kevinchess1 wrote:I wonder where the Big top tent had gone

I will have you know I have lost weight. A year and a smidgen on the 5:2 diet I have dropped a dress size. I know 2 days a week of 500 calories and being careful the other days and that is all I have to show for it.
If I was like my friend, D, I would have been sent to a specialist instead of constantly being told my thyroid was "normal" but I had all the symptoms of thyroid probs. I ended up taking 20 Kelp tablets a day (1 is recommended) just to feel normal. But the last time I stopped the kelp tablets I realised I was feeling almost normal so have not taken them since.
I am still not where I should be, my hair and skin are still very dry when before the problem started they were greasy. And I have to make sure I have a very high fibre diet to avoid another symptom of thryroid problems.
My friend has Celiac Disease which means avoiding all foods made from grains containing gluten like wheat. But he still drinks beer (gluten free is lager type and he likes a dark beer), and fish and chips taste so good he has to have them every week. And that pudding in the cafe - well you could not say no. Hence him having to take iron tablets every day. He had countless blood tests because he was complaining to his GP how tired he was feeling. He has been complaining about feeling off colour and tired all year. His GP has various tests done, and in the end says the only thing left he can think is that it must be a thyroid problem.
So D has a special blood test that has to be at the hospital and tested within 3 hours, I had ones that could be taken at any time. And when the blood test was taken he was also referred to a specialst. Seen her once and she ordered a 2nd special blood test. He sees her again on Wednesday.
If she says he has an underactive thryroid I will eat my hat. I know I have a mild hormone problem, I know I had a major undiagnose hormone problem. And I am equally sure he has not, he does not seem to have any of the symptoms I had apart from tiredness and keeping to a gluten free diet would sosrt that out.
Yes, I could go back and demand the same treatment or change to D's GP. But I live the wrong end of town for that GP and I do not have the physical or mental energy to fight the Doctor's and their insistence that there is nothing wrong. But you would think there should be a level playing field when it comes to getting to see a specialist. And as I have a history you would think I would be the one sent to the hospital not D. (I had my 2nd ovary removed and six months of drug therapy because my pituary gland was misbehaving. And that was the time my other problems started although they did not get severe until a few years later.)