Why It’s Hard To Get Help For Low Thyroid Problems

In reality we should all be able to get the right amount of help for any health problem we suffer from. Unfortunately this does not always occur and people can be left suffering unnecessarily because their doctor has failed to make the correct diagnosis or they’re just not on the right medication.

When I started to develop the symptoms of low thyroid, I thought I had the flu to begin with and so did my doctor. I was told to make sure I ate a healthy balanced diet while taking the medication that was I prescribed. I imagined my symptoms would get better over the period of a week, but they failed to do that and in fact they got much worse.

The symptoms I experienced included:

Fatigue
Sensitivity to cold temperatures
Joint pain
Cramps
Dry skin
Brittle nails
Weight gain
Constipation
And I began to get depressed

As you can imagine, I felt pretty bad and the worse the symptoms got, the more depressed I became as I thought I had something life-threatening. Although having low thyroid can make you a lot more susceptible to heart attacks and strokes if it’s not treated, once you’re on the right medication you can put it to the back of your mind and stop worrying about it (Unless the symptoms start to return).

Because of the similarities between the early symptoms of low thyroid and flu, it’s often hard for the doctor to get the diagnosis right particularly if you have the first three symptoms in the list above.

This is not to say that everyone who has the first three symptoms is experiencing low thyroid rather than flu, but if they or you experience the rest of the symptoms you may need to speak to your doctor once more.

Understanding that it’s hard to recognize some of the symptoms of low thyroid explains why many patients do not always get the help they need right away. But it doesn’t take away the fact that I was suffering and so are millions of other people.

If you’re concerned about your symptoms and they’re gradually getting worse, try not to panic but make sure you see your doctor as soon as you can. This will help you to get a proper diagnosis and take you one step closer to getting the treatment you need so you feel well again.