MY BIG, FAT THYROID

Since my RAI treatment (and my ongoing stable condition – thank goodness) a new thyroid charity has sprung up. Originating from a British Thyroid Association regional support group of thyroid patients and growing into a big online presence, it is patient-led, educative (both for patients and health professionals) and accessible. Since 2019, The Thyroid Trust…

(On holiday with my feet up again – it’s a hard life! Overlooking the River Avon, Hants) July 2019, and I’ve been on 100mcg daily of thyroxine since March. I seem to have pretty much levelled-out, though I still have 8-weekly blood tests and as my TSH levels are a little above normal, I wouldn’t…

(Photo: view from holiday accommodation during long-weekend break to Wells Next the Sea, Norfolk) My recent eight-weekly blood test revealed that I have become hypothyroid.  Me and 15 in every 1 000 women in the UK (NHS for Scotland). This is the polar opposite to my previous hyperthyroidism (see earlier blogs) and this time the symptoms…

The British Thyroid Association are researching the influence of physical activity on quality of life for those suffering from hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) whilst EUTHYROID (ie in balance) because they take thyroxine. If you fit those conditions and are reading this blog, please consider completing the questionnaire (link below): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfE_mZjYqX98ITkU5bq7MEvg84M5269fxl8ixqi_70G5Oa2Xw/viewform  

It turns out that my thyroid levels still fall into the ‘average’ range (and that’s with carbimazole – anti-thyroid medication – still in my bloodstream, pushing it down further than it would naturally be). I’m not hypothyroid, and I don’t qualify for thyroxine. Yet. So the instructions are to ‘wait and see’ –  my levels…

Thyroxine. At least, I think so. It’s all happened rather suddenly – but I realised my resting pulse rate was very low (about 56 when I counted), I was tiring very quickly and felt sluggish and lethargic, had a perpetual headache, and finally, I have developed more wrinkles at the base of my neck (where…

Many thanks to for your kind messages, cards and presents. In answer to some frequently-asked questions: yes, I do still need to switch the lights on at night because no, I don’t glow in the dark, I can’t charge up my phone and unfortunately I haven’t developed any super-powers! Ten Days Since RAI:  Here are listed – official…

Today was RADIOACTIVE IODINE DAY, and the very helpful staff in the alarmingly-named ‘Nuclear Medicine Department’ kindly permitted me to take a photo of my pill, before I was asked to imagine I was drinking from a champagne flute (if only!) to tip the pill into my mouth and glug it down with water. This…

One week before: Time to stop taking carbimazole, which represses my poor, overworking thyroid gland, and to hope that my metabolism doesn’t speed up too much, whilst at the same time it does need to speed up a bit, to maximise the chances of the RAI working… Three carbimazole-free days now, and I’m definitely not…