Concern about Hypothyroidism
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enchanted_daydream
Posts: 258 Member
Hello everyone!
So I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in on August 1st and was started on 0.05mg levothyroxine. My TSH levels were 9.6. I hadn't realized that the symptoms I had were symptoms at all and so it was kind of shocking but made sense when I looked at the symptoms and realized that is why I was feeling tired so often etc. I thought the meds would make me feel better pretty fast but if anything I recognized the symptoms more and gave in to my feeling exhausted so much taking a bunch of naps. My doc wanted me to stay on the level of levo for 3 months but I ended up telling her last week(~2.5 months) that it was making my life too hard and I would like to have blood work done now because I was not feeling great. So I just talked to her and she said my TSH dropped to 5.8 but my Free T4 is normal so she said we don't have to adjust the meds. I was hoping that it would because otherwise there is no reason that I am feeling so tired. So I'm a bit disheartened and confused. It seems like number wise the meds are working and I do know that I have been feeling depressed lately but I had depression in the past and the tiredness seems more severe/physical this time. I don't even feel like I can push past the tiredness to exercise like I could when I had depression because it feels like physically I can't really do it if that makes sense?
So any tips from people who have gone through finding the right numbers/ helping themselves feel normal?
So I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in on August 1st and was started on 0.05mg levothyroxine. My TSH levels were 9.6. I hadn't realized that the symptoms I had were symptoms at all and so it was kind of shocking but made sense when I looked at the symptoms and realized that is why I was feeling tired so often etc. I thought the meds would make me feel better pretty fast but if anything I recognized the symptoms more and gave in to my feeling exhausted so much taking a bunch of naps. My doc wanted me to stay on the level of levo for 3 months but I ended up telling her last week(~2.5 months) that it was making my life too hard and I would like to have blood work done now because I was not feeling great. So I just talked to her and she said my TSH dropped to 5.8 but my Free T4 is normal so she said we don't have to adjust the meds. I was hoping that it would because otherwise there is no reason that I am feeling so tired. So I'm a bit disheartened and confused. It seems like number wise the meds are working and I do know that I have been feeling depressed lately but I had depression in the past and the tiredness seems more severe/physical this time. I don't even feel like I can push past the tiredness to exercise like I could when I had depression because it feels like physically I can't really do it if that makes sense?
So any tips from people who have gone through finding the right numbers/ helping themselves feel normal?
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Replies
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This is a struggle that many of us on this board have been through, unfortunately.
Your doctor is only treating your lab values and not any of your symptoms. It doesn't matter if your free T4 is through the roof, if you are not able to convert the T4 into usable hormones (T3, T2, T1) you will still feel like crap and have all the symptoms of underactive thyroid. I think you need a new doctor and an increase in or complete change in your medication, testing for Vitamin D, ferritin (iron), Free T3, and both thyroid antibodies, adrenal fatigue, etc.
It was my experience that no matter what lifestyle and exercise changes I made, I did not feel any different or any better, could not lose weight, and still had crazy-high cholesterol, until I was properly medicated. I did ok on a Levothyroxine/Liothyronine combination, but currently take Armour, which is working fantastically for me.
Some helpful information at:
http://thyroid.about.com
(Make sure you check out http://thyroid.about.com/od/thyroiddrugstreatments/a/treatments.htm)
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/
Hope that helps.0 -
Kcvance gave you great advice! You might want to check out Stop The Thyroid Madness physician referral page for doctor in your area. I have struggled with docs treating lab results for years - I was lucky that I did not get the 'depressed' label nor the drugs because it's been thyroid all along. I have recently changed docs and this one wants to treat my symptoms not my lab results. This is the best I've felt in years!
Ask to be tested for Hashimoto's Thyroid antibodies (there are two that should be tested, don't allow the doc to just test for one anitbody) as most hypothyroid is a result of Hashimoto's an autoimmune disease.
Good Luck! There are a few good docs that know how to treat thyroid disease, don't be afraid to doctor shop - you are not shopping for drugs (narcotics) you are shopping for your health and your life!0 -
Thank you guys for responding! I already am feeling better because of it! It was really hard to hear that she wasn't going to do any more for that because I was really expecting that the meds were going to change and things would feel better so learning that made me feel like I was gonna have to stay feeling crappy.
I really like talking to people who have had experience with it. I am definitely going to visit an endocrinologist since she is not a specialist but I have to wait so I can get referred. In the mean time I'm going to look up those sites and try to get more knowledgable on the matter so I can be my own health advocate. Thanks again
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