Questions for those of you with hypothyroidism

I was diagnosed after the birth of my daughter (about 6 years ago, she's 8 now). At the time I had gained about 40lbs since her birth, was very cold all the time no matter what I wore or how high the heat was, mood swings, dry skin, and always very tired. I finally got my doctor to test me and he basically called me and said that he was going to call in a prescription to the pharmacy and I was to start taking it that night and come see him the next day. Apparently my numbers were so far off that he said I could have had a stroke that night. Now I take Eltroxin every morning. I basically have been at the same weight since then, I didn't find that I lost or gained but if you read my blog I had a lot of other stuff going on (cheating ex, eventual divorce, disabled child, etc) so I wasn't really watching what I was eating either. I am now eating 1200 cal/day and start my C25K and Shred on Monday, I have set myself a modest 5lb/month goal so that I am not too disappointed if it comes off slowly, but also want to make sure I am accountable to lose something. Most of my symptoms are gone now except for the being cold thing, but I am a bit of a joke at work wearing my sweaters in the sweltering heat!. Good luck with getting your results.

I got tested when my son was a baby... I didn't realize I had the symptoms b/c I thought it was just part of the "new mom" package. My doctor said that my thyroid felt large when he was feeling my neck. I'm on 100 mcg of Synthroid every day. There are no side effects, but you just have to watch what you eat b/c there are some drug interactions that reduce the effectiveness of the drug. They'll keep testing you until they get you on the right meds.... or you could go the homeopathic route, if that's your thing.

I have hypothyroidism as well. I find that I lose weight very slowly. My tell tale signs for medication adjustment are fatigue and when my hair falls out. I am one of those people that "normal" is not normal for me. Fortunately, I have a doctor who listens and is wiling to adjust my medication. However, the more frequently I exercise, the less adjustments I have to make to my medication. Good luck! I hope you feel better soon!:flowerforyou:

I'm a teenage girl as well and was dyagnosed with Hyperthyroidism (the over active kind) about 2 years ago. I went back and forth from Hypothyroidism to Hyperthyroidism a couple times due to the medicine never being exactly right. Long story short, I was treated with Radioactive Iodine to destroy my thyroid this past June. Since then I have gone from hypothyroidism to hyperthyroidism and back again numerous times. From what my doctors say, the medicine to treat hypothyroidism is much, much safer than the medicine to treat hyperthyroidism. Sadly though, hypothroidism does make you gain weight and have a really low metabolism. I currently have a hypothyroid and every symptom that you have described is exactly what I'm going through as well, so I would be extremely surprised if you are not hypo-active. I hope this helps!

I found about about a year and a half ago about my hypothyroidism. I was struggling in many of the same areas as you were! I talked with my doctor and told her that even if I watch what I eat I couldn't lose weight ( I was fit and trim throughout high school and about 2 years before my diagnosis had lost 40 lbs with diet and exercise so I knew what I was talking about!) She blew it off as depression (which I was dealing with a few issues, but not depressed) and that I really wasn't trying hard enough to lose weight. I told her I was always exhausted and it has NEVER been that way. She mentioned thyroid, but said it probably wasn't that. Since it was my first time seeing her, she ordered regular bloodwork.
When it came back, I was barely in the range to be considered a hypothyroid issue by the "old standard" and by the "new standard" that I was perfectly normal. I told her, maybe by my body's standard, I have a thyroid problem. She tried to persuade me against taking the meds, but I said, what are my other options. I feel like I've tried a bunch of stuff and it's not working, so if this could maybe be an answer, I want to explore it. I started and it took a little over a year to get my levels right, but now I've been able to drop over 30lbs and I can tell a difference in other areas of my life as well! It definitely has taken me longer to lose the weight than it did 2 years ago and it fluctuates more than it used to.
Testing when you're supposed to is important. I have to go back soon as my hair is falling out like crazy again and I'm tired, but I've lost weight so it may need to be adjusted.
I hope you can find some answers, and if it's not hypothyroidism, don't be afraid to look farther! You know your body! If something's not right you can tell. I am going to be speaking to my doctor about a few other things as well, because it seems like she blew off other things claiming it was because of my weight and if I wasn't so heavy it wouldn't be that way. Now that I'm thinner, I'm going to push again!
Other than that, I haven't had any symptoms, not even when they increased my dosages several times! Good luck!

My symptoms were extreme before I got diagnosed. I was really skinny at the time, and my symptoms were backwards. I had racing heart, dizzy spells, ringing ears, panic attacks, felt like I would pass out, a feeling of detachment and surrealness. It was scarey. I remember only a few times when I would get dead tired in the afternoon, completely exhausted. Nothing with hair, I did tend to run cold, but I had very low body fat. Since then I have been on Levoxyl. I went from .88 to 100 to 112 mcgs. At one point about three years ago, I got really bad --- symptoms were horrible even though blood levels were normal. Listen to your body, I knew something was very wrong. They had me over adjusting my meds because they didn't know what to do with me. My body was in overdrive, I dropped to 95 pounds and they wanted to put me on Effexor -- I said NO WAY! I ended up with extreme adrenal exhaustion because of the stress on my body, and the stress in general. It took me three months to get well and for my levels to even out. I gave up wheat and started yoga. I quit working 7 days a week. I stopped smoking. My meds dropped from 112, to 100 and back to .88, where I am now. I really attribute lifestyle, exercise (especially yoga), and diet (being gluten free, although I am struggling to quit corn, too, which I know will help even more). I do run colder than other people, and while I get tired sometimes, I am a server who works 8 hours shifts running like mad, do yoga regularly and never sit still. Once I turned 41, I did start to put on weight, and now at 44 it's really hard to take it off. I don't blame that on thyroid as much as age though since it was never an issue with my hypothyroidism before. And while I am not at my ideal, I am still way within normal range, and I am healthy, so I can't complain really. Don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions, get a 2nd opinion if necessary, see a specialist (Endocronologist), if you go on meds, don't let them forget about you -- get your labs done on a regular basis, esp. if you don't feel well. And don't worry, it sucks but lots of women deal with this and we manage. Good luck! And let us know how you are doing!

Lucy

I have been tested twice for hypothyroidism. I was having most of the same symptoms, and it also runs in my family. Well, it turns out that my thyroid is fine, but I was quite anemic. Now I take an iron pill every day, and I have much more energy, which gets me moving around more, which has helped my weight loss!

So, if it is not your thyroid, have them check the iron levels in your blood. You never know.

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism 8 years ago. TSH is you Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. This is the hormone in you body that causes the thryoid to make T4.
If you don't have enough of T4 in your system, the pituitary gland will release TSH. The pituitary gland will keep releaseing TSH until the T4 levels are normal to YOUR body. If your T4 levels stay low the TSH will continue to increase. (my thyroid dosen't work so no matter what my body will not be able to produce enough T4.)
When the Dr test the TSH they are testing how much YOUR body whats or dosen't want. When I was tested my T4 hormone was "normal" but my TSH was very high.

Ok I am done with the Technical stuff, I work in a lab where we test TSH and T4 so if you have any questions just ask.

There are no food restrictions as far as what you can eat. It is more about when you can eat, or even take a vitamin.
Before I was treated I slept all the time. I would sleep in bed for 10 hours and than go lay on the sofa to watch TV and fall asleep again. I always blamed it on other things like working 12 hour nights.

I was recently diagnosed.. my symptoms were cold hands and feet, low body temperature upon waking and I was very tired (though I don't get enough sleep so that might have caused the tiredness).
I didn't have too many symptoms but my bloodwork showed my thyroid was screwed lol I've been taking synthroid and my TSH is now under control yay! It's really easy to take the medication - just one little pill a day, but I can't eat breakfast until 2 hours later.

I was diagnosed as hypo within the last year. I had many of the symptoms already described here. My doc started me @ 50 mcg of Lexothyroxine and I felt sooo good. I had energy, body temp was better regulated, my skin and hair were better, and I lost 25lbs. After about 5 months, I felt myself fall back into my pre-diagnosis "slump." Back to no energy and plateaued (sp?) weight loss.

My endo refused to increase my meds and told me that I "would have more energy if I lost weight" WTF?! Anyone w/ hypo knows that that isnt how it works! I talked to my women's care specialist about how I had regressed and she upped me to 75 mcg. I'm back to feeling more energetic, rested, less moody, and I'm slowly losing weight again. (I'm switching to a different Endo!!)

Good luck! Find a doctor who will listen and understands what you're going thru...it takes a while to find a good level and you'll need to be retested frequently. And yes, from the doctors I've talked to and the research I've done, foods DO interact with thyroid levels...especially calcium, iodine, and goitergenic (sp?) foods (i.e. my favorite fruits & veggies lol)

Let us know how it goes....