I went to the Doctor this morning and he didn't mind me saying I had Googled my symptoms. In fact, he agreed that the eyebrow issue did seem to indicate a possible thyroid problem - of course it could be something else, but I am having blood tests (next week) to check my thyroid function.
So the dry skin, tiredness, weight loss, tendency towards RSI-type pain, extra sensitivity to heat or cold...? All could be down to my thyroid.
My facial rash is almost certainly Rosacea. (Yes, I thought that too.) And he gave me a topical antibiotic cream to calm down the current flare-up.
And my white fingers are definitely Raynaud's Disease. But this might improve if I am treated for thyroid problems (if it is my thyroid, yadda yadda yadda). Don't you just love how they need to cover themselves just in case they guess wrong? Doctor, I won't sue you, I promise!
So there you have it - two days ago I passed for healthy and now I am a raft of symptoms and daft diseases beginning with the letter "R". Splendid!
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5 comments:
Up to fairly recently I used Dr Hauschka skin care and it was excellent but I think with the meds my skin went off it. There were a lot of glowing references re rosecea in the info and they seemed to cater for it a lot.
NB - I STILL have eyebrows ;P
Look on the bright side, at least you haven't got ringworm, or rickets, or roundworm or even the runs. ;-)
You ladies crack me up, you really do!
It won't be so bad if it comes back positive. Both my sister and I have underactive thyroids. Mine started years ago with overactive, it was treated very well and gave me no more problems until a year ago. Then got diagnosed with underactive and boy what a difference the little pill a day has made. Fantastic after having stuggled for a bit - putting it down to stress ( well you would!) but fantastic to be balanced again, makes a whole lot of difference, particulary to dry skin, but I'm still pencilling in the eyebrows!!
Opps - I hope not but just in case, welcome to the thyroid treadmill.
There is a lot of quite useful information on this website: http://thyroid.about.com/
When your test results come back, ask what the lab reference range is and exactly what your TSH number is. If it appears to be 'normal' (within range), ask if you can have a thyroid antibodies test to rule out thyroiditis. If you get a chance, check the symptoms list for this as hives is on it.
I've discovered that the lab reference range for TSH is extremely generous (0.38 - 5.5 here) and GPs do not always test for antibodies as a matter of course.
My 1st results were bang smack in the middle of the range and no antibodies test was done. So my GP told me that there was nothing wrong with me. In effect, I was in the process of being written off as a fat, tired, depressed woman with an oversized thyroid.
Somewhere in amongst the comedy of errors involving a number of unfunny medical encounters, I was given an antibodies test which was positive.
Eventually, I was referred to an endocrinologist who explained that preferred TSH number is between 1 and 2. As my TSH level has worsened recently, I am now receiving treatment.
It almost did not happen though. It seems to be a very easy thing to slip through the net.
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