There is an article in the Mail: “Blood tests say my hypothyroidism is under control. So why do I feel so exhausted? - Ask the GP DR MARTIN SCURR” [Publ: 12:04, 1 April 2024)
I thought some of you might want to jump on it and comment or help some of the other commenters i.e. how/where /cost to get their FT3 tested (private bloods / test kit) or direct them to healthunlocked TUK.
96 comments, many saying that they feel unwell; unable to get FT3 tested etc.
I’ll paste the article below as the article is behind a paywall – but any one can comment.
If you click on the link I posted to take you to the page then scroll down a bit, hopefully you should be able to see the comments (?)
I’m not a paid up subscriber but I managed to copy the article as I get a slight delay before it disappears, so I very quickly press ctrl + a (select all) then ctrl c (copy) then I can paste it into a word doc.
I totally agree with you. I began taking kelp tablets in1992 in the hope that they would help prevent the substantial hair loss I was experiencing. In 1999 I was diagnosed with Hashi's. I had never given my thyroid a 2nd thought when I took the kelp. 😭
Hi I tasted iodine after my scan - it went down my throat ! The person scanning said that was impossible. I have had the same with any anesthesia - I feel it go down my throat !
Pre iodine and anaesthetic you would have saline injection…that’s likely what you tasted. I taste it everytime. Dr told me a small percentage of patients experience this. Clearly we are special 😉😀
Reminds me why I joined up here (andThyoidUK): personal experience is one thing but the community expects anything put forward as fact to be backed up. I didn't then find anywhere else like it.
morning 😊 I have just left a comment on the site recommending this fabulous web site 👍🏻
Famous last words😝 as I’m not a member the comment isn’t being accepted - also because I’m recommending this site it may not be accepted due to advertising?or some such excuse - sorry
Oh my god! This nearly made me choke on my breakfast!
A few weeks ago, there was a Q & A in the same doctor's column (My Mum's Daily Mail - I don't buy it!). It was a woman asking if she 'had to' take the statins prescribed by her GP for her high cholesterol, as she didn't really want to based on what she'd heard/read about them. Her GP had used the QRISK* algorithm which had stated she had a 14% risk of a cardiovascular event in the next 10 years.
Dr Scurr's reply - while not actually saying that she had to (which even he obviously knows is never true with any medication), made it sound like she was taking a huge risk by not doing so.
I wrote an incensed letter to the paper but never got any reply. We know on this forum how much GPs love prescribing statins, and how they are often prescribed when cholesterol levels are more indicative of underreplaced thyroid hormones.
*(For those who don't know of this, google it. You put in various health markers such as BMI, BP, Cholesterol levels etc.. and it produces your 10-year risk in percentage terms. The perceived 'dangerous' risk used to be 20% and above, then it was reduced to 10% (presumably when Statin manufacturers' profits were going down!).
One of the pieces of data you have to put in is postcode!?!? (This is obviously because it is simply based on real world data of people who've suffered a CV event, but doesn't really directly affect a patient's own personal risk). I tried it and it was amusing putting in various different postcodes and seeing my 'risk' go up and down!!).
Sadly, many people will read such advice and take it as gospel.
Yes its funny how so many people still defer to doctors and tug their forelock. Someone summed it up nicely once, doctors are just people with a medical degree and an opinion. They aren't Gods or infallible.
Nor are they Mystic Meg with the ability to see into your future. Our care should be a partnership, with a doctor listening to our concerns and suggesting a plan of care that is acceptable to the patient. Not a dictatorship. If you are of sound mind they cant force
you to do anything. We really need to stop putting doctors on a pedestal.
I did post the short article***, but as the original article was behind a paywall admin removed it and edited my post. (***“Blood tests say my hypothyroidism is under control So why do I feel so exhausted?” Ask the GP DR MARTIN SCURR)
There was another much longer article a few days later (also behind a paywall): “The truth about thyroids: How women are told they're depressed or menopausal when it's actually an underactive thyroid. And others are prescribed drugs they don't even need.”
I was going to mention it as I thought it was an opportunity for TUK to make contact with the journalist and contribute to another article. I didn’t bother as I don’t think TUK actively campaigning to highlight the poor level of thyroid care.
It said a version of the article (not behind a paywall) had previously been posted 3 October 2022: “An age-old question: Why are so many women told they're depressed or menopausal when it's actually their thyroid? And why are others prescribed drugs for the condition when they don't even need them?”
Unfortunately, we have to abide by copyright laws, which is why forum posting guidelines say this:
16. Do not breach copyright rules by placing documents onto Thyroid UK unless you have permission from the author of the document. You can, however, post excerpts with links to the full text of the document. healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
'I was going to mention it as I thought it was an opportunity for TUK to make contact with the journalist and contribute to another article. I didn’t bother as I don’t think TUK actively campaigning to highlight the poor level of thyroid care.'
Even if you had posted on here about it, it's unlikely that anyone at Thyroid UK charity would see it as they don't read the posts and comments here. (The admin team here on the forum are not directly connected to the charity). If you want to bring something to the attention of the Thyroid UK charity, it's best to contact them directly through their website here thyroiduk.org/contact-form/
Please don't let that stop you from bringing articles like this to the attention of members here though. We are all very interested to know about thyroid related things in the media!
And if the publications realise they are getting an incredible number of hits on their site through links posted here, it might just encourage them to keep doing it. There can't be too much publicity about the way thyroid patients are treated
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
but have read it above. Would be good though to direct those suffering people to this site
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