under active thyroid

[joselyne]

Have struggled with my weight ever since I had my daughter 7 years ago. In October '04 I found out my husband had been having an affair and for the next year I hardly ate anything through the stress and heartache of getting divorced and I lost 3 stone. In October '05 I met my current partner and began to eat properly again and the weight started to pile back on. Last August we became engaged so I joined Weight Watchers so I could slim down for our wedding this September but nothing really happened. I would lose a couple of pounds one week but put it all back by the next. In the end I stopped going as I felt I was wasting my money and not getting anywhere and just continued to eat healthily. I still continued to put on weight and was at the end of my tether so decided to go to see my Doctor who told me to make see the practise nurse which I did. The nurse wanted me to write down everything I ate and drank for a whole week and assured me that there would be something i was eating that she would be able to pin point as the food which was making me put on weight.

Having gone back to her, she couldn't see anything wrong with what I was eating or drinking but made comments like "oh there are no cakes on here" and it became apparant that she didn't believe me when I told her that I don't eat cakes, crisps, chocolate or fried food etc. I soon stopped going to see the nurse as it just depressed me going to see someone who couldn't help me and didn't even believe me about what I ate but she did give me a test for my thyroid which came back as nothing wrong.

As a last resort as I had been feeling so depressed about this whole situation I went to see a lady who does Kinesiology and after a few minutes with her concluded that I do actually have an under active thyroid which is why I can't lose weight. The appointment was 3 weeks ago and I'm taking the pills that she gave me but I'm still putting on weight. I now think that I'm going to have to cancel my wedding cos I'm never going to lose weight in time abd I feel so down about my appearance that I don't go out anymore and I quite often think about killing myself.

Sorry this is so long winded but I just wondered if there's anyone else out there who's had a similar problem to this and how did they overcome it?

[WigWamBam]

The only way to check whether you have an underactive thyroid is to go to the GP and have blood tests. It can't be detected in any other way, and anyone who tells you that they can in order to sell you tablets is ripping you off - sorry.

If your thyroid is underactive you will be prescribed thyroxine, and will take it every day. You will get an exemption certificate, so you don't pay for these.

Go and get it checked out properly, don't trust anyone who says they can tell what your thyroid is doing without blood tests.

[TheBlonde]

I am with WWB on this
Go see your GP and ask for another test

[joselyne]

Apparantly to make the results of thyroid test fully conclusive you need to have 2 blood tests which they will not give you on the NHS as too expensive so I'd have to go private to get it done properly.

The tablets I'm on now are to boost the natural production of the thyroid. If I went on Thyroxine I'd be on it for life.

[TheBlonde]

Um well the NHS here will give you the blood tests to determine if you have a thyroid problem or not

If they find that is not the case then you should ask your GP for further help to find out what is causing your weight gain

[WigWamBam]

Joselyn, that's rubbish.

They will do one blood test, and check the levels of three things from it. T3, T4 and TSH. That's called a thyroid function test, and it's what you will have if your GP does a blood test. You do NOT have to pay privately for it.

If your thyroid is not producing thyroxine, no alternative therapy in the world will make it do so. If your thyroid is underactive you need thyroxine - the tablets are simply replacement hormone.

And yes, you'll be on them for life. But if your thyroid in underactive you NEED to be on them for life. The tablets you are taking, if they work (and I very much doubt it, from what you've said) will only work while you take them ... are you going to take those for life too? Your kinesiologist must be very pleased about that.

Please go and see the GP. You CAN get full thyroid tests on the NHS - I have one every three months to check I'm still on the right level of thyroxine.

[joselyne]

I wish I was an open and shut case like you WigWamBam. I have no faith in my GP and I don't feel that there's anything wrong with going down the alternative therapy route.

I just wondered if there was anyone else out there who was experiencing the same problems as me getting a diagnosis from their GP but clearly there aren't.

So I realise that I'm on my own. It's just not a nice feeling when you're on the brink, realising that there's no one out there who can help you.

[SpaceCadet]

joselyne, the only way that you will get a diagnosis is to get the blood test done.
are you on any medication for any other illness?? this can sometimes cause weight gain.
did you ask the gp what your result was when you had the first blood test done, i was told for years i didnt have an underactive thyroid, when in fact i was boderline, until i saw a different gp.
do you have any other symptoms related to underactive thyroid?

[SpaceCadet]

by the way, if you do have an underactive thyroid, it can be extremely dangerous to leave it untreated, there is no honeopathic remedy which can replace thyroxine, the thyroxine you would be prescibed would be only replacing a naturally occuring hormone in your body and you would get free prescriptions.

[WigWamBam]

You can be helped. You are just chosing not to be. Sorry if that sounds blunt but it's the truth.

I am not sceptical about alternative therapies, I use them myself and am a great believer in some kinds of alternative treatments. Used in combination with conventional medicine some can be very useful. But I don't believe that alternative treatments can diagnose medical conditions in this way, and I know that there is NO alternative treatment for underactive thyroid, regardless of what your kinesiologist may have you believe.

As SC says, leaving an underactive thyroid untreated is dangerous. It puts your heart under tremendous strain and can make you very, very unwell indeed.

The tablets you are taking at the moment are doing nothing for you - you must be able to see that, at least. GPs can help you - if you don't trust yours then change - and what they won't do is fob you off with a useless and expensive course of tablets which leave you feeling just as bad as you did before.

Even if you DO have to pay privately to have the blood tests, won't they be worth it? And won't they cost less than your kinesiologist is costing you at the moment?