It’s self explanatory.
Most posted links have a ‘preamble’ which embodies a question or a comment and gives members some ideas of why they’ve posted and what they expect
but the title explains it?
Your responses just sounded quite rude for an interesting article the poster would like to share. It’s a forum for all thyroid knowledge levels ☺️
Do they? It might be in the interests of entente cordiale if I don’t comment any further.
Thank you for posting this Jumbelina. Under treatment is such a big issue. Overtreatment is equally dangerous. If only we could find the happy medium.
I am very glad you posted this. It obviously hasn't been drummed into the vacuum enough for practitioners to take note. I think the consequences are very far reaching and patients have to keep insisting if they feel undertreated no matter what how many times or how many doctors it takes. Thank you for posting!
If it weren't for total reliance on TSH testing, this would happen less fequently! I can just imagine someone taking a copy of this to their doctors and him saying, 'but your TSH is in-range so you're not under-medicated'!
And, they're still getting it wrong when it comes to the elderly:
In the elderly population care must be given to avoid confusing a slightly high serum TSH as result of physiological age adaptation with a requirement for LT4 treatment in a truly hypothyroid patient.
They obviously have no idea how very slight the difference is. And, once again, there would be no discussion if they were to go with the FT4/3 for diagnosing, and not the TSH. Things just don't really improve, do then. 
So very true. After 8 years of trying to persuade both GPs and Consultants that I have a thyroid problem, and at one time being told I seemed to just want an excuse for being overweight, with my T4 always just inside the magical "range" but bouncing along the bottom, I have finally tested under. Did they rush to help? No, of course not, they recommended a retest in 8 weeks. Have they told me this directly? No, I know because I check my medical record. Have they booked me a retest anyway? No, of course not, I've done it myself. Such good service.
I notice in our system that if the doctor or nurse think you’re ‘not far off’ the labs TSH range or the result highlighted the lab as out of range isnt an ‘important’ one - in their opinion, they just file them away. When you look them up yourself it changes to patient informed, as if they’ve actually discussed it with you .
It says on the result "retest in 8 weeks" as if I might just improve lol. They didn't tell me that other than as a note on the medical records on the ap. And yes, even out of range results are labeled "tell patient ok" I presume that means if they ask, if they don't then they don't tell you. This test was done as part of my annual health check, being an "old" lady now, the outcome of the review was done virtually by the in house pharmacist who never even spoke to me! It astonished me that they consider that acceptable.
Well, they just don't care, do they. As one doctor put it - can't remember who - thyroid just isn't 'sexy'.
I don't like to think that any illness is sexy- but maybe neurology is glamourous
I don't think he meant sexy in a sexual way, just interesting, I suppose. According to him, diabetes is 'sexy', but I have to say, I can't see it myself.
What??? I can reluctantly accept that the word ‘sexy’ has taken on a whole new meaning but to say that diabetes is ‘sexy’ is completely beyond me.
Well, just goes to show what odd creatures doctors are.
They certainly are odd. Inept with it.
Yes, it really does take a special sort of mentallity to become a doctor. I've met a few socially - as I've mentioned many times before! - and they were just as obnoxious in a social setting as so many of them are in the surgery. I remember on my honeymoon, I got up early one morning and went out to get some fresh air because I couldn't breath. This doctor-on-holiday in the same hotel asked what was wrong, and I said 'asthma - it comes and it goes'. And he actually shouted at me in the hotel lobby, saying that asthma doesn't come and go, if you have it you have it all the time. Which I know is totally untrue. But, such odd behaviour! lol
The best doctor I’ve ever met ‘socially’ is superb. I play an internet word game and some players like to ‘chat’ on the back of the game. I don’t usually participate as there are some odd people about. Anyway, this particular man and I did chat and it turns out he’s a GP in Sussex. We’ve been ‘chatting’ for a couple of years now and on a couple of occasions he’s offered advice when I’ve been unwell. Strange thing is that he seems to be able to make a correct diagnosis from a distance of several hundred miles with minimum information and never having spoken to me or seen me.
I’ve seen a different side of the problems we have with Primary Care in my ‘chats’ with him. Last week I was moaning about how difficult it was to get a GP appointment and he said:
Try not to be too cross. You’ve no idea what it’s like. We just fire fight, day in day out and we’re losing the fight. It’s like fighting an inferno with one of those beaters that you see in the jungle.
It did make me stop and think
Well, every job has it's difficulties. And I don't think that explains all the things that are wrong.
The worst one I met socially was when I lived in Paris, sharing a flat with an actor-friend. Actor-friend met a new doctor-friend and brought him home. It was hate at first sight. And he loathed me as much as I loathed him. First morning he was in our flat I got up to get ready for work, and he was hogging the bathroom. I had to make a terrible scene to get him out of there because asking nicely didn't work! And he had the nerve to say 'well, I've got to get to work too, you know'. I said, 'yes, but you don't pay rent here, I do!' During the time they were friends - and no-one was friends with actor-friend for very long, he was too... well, not nice. lol But during the time they were friends there all sorts of childish little bickers and slights and digs and general nastiness directed at me. But, one day actor-friend said 'oh, you don't want to go to doctor-friend's house, it's absolutely full of stuffed dead animals!' And, I thought, yes, that figures: a psychopath! The idea of consulting him and having him examine you just made me sick. Ugh! You just never know what the man behind the stethascope is capable of.
They've ticked their box- they're covered
You are a good sport, Jumbelina, in spite of the fact posters have gone off topic, stolen your thread and forgotten their original remark evidently. A study in human behavior I think. Keep finding good articles that enlighten us and best wishes.
It's sweet of you to think I'm a good sport Heloise. I only posted the paper for info- not because I wanted to make a point. I don't at all mind that the thread unravelledd into other stuff. Sometimes people write very amusing digressions on here.
Thank you I found it interesting. The feeding back in 1892 with a raw sheep gland was very informative too.
It would be nice to think things had improved since then but I'm not so sure
Exactly it's so very disappointing that things are still set in stone and causing so many problems. Back in 1892 there were so keen to discover the importance of helping people get and feel well again. Now the establishment are not that keen in fact the very opposite seems to be the norm.
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