Hormonal stuff and how to talk to a GP so they don't write me off immediately

[Pruuni]

I have a niggly feeling something is wrong with me hormonally - not wrong, just not 100% right.
Over the past 2 years I've had four rounds of ivf and they've all failed. (IVF because dh in infertile after chemotherapy.) In that time I had my hormones tested once: the usual day 2/3 FSH, day 21 progesterone, TSH and a few others. I don't know what the values are except TSH is 1.4.
THis time round, doing a frozen cycle - where you take a hormone to induce menopause then a course of HRT, which builds up gradually to a triple dose daily - well the HRT made me feel absolutely fabulous. I was springing out of bed, full of energy and enthusiasm, and just kept on going until bedtime, then slept well and off again the next day.
Usually I am a bit sluggish and cold and kind of lacking energy - not in any worrisome way. But the difference was noticeable.

(sorry, can't do long posts so am continuing)
ANyway it was the difference that made me thing, hang on, what if there is something underlying all this that is making me sluggish, and what if it has an effect on fertility?
But I know as soon as I go to a GP they will write me off as worried about the non-success of the fertility treatment and generally one of the worried well.
Any thoughts?
I realise I am well...just wondered if anyone had any experience, not necessarily of the fertility-treatment side of things.

How about making a log of your physical symptoms.

For example, are you more sluggish or cold at certain times of the day?

Fatigued more after exertion, feel groggy after sleeping all night?

Are you experiencing hot flashes, sweats, vaginal dryness, longer or shorter than normal cycles?

Perhaps making a log to bring in would help clarify things for your GP.

Have you had a thyroid test recently? Might be worth a try. If you would like a hormone test, or an ovarian reserve test (to see how your own fertility is going) you could have both privately (the fertility test is a DIY thing but you have to get a blood test). I am writing about all those things at the moment. You oculd talk to your fertility clinic too. Your GP could refer very easily for a thyroid test. Very quick and simple.

OK. Thyroid has been bugging me for a while but as I say, a GP is likely to ascribe any symptoms to perhaps mild depression related to the treatment - I am cold a LOT though but I suspect that's not enough to go on!
As for ovarian reserve - I have my FSH done (it's 8.6 at 34, so not great, but women tend to hit the menopause earlier in my family) and on my two rounds of full ivf I've had lots of eggs, and visibly good-quality ones (though of course it's not the visible bit that counts). Nobody at the clinic is worried about ovarian reserve and menoapuse, but partially that's because their focus is tweaking the additional hormones in an already artificially-menopausal person (if that makes sense).

Your TSH is well into the normal range, but there can be more to diagnosing hypothyroidism than that - you'd need to have T3 and T4 to be more certain (those may be in your 'few others'). Apparently a lot of doctors are not so good at diagnosing hypothyroidism as they rely on TSH alone (mine had it easy, my TSH was 128 so not really any question about it!) www.thyroiduk.org/ has some useful stuff, including an FAQ taht might help.

That's interesting, DCMB
I had read before somewhere that a low-but-not-very-low TSH can be too low for one person but not show any effects in another. Tried talking to my GP BIL and he just shrugged and said patients are always coming to him with statements like that but he has no evidence for it.

I can see your BIL's point of view - I bet doctors get a lot of patients coming in saying 'I'm a bit tired, I must have an underactive thyroid' because they read about it online, and when told it's normal come up with some other bit of 'info' ... but there are reasons why TSH can be normal but the thyroid still not functioning correctly. The T3/4 thing is about whether one is being converted into the other, can't remember which way round.

I had always put myself down as being 'worried well' until I was diagnosed hypothyroid after failing to conceive! Could have been going 'it's my hormones!' all those years. The doctor asked whether I had symptoms ... did I tend to put on weight? Erm, yes, but I thought that was because I eat too much.

I'm on HRT and it makes me feel pretty good too. I think it's the oestrogen component. When I forget to take it, I get really cold or have hot flushes. I THINK, the oestrogen is something that contributes to regulating temperature (though may be talking out of my backside) which is why HRT does something for hot flushes/temperature fluctuations but I really don't know.

What I can tell you is that not one GP I saw ever took me seriously. Not one. Only once I paid to see a gynae did anyone actually listen to my symptoms and investigate.

If you have a gynae because of the IVF, I would address your concerns to them first of all tbh.

I'm quite looking forward to HRT when the time comes
Seriously, though, it makes me feel how I would like to feel every day.
I think the fertility clinic is my first port of call, though, thanks for setting my mind straight on that.

yeah, it's funny Pruni - it does really seem to suit some people!

(good luck with the IVF btw)