Friday, 18 January 2013

Thyroid Awareness Month 2013

January is Thyroid Awareness Month
Over the last few years I have shared various posts about my Thyroid condition and the curiosity of could it be inherited. As it is Thyroid Awareness Month, I thought I would simply present a little medley of those earlier posts.

The Twitter feed is #ThyroidAwarenessMonth
There are a few others (tag - Thyroid)

As I have said previously I think that there is a potential link back to those earlier generations. My Endocrinologist who I see every 6 months was rather interested when I discussed it back in 2011 with him. Now, every time I go for an appointment he always asks how I have progressed. It's good CPD for the day job!

Furthermore, I make a reference in one of those earlier posts about the amount of colds I was getting whilst on a higher dose of Levothyroxine. On that particular Endocrinology appointment I saw a registrar. We chatted about the earlier Bristol Study that I had been involved with and then asked as I sat there full of cold, if I had many colds. I thought about it and said that yes, I do get a lot of colds, but I am working in the environment to catch them. He then went back through my bloods tests and pointed out the level of T4 rises immediately before I am unwell then dips when I am unwell.

He arranged to print out the blood results and promised to plot the results as a graph and send to me. Two weeks later it arrived along with a letter inviting me to another, sooner appointment and a copy of a letter to my GP where he discussed the findings.

As a result of those findings, discussions and appointments I was reduced from 150mcg in 2008/9 to 100mcg of Levothyroxine. Since then I have reduced the amount of time I am ill by 50%.

Interesting....coincidence or fact?

3 comments:

  1. That is amazing. I have not had a lot of colds and I'll have to see what my dose is. My doctor mainly asks if I'm depressed and that if i am she can write me a prescription.

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    Replies
    1. That is common here too. The question arises from patients often describing a black cloud and the assumption is made that it is depression. The black cloud is, and I speak from my experience simply almost feeling over come with "doom". The cloud descends, stays a while and then passes as quick as it came. It goes along with me feeling not quite right, almost as though I am working on about 50%.

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  2. Interesting Julie. I have throid lumps despite having "normal" blood results....apparently more common with people who've been in PNG, they don't know why. I sometimes find a correlation between feeling down and my throat lumps being swollen. I should have a thyroid test when they flare up.

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