can anyone help ! thyroid

[mrs way to worried]

after having constant problems i have spoken to my friend who suggessted i may have thyroid problems as alot of my symptoms sound like hers ,when i had a blood test my doctor said my thyroid was a little off and he wanted to re test which he did and the next time they were back to normal so he said nothing more about it , i really dont want to google as i typed in throid thyroid cancer came up and i freaked , is there anyone here that has thyriod problems that can give me some advice or help im really scared , im always tired even after full nights sleep , ear full ness , jaw pain , feeling of something in my throat ,hair loss , weak nails ,visual disturbances , neck and shoulder pain ,this tist could go on thanks for taking the time to read

[Pinktel]

I have hashimotos which is where you produce anti bodies against your thyroid so eventually it stops working. I take thyroxine tablets each day as do millions of others.

My endocrinologist says if he tested 100 people for the antibodies, 40 would have them, many would still have nicely functioning thyroids and never have to get support. Some will go on the develop hashimotos or graves (hyperthyroidism).

People's thyroid levels change week on week. Even throughout each day. It would be worth knowing your levels so you could evaluate how borderine you were - but you need to understand the testing first - i will try to explain it as I understand it....

Current UK normal levels for the TSH value (thyroid stimulating hormone which comes from the Pituitary gland) are between 0.3 and 5.0. The Pituitary constantly samples all hormone levels, like some computer taste bud! it then monitors what everything is doing and sends out stimulating hormones for particular glands if it thinks something needs cranking up a little.

So... if your TSH is low near 0.3 it means your pituitary in your brain is not releasing much thyroid stimulating hormone into your blood as it is pretty happy with the amount of thyroid hormone your thyroid is currently producing.

Conversely, if your TSH is nearer 5.0 or higher, it means your pituitary is chucking out loads of stimulating hormone, shouting at your thyroid "MAKE MORE THYROID HORMONE PLEASE!!"

At the same time labs often then measure your actual level of thyroid hormone, especially if your TSH levels are borderline or plain wrong.

Currently UK excepted levels are between 9 and 24.

So if you have a level below 9 or near 9 you may find you do not have enough thryoid hormone to keep your body feeling happy. If you have high levels nearer 24 and above, you may find symptoms from too much thyroid hormone sending your body racing etc.

So the TSH levels and thyroid hormone levels need to both be understood and measured. It really helped me to understand all this when mine first began to go wrong.

If your TSH is high - remember, it is your pituitary gland shouting at your thyroid, telling it to make more hormone. If this goes hand in hand with a low actual level of thyroid --- well, then you know your pituitary is screaming at your thyroid and not getting much of a result out of it.

At that point you may need to take artificial hormone.

Along with millions of others. It is very common indeed.

Just remember when you get your levels from the GP, many european countries and the States, have different opinions on normal TSH levels. Some say the UK is lagging behind with our accepted values. I think the States and other countries would say that any TSH over 3 is borderline. You can see how this is a big difference to our top accepted levels.
If we adopted these accepted values, millions literally would become "hypothyroid" overnight and be eligible for free NHS treatment. (By the way it is a chronic condition which means you get ALL your prescriptions on the NHS free once diagnosed, not just your levothyroixine). It will be an expensive move for our country.

Best advice for you (if you have stuck with this post, which reads something like an Open University lecture sorry :blush:) is firstly, don't panic :D, and secondly, get your actual levels from the GP to see how you are fairing - even post them on here if you want or pm me with them if you need them translated.

Then you can take a more educated decision about whether you want another test in 2 to 3 months.

Symptoms for me were
MASSIVE memory problems, couldn't hold a thought in my head, always forgetting what I was going into the room for, i mean always...
Feeling the cold
Puffy water retention feelings
splitting fingernails
more palpitations/ectopic heart beats
feeling bit depressed
dry dry dry hair, like a badgers bottom!
fatigue
muscle pain


Levothyroxine alleviates most of this for me, but as an artificial hormone it will never be as good as the real deal. But it is okay.

Hypothyroidism is not the end of the world, millions have it and it is eminently treatable.

Hope this has answered questions and not sent you to sleep!!

[cameraobscuraB]

did you tell your doc about these symptoms? It might be worth asking for a full blood count as your symptoms could also indicate iron deficiency anemia. Tiredness lightheadedness weak nails anxiety etc even chest pains.

---------- Post added at 14:20 ---------- Previous post was at 14:07 ----------

ps i had an overactive thyroid so different experience...eventually had radioactive iodine treatment leaving me underactive and on thyroxine lifelong...i'm a bit of a ditz at forgetting to put prescription in so i feel the adverse effects of not taking thyroxine after a few days some of the things you listed. However, your symptoms sound extreme if your thyroid levels were only a little off

I went to my docs last year to see if i needed to up dosage of thyroxine as i was exhausted weak all the time but turned out to be iron levels really advise you to get checked

Hope you get sorted x

[Ronno]

I've a under active thyroid , discovered after my first ever blood test at 49 years old. Who knows how long had my thyroid been under active . I was put on 50 mg of thyroxine and have had yearly blood tests ever since without it changing.
But over the years I've often wondered. How much anxiety symptoms has been caused by my thyroid , and have considered asking my doctor to do further tests.( that won't happen because I'm a coward ) .

[mrs way to worried]

thankyou all for your replys they were all very helpful , i dont absorb iron very well before i had my son my iron level was 5 lol but all through my pregnancy i had blood tests and levels were fine , i take an iron tablet every day so i think my levels should be ok i will get them checked , its very fustrating as all my symptoms could mean anemia , thyroid , fibromyalgia (which is what my doc thinks i have ) ,tmjd , or my best friend GOOD OLD RUINING MY LIFE ANXIETY lol , my memory is horrendus i forget stuff alll the time its really worrrying how bad it is xx

[Pinktel]

At my worst (before my thyroid was diagnosed) I was convinced I had Alzhiemers as my memory was getting so bad. I couldn't hold a thought in my own head during a conversation, life was getting really difficult. I was forgetting what things were called! once I even got into my car to set off to the health visitor to get my baby weighed and as i pulled away from the drive I drove along the road thinking "what did I get in the car for again? where are we meant to be going?" it took a few moments to remember and it REALLY freaked me out!! :D Now I know when my memory gets bad it's time for another blood test incase my levels have dropped too much!

Even if you did find you eventually needed thyroxine, it's really not a problem, and anaemia would equally be treatable. Don't know as much about fibromyalgia, although i think it is linked to other auto immune diseases such as the hashimotos that I have.

Can I ask if you manage to exercise, or what your diet is like, or how much water you drink. I have improved all these areas in my life and have to say it has helped my health and my anxiety immeasurably - I didn't believe it would help as much as it has, perhaps that is an area you could look into?

[mrs way to worried]

i dont really excersize as i have 3 under 5s but i do walk everywhere , my diet is quite good i make everything from scratch my downfall is sugar , and my water intake is horrendus i dont allow juice ect in the house just water but i only manage about 2 cups a day i literally just forget , my memory problems r things like someone reads me out a phone number and as they read the next number ive forgotten the previous one :( , im currently on amitryptaline to help with my sleep

[Pinktel]

as crazy as it sounds water can be a real memory/brain function aid... i remember there was a study into it in old people's homes - how they only had a cup or 2 or water a day at most, they increased that and their cognitive functions improved no end.

Sounds like such a simple thing, we all think, how can that help... but water is SUCH a fundamental thing for us, the brain is mostly made up of water - i know that sounds mad but if you broke it down into it's fundamental components, that is the truth. If it is dehydrated, it DEFINATELY affects its ability.

Drinking more water couldn't be more simple. Nobody can say they can't do that... I would give it a try. Dehydration will lead to thicker blood, more ectopics, low blood volume (so you can feel faint etc) - all things us health anxious types would do well to avoid!!!

Even if you drank 2 extra cups a day it would be worthwhile!

[mrs way to worried]

thankyou i will try and drink more water , think ill book another blood test and visit the doctor to talk about this