Does anyone here have an underactive thyroid?

melbury

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quote=TomsMom;10228145]Glad you got the Eltroxin Melbury. Hopefully you will be better on these, at least you've got a couple of months' trial to see if your symptoms disappear and hopefully prove your point. I will try and find out if there's a problem with Eltroxin, hope not.

Please post if you find any more information on the Eltroxin, would be grateful to know what is going on with it.

How long do you think it will take to get the generic out of my system and the Eltroxin in? I just want these hot sweats to STOP:mad: I don't care what doc says, it wasn't until I was put on the 75mcgs dose of generic that this started.

melbury

tweetyshells wrote: »

Well i am now nearly a week in on my lower dose tablets and i am soooooo tired .
Roll on 6 weeks time and hope they let me put my tablets up again.

Anyone know if i was over medicated would it affect fertility? I always thought that if underactive it would affect is but according to nhs direct its overactive that cant cause infertility.
We are trying for baby no2 so really want to do whats best to help that aswell as me.

Sorry to hear you are not feeling too good tweetyshells. Perhaps your body will adjust to the lower dosage and you will stop feeling tired. Good luck.

TomsMom

melbury wrote: »

Please post if you find any more information on the Eltroxin, would be grateful to know what is going on with it.

I have enquired if Thyroid UK knows anything about it. I'll get back to you when I get an answer.

How long do you think it will take to get the generic out of my system and the Eltroxin in? I just want these hot sweats to STOP:mad: I don't care what doc says, it wasn't until I was put on the 75mcgs dose of generic that this started.

The half life of thyroxine is 5-7 days. That means that it takes 5-7 days for one half of the biological activity of the hormone to be lost. So if you take 100mcgs, after 5-7 days there is 50mcgs left, after another 5-7 days there is 25mcgs left, another 5-7 days 12.5mcgs left, etc. So it does take a few weeks. But remember, in that time you are introducing Eltroxin so that will start to build up in your system as the generic is being lost.

As always, be patient, it will not right itself overnight unfortunately.

gemold

gingababe wrote: »

Ok, my blood test results have come back, I asked the receptionist if I could book an appointment, she said "no need results are ok", To which I asked if I could have the results, she advised me that she wasn`t able to give them to me, that was up to the doctor, so I again asked for an appointment so that I could discuss the results... I was told no available appointments & ring after 0815 in the morning......

Can pull my hair out as I`m losing tooooo much
Will post later when I get more info..

That's exactly the sort of service I get. I was supposed to be having a telephone consultation this morning and what I got was the receptionist - exactly as you have described above. Unbelievable.

It makes me sooo angry because they are messing with our lives and make me doubt my own sanity - bad enough when you can't think straight anyway.

TomsMom

gemold wrote: »

That's exactly the sort of service I get. I was supposed to be having a telephone consultation this morning and what I got was the receptionist - exactly as you have described above. Unbelievable.

It makes me sooo angry because they are messing with our lives and make me doubt my own sanity - bad enough when you can't think straight anyway.

A little tip for you gemold (and I think gingababe has maybe sussed this).

When you have a thyroid blood test it's always good to make a note of the results. NEVER ring up for them. ALWAYS make an appointment to see your GP, not even discuss it with him on the phone but a face to face in the surgery appointment.

That way you can get the exact number result rather than just the "your results are fine" that you will get over the phone. You can then discuss your results, ask any questions, and maybe request an increase in your medication if you feel that you would be better for you. As long as your results are within range there is room for manouvre regarding your thyroxine dose but this would need to be discussed with your GP and possibly you may need to convince him to give you a trial and this can't be achieved in a phone call.

TomsMom

melbury wrote: »

[

Please post if you find any more information on the Eltroxin, would be grateful to know what is going on with it.

Melbury, nothing has been heard at Thyroid UK about GPs not putting Eltroxin on a prescription. If something comes up they will let me know.

melbury

TomsMom wrote: »

Melbury, nothing has been heard at Thyroid UK about GPs not putting Eltroxin on a prescription. If something comes up they will let me know.

Thanks for letting me know, hopefully it was just a blip and normal supplies will be resumed.

By the way, have you ever heard of anyone getting menopause symptoms when they started on thyroxine? I know that lots of younger people take it, so obvioulsy this wouldn't apply to them, but just wondered if the tablet can have the effect of hastening you into menopause if you are teetering on the brink of it

gemold

TomsMom wrote: »

A little tip for you gemold (and I think gingababe has maybe sussed this).

When you have a thyroid blood test it's always good to make a note of the results. NEVER ring up for them. ALWAYS make an appointment to see your GP, not even discuss it with him on the phone but a face to face in the surgery appointment.

That way you can get the exact number result rather than just the "your results are fine" that you will get over the phone. You can then discuss your results, ask any questions, and maybe request an increase in your medication if you feel that you would be better for you. As long as your results are within range there is room for manouvre regarding your thyroxine dose but this would need to be discussed with your GP and possibly you may need to convince him to give you a trial and this can't be achieved in a phone call.

I managed to see a GP this afternoon after ringing back.
My TSH back in Feb was 2.34 and my T4 was 13.2.
He said yes you're fine. I told him I did not feel it and listed all my symptoms which have reappeared in the last 2wks - cold hands and feet, sleeping with hotwater bottles, hair falling out, dry skin, feeling bloated, retaining water, a strange feeling swallow and puffy feeling neck, aching joints - like toothache in my knees and ankles, a feeling of flatness, memory loss, losing track of a conversation, tiredness and lethargy... I then told him of a couple of new ones including my last period was 4th April but have just spotted for 2days this week. He asked did I think I was depressed and if I needed a couple of weeks off work.

That was it. He said if he upped my thyroxine I would become T4 toxic and he wouldn't do that. I've come away with a blood test for aneamia despite me telling him that I take a multi vit every night.

I came home and cried so yes, now I could well be depressed thanks!

How do you ask for an increase in meds or for a referral when met with such a brick wall? I'm usually a good girl and don't like to trouble people so thought I was actually being proactive for a change instead of waiting for months and getting on with things - but just got talked down again.

I'm telling myself to ring again next week and ask to see someone else - think I'll need a big dose of good luck....

TomsMom

gemold wrote: »

I managed to see a GP this afternoon after ringing back.
My TSH back in Feb was 2.34 and my T4 was 13.2.
He said yes you're fine. I told him I did not feel it and listed all my symptoms which have reappeared in the last 2wks - cold hands and feet, sleeping with hotwater bottles, hair falling out, dry skin, feeling bloated, retaining water, a strange feeling swallow and puffy feeling neck, aching joints - like toothache in my knees and ankles, a feeling of flatness, memory loss, losing track of a conversation, tiredness and lethargy... I then told him of a couple of new ones including my last period was 4th April but have just spotted for 2days this week.

Okay gemold, first thing I'll say is that a FT4 of 13.2 is very low.

Go to page 5 in this thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=683809&page=5
then look at posts #93 this explains about ranges and #97 particularly the last part about the book "Understanding Thyroid Disorders".

Ask for a new blood test and see what the result is now. As I've mentioned, keep a diary of your test results, dates, symptoms, what dose you're on, and compare.

He asked did I think I was depressed and if I needed a couple of weeks off work.

Sad but typical and unfortunately a lot of thyroid patients are told they are depressed - at least he asked you!

That was it. He said if he upped my thyroxine I would become T4 toxic and he wouldn't do that.

You will not become T4 toxic unless your FT4 goes over the top of the range and with it being at 13.2 you're a very long way off that, unless of course you had symptoms of it which, of course, you do not. If you were 2 points lower in the range you would be diagnosed as hypothyroid as a new patient.

How do you ask for an increase in meds or for a referral when met with such a brick wall?

See the other posts I mentioned, show the book to him. If he still refuses to increase your dose then politely tell him that the way you feel at the moment is having a detrimental effect on your life (tell him how) and you feel that you would like to try and get back to how you were before you became hypothyroid - in fact that is what should happen if you are on the right dose of thyroxine and your thyroid stabilises - and if he can't help you any further then will he please refer you back to your endocrinologist. If you don't get any further with your endo then either change your doctor or consider going the private route. I can promise you that NO private thyroid specialist will consider a FT4 result of 13.2 is fine.

juno

I have really really dry skin, especially on my hands. I've got blood tests in June, but is there anything I can do til then? I've tried moisturising and it helps for a short while, but now it's getting ridculous how often I need to do it.