Been referred to endo,,,any advice eplease?

[lare73]

Hi everyone, hope your all ok today.

Well I have been back to my GP today for my latest results.

The lab did not do my T3 - came back as inappropriate request ... Doctor said its bureaucracy. (Tut).

The serum thyroglobulin level was 5.78ug/l. Range says <20iu/ml

TSH has changed to 1.9 (0.2-4) - was 1.4 three weeks ago

T4 has changed to 11.6 (10-20.00) - was 12.7 three weeks ago

Thyroid per oxidase is <28iu/ml - (<100iu/ml)

Vitamine D not back yet.

Ferritin is still 14 (10-322)

Folate 3.3 (5.40-24.00)

B12 544 (211-911)

I am still on ferritin and folate tablets.

Only main changes are I have a hoarse voice and a pain in the left hand side of my throat when swallowing. The doctor examined and found nothing significant. And I have lactic acid burning in my legs when walk for longer than a few minutes!

She is referring me to endocrinology as urgent. Did say she was thinking a trial of thyroxine but wants all my levels checking properly first. She agrees something is going on.

Any comments welcome I am a bit concerned as have read a lot about endos being worse than gp's. any tips?

Thanks for reading x

[Moggie]

Some endo are very good others not so good. Here is a reply I have just done to someone on a different post so if its not to late and the referral hasn't already been sent by your GP maybe you might want to do the same as I have advised this lady to do.

That's why it is so important to do your homework first. Before you ask the GP for a referral you should be doing a bit of homework into the endo's in your area (or if you can travel it wont matter). You don't have to be referred to your local hosp, you can go anywhere, so have a dig around on the internet and go to the hospital section on this site (at top of page) to see what other sufferers think of either your local hosp or ones nearby, then you can go to your GP and asked to be referred to an endo of your choice. Its really important to find an endo who will think outside the "guidelines" box and the only way to do that is to do some research.

Moggie x

[lare73 in reply to Moggie]

Thank you for your reply, unfortunately she has faxed the referral through, so unable to stop it. Wish I had done that now. I work in my local trust, but surgical to medical.

She is on the ball so hoping she will point out the need for an interest in thyroid not diabetes

[Moggie in reply to lare73]

In that case you will need to go into the meeting with a positive attitude and plenty of info. At my first endo appt last month I felt a bit like you and had the "there's not much point in this" attitude, to make matters worse I was met with this man who didn't think T3 worked (I had been on T3 for over a year and knew it did) and kept quoting me the "in range" rubbish. I knew I was in for a long haul so I dug my heels in, argued the points I did not agree with (politely) and the result was a very successful appt. Yes if I hadn't stuck to my guns, known quite a bit about my condition and spent a lot of time on this site asking questions and research different issue then the outcome of the appt would have been different, so don't be disheartened just do as much research into your symptoms as you can, ask lots of questions and write down all you want to ask him.

Here is a list of things my endo tested for as, like your GP, he sees to think that my issues are not all thyroid related and that "something is going on". It may give you some idea as to what to ask for and not just leave it down to your endo to decide.

Full blood count

Coeliac test

U & E's

Iron Profile

B12

Vit D

Calcium

Parathyroid

Magnesium

Full thyroid function test including FT3 and FT4

Antibodies

Cortisol

Hope all the above has given you food for thought.

Moggie x

[lare73 in reply to Moggie]

Thank you very much moggie.

It's a long old road sorting these symptoms out... I have Crohn's disease too so the autoimmune route seems to be where I'm heading, I have thyroid antibodies but not majorly high at all.

I just hope I get some answers, seems too much to ask to nip tin the bud so to speak before major damage happens to the thyroid. My mother has under active thyroid and was like a balloon, fell asleep constantly during activities and was so ill, I was convinced she had heart failure she was like an old woman before she was diagnosed, I would like to avoid this.

Will definitely take your advice and research, fingers crossed I get a 'listener' and not a 'I love ranges' endorse

[Moggie in reply to lare73]

My endo was a "I love ranges" endorser before I sent to work on him and the more he knew he couldn't get away with (due to my knowledge) the less he tried. He's passing shot before I walked out the door was "you may end up back on T3" which made me smile because an hour before he had told me it didn't work. So some effort on your part before the appt could possibly pay huge dividends.

Good luck and don't forget ask as many questions on here as you feel you need to.

Moggie x

[lare73]

I was not expecting a referral to be honest. We had discussed a trial of thyroxine, but she said she wants an endo to see me now. So was unprepared