Re: Getting T3 tested under the NHS

[Guest guest]

Hi Sheila

Thanks for your reply. I will definitely be writing to the Primary

Care Trust if the T3 test is refused, but I will also write to ask

if this policy is widespread. The surgery I attend has six doctors,

so presumably they all follow the same pattern.

I was first diagnosed by a different doctor and all he told me was

to take 25 of thyroxine for a month and then come back for another

test. He said I would probably need to go up to 100 (my TSH was 75).

I asked him when I should take the thyroxine and he said 'I take

mine before breakfast'. So, he was hypothyroid himself but didn't

think it necessary to give me any information. The mind boggles!

> Hi

>

> >> I told him I

> needed to know my T3 level but he said they don't do it because the

> biochemist doesn't think it's necessary and it gets expensive! I

asked if I should go and have my

> blood test, but he said no, he would write to the biochemist and

ask

> if he would do the T3 test and let me know.

>

> What a ridiculous and appalling situation. WHO is in charge

here? Your doctor or the Biochemist? This is one question you

should ask the PCT.

>

> The doctor knows the patient and what signs and symptoms you are

presenting with - the Biochemist knows nothing about you. He knows

about testing blood and what the normal reference ranges are - the

doctor knows how these should be interpreted according to the rules

laid down by the NHS. If a patient's blood result is in the normal

range, the Biochemist writes on the slip 'normal'. The doctor can

misinterpret this thinking that the Biochemist is indicating that

the patient therefore has no thyroid problem. On the other hand, if

the Biochemist interprets this to mean that the patient doesn't have

a thyroid problem, how can he interpret the result when he/she has

never seen or spoken to the patient? How can a Biochemists come to a

decision about whether a patient needs a T3 test when they don't

know anything whatsoever about that particular patient.

>

> It appears that your general Prattitioner is passing the buck -

obviously he needs to brush up on his knowledge about where HIS

responsibility lies.

>

> Write to your local Primary Care Trust giving them all the details

you can and give them your blood test results so far and the

symptoms which are causing you problems and ask them WHY it should

be the responsibility of a Biochemist to decide whether you need a

particular blood test or not without them knowing anything

whatsoever about you. Tell them that you NEED a T3 test and that it

is their responsibility to fund this. My doctor did T3 tests for me

every 3 months on the NHS without batting an eye. The Primary Care

Trust are there to look after the needs of patients - NOT the

doctors.

>

> One final thought, all laboratories are geared up to test for T3 -

I know, I have telephoned around to find out. If they believe that

T3 is unnecessary, why is this test available under the NHS. A full

Thyroid Profile consists of FT4, FT3 and TSH. Demand your right

and good luck.

>

> Luv - Sheila

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I think that is a good point, thanks Lynda.

However, my Mum's TSH is below 1, her pulse is around the 80s & she's

quite buzzy with energy. The more I think of it, the more I think it

is a side-effect of the synthetic. She didn't have any of these

symptoms before she was medicated & she was pretty hypo, TSH of 18,

very dull eyes, massive constipation, but none of the brain fog.

She is going to get on Armour soon though I hope. What you say is

worth bearing in mind though I know.

Thanks!

fee xxx

> Hi Fee,

> those symptoms that your mother has may not be because of the

synthroid, they could be because she is undermedicated. I had all

those symptoms before I was on medication (and I am considered sharp

too!)

[Guest guest]

Hello feemccormick,

f> My Mum just started on synthroid over a year ago.

f> She is extremely sharp, brilliant memory, very clever.

f> Now she is certain these things are not a sign of Hypo, or old age,

f> but a side-effect of Sinthroid.

I suspect its not the sinthroid per se but the effect of reducing the

TSH and therefore reducing the amount of T3 made by the body . Your

mum is probably not a good converter of synthetic T4.

I went like that -and still am because i have to go very slowly with

medication due to severely compromised adrenals.

i am probably

having to get occupational therapy because i can no longer write or

paint with a brush or pen - starting Armour is likely to help [i'm waiting for

it to

arrive] but at the same time it will be a slow process to re-learn the

things i can no-longer do . I can type but speaking and thinking is not good and

i

have problems reading -but I've discovered that i can read abridged

books slowly or ones that i have previously read.

I had some memory problems before -fogginess and some short term

memory loss -but now its like

early-Alzheimers

It started around Christmas when i discovered that that

the

Christmas card I was painting couldn't be finished since i no longer could

grip properly and i couldn't accurately lay down brush strokes.

I was also no longer able to edit my writing despite needing to get a

manuscript back to a publisher in time for the Bologna Childrens book

fair.

I was always the 'memory' for my family but now its become the norm

that if an item has disappeared then its in the freezer or the

bin [my son's scout uniform was accidently thrown out rather than put

in the linen bin, fish food and mobile phones ands keys have ended

up in the freezer]

--

Best regards,

Alison

http://www.alisonashwell.com

mailto:alison.ashwell@...

new work uploaded

http://www.artwanted.com/alisonashwell

http://www.voodoochilli.net/artists/alisonashwell/

[Guest guest]

yes, that sounds just like me! I am not so bad now with the reading, but for a

long time I would read the same sentence over and over again. I would also

misread words - words that looked similar but with a different meaning, so I

could not make sense of what I was reading.

Lynda (in the UK)

I was always the 'memory' for my family but now its become the norm

that if an item has disappeared then its in the freezer or the

bin [my son's scout uniform was accidently thrown out rather than put

in the linen bin, fish food and mobile phones ands keys have ended

up in the freezer]

--

Best regards,

Alison

http://www.alisonashwell.com

mailto:alison.ashwell@...

new work uploaded

http://www.artwanted.com/alisonashwell

http://www.voodoochilli.net/artists/alisonashwell/

[Guest guest]

It's not so much that it is a side effect of $ynthroid, rather that the

$ynthroid does not get rid of the hypo. Thus, it's undertreatment, i.e., she is

still hypo and is not getting any T3 to her tissues. Plus, I think that

$ynthroid, along with many other T4 meds, has way too many fillers in it, which

many of us are sensitive to. If a person has allergies already, i.e., adrenal

quirks, then they certainly don't need these extra little goodies that are in

all these meds. Yea, Armour!

Re: Getting T3 tested under the NHS

Shirley your description of puffing out like a piggy really made me

laugh & one earlier of Janie gnashing her teeth at some endonob

bobbins too....

Just wanted to add in about the side-effects of Sin-throid.

My Mum just started on synthroid over a year ago.

She is extremely sharp, brilliant memory, very clever.

Now she is certain these things are not a sign of Hypo, or old age,

but a side-effect of Sinthroid.

1. She is like a zombie in the morning

2. She is forgetting things that she never did before - names, what

she's been doing, dates

3. She forgets who has said what to her

None of this happened before she went on Sinthroid - albeit she was

hypo & had bad digestive issues that have cleareld up, but she has

really noticed the mental dulling.

She is trying to get her Doc to presribe her Armour & I'm badgering

her until she gets on it too.

Love Fee with gritted teeth & hackles up!

xxxxx

[Guest guest]

The TSH can be at a " 0 " , but the actual thyroid hormones can be zilch also, at

the same time. TSH is a pituitary hormone, not the thyroid hormone.

Re: Getting T3 tested under the NHS

I think that is a good point, thanks Lynda.

However, my Mum's TSH is below 1, her pulse is around the 80s & she's

quite buzzy with energy. The more I think of it, the more I think it

is a side-effect of the synthetic. She didn't have any of these

symptoms before she was medicated & she was pretty hypo, TSH of 18,

very dull eyes, massive constipation, but none of the brain fog.

She is going to get on Armour soon though I hope. What you say is

worth bearing in mind though I know.

Thanks!

fee xxx

[Guest guest]

I've been reading like that since I was a child. I ALWAYS had to take notes as

I was reading to get the main ideas, and this is how I learned to learn things

by memory. Writing things down is the only way that I can store them in memory,

since the first grade onward. I was an A student only because I learned these

methods of survival in school very early. When I read to myself for

informational purposes, I have to read stuff over and over. If I read aloud, it

is totally gone! Yet, I was an A English student, etc...

Re: Re: Getting T3 tested under the NHS

yes, that sounds just like me! I am not so bad now with the reading, but for

a long time I would read the same sentence over and over again. I would also

misread words - words that looked similar but with a different meaning, so I

could not make sense of what I was reading.

Lynda (in the UK)

I was always the 'memory' for my family but now its become the norm

that if an item has disappeared then its in the freezer or the

bin [my son's scout uniform was accidently thrown out rather than put

in the linen bin, fish food and mobile phones ands keys have ended

up in the freezer]

--

Best regards,

Alison

[Guest guest]

I get your point but I was always a fast, accurate reader until this illness hit

me. So it has to be the illness that is affecting my ability to process (or

age!!)

Lynda

Re: Re: Getting T3 tested under the NHS

I've been reading like that since I was a child. I ALWAYS had to take notes

as I was reading to get the main ideas, and this is how I learned to learn

things by memory. Writing things down is the only way that I can store them in

memory, since the first grade onward. I was an A student only because I learned

these methods of survival in school very early. When I read to myself for

informational purposes, I have to read stuff over and over. If I read aloud, it

is totally gone! Yet, I was an A English student, etc...

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 5/14/2004 1:31:46 AM Eastern Standard Time,

lyn.worth@... writes:

>

> I get your point but I was always a fast, accurate reader until this illness

> hit me. So it has to be the illness that is affecting my ability to

> process (or age!!)

>

Same here...it's one of the things I missed most...not being able to

read/concentrate/comprehend. Yesterday, after being on 3 grains of Armour for a

while...I noticed that ability had returned. My brain felt sharp and I had this

wonderful delightful sense of clarity that had been missing for so long. And

the dang endo wants me to drop back to 2 1/2 grains...and I'm so afraid to lose

this gain in brain function.

Cindi