Q about my mum, hypO and headaches

[Guest guest]

Hi

Just quickly my mum is hypO. Has been on Levo 75mcg for ten years being told

all is fine, even though she's overweight, constipated and tired and her TSH is

over 3. Indeed I was told the other day by the same practice that ordinarily

any GP dosing anyone to a TSH of less than 4 gets reported to the GMC for

overdosing, a 'very serious offence'. You can see what we're up against.

Yet since being put on Levo my mum has had blinding headaches and neuralgia that

go on for several days at a time - she says the pain is 'on' her head not 'in'

it - so scalp pain - she says digging her nails in sort of helps, like a

diverting pain.

She's met my endo surgeon briefly through me who reckons my mum also had Hashis

and her thyroid has burnt itself out (my mum had several 'nervous breakdowns'

when we were kids, which it now looks like were undiagnosed hashitoxicosis). He

seemed to think the headaches were thyroid related. Unofficially my doctors

have told me to tell my mum to just put her own meds up so she's started

alternating 75mcg and 100mcg with some improvement in mood, energy and bowels

already. She's about to try 100 per day.

However, no improvement with the headaches. She's totally debilitated with

them. Takes really strong painkillers -co-dydromol (sp?) and she is prescribed

Amitriptyline daily as a muscle relaxant which I'm very concerned about, it's a

horrible drug! Also she had breast cancer so has had a course of radiation -

this was before going really hypo so we wonder whether this was what finally

killed her thyroid, if they clipped it with the treatment.

All she gets is 'TSH is normal' it's not your thyroid its something else. We

are going to see my specialist privately soon to ensure she's correctly

diagnosed (she also has Raynauds disease so there's def an autoimmune

connection) as he truly is a brilliant clinician, but I just wondered if anyone

had any ideas?

Thanks