Feel like a moron

brooke800

Why did I not realize this before....Oh my gosh I almost want to cry I'm so relieved. For the past 5 years I have extreme ups and downs with my weight. Within weeks my clothes would suddenly be falling off me and I would lose weight very quickly, but without changing diet/exercise. Then just as quickly the weight would come back on...plus some. I would feel depressed and hopeless. Insomnia would get really bad. I couldn't indentify any exercise/nutrition changes that contributed to the gain. And then it would happen again.

The past 1.5 the weight has only been up. I keep waiting for the drop but it hasn't happened. This made me go to the dr and ask for tests. I was depressed, tired- exhausted actually, yet could not sleep. Turns out I am hypothyroid as I began to predict. BUT I must have hashimotos. It just makes sense. This would explain so much. Everyone thought I was nuts when I would say how these weight changes "just happened". They thought the insomnia was a result of stress or I was just depressed and eating more because of that. Every female in my family has hashimotos.

Although I don't know if you can really treat this (i'm on levothyroxine now for the hypo) well, I'm still hopeful and relieved because I was feeling so out of control not knowing why all this was happening.

tecallahan

Could be hashimoto -- although I have it and my weight only went up for 15 years! See if he will do a blood test for antibodies. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, synthetic T4 (levothyroxine, synthroid, etc.) will only improve your T4 inactive hormone levels and your TSH levels. But what your metabolism needs is the T3 active hormone. If your thyroid is successfully converting T4 to T3, synthetic T4 might help you. If it's not, or if you have other issues such as adrenal fatigue, Reverse T3, low ferritin/iron levels, low Vitamin D, magnesium, etc... then the synthetic T4 will not really help your symptoms.

For me, 15 years of T4 did nothing - my cholesterol levels and blood pressure soared and my weight ballooned from 125 pounds to 175 pounds. I was more and more tired.. I had extreme insomnia, constipation, low body temp, depression, etc. The synthroid did absolutely nothing to reduce any of my symptoms, but the doctors declared my levels as "normal". 5 years ago I was on 11 different prescription medications - every one of them for symptoms caused by my thyroid disease.

In January, 2012 I fired my doctor and hired a Naturopath. He put me on Natural Dessicated Thyroid and told me to stop taking cholesterol medicine (Lipitor) which was causing me extreme muscle cramping. Now, less than 6 months later - I am on no prescription medications except for my thyroid med. I have dropped 16 pounds and most of my hypo symptoms are gone. I am strong and energized and able to exercise every day while maintaining a full time job... oh, and I am 60 years old and just finished my first triathlon.

I guess synthetic T4 medication might help someone, but for the life of me I don't know a single soul who is doing well on it -- unless their thyroid condition was extremely mild and they had low/no symptoms to start with.

Check out www.stopthethyroidmadness.com -- the choice to be proactive in seeking thyroid treatment is up to the individual - I just wish that 15-20 years ago I knew what I know now - I could have saved myself years of misery.

Terri

brooke800

So any ideas what it might mean if just my Free T 3 is low? My TSH is high, but otherwise everything is "ok".

kimimila86

So any ideas what it might mean if just my Free T 3 is low? My TSH is high, but otherwise everything is "ok".

I'd like to echo what tecallahan said... if your TSH is still high and your free T3 is low, your body isn't converting the T4 (levo) into T3. You should ask about a dessicated thyroid pill, such as Armour or Nature-Throid. I had the same problems (not Hashi's though) with my blood tests until I got switched over from a synthetic to a dessicated thyroid medication. My doctor, depending on my blood work in a week, will better understand if it's truly my thyroid that's causing problems, or if it's actually a pituitary problem. I have no idea where to go from there!

Good luck! (and you're not a moron!) :flowerforyou: