thyroid troubles, "whose thyroid hormone replacement is it anyway"!!!

[klpants]

Hello Everyone

I've not posted in a while just been lurking so here goes......

I'm having some probelms with my thyroid, hypothyroid.
I went to the clinic in December 05 and my thyroid levels were 6.3mU/L but I was told my TSH was overcompensating so have another test in 3 months time. In December I also had higher choleseterol levles AND higher blood pressure levels than normal. Now as a person who is really active and runs a lot I wouldn't expect my BP to be high or cholesterol levels as I don't eat a lot of fatty foods (and I'm not using the old excuse of having diabetes to blame for the results as I try and prevent these complications to the best I can)
Anyhoo, I had my second Thyroid function test this week and my result was 7.1, now to me I would say because of my type 1 autoimmunity and a family history of thryoid probelms, my thyroid is on it's way outa here! But it seems my doctor would like to not medicate me until I become over 10mU/L which to me seems pointless if I could go on a low does of thyroxine or even something like Armour Thyroid, btw, under 5mU/L is considered normal thyroid function.
I have for the past 3 months noticed a significant change in my daily activities, my running and workouts are getting harder to do and I just don't have the enthusiasm that I did for exercise, this is a big thing for me as exercise is my sanity and I feel is affecting my livelihood as I'm not enjoying anything anymore.
So to sum up has anyone else been in the same situation where the doctor is delaying the inevitable, I mean isn't prevention always the best remedy?, If I could take low doses of Thyroxine and feel better then why not?, as opposed to going for years with scores of thryroid function at 8 and 9 and feeling lousy, thus of course affecting my diabtes control too.

This whole problem is getting me down as I feel as though I'm just being pushed off by the doctor without been given any options.

Sorry for the long post just feeling a bit annoyed, isn't the big D already enough to have to worry about!!!

Any suggestions or ways of convincing the doctor to put me on something, other than the obvious," duh, you have higher cholesterol levels, higher BP, feeling tired physically with sore muscles AND your thyroid is borderline underactive, gee, I just don't see any connections"!!!! (that was me summing up the doctor!) :hmmmm2:

[seacomp]

Any suggestions or ways of convincing the doctor to put me on something, other than the obvious," duh, you have higher cholesterol levels, higher BP, feeling tired physically with sore muscles AND your thyroid is borderline underactive, gee, I just don't see any connections"!!!! (that was me summing up the doctor!) :hmmmm2:
Is your doctor a GP or an endo? I'd think an endo would be more likely to treat such a condition, after all, that's his or her business.

[jen_slc]

That's very frustrating, I'm sorry! From what you've said it sounds like your higher BP and higher cholesterol are probably related to your decreasing thyroid function. I'm sure you've already tried, but maybe explain to your doctor how you see it affecting your daily routine... hypothyroidism sucks and it looks a lot like depression. I had Graves' Disease and they ended up overmedicating me so that I became temporarily hypothyroid and it was the worst couple of months I'd had in a loooong time - could not bring myself to get out of bed. Totally depressed, totally tired. I am like you, exercise is a huge part of my life and at that time I couldn't do anything, which only contributed to the depression. I would hate to see you in a similar position, especially if there is something that can be done right now.

Doesn't this doc realize the connections? I can understand them not wanting to medicate without definite diagnosis, but it's all very suggestive that your thyroid is on its way out. I wonder if you complained to him about the lack of enthusiasm & tiredness that he would suggest antidepressants... docs seem way too eager to prescribe those and IMO are much more dangerous than trying a low dose thyroid medication... at least thyroid medication will produce results within a few weeks and doesn't have the problems associated with antidepressants!

Is there any way you can see someone else, or a true endo if this doc is not?

[klpants]

Thanks Jen_slc for that nice reply!

The doc I've been seeing is a GP so yes I should see an endo but over here I would need to be referred and then the appointment may not be for another 6-8 months! So I will try again with my doc and outline my frustration again, maybe take my partner with me who has some medical expertise.

If the doc even suggested antidepressents I would probably blow a fuse!! I use my exercise as a way of overcoming depresssion associated with the 24/7care of diabetes!! :laugh:

[duck]

I've only recently found out that there is so much more to thyroid hormone replacement than swallowing a ****ed pill once a day for the rest of your life...Many people who apparently take Synthroid or Levothyroxine never feel "right", even though lab results will show TSH/T3/T4 levels within "acceptable" ranges.

ANYWAY, I think your doctor is a moron, unless there is some conversion factor for British units that I am not aware of...From about.com:

Until recently, the standard was that the normal range for TSH at most laboratories has fallen in the 0.5 to 5.0 range, with hyperthyroidism being below .5, and hypothyroidism above 5.0.

The new guidelines, however, the range for acceptable thyroid function, and thyroid treatment should be considered for patients who test between the target TSH levels of 0.3 to 3.04, a far narrower range.


http://thyroid.about.com/cs/testsforthyroid/a/labs2003.htm

So, your TSH has been 6.3 and now 7.1, both values exceeding the old acceptable threshold, and your doc says he won't prescribe medication until you are over 10? What the **** reasoning is that? I guess if you had a heart attack, would this person say it's not really a heart attack until your heart has stopped beating for an hour?

Ugh, anyway, I guess ask him to explain how he can say that the won't prescribe meds to treat a disease when your labs indicate you do have the disease. It's not like the values are not available for public research.

BTW, if I were you, I would go Armour Thyroid. If it makes you feel any better, I have been trying to convince my doc to get me off the Synthroid/generics and prescribe Armour or Thyrolar (since they have T3 included) and he insists there is no reason to do so, despite the fact that there is no danger in doing so and patients using those products report better results and "feeling better" on those meds.

[klpants]

Duck, :thumbsup: for the link, I'll print out and show my "moron" of a doctor :biggrin: