Anyone else here suffer with it or know anyone else who does?!

Had mine removed 10yrs ago now and still not right from the operation. The medication the NHS prescribed didnt work literally making driving to work dangerous so ended up seeing a private specialist i was reccomended who prescribed something else which the NHS wont to take as it made me feel a bit better, not 100% as im struggling a bit at mo.

I now have to try and self medicate and work out what levels are at etc with my gp as the specialists at the hospital basically give u 1 type of tablet and thats that kinda like it or lump it, which if i still took on its own i'd probably be signed off work!!! or worse.

Just wondered how many other ppl there are out there with it as most ppl i talk to about it dont even know what it is lol, its predominantly a female problem and in older women so being male and 19 when i had the op i was a slight exception to the rule

 

my birds sister was born without it, she struggles i think with it, has to take medication every day obviously, but recently the doctor lowered her dose, which didnt help, but if she ups the dose she tends to put on weight, so its a bit catch 22 really!

 

Yea know that feelin well!! mine seemed fine for ages but having to change dosages again as i feel like shit/tired all the time at mo.

If its overactive like mine was you can eat as much as u like and be thin as fuck but some of the side effects aint nice!! I looked like a heroin addict i was so thin!!

If its underactive then you put on loads of weight etc, unfortunatly the meds dont work with everyone and is an life long struggle with it! Could be alot worse thou so

 

What sort of symptoms do you have with this problem?

Edit - just seen the above post!

 

Their the most obviously, but theres a whole load more

Both make you un usually tired all the time, i had problems with shakey/tremours in my hands, bad mood swings is another, also used 2 get pins an needles easily from memory.

Unfortunatly i had the worst one which basically makes your eyes swell up and look like their 'bulging' or really starey etc. Didnt get much better after the op either, the right was alot worse than the left so have so far had 3 cosmetic operations on the right on, and poss may need another in the not to distant future!

 

what did the nhs prescribe, what did the private dude give ya and what do u self-medicate with if u dont mind me asking?

take it you've have levothyroxine?

 

I have another medical condition which affected my thyroid, underactive, but now appears to be sorted. I feel for ya fella.

 

what was that then Mal?!

As i say could be alot worse as at least i can work etc and have a normalish life just frustrating when i end up struggling at work cos of it and dont have the energy 2 go out alot of the time (prob dont help workin 45miles away either lol)

Ellie, yea thats the only thing the NHS prescribe, levothyroixne (T4) they also prescrible liothyroxine (t3) but both are synthetic and my body doesnt take to either.

The private doc told me about Armour thyroid which he prescribes for people, its a natural replacement hoarmone harvested from pigs thyroid glads and has 76mcg of levo and 18mcg of lio in a 2 grain tablet.

Works ok to an extent with me as i have been alot better from taking it over the last few years but am suffering again for some reason so having to have blood test and adjusting dosages.
Luckly my gp does me a prescription now so dont have to see the private bloke but its still a private prescription and the tabs are about Ł50 odd for 100, i take 1 tab a day plus at the mo 100mcg of levothyrxine, was on 150 but was too high aparently!!!

The reason the NHS dont use it is to some extent being natural the tabs so they say dont always have exactly what it should all the time but tbh i couldnt care less as long as it works!! but they still wont prescribe it, had my thyroid totally taken out so takes a bit of common sense a synthetic drug may not work for everyone but they couldnt give 2 shits!!! So dont bother seeing my 'specialist' anymore.

I had a letter from work explaining the problems i was having, 1 from the private specialist but they still didnt wanna know, nice to know my tax money is helping me out lol.

 

sorry, been at work all day.

Never heard of or seen Armour thyroid, and I work in a hospital pharmacy. The doctors/consultants will usually have a go at trying to prescribe weird and wonderful things but they dont always get it.
If your body responds to the levothyroxine and liothyronine in that then why does it not work when taken seperately?
Doses of thyroxine can go up to 200mcg anyway.

sorry cant be of any help!

 

Ah you'll come in handy then lol, its imported from america so you'll never see it 'off the shelf' over here, aparently it was used years ago before synthetic thyroxine was invented then taken off the NHS books.

The only reason i can work out is Armour is a natural 'real' hormone of levo and lio which the body needs and would normally create if i had a gland (all be it from a pig ) whereas what the NHS prescribe is and levo and lio sodium BP which is synthetic.

Wish i didnt have to take it but it was making me worse and worse till i tried the armour and althou im still struggling its alot better.

Think till recently i was taking 150mcg of synthetic levo and the armour tablet is 76mcg so was about 226mcg hence them dropping the dose. Was supposed 2 drop it to 125mcg but took a while to get the 25mcg tabs so have just been taking 100 synthetic for now. Might leave it at that till i have a blood test and see how it comes out!!
Means im on roughly 176mcgs in total of T4.