I am now 44 and in 2000 I decided to go and see my GP about feeling tired, putting weight on, constipation and overall feeling completely exhausted. My GP said she needed to take a blood test to check my thyroid, when i returned for my results she then said they had lost the blood test but it didn't matter because she knew what was wrong with me and I was suffering from depression. I had 10 weeks off work which I was only allowed to have off as long as i agreed to take prozac, i weaned myself off the prozac within a couple of months as they had no effect I was feeling better but that was purely because I didn't have to get up early in the morning to go to work.
I returned to work but ending up having most of my holidays taken off me because i couldn't do a full days work because of tiredness.
In 2002 I left my job because looking after 4 children and going to work was too much.
I have always been around about 9 and a half stone to 10 stone even after having 4 children and actually weighed 9 stone 3 after having my 4th child in 1999.
In 2003 I had an emergency operation for an abcess in my bum due to constipation and then a further 2 more operations that same year.
In 2005 my husband told me to go and see the GP, I was falling asleep every night at 6pm, I had to be wakened by my husband every morning at 10 am and then i would have a nap at 12 noon until 2 pm. The GP asked me how long i had had the goitre, to which i replied i didn't know i had one. the Gp would not put me on thyroxine until the blood test came back, when the test did come back he said it wasn't that bad but my thyroid was under active and put me on thyroxine and sent me on my way.
I returned to see another GP who sent me for a scan, the doctor who did the scan said I had Hashimotos which meant that the goitre would just get bigger and bigger and i needed to have it removed, i then realised why i woke up every night having a choking fit every time i lay on my back.
I went back to see the GP who was happy to send me on my way, I said whats going to happen about the goitre to which he replied nothing and then said what do you want me to do. i told him i did not want a goiter at 36 years of age that was going to get bigger and bigger so he referred me and I had it removed.
I have been on varying amounts of levothyroxine over the years ranging from 100 to 200, I am currently on 175 and 150 alternate days. They still haven't got the dosage right.
I now way 13 stone 10 lbs and apparently this has nothing to do with my thyroid, I walk twice a week 12 miles and I regularly eat 1200 calories a day.
I have researched T3 and cannot understand why I am not being offered T3 or Armour to try, the only thing the GP constantly says is your blood tests are normal and the weight gain is due to your age.
as anyone tried T3 or Armour and felt a lot better?????
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lesleywagg
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Weight gain is nothing to do with your age. It is definitely hypo related due to lowered metabolism and you are most probably not on an adequate dose.
If you get your latest blood test results from your GP, complete with ranges (figures in brackets as labs differ) and someone will comment. Post them in a new question. T3 can also be added to a reduced T4 but GP's don't often offer this. They will tell you repeatedly that all your other 'symptoms' are nothing to do with your thyroid. Also get a B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate too.
This is a link and there is lots of info at the top of the page.
Yes!!! Do not accept that you cannot get any better. I too have had a similar problems. Hashimotos underactive thyroid, treated with T4. Loads of symptoms and they got worse. On finding this site and reading some books I decided that my body wasn't converting the T4 to t3 and I eventually persuaded my GP later backed by an endo to trial T3. As soon as I took t3 I lost half a stone ( I think it was the watery puffiness that went), constipation ceased. Since then with careful diet and regular exercise over 2 years I've managed to lose another 1 1/2 stone. Still some way to go but I thought I should share this with you.
Other knowledgeable, lovely people on this site will tell you what tests to ask for and more detailed advice, so keep reading and good luck!
Thank you for replying, I will try and get my latest test results but they aren't usually very co operative when I have asked in the past. Do I have a right to see them???
Yes, you have the right not just to see them, but to be supplied with a copy of any blood test carried out, just ask. You also have the right to have copies of any letters. etc., between specialists and GPs.
There should not be any lack of co-operation you speak of as to have these is your right.
Thank you, I think i will ask for copies of all my results, last time I went to see the GP he reduced my levothyroxine because he said above normal range when another GP had said that was fine, when I questioned him he said thats because the range had changed. Sometimes i think they make it up as they go along and they definitely don't like it when you question them.
Please never take a doctor's word that everything is "fine" or "normal" ever again! Now you know you have the right to test copies you will never be dependent on their words again.
Thats interesting Mary I have puffy ankles and a puffy face in fact I don't even look like me anymore.
Did you have to see an endo to get your GP to prescribe the T3. Just asking because my GP refuses to give me a referral because I am in the NORMAL range.
How about posting your blood test results with ranges, so someone can give them the once-over? This sounds like undertreatment, or perhaps something has gone astray with the T4 to T3 conversion. Puffiness was once my problem too and I also did not look like me, more like a gargoyle to be truthful. But eventually I got T3 (Dr Toft) along with a reduction in T4 to compensate and what a difference that made!
The problem I have is getting my GP to refer me to an endo because he/she never listens and definitely won't entertain that there could be a problem with T4 being converted to T3. I will go to the GP next week and ask for all my results including latest ones, i'm due to go back soon because a very nice locum Doctor took pity on me when I cried about how I was feeling having thyroxine reduced form 200 to 150, he then put me on 150 and 175 alternately. He said come back after 3 months and i've just found out he's left the practice so back to square one. will get the results and post on here.
....if your FT3 is not tested then how would your GP know how the T4 is converting into T3 ? Maybe pose that question as gently as possible when you have your results and there is no FreeT3 result.
I did a spread sheet of all my results from 2005 and was able to illustrate that the T3 remained at the bottom of the range. Am now on T3. You are on a reasonable dose of T4 but it is not good that you are still feeling so poorly. Living in Crete does make things easier with regard to testing and treatment though.
Do hope you feel better soon and your are NOT deluded......x
Hello I'm new to this site - I have been hypothyroid now since 1997 ( Hashimotos )
I had glandular fever in 1996, as a result of that got fatigue syndrome followed by my thyroid packing up. Prior to all this I was fit -I used to fun most days needless to say all that stopped.
I was prescribed Levothyroxine various amounts over the years my highest was 200.
I have been bed bound and house bound unable to lift my head - been told by GPs that its all in my head.
Fatigue Syndrome is not recognised as far as I'm concerned - my story is long but I won't bore you all as we all suffer the same symptoms as a result of our failing thyroids.
My turning point came 3 months ago - I basically told the GP what I thought of him professionally - I have 2 children and at 45 I feel 65, as usual I was being brushed off with your results are normal.
I was so angry I told him he wasn't a specialist of any sort and as far as I was concerned needed to start treating me and not my results and I was not leaving this room until he wrote a referral letter.
He in return got angry at me - but I stayed calm when the practice manager came in I behaved like a saint - and he was the ranting idiot- the end result was I was referred !!
What I wanted to report was the Specialist at St Thomas tried to fob me off as well but I went we'll prepared - the out come is I have been on 75 mcg's of. thyroxine and 10mcg's of T3 for 3 weeks and I feel so much better . I'm not saying I'm cured but I have managed to start jogging again . One day I feel good - followed by wiped out by 2 and so on.
I have a follow up appt in April . Will post blood results then .
Hi, I'm also new to this site and to be honest I'm desperate to feel better. Its funny how you said you're 45 & feel like you're 65 because that's exactly how I feel. I used to go spinning classes 3~4 times a week and since the thyroid problem can't even manage 1 class, I told the GP that I kept getting migraines during the exercise and the day after I would feel exhausted and I had no stamina but she still insisted it was nothing to do with thyroid.
I was always slim even after having 4 children so why am I now 3 and a half stone overweight???? Surely if I was going to put weight on it would have been during the pregnancies??? The GP drives me mad and I'm sick of people asking me whether its just about my weight , no it bloody isn't but it definitely plays a part in it.
If I want to try T3 then why shouldn't I, I'm sure doctors with thyroid problems do in fact I bet they take everything that's going. Sorry rant over, going to the doctors tomorrow to get all my results, then looking up a private doctor, I'm sick and tired of being a Guinea pig, one minute 200 levothyroxine then 150, then 150 and 175 and now I have to go back every three months for bloods.
In the mean time I'm putting more weight on, skins getting dryer, periods getting heavier and more constipation.
Sorry I'm just well and truly fed up. X
I also put on weight, 6 stone in fact. I will never know whether it had anything to do with my Thyroid! Now back to 9st 10lb
I also suffer a rectocile, caused through severe constipation, nothing to do with my thyroid of course.
Hair thinning and loss of eyebrows - my age. At 55 I'm not getting any younger.
This all sounds so familiar! I asked about trialing T3 as I suspected that I was not converting T4 as efficiently as i should be and was told that happens only rarely, I didn't have a problem converting so was refused point blank!
I must say I do feel better now than I have done for years on alternate doses of 125/150 levo as i have not had the deep depressions for over a year and lethargy isn't anywhere near as bad as it was but I do still suffer with puffiness and cannot shift the excess weight (about 31/2 - 4 stone) that i have only had since the Thyroid problem, sometimes the swelling in my hands, legs and ankles is horrendous and sometimes develops into pitting edema, especially after flying! I have even been prescribed water tablets for it but no consideration of T3.
I constantly have puffiness in my face, hands and ankles to some degree and because I wear glasses the nose cushions can sometimes cause really deep indentations that become very tender indeed.
I have pretty much given up trying to get more effective medication now, I am afraid if I make too much fuss they might reduce my levo as I have very low TSH results and if they do that the depression will return and the fatigue will worsen.
I can't say I am happy with my treatment, far from it but I think this is probably as good as it is going to get for me.
Have you had your adrenals checked? And no not a cortisol blood test - but a saliva test. This would have to be done be privately of course. TUK will be able to provide you with information for this. Your GP will send you for a cortisol blood test as it is the standard procedure. Generally it shows nothing even if you are the verge of Addison's disease. Well, that is my experience. Also you must get minerals and vitamins done. Look especially at Vit D, B12, B5 & B6. Ask for the optimum levels of all of them. If you are not at optimum level you need supplementing. They always talk about ranges --- to me a range is a guide line to tell you how far away you are from the optimum level. Please don't let them FOB you off. Unfortunately we need to be very firm with what we want.
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