I have just read the message from 'Lou', the only message by the way with just one name. It would be interesting to know their interest in this case.

We were actually saying the RCP should cosult during the review, and why has the BTA been named before the RCP in this message from Lou? Of course, it was the BTA 2006 Guidelines entitled UK Guidelines for the Use of Thyroid Function Tests (July, 2006)where on page 68 they stated, "Routine thyroid function testing has been available for more than thirty years. Therefore, it may seem surprising that the quality of evidence to support the recommendations in these guidelines is generally poor."
The Association of Clinical Biochemistry, the British Thyroid Association and the British Thyroid Foundation.

Perhaps 'Lou' could comment on the above statement as this statement probably adds to the confusion of the medical profession.

He/she may like to know that I actually don't want to spend my time writing letters to the Royal College of Physicians or posting on a site such as this, but I'm afraid I and others like me have to for the sake of our future health, that of our relations and the general public at large.

If it wasn't hypothyroidism for so many years, could 'Lou' give an explaination as to why thyroid replacement worked.  It couldn't possibly have been a placebo effect, purely because of the many other inappropriate treatments given over the years and they hadn't worked.  

As for being brainwashed, I am not brainwashed,  I am an intelligent person and 'Lou' doesn't know my professional status, qualifications etc., so no assumptions should be made by him/her.

I have suffered and I know the true symptoms of hypothyroidism; whoever wrote this hasn't suffered as we have. Some patients suffer more severe symptoms, some very slight. We are all different.

"A common misconception is that a patient must be comatose to be diagnosed with myxedema coma.  However, myxedema coma is a misnomer because most patients exhibit neither the nonpitting edema known as myxedema nor coma.  Instead, the cardinal manifestation of myxedema coma is a deterioration of the patient's mental status."
And, "Patients with myxedema coma usually have longstanding hypothyroidism, although it may not have been previously diagnosedThey often demonstrate classic symptoms of hypothyroidism: fatigue, constipation weight gain, cold intolerance, a deep voice, course hair, and dry, pale cool skin."
American Family Physician. AAFP
www.aafp.org/afp/20001201/2485.html

In our letters to the RCP, we have backed up our responses with hundreds of references; they haven't just been correspondence to say how ill we have been and that we are now better.  We have given a scientific perspective on the subject.

Putting down the medically qualified is not my aim, I can assure you. Being well was my aim and now my aim is to stay well thanks to the correct treatment.

This illness can be particularly worrying when those in power have control of our lives and futures.  See below re Sir Edward Heath and Boris Yeltsin.

Dr. Thomas Stuttaford intereviewed in The Times in April 2007 regarding hypothyroidism, quoted President Yeltsin's lead doctor, "President Yeltsin's lead doctor discussed with me at length the influence that the failure to diagnose hypothyroidism in Russia's leader earlier had had on his health.  Its effect on the blood cholesterol levels and therefore the arteries of the cardiovascular system is obvious - that on the heart muscle, the heart rate and the blood pressure more complex.  The effec on drinking patterns are intersting.  Hypothyroidism is often associated with hypoglycaemia, low blood sugar and hunger.  As an expert said to me this week, not only are the patients perpetually tired and so drink to give themselves a lift and a bit of energy."

Regarding Sir Edward Heath, "On the last night of the first short session, I had dinner with two other medicap MPs, Sir Gerard Vaughan and Lord Trafford, both alas now dead.  They were not only medically qualified but also very distinguished doctors who were leaders in their own clinical disciplines.  During dinner we discussed the Prime Minister's health.  All three of us agreed that there was something amiss, but to our shame none of us spotted the condition."
"The early signs and symptoms of thyroid deficiency are insisious and subtle.  They are very easy to miss, especially when someone sees a patient every day...........a serial film gives a record of the changes in appearance, movements and voice that make the diagnosis obvious."
The Telltale loss of Power - Times Online Sir Edward Heath and Boris Yeltsin had underactive thyroids, a condition often hard to detect.
www.timesonline.co.uk/.../article1709889