Woman who has woken up with 'flu' for 16 years

Even shopping can be an ordeal for Kath Robinson, 64, who suffers from aching muscles and joints, hot and cold flushes, exhaustion and poor concentration.

The symptoms are caused by hypothyroidism, a condition which prevents the body from producing enough of the hormone responsible for metabolism.

Mrs Robinson's sisters Christine Justice and Patricia Ashcroft, who died in 1993 and 2007 respectively, were also diagnosed with the thyroid condition, and she fears that it might be affecting other members of her family.

Although her daughters, Julie Overton, 46, and Vicky Robinson, 25, have not been diagnosed with the illness, they have experienced some of its symptoms.

The condition affects one in 100 people, but health campaigners believe it is "extremely rare" for a patient to suffer all the flu-like symptoms simultaneously for a prolonged period.

Mrs Robinson, a grandmother- of-six who was forced to retire five years ago, said: "I feel so poorly it's unbelievable. I used to have such an active life and now I feel a shadow of my former self.

"Some days I just don't want to live any more, because of all the things I want to do that I simply can't do. I feel like I'm 90.

"The moment I start to do anything, like clean the house or go to the shops, I can start really energetically but then I'm suddenly shaking and feel terrible. I need to have (my husband) Philip with me when we go to the shops and on my bad days I even have to use a wheelchair.

"It's awful. It's like having the flu, but permanently. It sends me mad."

Mrs Robinson, from Halifax, said she had arthritis in her hips from a young age, but the flu-like symptoms only developed 16 years ago.

She visited doctors for six years before hypothyroidism was diagnosed, and the treatment she had received since has failed to relieve her pain.

"When I went to see the doctor I said I can put up with the arthritis but not these flu symptoms," she said.

"They just kept on telling me it was my arthritis, for years.

"It was only when I went to see the same GP that treated my sister, who had the same condition as I do, that he tested me for hypothyroidism and I finally found out what it was."

Mrs Robinson has been given the drug Levothyroxine to replace the missing hormone and minimise the impact of the disease, but she has decided to supplement it by paying 30 a month for extra medication, including strong painkillers and muscle relaxants.

She has also paid 3,150 for a stairlift for her home because she found using the stairs too painful, even though occupational therapists decided she did not need one.

Mrs Robinson, who hopes to start a self-help group for fellow sufferers, said that, although doctors believed that Levothyroxine was "the beginning and end of everything", she felt no better.

"The drug I take is not working, but no-one seems to be investigating it," she said. People suffer from hypothyroidism in different ways but I've got all the symptoms at once."

She added: "I want my life back. I want some expert guidance to help me get my life back, but no-one seems to be interested enough."

Sheila Turner, of Thyroid Patient Advocacy, which campaigns for better education in diagnostics and improved treatment of thyroid disease sufferers, said: "It is absolutely appalling that this woman has suffered for so long.

"Although the flu symptoms are not uncommon in hypothyroidism sufferers, having them all at once over that period is extremely rare.

"Unfortunately, hypothyroidism is often undiagnosed in this country because the NHS will only ever test the function of the thyroid gland – not the secretions – leaving hypothyroidism undetected."