Hi,

I am reading a book 'Why am I so tired" by Martin Budd and in it is mention of Dupuytren's and a connection with hypothyroidism. He states that this condition was seen as evidence of hypothyroidism as early as 1917 being described by McCarrison. His book entitled The Thyroid Gland in Health and Disease states that he observed patients with underactive thyroid suffered from muscle and ligament contractions with subsequent stiffness and weakness. The main areas affected being the neck nd shoulders, the abdominal miscles, the lower back and the calves and feet, pain, cramp and stiffness being typical symptoms, many of which were reversed when the thyroid was successfuly treated.

A light bulb went on in my head when I read this as my late father had Dupuytren's and in fact had an operation for this. I do not have such a thing....yet..... but I do have an underactive thyroid. I do find that sometimes a finger will lock when I am trying to bend it and wonder if this is the start of things to come.

I therefore urge people to have their thyroids tested but then there begins the next problem which I have come across. The blood test range for hypothyroidism is too wide in the UK and therefore people are not getting diagnosed. This could possibly be due to the fact that Big Pharma is making billions from drugs used to treat the symptoms, eg: Obesity, infertility, lack of libido, dry eyes, depression, high cholesterol, arthritis, sleep problems, tiredness etc. etc. I was not correctly diagnosed as I knew I had the symptoms but they meant nothing as the blood tests they said 'NORMAL' and I had to insist on seeing a specialist in the end. Please go to the TPA-UK website and Stopthethyroidmadness for more information. Since the USA altered their blood tests millions more have been correctly diagnosed. Sweden, Germany and Belgium have also changed their tests. Please look up the symptoms of hypothyroidism on the aforementioned websites.

I regret now that my father must have suffered from undiagnosed hypothryoidism as he did have other symptoms when I look back. He suffered dementia in the end.

Hi

You can have one or more of the symptoms. I first presented to my GP with a swollen eyelid. My symptoms were tiredness, disinterested in life in general, thinnng hair, outer part of eyebrows disappeared, weight gain when always previously been size 12/14 and lack of appetite too. Feeling cold when others are warm, dry skin (when I take black tights/trousers off it is like I have dandruff on my legs!), depression. Hypothryoidism is very common but as there are so many symptoms and the blood tests are unreliable, doctors will treat you for say depression, obesity. You have to know about the blood tests) and be strong with your GP. Get all the information from the TPA-UK website (they are campaigning for the blood tests to change). You need to get your results along with the range as labs have different ones.

Many people are still suffering due to doctors' lack of knowledge on hypothyroidism and the fact that they rely on the tests and not what they hear and see before them.

Please go onto here and click onto the discussion forum. http://www.tpa-uk.org.uk/ I have put a message on that site and two women have already said they have dupuytrens and of course hypothyroidism.

The thyroid controls and lot of what our bodies do and if it isn't working properly lots of things are affected!

I should also have mentioned the lack of body hair. I rarely need to shave underarms/legs.

Margaret

Edited 02/20/11 17:58

Me, too - hypothyroidism for years. As for the test done here in the US, my doctor from 20 years ago said that the thyroid test is one of the most specific tests in medicine. They can increase the dose by 0.25mcg. After a TSH test, my current doctor reduced my dosage to 6 tablets (112mcg) per week instead of one everyday so I take 5 whole ones and a half each of the other 2 days.

I have dry eyes and the only thing that has helped is the prescription Restasis and the oily drops. My ophthalmologist told me to take 4-5 flax seed oil capsules a day, so I decided to poke a hole in the capsule and put a drop in each eye once a day. I was hesitant to tell him, but when I recently did, he didn't have any objection but said that supplements aren't regulated and be careful of possible infection. Since I have not had such a problem, he suggested staying with the same brand. He also wants me to use hot compresses on my eyes once a day for about 10 minutes. He said it is like trying to soften butter. I thought that was an interesting simile.

Driest skin in the world. Cold when everybody else is hot. I have symptoms.

Would like to keep this to the forefront of discussion to see if others, with more experience, consider that there could be an avenue to explore.

Maggie,

This is all very interesting. I have been told repeatedly, that I am borderline hypothyroid, but have not been tested (in US) since before 2003. I've started having constant muscle spasms and was diagnosed with 'muscle membrane disorder'. I was prescribed anti-seizure meds for that. I was recently diagnosed with arthritis, with errosion of the joints. My eyes are very dry, normally oily skin needs moisturizer, and I can't hardly stay awake during the day.
I was diagnosed with L.D. and D.D. in January (got the arthritis dx. at the same time).
You've made me realize I need to ask to have my thyroid checked.
I asked my GP if she didn't think there was some common thread, because I am too young to have this long list of diseases ( I haven't even listed all of them, here). She said 'no'. Makes no sense to me. I was a completely different person, two years ago.
Guess we all need our own medical degrees, then we could get to the bottom of it!

Beth