Is this thyroid eye disease?

[NHSdoesntcare]

For the last few days I have had what I would describe as very tired aching eyes. I have had to turn the brightness down on my monitor as it is hurting my eyes, and I am having difficulty focusing properly as well, and feel like there is pressure building up in my head. I have stopped taking my thyroid pills as I noticed that it is worse within half an hour of taking them. I was taking erfa and had not yet built it up to an optimum level. I have hashimotos hypothyroidism but have no idea what my antibody levels are as the doctor doesn't test them, i don't know what my TSH or FT4 levels are because my doctor no longer tests them either. I don't have an endocrinologist as I am housebound due to my hypothyroidism and as far as I am aware Endo's do not make house calls.

Does this sound like thyroid eye disease to you, and what should I do about it, keeping in mind that anything I tell my GP is totally ignored and I have no-one else to ask?

[Dr Petros Perros]

It is not easy to make a diagnosis based on your symptoms alone. The risk of thyroid eye disease in someone with Hashimoto's thyroiditis is very small. If you have no other symptoms such as staring eyes or double vision or swelling of your lids, it is highly unlikely that you have thyroid eye disease. People with thyroid eye disease almost always especially have "upper lid retraction", that is, white of your eyes is visible above the iris -the coloured part of the eye-when you look at the mirror while relaxed. If you are concerned then talk to your doctor. If you need an expert opinion then it can be made available to you even if you are housebound.

P