Under active thyroid

NotThisMorning

Hi, I’m hoping for advice about what to do, who to talk to and what to expect.
About 8 years ago, a year after having my second son, I lost about 2 stone in the space of 8 weeks without really trying. I’d just given up breast feeding and was excercising a lot in general and put it down to that. At the same time I lost a lot of hair, started suffering with anxiety and developed vertigo. I told my doctor who prescribed an anti-psychotic for the vertigo which went after a few weeks. Things were ok until I started to feel unwell about 18 months ago. I stared to feel constantly cold, very depressed, mood swings, dry skin. The symptoms got worse over time and by last November my partner, family and I were doubting my sanity. I started to gain a lot of weight (2 stone since last Nov), pins and needles in my hands, a waxy feel and change of smell of my skin, dry eyes, totally exhausted, gastritis, severe IBS symptoms, bloated face, hands and legs, chest pains, palpitations, brain fog, change in my voice, night sweats. I saw my doctor a couple of times but stopped going because I was given antacids, told to stop drinking and made to feel like a hypochondriac. My job, my friendships, my relationship with my kids and partner have suffered a lot. The week before last I heard Meg Matthews on RTÉ radio 1 talking about the menopause and thought the symptoms sounded familiar so called the GPs office. The receptionist referred me to the practise nurse for blood tests. I had those on Monday and I was told to come back this Friday for results. Yesterday I got a call to go straight to the doctors surgery. They’d found my thyroid function was basically zero. I’ve been prescribed Eltroxin 100MCG tablets, 1/ day. The doctor I saw was not my usual doctor and she took some more bloods and said to come back in a few weeks. I didn’t get any results and I was just happy to have a diagnosis, but this morning the whole thing has hit me and I feel really angry about my treatment by my usual doctor, the effect his dismissive attitude has had on my family and me and also that I feel like I was palmed off yesterday too. Reading up it sounds like 100MCG is a high dose to start treatment on. Should I be pushing for a referral to a consultant? Is Eltroxin a good treatment? Any information about who to talk to or what I should expect would be great. I’ve lost all trust in the GPs. Thanks for reading

Wyldwood

You are certainly not alone. read the thread below, if it doesn't daunt you, to see how the majority of thyroid sufferers are rebuffed with a diagnosis of depression/anxiety/hypochondria both before and during treatment for clinical thyroid illness.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056215078

Ask your GP for a printout of your blood results and you will see where your own results lie in the 'normal' scale as the lab will have printed their ranges on the sheet.

50mcg is the normal starting dose for Eltroxin but given your bloods are bottomed out you may need 100mcg to get you going. It's normal to be told to come back in about 6 weeks for further bloods as it takes that long for the Eltroxin to kick in so be patient.

Best of luck with the treatment. Thyroid issues are no fun.

NotThisMorning

Thanks so much for your reply. I’ll have a look at the thread you posted, thank you.