RE: Help getting a diagnosis.....can it be done?

[Guest guest]

Hello Leeds (is that the City you live or your name?)

If it is the City where you live, then I can understand you not

being able to get a diagnosis living there, because it is just about the worst

place for sufferers of the symptoms of hypothyroidism to live. This is because

the endocrinologists are very close associated of the British Thyroid

Association who insist that they will not give a diagnosis of hypothyroidism to

those patients who complain of symptoms, yet who's TSH is within the reference

interval of 0.5 to 10.0 - a reference range unmatched by any other country

throughout the Globe.

You will need to see a doctor outside of your area, which you

are entitled to do and I would go to one who is known to prescribe Armour

Thyroid or Erfa Thyroid and will send you my list of such doctors so you can

choose. This I will send privately as we do not mention doctors names on the

forum for legal reasons.

The VERY hard way to go about this would be to stop all your

medications, i.e. thyroid and adrenal replacement for several weeks, and then

ask your local endocrinologist to give you the appropriate tests, but I have

seen this happen before when people are desperate to get an official NHS

diagnosis. This can cause quite serious problems, the patient then having great

difficulty in managing their lives because they become so ill again during that

time, and can take a very long time to get back their health again.

Ask your GP to refer you to the one you would like to see and I

would tell the endo. exactly what you have been doing and the reason why, and

tell him that you were diagnosed by a private doctor outside of the NHS. By

being up front, such a consultant is more likely to understand why you are now

presenting as you are.

It does sound as if you have something else going on that is

causing you not to regain your full health. Can I recommend that you ask your

GP to test your levels of ferritin, vitamin B12, vitamin D3, magnesium, folate,

copper and zinc. If any of these are low in the reference range, you need to

supplement whatever you are low in because the thyroid hormone will be unable

to be properly utilised at cellular level. When you get the results, you need

to get the reference range for each of the tests done because it is well known,

that if your results appear anywhere within the range, you will be told your

tests are ! " normal " and that you do not have a problem. Post them on

the forum here and we will help with their interpretation and tell you what you

need to do.

I have attached a document that shows some of the other reasons

why you might not be feeling as well as you should.

How much thyroid extract and cortisol are you taking?

Luv - Sheila

From: thyroid treatment

[mailto:thyroid treatment ] On Behalf Of leeds987654

Sent: 06 February 2011 20:41

thyroid treatment

Subject: Help getting a diagnosis.....can it be

done?

Hi there,

I've just joined this forum after lurking for a fair while and wondered if

someone can help.

Here's a bit of background.

I've been ill for around 20 years with hypothyroid/ME, adrenal

fatigue....etc.....I'm taking Armour, synth T3, Cortisol amongst other natural

supplements along with the avoidance of certain food groups to which I'm

intolerant......etc.

I've never got to the stage where i'd say i live a normal life although i'm a

long way away from where i was 20 years ago. Having said that recently i've

started feeling much worse and together with Dr Peatfield we've been making

adjustments to my meds.

I'm pretty experienced at self medication and can spot whether i've

under/overdosed on certain aspects of my medication.

The real reason i've started looking on forums is that i'd really like to get

an official diagnosis for my illness. I have to acquire it from abroad and i

fear that one day this way of purchasing medication may cease to exist. The

other thing is that it costs a fortune and i've always paid my NI contributions

and it would be nice to get my medication under the NHS (although i know this

is unlikely).

The other major thing is if i ever end up in any kind of accident where i need

emergency treatment i'd like the doctors and surgeons to be aware of my

condition so i can be treated appropriately.

Have any of you got an official diagnosis and can anyone recommend a doctor

that understands our condition? I'm prepared to travel anywhere to get an

official diagnosis that is recognised by the NHS.

Many thanks in advance.

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Why thyroid hormone stops working (2).doc