Hello from Part 2

[Guest guest]

Hi Folks,

Thanks for your responses. I need to go away

and digest them as I don’t really understand what you are all talking

about and need to find a ‘thyroid for dummies’ explanation before I

can get into the greater detail you have given me.

I will buy the Peatfield book and also look at the

TPA website, but my degree in English Lit is not really much help as I’m

a bit of a duffer at science!!

You asked about my before and after readings:

On 22nd July – pre-Carbimazole - my

results were (and I’m afraid I don’t have the reference ranges, can

I ask for a print out at the hospital as I’m currently scribbling them

down during my consultations?):

T3: 9.7

T4: 19.7

TSH: 0.08

I don’t have figures for my antibodies

My results mid Aug (whilst four weeks into 6 weeks of

30mg of Carbimazole) were:

T4: 10.8

TSH: 0.09

Anitbodies: 386 (he told me 30 -70 was normal)

I don’t have figures for T3

I don’t know what these results mean (Tess said

that my T4 is only 10 after four weeks on it, what does that mean? How does

that related to my weight?). I am now on 10mg as Carbimazole until 11

Nov, my next appointment. I have to go for bloods as I said in mid-Oct

and the sample envelope he’s given me says ‘TFTs’ – there

is nothing ticked, he’s just written it at the bottom. He’s

also written ‘thyrotoxic’ in the clinical details and drug therapy

box. It appears from what you say that this should include a full thyroid

panel but probably won’t!! Can I just ring the hospital when I make my

bloods apt and ask what that means? Can I get it changed before the test

to include all the things you recommend? How do I do that, ring his

clinic and ask him to issue a new blood test request? I’m not very

keen to wait until mid-Nov before getting the right tests done – the thought

of getting to that appointment to be told I’ve another couple of months

of feeling like utter shite is too much to bear!

Dr B Mc (yes it is the same one who’s had

issues with the GMC, and he seems lovely and genuinely keen to help) has already

asked me to do an adrenal stress test and my kit has just arrived from Geneva

Diagnostics. Is it worth me also asking him if its OK to do a full

thyroid screen (assuming I can’t get Dr M at sfield to adjust the

blood tests) so that my results are ready by the time I’m due back to see

the Endo on 11th Nov?

What’s block and replace?

Basically I need some help to very slowly walk me

through what it is that I’m actually suffering form and what these T3s

T4s TSHs and antibodies actually are, what they do, and how they inter-relate

as I have no idea!!

What rights do I have as a patient, can I phone them

up and just ask them to post me a full copy of all of my tests so far?

Also no one has mentioned Graves

disease, not sure what that means either!!

One last question – I am self-employed and am

struggling to keep up with my work commitments. It’s been a bumpy

few years (I had a stress breakdown and had to give up my job five years ago,

which is probably where the trouble started) and I’ve worked really hard

to build up my life again. Things were starting to level out, and I was

starting to feel so much better, and starting to repair my finances and get my

life back on track. I’m now scared I’m about to lose it all

again and am very p*ssed off that I now have this to contend with. So

what are others experiences with work? Did you have to stop or go part

time? Realistically, how long are we talking about until I can expect to

feel ‘normal’ again?

Many thanks, sorry for asking such simple (and long!)

questions!

Thanks

x

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