Excellent news Aussie. Get a copy when they give the results and if you need any help we can analyse them for you.

Shall do, thank you

Can i ask, are there any others that have underactive thyroid and can not seem to put the weight on.

I know no-one is happy with their situation,but oh i wish. I have been on meds for a while now and weight wise no different than before i went on them.I do enjoy life a tad too much though.

What a great thread.

Recently moved to Canberra from the UK

Oh how I wish I could loose weight. Been diagnosed with Hashi's since 1984 and my weight is a constant battle especially in the last 10 years,- now aged 54yrs. Currently taking 175mgs thyroxine and my last blood test results (taken in UK, as only recently been in Aus.) were
TSH = 0.3 mul (3.35-5.50)
Free T4 = 18.8pmol (9.8 - 23.1)
My legs constantly ache as do my arms/shoulders.
Now that I am in Aus - I am determined to try to improve my health and well being. Any help and /or advise would be great

many thanks

Rita

Welcome, Rita - both to Australia and the Thyroid Chicks' Thread. These ladies are a great source of support.

I'm in no way an expert but my best advice to you is to take charge of your health (something that was probably hard to do under the NHS), question everything told to you, insist on a copy of all your test results, insist on more than the bog-standard tests (read through this thread for ideas or get into discussion here about what they are), find a doctor that considers symptoms as well as test results, and verify everything you read on the internet.

Correction....! I am very happy with my situation. I have natural thyroid, have successfully lost a lot of weight over 3 years, have got my fitness to a good level which is better than most people who haven't got an auto immune condition.... The only side effect I have is an occasional outbreak of hives but that's an adjustment in meds... I keep fit, I enjoy life, I try not to eat wheat and wheat products, but I'm healthy and I feel good. I don't put weight on and I'd like to lose another few lb, prob about 10 or so, but I'm not in a hurry to do this. I'll get round to it.
I am happy.

Hey Rita...

Well all the help and advice is in this thread... there's info on vitamins, minerals, natural thyroid, how to find a good doctor. It's a matter of sitting yourself down with an hour to kill with a nice cuppa and having a good read. Write down what you think is relevent to you and we can go from there.

Are you seeing a doc here in Aus at all?
I hear you on the leg and shoulder ache... it's so debilitating isn't it? And you're a young thing.. you shouldn't have this to contend with.
Read the thread first.... esp the stuff about vitamins/minerals

I recently read about autoimmune on Dr Myhilll's site in the UK but it seems to be down at the mo... I'll try to access it later but it was info which seemed very good for us autoimmune chicks... Will try to add later.

This thread is so interesting and i would like to say thank you i have learnt far more here than from my Dr, ive been taking thyroxin for about 6 years now ive never been sent to the hospital it was the Optition who said i may have thyroid problem,s not my Dr, so i went to the Dr who did a blood test and phoned to say he had a prescription for me, the first year i had to go for 3 monthly checks then 6 monthly checks but then it went last year to a yearly check, but after about 6 months i felt really ill, i was having panic attacks i asked for a blood test and was told the year wasn't up yet so i made an appointment to see the Dr and he sent me to the practise nurse who did the blood test it came back that i had to up the dose by 50gm i felt so relived, 4 weeks later i had to go for another test they then dropped it by 25mg so now i am on 125mg i wont be tested again for a year friends tell me i should have test's at least 6 monthly but not yearly, has anyone else have to wait this long or is it normal, thanxs again

Hello honey.

You should be tested twice a year, to take into account the seasonal changes....

Winter and summer... you get more vit D production in the summer, which helps... and slow in winter due to the cold.

Meds should be adjusted on how you feel, not what month it is!
Some docs are numbers docs and only go on test results.
Better for thyroid girls to find themselves a doc who goes on how you feel, rather than numbers. This way, you treat the symtoms, not the numbers.

Glad you got something out of the thread.

x

Thank TiddlyPom its hard to find a good Dr, dont get me wrong my Dr is very good in other ways but just not with thyroid but this thread is so good, as soon as i feel unwell again i'm off to see the Dr, thanx again a very grateful nanny,andto all the Gal's on here.

Hi nanny, all the best with it! I'd say to you what I said to Rita a few posts up the page, although I realise that on the NHS it's not always easy - most of us on here have no option but to go private and it's a lot easier to get tests done when you're paying for them.

I never had my thyroid tested in the UK; I put everything down to the menopause and it was only when I left the country that I found out I'd probably had issues for years. (Hmmm, sometimes I wonder, is it better not to know? )

Go to your doctor armed with knowledge, ask lots of questions. I know a little knowledge can be very dangerous and docs get fed up with patients who think they know it all, but showing an interest and asking questions you think you know the answer to but want to steer them round to talking about helps.

Hi everyone,

Posted the above back in February & have been following this wonderful thread since.
Still no change, & I'm still on 50mcg thyroxine. However, my circumstances have changed, I'm now 17 weeks pregnant with twins. I thought I was tired before I was pregnant!
The docs have said they'll test my TSH levels every trimester because obviously if I'm not getting enough thyroid hormone then the babies won't be which can cause all sorts of developmental problems & it's common to have to increase dose during pregnancy.
Results in August were TSH - 2.53, Free T4 - 12. Recently tested, my TSH dropped to 1.77 which surprised me. I thought it would get worse during pregnancy. Does anyone else have any experience of this during pregnancy or any knowledge. Thanks

Leigh

Thanks for the reply. I will take on board the advice and make sure I go through the thread sifting the info as suggested. Looks like I'm in for a long read and several cuppas. I am currently on a long stay tourist visa with OH living with my son whilst awaiting my CPV 143 visa, and have not yet seen a Dr here. Thanks again for this great thread.

Rita

Thanks for your reply. Yes it was hard to get past the "test results" figures GP's in the UK. The best one I had was in Cambridge when I was initially diagnosed some 25 yrs ago. Since then it has been figures/results determining treatment. From what I have read on here, I am looking forward to getting to grips with being in charge. Oh is very supportive with this too. I feel positive about moving forward with this for the first time in years. Off to start reading. Thanks.

Rita