Could this be thyroid issues? Ruining my life

Sounds like the symptoms I had I was diagnosed at 24

When I say full blood panel I mean all the blood tests that are available at your surgery , I'm in Ireland that's what my gp calls it .

I was diagnosed 20 years ago,I am 62 now, but although my tests come back normal I’m still tired all the time. Treatment for hypothyroid is dreadful in this country. As long as you’re in the normal range they don’t care how you actually feel.

I agree, it took eight years of me going back and forth to the GP, until I was finally tested for antibodies and put on thyroxine. My feeling is that the longer you go unmedicated and hypo, the harder it is to feel well again on meds. Like a pp I still struggle with tiredness and woolly brain.
You need a TSH of under 2.5, really anything over 2 suggests a thyroid that is struggling. If you do have Hashimoto’s then keeping your TSH at around 1 or just under is the key to feeling relatively ok.
I would also ask for your vitamin D levels to be checked, plus things like ferritin.

Your GP sounds really irresponsible. You are describing classic under active thyroid symptoms yet they've gone straight to sertraline? FML. Push HARD for a full bloods. Also not just T4. I've been hypo for 30 years but after kids my T3 went awry so I'm on both now. I felt awful with the T3 off - classic depression symptoms and THE RAGE. All similar to how I felt when I became peri. Good luck. With the RIGHT meds you will feel so much better.

Could well be thyroid. The right tests will show.

Waking at 4am suggests your adrenals are out of whack, possibly because your thyroid was first. If your GP would test serum cortisol as well, that might give a clue.

It could be underactive thyroid, I was diagnosed at the age of 23 !!!

I'd get a full blood panel done
There is no such thing as a "full blood panel". This is one of the myths that's endlessly repeated and only serves to create disappointment.

I have underactive thyroid, all your symptoms sound like I was , I'd get a full blood panel done . It can cause depression too . I initially thought I had low iron so got full bloods done my dose had increased in the first year but has been stable the last 4 years. I felt so lazy because I was falling asleep every afternoon I just could not function . Medicated I'm so much better but still not as energetic or sharp as I think I should be

Wait until the TSH result comes back.

GPs generally don't through the entire kitchen sink of available tests at you the first time. They start with the basic tests and go from there. TSH is the appropriate first test for a possible thyroid condition.

The eyebrows and thinning hair do stand out as matching some of my own thyroid conditions - I've been hypo- and hyper- over the last ten years, and I've been permanently hypothyroid (in the absence of Levo) for about eight years.

Be very wary of online thyroid support groups. There are a lot of quacks offering quite batshit treatments, and a lot of myths/snake oil that has taken root and become very embedded amongst the peer support groups. I steer well clear of them.

Find the tpauk website - they will help you work out what tests you need, what the results mean, how to talk to your doctor, what supplements might help, etc.

Thyroid patient advocacy UK

Definitely sounds like a thyroid issue from what you've said.

Get iron checked too.

If it's thyroid, you can ask to be referred to an endocrinologist. It sounds tempting to want a high thyroxine dose, but it needs to be incremented from 25mcg very slowly or causes issues.

Definitely ask for your thyroid to be checked, my sister has many of these issues and she has an under active thyroid and parathyroid disease.

I had the last 4 of your symptoms when my iron stores were low. My GP allowed me to drag on for over 2 years with ferritin levels of just 3, I felt like I was half dead!

Absolutely ask for thyroid levels to be tested. Bad thyroid levels also cause fertility issues and can have negative consequences on the foetus if you do get pregnant

Cushing's Syndrome? I have no experience of it and it probably isn't that...just came to mind because people notice their face becomes rounder with it.

Definitely sounds like it. Could also be polycystic ovary syndrome or another hormone problem.

You sound like me in my mid 20s. I went through phases where work and commute exhausted me so much I would go to bed at 7.30 then snack at 11 and sleep again tip 7. It was hellish. My legs would be like lead, climbing the stairs exhausted me. I'm underactive and stable now but I've had bad phases. My hair was always OK though! Brain fog was v bad sometimes even when other symptoms were OK.

Yes it could be. I was diagnosed at 25 with similar symptoms and also excessive sweating. However I would be asking for a full blood work incase there are other things too.

Yes, if Dr won't test properly then you can buy tests from various places. Most just need a fingerprick but personally I really struggle to get enough blood out with those.
Thyroid UK have a useful website.

@Bananaman123 what is your tsh? Once on medication most people feel best <2.5

Yeah be aware of the "normal range" used by the NHS. It is wider than what the USA or other European countries consider "normal".
Doctors usually suggest retesting in 6 mo time if results are "borderline". If its still borderline they'll consider eventually testing you for antibodies. Then, if you have the antibodies (attacking your thyroid) they'll start medicating you, on the lowest dose first to see if that helps. It takes several weeks for the effect of a change of dose to be apparent.

I don't want to worry you, but it took 3 years + from first consideration that I might have a thyroid problem to being correctly medicated. Do more reading than I did. Check the NICE guidelines for a start.

Boots sell thyroid tests, not sure how accurate or if GP will take them seriously. I know of someone who had to get their chiropractor to X-ray their neck to show how calcified the area round their thyroid was. Tests all showed it was “within normal range”.

Yes moon face, put on 4st, big stomach but never had before, increased migraines, fatigue, the list goes on. My tsv levels were considered ok but as I had so many symptoms I was put on thyroxine. Turns out it’s hashimotos.

even on meds I have the foggy brain and fatigue still.

Do you have trouble regulating your temperature? The symptoms do sound very thyroid-like.

But also sound like a gluten problem too with some of the symptoms. Have you looked into that?

Was he not concerned about the bloating?