Hello to my fellow thyroid uk-ers
Thank you to Trw99 for bringing to light the above site, with Richard N fogoros MD as their quide.
I have been onto the site and would suggest you all check it out.
For the last 14 - 15 years I have lived with the fact that my heart 'doesn't pump right' this is the only way I can describe it and of course because nothing showed up on any tests I had with the cardiologist and other consultants I was ridiculed, humiliated and humoured.
I think the articles I have read on this site also sheds a little more light on the death of a close friend of mine. I will call her 'A'. 'A' and I were one year apart in age, with me being the eldest, 'A' had always looked older than her years, her hair colour went completely grey in her twenties, she had continual weight problems and various other associated problems that could never be resolved. All her blood tests came back 'normal'. We worked nights together, we had many conversations about our health issues, our symptoms mirrored each other. For health reasons I had to stop working nights and then saw less of 'A' until I briefly saw her at a garden centre, but I wasn't able to speak with her. At the time I thought how poorly she looked, not only was her hair grey but her facial colour was too, and when she moved it looked too much effort to put one foot in front of the other. I was informed two weeks later that she died of a heart attack. She was 48!
Her heart attack was put down to the fact that she liked a drink and a smoke, I was not convinced then and I an even more convinced now that that was not entirely true, the smoking and drinking did not help I agree but I felt there was more to it than that. I contacted her family and gave them as much information about Thyroid UK as I could because I thought they needed to have better closure on the death of their baby sister. Again Dr's said drinking and smoking were the cause.
As I watched her coffin slowly hide behind the curtains at the crematorium another thought went through my head, 'there but for the grace of God go I'
'A' passed away 5 years ago.
We were all shocked and stunned.
I quote from the Heart disease and cardiology page written by a Dr Rich, an article about two studies that appeared in the November 28th Issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine that suggest individuals with subclinical hypothyroidism have an increased risk of developing heart failure, and hospitalization or death from coronary artery disease (CAD).
'Subclinical hypothyroidism is a condition where the thyroid gland is having difficulty producing enough thyroid hormone, Thyroid hormone helps to regulate the body's metabolism, as well as digestive function, muscle function, and the normal integrity of the skin. Because the thyroid gland is borderline insufficient in subclinical hypothyroidism, the patient's system has to 'whip it' to produce enough thyroid hormone. thus, blood levels of the hormone called thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) which stimulates the thyroid gland, are elevated in subclinical hypothyroidism. Since the thyroid gland is indeed making enough thyroid hormone with the extra stimulation provided by high levels of TSH, the patient has no symptoms or signs of hypothyroidism. In fact, the only abnormality seen in this condition is an elevated TSH level. (Given enough time, in most of these individuals the thyroid gland would continue to weaken, and overt hypothyroidism would eventually develop).'
It goes on to talk about more studies. Which leads me onto:
Richard N Fogoros MD writes - does Subclinical Hypothyroidism cause Diastolic Heart Failure?
Recent studies suggest that individuals whose thyroid tests indicate they have sublinical hypothyroidism are at an increased risk of developing heart failure over the next several years. Furthermore it appears that the heart failure they develop is likely to be 'diastolic heart failure'
He then basically writes all of the above again - 5 years later!!!!!!
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I wonder how many people would still be alive today if more of our GP's knew of these studies and articles!!
Also on that site there is a company called SHL who provide heart monitors that you can hire, it is linked to an office with trained staff who can read the ECG whilst you are on the telephone, I contacted them via their site and someone rang me to discuss my problem, it sounds a wonderful idea but at the moment I do not have the funds available to hire the monitor, this wonderful lady spoke with her managers and came back to me with a lowered price because she was worried about me. This opportunity has only been in this country for the last three months.
So many questions for so many years, all now slowly being answered!!!
Wellwisher
What is subclinical hypothyroidism?
Please help
