My Story

[Guest guest]

Dear Sheila my name is and this is my

story. I was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid in 1987 when i was 32

years of age and i now doubt this was the correct diagnoses as i had

lost a little weight and my hands were shaky.My sister was recieving

thyroid treatment and i now realise my mother was a suffer (undiagnosed)

so i did'nt think there was much to worry about. I was referred to my

local hospital where i saw an endocrinologist who immediately started me

on Carbizamole, even then my test result did not correspond with how i

was feeling. At every appointment he would ask me to put my hands out in

front of me to see them shake then would refer to my latest test result

and then raise my dose. After many months i pointed out that my hands no

longer shook and that i was gaining weight and was putting my hair on

his desk but he did not seem to notice or care and i'm thinking he must

be blind. However as the months past he could not get the test to say

what numbers he would like and pro claimed that i would have R.A.I. and

that i would not be able to have any more childern and he told us to

make an appointment with the family planning for my husband to have a

vasectomy. When i pointed out my age and that i indeed would like more

children he said after the R.A.I. treatment any children i had would be

handicapped. Knowning what i know now i am begining to think this is

just more hogwash. After the vasectomy in 1988 we returned to see him

and he beamed and said there was great news no need for R.A.I. " MY TEST

WERE NORMAL " was this some kind of SICK JOKE. I was feeling worse than

when i first saw him and when i told him this he said it's not your

thyroid i have taken care of that and indeed he had i would never be

well again,i now knew he was deaf and dumb also. As the months turned

into years my life became a nightmare i continued to lose hair and was

practically bald, muscle pain, tongue swollen, memory loss i developed

all the symtoms listed panic attacks, agoraphobia, boils in groin area,

lumps under the arms from which green gunk would pour from, psoriasis

especially on my feet which stopped me walking for 18 months and lots of

other terrible symptoms. When i saw another doctor he said it's not your

thyroid " YOUR TESTS ARE NORMAL " . After 11 years when i felt i was at

death's door i saw an article in the local paper with a thyroid help

line number and was referred to Dr. Skinner and i realiswd i was not

the only one being abused by the NHS. I was started on Armour and after

a while i began to feel better my hair was growing back and the the

horrendous headaces began to calm down infact i was doing so well the

young doctor at my surgery said he would disregard my test results and

treat me. I think he knew i had been treated badly. However he gave me a

prescription for thyroxine and when i told him i was on Armour he said

it was the same thing. After 18 months or so i was back to square one, i

had to return to Dr. Skinner and go back on Armour. I never seemed to

get the same results but guess the antibodies were raging as you will

see from results i am posting. I stopped smoking and things got worse i

gained 3 plus stones and allmy symptoms came rushing back. I also tried

to come off Armour when rumours started about it maybe going off the

market, i will not make that mistake again. I added ERFA in with the

thyroxine and i am feeling better and i was on 7 grains of ERFA with 175

mcg thyroxine and last month it was suggested that i cut my dose. I

removed half of a 25mcg of thyroxine with very bad results:- hair loss,

very bad belly swelling,skin bad, puffy eyes and lots more. So it would

seem to me that i should be increasing instead of reducing as i have no

signs of overactivity and indeed feel worse. I am going for a test on

the 28th March and will post results. I was hoping for some advice. I

was also wondering if i can get ERFA and thyroxine without a

prescription. This is a passed result with antibodies 22/05/2008:-

total thyroxine (T4) 111

ref range 58 - 154 nmol/L

TSH o.o19

L ref range 0.4 - 4.0 mIU/L

free thyroxine 18.3

ref range 10 - 22 pmol/L

free T3 3.87

ref range 2.8 - 6.5 pmol/L

free T4 : free T3 ratio 4.73

ref range 3.0 - 5.0

thyroglobulin : 2264 H

ref range 0 - 40

peroxidase(microsolmal) 346 H ref

range 0 - 35

luv