I have the symptoms but my tests say normal - what else could it be?

[RedApple]

Many of the symptoms of thyroid dysfunction cross over with other illnesses, so if your tests say normal, and yet you feel anything but, it's worth looking around for other possible causes. Epstein-Barr virus, (EBV) is one potential avenue to explore, especially if you have 'flu like' symptoms.

Here's an excerpt from an article about it in the Mail Online:

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Tired all the time? Fed up and foggy-brained? A virulent, common - and incurable - virus could be to blame

By KATE MULVEY 2nd June 2009

It isn't that serious. Yet according to Amolak Bansal, consultant immunologist at St Helier Hospital in Surrey, an infection like this could help explain the rise in the number of people with debilitating fatigue.

There are a lot of people, especially women, complaining of acute tiredness, sore throat and depression, who are being told they either have stress or hormonal problems when in fact they have Epstein-Barr,' says Bansal.

It's estimated that one in ten women will suffer from Epstein-Barr without realising it; why women are more prone to it than men is not yet clear.

Read more: dailymail.co.uk/health/arti...

[Yarby]

You're right - there's a lot of overlap with other illnesses, making solving poor health very difficult. In my case, I thought it was all solved with my thyroid diagnosis (including poor conversion) but it turned out that at the root of it all is Lyme disease, which also makes you flu like, fatigued, poor vision, in pain..... Not everyone infected with Lyme remembers a bite. I do, but it took 13 years before I connected the bite with my illness and sought out a Doctor to help get me diagnosed. I think the best thing to do is not give up looking for the reason you're ill. If you were a car, you'd expect to find out why you'd stopped working - and get it fixed!!