Could this be thyroid issues? Ruining my life

[PotLuck3]

I couldn’t put my finger on what’s been wrong for the longest time. I’ve had issues with mental health for a while and now so many other symptoms have got worse:

• I’ve been bloated permanently for around 8 weeks, and gained weight on my tummy, arms and thighs. I feel gross all the time
• My face looks so round and puffy, looks fat
• I’m soooo beyond tired all the time, taking naps and coming across as lazy
• My hair makes me cry, it’s so thin and gappy and doesn’t grow. My eyebrows don’t grow either and are so sparse
• I keep waking up at 4am every morning
• I’ve felt soooo far from myself and haven’t been able to put my finger on why. I have brain fog and an emotional all the time

I’ve finally figured out it could be my thyroid and the GP isn’t keen to test t3/4 so I’ll be demanding this.

But every symptom is ruining my life, I’m constantly complaining to my boyfriend about how awful/fat/not myself I feel and look. He’s adamant that I “look no different” and “just as beautiful” but I KNOW I do. I’m always then tearily apologising for “always being negative” and “I don’t know what’s wrong with me”. He says I’ve never spoken worse about myself.
I feel like I’m a constant drain of energy and mood, I don’t feel like I’m functioning normal and I’m so sick of it.

Could it be thyroid? I’ve had normal blood levels in the past. I’m so so so sick of feeling this way and can’t get out the rut of constantly being upset/down

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 .

Sounds like the symptoms I had I was diagnosed at 24