Thyroid problems

I had an hyper-active Thyroid about 25 years ago. The itchy skin was not a problem but feeling hot was. I also did everything at a million miles an hour and ate loads but did not put on weight.

I was on drugs (Thyroxine & Carbimazole) for about 2 years and was told I had a 50:50 chance that everything would be fine or I may have to have an op. Thankfully I was OK and my thyroid functions remained normal after the drugs were finished.

I don't know what you can do to alleviate things in the interim. You're probably going to have to grin and bear it until seen by the Doc and he assesses your thyroid, probably via blood tests.

Of course things may have changed somewhat since my treatment but if not you'll have regular blood tests for the next couple of years.

I was only 25 when I first had the problem and was told by the Doctors it was very rare in males below 40. Women are more susceptible, age range is usually 40+ and there is some herditary issues although no one in the family had sufferred before.

Good luck with your diagnosis. Certainly what I went through was completely painless and I did eventually become used to needles in the arm.

My wife has been on medication for many years. Some of your symptoms were similar to hers. She certainly suffered from extreme tiredness and was very irritable. The itching as well. Also weight gain. She was not diagnosed by her regular GP and as such we went to another doctor who immediately suspected Thyroid and after tests confirmed this put her on a course of tablets that have controlled the condition ever since. Hope you get the right diagnosis and can get back to feeling your old self.

An ex neighbours wife in London had a goiter on her neck as a consequence, quite extreme, if not properly dealt with.

Mrs.Lomo had the above forementioned swelling of the throat as well. In this case not painful.
Just kept getting bigger and bigger. We just had to keep buying new chokers. Expensive Wot.

Must have been a nightmare for her, as well as you guy(s) ? I trust all is realively hunky dory the noo ?

Catch yer later, I'm bloody freezin

Fritz, go to bed, move directly to bed, tuck youself in and dream sweet dreams.

Wondering if thyroid problems were an undetected factor in my depression, I decided to buy a book on the subject: The Thyroid Solution . It's currently en route. In case you're interested I'll post my first impressions of it after it arrives.

Sorry I took so long - I stupidly read the two books that I ordered with The Thyroid Solution on the same day, and couldn't face reading another book for a week.

I still haven't read it properly but have dipped into it extensively. It discusses different types of thyroid problem, what tests need to be done and why some of these tests can be misinterpreted. Of course, I am not in a position to vouch for its accuracy but on the strength of what I've read so far it seems well worth buying.

Had a blood test a few days ago - back to the docs next week to see what the results were....

Interesting slant JD - from what I can gather thyroid problems can cause a huge amount of mental and physical problems.....

Frisbey,
Whilst not wishing to demean the probems that a either over or under active Thyroid gland can cause, I don't think that it is now, the problem that it was 30/40 years ago when people with thyroid problems could be easily spotted from a distance due to the superficial symptoms things have,thank goodness things have changed, and Thyroid malfunctions seems to be one of the areas that medical science has made progress in great leaps and bounds.My Brother in law has fairly recently been diagnosed with a Thyroid Gland Problem,with very similar symptons to those you discribe.The treatment he was prescribed, tablets to corect the imbalance,it just took a couple of weeks to get the doseage correct for him, but now, well you wouldn't know he had ,had a "problem".Now it's back to regular visits to his gym[ more times a week than my Sister would like, due to him not getting on with the household chores he should] when he visits us here in Brighton[on fairly regular basis] he borrows my next door neighbours bike and off he goes over the Downs for hours. So the reality of things is that once diagnosed and the correct balance of the prescribed treatment is achieved ,the "problem" has made no differance to his life at all.
So best of luck with the results.
oldie.

To be honest al I want is to have the 'problem' correctly diagnosed and get back to having a more 'normal' life - IE not feeling quite so tired, hot or itchy!

From what you say Oldie - there's hope yet!

Fisbey

I may have missed something in this thread, however as I undestand it you have a set of symptoms self-diagnosed as possible thyrotoxicosis, but this has not been confirmed by tests.

Whilst being informed is no bad thing, it might be wise to consider that the test may be normal. I've seen plenty of people with 'classic' symptoms and normal results (and picked up thyroid trouble 'by accident' on may occasions).

I think you may be putting the cart before the horse a little. Hope the tests give you some sort of answer when you go, and if normal ask your doc work out what else may explain your symptoms.

Bruce

Bruce I had considered this also, but I have to remove the pathological suspects first before considering other (possibly non physical) causes......

quote:

Originally posted by FISBEY:
Apart from having roof problems, I have had what I think may be thyroid problems - the symptoms are dry itchy skin, tiredness and feeling very hot. I have a doctors appointment next Tuesday, but has anyone any experience/suggestions to alleviate the symptoms in the meantime?

If you don't mind me asking, what 'roof' problems do you have?

The roof problems are covered in a thread entitled 'warmroof' - not a company that I would recommend from my experience.

Fisbey,

I'm sorry to hear of your possible Thyroid problems, but the good news is that with an overactive Thyroid you should be able to undertake treatment and things should return to normal in time. It is also unlikely you will gain weight and more likely lose it which is the upside of all this!

I was diagnosed with an underactive Thyroid in 1996 at which point I went from 14 stone to 17 stone in a matter of a couple of months. Since then I have had great trouble controlling my weight despite being on Throxine replacement therapy and from meeting fellow sufferers it appears this is a common problem for those with underactive thyroids. It is clear to me that I have gone from being able to eat and drink whatever I liked for 27 years and being slim for my 6ft 2 height to having to be very careful about what I eat just to stay at 17 stone. Thyroid disease is not a field in which the medical profession take any great interest in my experience but I have gained great support from the British Thyroid Federation - a charitable organisation who distribute an informative newsletter several times a year, organise presentations by endocrinologists and fund research into this poorly understood disease. You can find their website at http://www.btf-thyroid.org/

I would recommend joining, there is also an informative thyroid website on www.about.com by a woman called Mary Shomon. Both of these are worth a look.

Good luck and warm wishes,

Jonathan Gorse