GP told me to stop wasting his time - AIBU?

[TimeWastingTeresa]

I had my third trip to my GP today in 3 months.

I feel like absolute rubbish constantly - tired all the time , achy , generally run down .

My hair is awful - dry as a bone and gets greasy at the roots within hours of a wash.

My skin is so dry it flakes . My legs look like a reptiles !

My periods are much heavier than usual - I need to change a super plus tampon after 3 hours . I used to wear regular for the whole duration.

I have gained over a stone in weight in less than a year and I just can't shift it .

My GP ran bloods around a month ago and all vitamin levels were fine.

My thyroid came back as TSH 4.5.

He told me everything was normal and to go back in 6 months .

I went back a month later as I just don't feel well at all.

He ran bloods again and again my TSH came back as normal (4.5).

He told me I'm fine and I'll feel better if I exercise and lose weight .

I can not go on like this so I went back today and he told me that I just need to lose some weight . He told me not to come back before 6 months is up as there's nothing wrong with me .

I left in tears .
I feel so down . I'm so so tired I can't cope with much at all.

I look and feel disgusting . My hair is dull and lifeless and my scalp is so dry .

I don't know what to do

My mum says I should go private but if my TSH comes back as 4.5 again , my GP will still refuse to treat it !

Help please !

Vit D levels are very often low in Northern European populations - here in Sweden they dole out vit d drops free to babies and tell everyone else to top up too. I see low values daily. There's a lot of genetic variation in the metabolic pathways for vitamin D.

There's a lot of misunderstanding on this thread. The bottom line is that a good clinician would look at a patient with these symptoms and a TSH of 4.5 and investigate further

The thyroid appears under strain. We cannot say the root cause of that without further investigation- it could be one of several things, and the thyroid could be the primary cause or a symptom in itself. But a good clinician looks at the whole patient and does not dismiss clinically apparent symptoms because of one just within range result.

Good luck, op. I hope you get to the bottom of it.

Think

You are great on
Medical threads - stick around (time
Permitting obvs) 😀

I was the same as you, general crappy feeling, hard to put finger on. tired all the time, run down, skin starts flaking, scalp itching - never had so much as dandruff before. Took me 6 goes to the doctor before they found the cause = viitamin B12 deficiency. Normal blood tests did not show this. Not saying you have the same thing, just saying you know when you are not well. Unless you know you are a hypochondriac (and you will know), go back, see someone else, ask for more tests. I have been having B12 injections for a month and am starting to feel great again. It has taken 9 months of perseverance though

For all the medical experts on this thread, as I'm still waiting for my blood tests to come back. Has anyone heard of getting skin infections with thyroid problems? Lately whenever I get a cut on my skin it gets infected. I (sorry if TMI) popped two pimples on my forehead last night and I now have two big blisters growing out of my forehead. My skin is painfully dry and cold. :( And my knees are so achy it's hard to walk. :(

thefitfatty

I have had that problem with B12, Vit D & low potassium problems. DD had it with low B12 & low bit D.

I would make sure that they have checked your B12, its not a standard test, plus GPs are too often ignorant of B12 deficiency & how serious it can be, so its often missed. NHS tests are unreliable too.

If its vit D, then make sure you buy a good natural D3 & take it with vit K & Magnesium with fat. The prescribed stuff is synthetic & not much good

They are checking my B12. However we decided against Vitamin D. I'm outside in the UAE a lot and quite fair skinned.

fit I'm similar, if I stupidly scrape a spot it ends up turning into some infected mess. Not sure if that is thyroid related or not but since my thyroid has gone downhill my skin has completely changed to a horrible greasy mess or flakey dry

Fit - until I went on t3 7 had recurrent skin infections and abscesses - personally I think I was just so rundown that I was not able to fight normal infections properly. However, I also started to supplement b12 as my levels were the low end of "normal" and the same for vitamin d.

So it is thyroid related? I'm getting checked for so many things and feel so generally shit that I just want to try and narrow down whether it's my thyroid, my liver, diabetes or Celieac. Meanwhile I have to sit at work freezing, exhausted, with sore skin and two giant blisters on my forehead. Oh, and it feels like perpetually have something stuck in my throat. :(

All of those symptoms could relate to B12d, plus I read that its apparently linked to other autoimmune conditions too, most often it seems to be thyroid, diabetes or celiac & symptoms can overlap a lot

But this... Oh, and it feels like perpetually have something stuck in my throat. :( Is definitely a B12d symptom

Sounds like you would benefit from frequent B12 injections

Does everyone who is taking Levothyroxine know to take early in the morning at least thirty minutes before any other food, tea, coffee etc

This can make a big difference to how effective it is. HTH.

Thank you stop 😳

fitfatty We all carry bacteria like staphylococcus on our skin - in most people other bacteria and our immune systems keep them in check but if the balance of bacteria is off or the body is generally run down then you can get species like staphylococcus becoming able to infect open wounds. It's a sign you're run down and not quite in full health.

It's worth getting vit d checked anyway. There are big differences in how people metabolise the precursors to it so it is technically possible to be pale, in the sun and deficient. Not terribly common but worth a look.
Folate and thyroid spring to mind with your symptoms. Do NOT take any vit b supplements until you've had the tests done as they can skew the results.
The problem with symptoms like being tired all the time is that they are vague. And so it takes a good bit of skill to tease out exactly what's wrong. Yes, modern life can make us tired but I think there is a tendency to dismiss tatt (tired all the time) as being down solely to lifestyle, when often it's more complex than that.
As rockin says, get vitamin d3 (cholecalciferol) not d2 (ergo calciferol.)

When you get the results get a printout - don't accept just being told they are normal. The Ops 4.5 TSH is technically normal but at a level where many will have symptoms.

Well my thyroid was .85 so normal, b12 was normal, liver normal, hemoglobin normal, etc, etc. So I guess I'm just stressed and run down :(

Fitfatty

I was told both mine & my DDs B12 was "normal"

It wasnt, there is a lot of controversy as far as B12 deficiency goes, no national/international accepted normal level & the first line tests (serum B12) is recognised by NICE as unreliable - ALL of the B12 tests are, doctors are meant to treat on symptoms, if it helps, then thats your answer.

My DD with her "normal" B12 results was very, very ill, a wheelchair was a good day, a bad day she cried all day in pain. She was like that for over 18 months

Took me over 7 months to get them to do a "Therapeutic Trial" of B12 injections

She was walking & sleeping normally again after 6 injections

Her blood results were all normal bar thyroid which was slightly out. Thyroid corrected itself with injections too

WHOOPS, FORGOT INFO LINK

fitfatty In the USA they don't use B12 injections they use sublingual B12 tablets which can be bought in Holland and Barrett. They are 1000mcg because you don't absorb as much that way. It may be worth getting them and giving them a trial for a few weeks. They won't do any harm even if you're B12 isn't low.

Are you likely to be low in B12? eg. Vegan, vegetarian, don't eat Red meat, take stomach tablets like Omeprazole or Lansoprazole long term?

Nope not a vegan or vegetarian and nothing for my stomach. My b12 was 331

Less than 500 can be symptomatic. Uk level range is so low in comparison to USA, Japan etc

Mine was diagnosed in USA and I top up every winter with the sublingual tablets.

I don't know, I would supplement and see if it makes a difference.

I'll see if I can find some.

itfatty In the USA they don't use B12 injections they use sublingual B12 tablets which can be bought in Holland and Barrett. They are 1000mcg because you don't absorb as much that way. It may be worth getting them and giving them a trial for a few weeks. They won't do any harm even if you're B12 isn't low.

Sorry Inever, but that isn't good advice, taking these or any other B12 supplement can cause a great deal of harm as they hamper diagnosis & will have very little/no benefit. The also DO use injections in the USA, ( Cyanocobalamin) at least good doctors do, ignorant doctors, same as here will try & prescribe these pills to,the detriment of the patient.

Unless you are vegan, deficiency will be the result an absorption problem, possibly an autoimmune disorder that destroys the ability to absorb B12. The same absorption issue will mean these wont work, plus you get a much higher dose from injections & that dose is needed to heal, otherwise you continue to get more ill

Well she told me my B12 is normal. All my results were the lower end of normal.

Lower end of normal fir B12 is LOW!!

"Normal" varies around the country, my level was 224, "normal" at my surgery, but thankfully my Kidney specialist also works in a part of London where "Normal" is 250, so put me on injections too

DDs B12 result was 412, so supposedly well in range, hence the fight I had to get her treatment. But treatment proved she has PA too, in our GPs words, "the results were nothing short of miraculous"

Has your doctor tested ... MMA, Homocystiene, Folate, Ferritin, Parietal Cell Antibodies & Intrinsic Factor??

If you have low normal B12, they should be doing these tests

Yes my ferritin was 69.4 but she didn't test the others

I'm not vegetarian but I rarely eat red meat, and I run/lift weights quite a lot. I have had to take iron pills in the past and I was diagnosed with ADHD a few months ago and the medication has affected my appetite. I initially lost 20 lbs but that's stopped.