Thyroid Problems

[Book]

Mother diagnosed with hyperthyroidism in late thirties, can the tendency towards problems be inherited, as I am female and now fifty and concerned. Have a whole range of problems from overheating to dry skin, brittle nails, tiredness, headaches, constipation, weight gain the list goes on. Could be due to total Hysterectomy four years go but problems getting worse not better.

[cosyrosy]

could

[cosyrosy]

could be thyroid, or hysterectomy(does weird things to your body for ages) or menopause or lots of things

what you really need is a sympathetic female doctor

[shaneystar2]

I had a hysterectomy aged 39 and am now 58. I didn't experience any of the above after the hysterectomy but I have experienced the symptoms you describe for most of last year until I took myself off to the doctors where I was diagnosed with an under active thyroid.If you type under active thyroid into the search category there are a whole host of threads.
Also see here
http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/underactive_thyr oid.html
Get yourself to the doctor asap .he will do blood tests and then you will know. It is easily controlled by medication and ,yes,it can be hereditary.
Hope you soon feel better.Good luck.

[lainiej]

My mother has underactive thyroid and I have had numerous blood tests done to see if I have it too. I'm 47 and I have difficulty losing weight, feel tired most of the time and usually achey. The tests always come back as being ok. However I understand that it the result is borderline is will show that evertything is ok so really this is not conclusive. Hope you get this sorted out because I havent been able to

[shaneystar2]

That is a shame lainiej . It is most unpleasant and I know how you feel.If your results always come back as borderline there must be a slight problem. I would have thought your GP. would at least have tried you on a very low dose of thyroxin for a while. In the meantime ..I have heard that kelp supplements from the health shop can help with thyroid problems.May be worth a try.
Hope you soon feel better too.

[alijangra]

All that is required is a simple blood test so request it from your GP, your symptoms and family history are just cause for it to be done. My gran, mum and sis all have hypothyroidism. I had my bloods done the other day so waiting on results.

Kelp supplements may help as they contain iodine, but if the hypothyroidism is caused by 'Hashimotos disease' then this is an autoimmune disorder which attacks the thyroid gland and the only treatment will be thyroxine.

Treatment with low dose thyroxine is not recommended for borderline cases due to risks of becoming hyper.

As a matter of interest, both my mum and sister were told they were borderline roughly 10 years prior to being diagnosed as hypo.