Do you have an underactive thyroid?

[Northerner]

Hypothyroidism - or an underactive thyroid - affects one in 70 women and one in 1,000 men according to the NHS. But it can be a tricky disease to diagnose and treat. Dr Michael Mosley, of Trust Me I'm a Doctor, asks if sufferers are slipping through the net.

Someone emailed me the other day to ask me if I had ever considered the possibility that I might have hypothyroidism; an underactive thyroid. The reason he contacted me is because he had seen me on television and noticed that I have quite faint eyebrows, which can be a sign of this disorder.

I have none of the other symptoms such as weight gain, tiredness and feeling the cold easily, so I've decided not to go and get myself tested.

But if you do - and you think you could you have it - what should you do about it?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38895877

An interesting article. I know quite a few of our members have hypothyroidism and it's often associated with Type 1 and other autoimmune conditions. I wonder if that's why I've been feeling so tired lately?

 

[mikeyB]

Just as likely to be getting up at 5 in the morning, Northie😉

 

[Northerner]

Just as likely to be getting up at 5 in the morning, Northie😉

Doesn't everyone? 😱 😉

 

[Rosiecarmel]

Doesn't everyone? 😱 😉

 

[Lindarose]

Maybe it would be worth getting a blood test just to check? As you've been feeling a bit off colour it won't do any harm.

 

[newbs]

It is definitely worth checking as can get really serious if left too long, as I found out the hard way.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

I wonder if that's why I've been feeling so tired lately?

There was me thinking it was old age 😛

 

[mikeyB]

In my routine annual MoT, my thyroid function is tested. Don't know whether that's just a whim of the doctor, or general policy in Scottishland. My dear old mum became hypothyroid after about thirty years of type 1, though you'd never guess, she only ever weighed 7st dripping wet. There should always be a high index of suspicion by medics when you get a well controlled diabetic coming in and complaining of tiredness, so you should get yourself tested, as newbs says, earlier rather than later, Northie. If it's normal, have a lie in😉

 

[grovesy]

In my routine annual MoT, my thyroid function is tested. Don't know whether that's just a whim of the doctor, or general policy in Scottishland. My dear old mum became hypothyroid after about thirty years of type 1, though you'd never guess, she only ever weighed 7st dripping wet. There should always be a high index of suspicion by medics when you get a well controlled diabetic coming in and complaining of tiredness, so you should get yourself tested, as newbs says, earlier rather than later, Northie. If it's normal, have a lie in😉

I usually have Thyroid check at least annually thought it was part of Diabetes screen.

 

[Robin]

I usually have Thyroid check at least annually thought it was part of Diabetes screen.

I used to get one annually when the tests were done at my GPs ready for the hospital clinic , but since I got discharged back to my GP for all diabetes care, they don't seem to have done one. (Not that I think I need one, but sometimes you don't realise you're sliding downhill, like when I was first diagnosed with diabetes, I didnt realise how tired I'd been feeling til I felt better)

 

[grovesy]

I used to get one annually when the tests were done at my GPs ready for the hospital clinic , but since I got discharged back to my GP for all diabetes care, they don't seem to have done one. (Not that I think I need one, but sometimes you don't realise you're sliding downhill, like when I was first diagnosed with diabetes, I didnt realise how tired I'd been feeling til I felt better)

I know I had one recently but it was not with my Diabetic ones , I had a liver and kidney screen and it was done then.

 

[stephknits]

I am always tired and cold, but have put that down to sleeping badly and being a wus 🙂 am considering getting checked out at some point. Will deal with Bob the gallstone first.

 

[trophywench]

LOL - that's the flippin trouble when you have a list of things 'not quite right - or is it just creeping AD/because I'm lazy anyway' - however mine have always been tested by both the hospital and my GP ever since 1972 - half the time in Worcestershire and the rest nr Coventry - so totally different health authorities and doctors and labs.

So I thought it was 'everywhere' too.

 

[Wirrallass]

Hypothyroidism - or an underactive thyroid - affects one in 70 women and one in 1,000 men according to the NHS. But it can be a tricky disease to diagnose and treat. Dr Michael Mosley, of Trust Me I'm a Doctor, asks if sufferers are slipping through the net.

Someone emailed me the other day to ask me if I had ever considered the possibility that I might have hypothyroidism; an underactive thyroid. The reason he contacted me is because he had seen me on television and noticed that I have quite faint eyebrows, which can be a sign of this disorder.

I have none of the other symptoms such as weight gain, tiredness and feeling the cold easily, so I've decided not to go and get myself tested.

But if you do - and you think you could you have it - what should you do about it?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38895877
An interesting article. I know quite a few of our members have hypothyroidism and it's often associated with Type 1 and other autoimmune conditions. I wonder if that's why I've been feeling so tired lately?

@Northerner. Hi. I was diagnosed as having Hypothyroidism (Underactive thyroid) in 2000. I consulted my GP because I was feeling exhausted yet couldn't sleep. Also I had gained 3 stone in as many months 😱. That was rapid weight gain!

Had blood tests which confirmed Hypothyroidism. GP prescribed Levothyroxine, can't recall what dose he started me on but I had more bloods every so often until GP found the correct dose to suit me at that time. Even so, doses fluctuated according to how my thyroid was behaving.Only recently the dose has been reduced.

(I'm reading the instruction leaflet & it states that a person should tell his/her GP if they have diabetes before taking Levothyroxine. The active ingredient in Levothyroxine tablets is Levothyroxine Sodium which is the same as thyroxine, a hormone produced by the thyroid gland)

Can't comment on faint coloured eyebrows as mine are fair by nature anyway, but can say some body hair gradually disappeared! (Saved £'s on waxing which wasn't such a bad thing!)
What I can say is, if anyone is experiencing similar symptoms to that of which I had, then I would think about a trip to their GP.

Diagnosed Type 2 April 2016
Diet & exercise

 

[Radders]

My hypothyroidism was picked up in my six monthly diabetes checks. I wasn't suffering any symptoms at that stage, they developed afterwards! I would get it checked if you're feeling tired.

 

[Wirrallass]

My hypothyroidism was picked up in my six monthly diabetes checks. I wasn't suffering any symptoms at that stage, they developed afterwards! I would get it checked if you're feeling tired.

I'm due for more bloods so I'll be the pin cushion yet again for the phlebotomist, probably aememic with all the blood dracula sucks from me!!! Take care

 

[trophywench]

Years ago before they invented glucometers all the lab tests on your blood needed the statutory 'armful' they only ever need now for your HbA1c plus all the other statutory tests - so on diagnosis you were admitted to the medical ward and had just got settled in your bed, when someone in a white coat instead of a nurses uniform approached you, and you casually wondered why they didn't have a stethoscope round their neck, then they introduced themselves as a phlebotomist and proceeded to remove several vials of blood. You got to know all the phlebotomists that worked there over the next week or so, twice a day - am and pm - and you really WERE like a blooming pincushion what with stuff going in and stuff coming out by the time you saw your own house again .....

What a flipping relief only 'several' times a year was, after that !

 

[Ditto]

I haven't got any eyebrows! 😱 Was always gutted as my sister shaved all hers off in the 60s and they grew back dark and luxuriant. Dunno where mine went?! Didn't know it could be thyroid. We've all got that though, Mum and us three daughters. I thought it was quite normal and never think about it. When did you go on telly? I watch everything to do with nutrition and diabetes, I find it all endlessly fascinating. Would I have seen you? 🙂

eta
It looks like I've got brows in my pic but I've just asked Mum "Have I got any eyebrows?" She looked and said "Well not really."

I'd get tested if I were you just in case. I didn't have any symptoms as I'm always tired, I've alway been fat and have always hated the cold!

 

[trophywench]

I'd be gutted if my eyebrows went - my eyelashes get shorter and shorter though which I hate - but not significantly less of them.

Did lose the hairs on my legs (well 99% of them) but initially thought it was cos I had em waxed every 6 weeks regularly for years. If fact I still reckon it was that cos higher up the 'leg' (a-hem) blasted things multiply like rabbits. TMI - sorry! - but I've never heard anyone with thyroid trouble even when their head hair has suffered saying they lost THOSE ones .....

 

[KookyCat]

I'm being tested for thyroid problems again, my consultant is utterly determined I've got an underactive thyroid, but it keeps coming back fine. I sort of see his point, I'm cold all the time, have bouts of extreme fatigue, have erratic cholesterol levels and I've got form with thyroid problems (a complication of glandular fever). He mumbled something about a spluttering thyroid, I'm assuming that's possibly like a spluttering pancreas he wasn't clear and didn't want to elaborate because he had a queue so I'll have to find out next time. I have put a couple of kilos on as it happens and I don't normally put weight on easily so I had wondered. With that and his insistence on a test for coeliac again I think I might be revving up for a triple 🙄