Hello from new member... old problems!

[Guest guest]

Hello, my visit today was prompted my an Endo appointment with a Prof of Endo

who told me that the sole purpose of thyroid treatment is to'get my TSH in the

range of 0.5 - 3, thyroxin is the only treatment available, symptoms are

imaterial, if I carry on with 2 x Cytomel tabs per day I will have a heart

attack and my bones will crumble. The fact that 3 years ago when I took T4 only

I was sucidal and seriously mentally and physically ill didn't change this view!

Apart from the suit he could have been the Endo of the humerous Utube TSH video!

To cut a long and familiar story short, after years of back and neck pain I was

DX with Fibrmyalgia in 2004, chronic pain syndrome, tendon inpingement, tennis

elbow, had to retire from work (I was 41!) claimed Incapacity benefit. Both of

my sisters have similar problems and we all had previously been diagnosed as

having IBS as we were always contipated and had lower right sided colon pain. We

stopped eating bread and felt better.. in 2004 my youngest (very tiny and not

growing) daughter was diagnosed as having Coeliac disease and lots of bells went

off! I learned of the connection between so called Fibromyalgia and coeliac and

that Fibro could be low Thyroid function. over the years my UK GP had been

telling a sucession of Rheumatologists, pain clinic consultants, physio

therapists, orthopediac surgeons that my 'thyroid was fine' he only ran a TSH

and I never knew that you could ask for the actual results. so I began the

process of trying to get an accurate dx speding £1000s and having all the usual

hurdles put in my way. (My highest TSH was 6.5 and luckily in France they treat

at over 3.6, lowest ferratin was 22)I joined 'stop the thyroid madness' and The

group as Berlioz, some may remember me. Shelia and Janey of STTM probably

saved my life. I saw Dr P in early 2006, got up to 3 grains Armour was ,

maintained 10 1/2 stone weight, took 1/2 prednisalone (could not get cortef in

France where I moved late 2006) I had trouble I was a bit hyper sometimes but

learned to live with it, I had no depression or brain fog.

Because french doctors don't keep medical records in the same way and the

patient is always given the detailed blood test results I have Thyroid antibody

tests twice, both negative each time.I been able to have zinc, magnesium,

ferratin, Vit D levels checked (all below ref range) and work hard to eat well

although I do have a 6pm red wine habit when I am exhausted all day... I could

go on and on....but my story is very much the same as others...

Anyway I have been having trouble with my eyes, my new English GP practiceing in

a french practice ,thought I had thyroid eye problems of over stimulation

lowered my T3 by 1/3 and sent me to the rudest most arrogant Endo yesterday (he

had not met the man) The Professor treated me and my husband with breathtaking

arrogance (my husbands's father is a retired consultant surgeon of a cancer

hospital so my OH was not used to a patient being spoken to in this way )my

husband said that had I come home and told him, he would have thought I was

exagerating...

Anyway, on Armour I was almost ok but never got of the prednisalone, on Cynomel

my eyes are popping out if I take enough to stay awake all day and I now weigh

13 1/2 stone (1 stone of which I have gained in the last month since dropping

down from 3 cynomel to 2 per day) On days when I know I have stress/endurance

needed I pop 1 5mg prednisalone and get an energy burst for that day only... it

does not work a 2nd day. I am too tired to exercise and I ache all over. My TSH

is 0.02 if it goes above 1 I feel like death and my current GP 'does not treat

the lab resuslts' so hasn't asked me to keep getting it done. He is 64 and can

remember treating people before the TSH became what it is now. But he has to

work within the French system no matter how much he realises that I'm not a head

case!

I feel that I need the natural thyroid if only because my weight is putting

pressure on my knees and hips and I feel old and unwell (i'm 47) I met my

husband exactly 10 years ago when I was 4 stone lighter and I feel like I am

wearing one of those 'little brittatin' fat suits as I used to be a 'pear' shape

and now I am carrying a lot of weight around my middle, 40 " in fact which as I

am only small boned and 5.4 " cannot be healthy, I am exhausted all the time and

am waking up again at 2am every night. My hair is also falling out again and I

have hard skin on my elbows and knees again. I have lost any ability to deal

with stress (I used to be an accountant and have teenagers) and jump like a

rabbit at the slighest thing. I get the internal 'shakes and shivers' quite

often and am alsways much worse in the winter (why we moved to the south of

France!)

So... I have re-read Dr Ps book and know that I need to do something but am not

sure where to start and what I am missing! the company I used to buy armour

from (very, very expensive one of the reasons I had to stop it) seems not to

exist anymore, I'm not sure if I should go and see Dr P again or what I should

do next.......

Thank you for being here everyone, (Again!) I have not gone back over this for

spelling as then I would not post it... so I'm just going to press the button...

:-)

Toulouse 31.