How do you feel comfortable asking your dr to do more in-depth testing for thyroid disorders, without feeling like a hypochondriac?
I was diagnosed with pcos a couple of yrs ago but have never responded to metformin and symptoms have gotten worse. Sometimes I feel like it is thyroid instead of pcos. How do you tell the difference?
Thanks for any responses, just wondering if I'm finally just going crazy.
I'm really not sure how you tell the difference, but I will share my experience w/ being diagnosed w/ Hypothyroidism.
I was feeling awful and it was actually my RE that suggested I get the thyroid check due to my symptoms, which had gotten severe and were:
Huge weight gain, exhausted beyond explanation, depressed, memory was affected (forgetful), speech was just starting to slur, hair falling out.
I had ignored many small symptoms for a long time and by the time I got checked my #'s were off the charts. I was in bed for almost a month. My memory at one point was so bad, I had to have someone w/ me all the time.
Mine was a severe case, so I may not be much help, but if you think your thyroid may be off, I guess I'm trying to show how severe it can get, so I would insist on a test if you do have symptoms. I would insist. There is no need to get as sick as I did.
Thank you for replying! I do believe I have thyroid problems rather than some of the other dx in my medical file. It is hard to sort through the symptoms because alot of my "disorders" have the same symptoms. I took a quiz online and scored that I have 25 out of 33 symptoms for hypothyroidism, with a 76% chance that I have it. I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, insulin resistance, hypertention, water retention(for no apparent reason), obesity, Sjogren's syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, pcos, and obstructive sleep apnea.
It's no wonder I feel as if I'm barely functioning! Sorry to sound so depressing, it's just hard to ask my doctor who is even larger than me, why do I keep gaining so much weight and have all of these symptoms?
I say ask away. Be your own advocate. I pestered my doctor for years, and when he didn't listen, I got another doctor--- and finally a diagnosis! It's better to test and be wrong then to not test and find out too late that there was a problem. Your doctor works for you. You pay him to take care of you, so if you feel that he's overlooking something, tell him. If he won't look into it, find someone who will. You're not crazy--- no one knows your body better than you. Your doctor might end up being surprised if you're right!
thyroid/pcos symptoms similiarities 
