Hypothyroidism

2

Replies

  • diloed
    diloed Posts: 15 Member
    Diagnosed hypothyroid about 10 years ago. Had good levels on 50 mcg until recently, just upped it to 75 mcg and will do blood work again in 6 weeks. I find that even when my levels are "normal", I still have never gotten rid of certain symptoms. I'm still always freezing, have pale, dry itchy skin, and I shed more than my cat.
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    Hi
    I've been hypothyroid now for about 20 years. Started around age 32 ish. Tired and night sweats made me go to the docs ( I thought it was early onset of the menopause).
    Fine now. At the start my medications had to be regulated according to regular blood tests. I'm currently on 100mcg Levothyroxine. Works for me. I take it with my breakfast every day. No problems. I've always been a yo yo dieter so weight problems didnt really come into it.
    The really good thing about having hypothyroidism here in the UK is that because of it ALL my prescriptions are free - not just the Levothyroxine but everything !! A bonus.

    Good luck.:smile:

    You take it with your breakfast? My doctor told me to take it on an empty stomach and not eat for 4 hours afterwards.
  • Queenbee412
    Queenbee412 Posts: 53
    I was diagnosed about 8 -9 years ago. Taking 115 mcg of Levothyroxine :)
  • missy_1975
    missy_1975 Posts: 244 Member
    Hi, I quit smoking nearly nine years ago (yay the ex-smokers lol! :laugh: ), that's where I gained my weight. Around 3-4 years ago I was overweight from quitting smoking and eating loads, but was also super fit, running half marathons etc but putting ON weight instead of loosing. All of a sudden I couldn't climb the stairs without being breathless, was sleeping during my lunch break, my hair was thinning, my skin was scaley and dry, I was depressed, I had no sex drive whatsoever and was having some awful "women's problems" at my time of the month.

    My doctor suspected hypothyroidism, she was right, I was very suprised (I work in the health care sector and rarely get sick). The medication certainly didn't help at all in loosing weight, but now my energy is back to normal (it took a long time to get the dose of meds right though).

    Following Low GI (Glycemic Index) principals and continuing to exercise has really helped the condition. The irony is that it makes it harder for us (and other people with metabolic syndromes such as PCOS etc) to loose weight, but whn we do loose weight it improves our condition. Keep sticking at it, nourish your body with the best foods you can afford and you will be great. Feel free to add me as a friend :smile:
  • blink1021
    blink1021 Posts: 1,115 Member
    Diagnosed in 2009 I am on 25mcg of levothyroxene
  • cherokeetracey
    cherokeetracey Posts: 49
    i was diagnosed with hypothyroidism when i was 16, (21 years ago). I am now on 200mg of thyroxine, and yes i do find it a struggle to loose weight. I have even tried the low GI diet, slimming world and am trying weight watchers from next tuesday.
    Feeling tired all the time, cold etc, fed up with all this, but at moment i am going through the change and am having hot flushes which i feel are just as bad.
    I didnt know though til a few years ago that having this for years can actually cause diabetes. i was diagnosed with type 2 in 2006, and my gp said it could have been caused by my thyroid gland.
  • panda0920
    panda0920 Posts: 29
    I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at age 7 and it's been 11 years full of testing and maintenance. Some symptoms the medication will never remove, such as the older I get, the more intolerant to the cold I am. Moods can still change with it, but it's possible to lose weight. My cousin his at as well as her two other brothers who have hyperthyroidism because my aunt was born without a thyroid, and my cousin has lost weight and balanced it well. I've lost weight and toned before and I've been on Synthroid for years, so it can be done.

    But then again, my health is exceptional even with extra weight, I learned a long time ago, the way to control the thyroid while it's being medicated is to work out and try to eat better. I also don't necessarily think people lose weight slower with thyroid, because it's medicated to the TSH, T3, and T4 levels correctly (which blood testing doesn't always 100% catch every detail correctly) you should be able to lose weight like anyone else. I mean, I lose weight fairly fast if I stick to a plan. But good luck!
  • janalayn
    janalayn Posts: 510 Member
    I had half my thyroid and a golf ball sized tumor removed in April 2011. I had lost 25 pound in 90 days prior to the surgery and have gained back 12 of those pounds while trying to get my meds regulated. I am currently on Synthroid 75 mcg a day, taken in the morning, one hour before eating. I am much better but still having some symptoms -- was supposed to see the doctor today and the office was closed (slightly irritated they didn't call me about that) but I have some additional information for the doctor I want to discuss about where my TSH level should be .. I think he is going for between 4 and 5 but my research shows it should be below 3. I am finally starting to lose weight again but it has been slow. I still struggle with the mood swings and irritability as well as dry skin but the hair loss is much better and my energy level is back to where it was a year ago. I think you have to be proactive with your treatment.
  • jaxdiablo
    jaxdiablo Posts: 580
    I'm not currently diagnosed with it, but I have a lot of the symptoms that fit into it. I'm planning on getting my blood checked in January to see if I do have it. I'm glad this was brought up, it gives me an idea of what to look forward to if I do have it.
  • SunLovin1
    SunLovin1 Posts: 682 Member
    Diagnosed hypothyroid about 10 years ago. Had good levels on 50 mcg until recently, just upped it to 75 mcg and will do blood work again in 6 weeks. I find that even when my levels are "normal", I still have never gotten rid of certain symptoms. I'm still always freezing, have pale, dry itchy skin, and I shed more than my cat.

    Always cold, shedding like crazy, gaining weight on a 1200/day diet...I knew something was wrong and that my dose needed to be changed. I always fall victim to the "you're just not active enough/eating properly" mentality where I beat myself up for not trying hard enough to lose weight. But you can't succeed at it when your body is fighting you all the way. My doc is changing my dose to reflect my new levels and we'll see if that helps. I'm optimistic.
  • Bentley2718
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,689 Member
    I too have a hypoactive thyroid. I was diagnosed at 19 (12 years ago). I was constantly cold and exhausted. My body temperature would get so low when I slept that I couldn't sleep through the night without waking up shivering (even in a warm room, with lots of blankets). After my initial dose was settled (it took a couple of months), I've only had to have the dose adjusted once, when I lost a lot of weight rapidly. I ended up being hyperthyroid briefly, but my doctor cut the dose and now I'm fine. My normal body temperature is still a degree below normal, but that's not all that strange, and may or may not be connected to the thyroid.
  • Kirsty_1984
    Kirsty_1984 Posts: 32
    I dont have Hypothyroidism but i do have Pseudohypoparathyroidism...lol a mouthfull to say i know.I was diagnosed when i was 6 or 7 years old.I find it really hard to lose weight and when i do its murder trying to keep it off.I take thyroid and calcium meds in the morning.I also get the occasional joint pain.
  • Ge0rgiana
    Ge0rgiana Posts: 1,649 Member
    I'm a little weird. We can't track me by TSH. I could be sleeping 14-16 hours a day, carrying 40lbs of fluid, losing chunks of hair, breaking out in sores on my head, body temp of about 97.0, etc and have a normal TSH. We've learned to go by my T4. The bottom of normal is .81, but my happy range is 1.0 or higher. I have dipped below .81 before, but it doesn't happen often. Doc knows that when it gets below ~.95 it's time to up the meds. It took her a while of looking at my blood tests and monitoring my symptoms to figure this out, but she did. I'm grateful to have a doctor who doesn't just tell me I'm fine because the numbers are in "normal" range.

    I simply cannot handle a bunch of carbs, even healthy ones. The South Beach Diet works great for me. I sometimes let the evil part of my brain that wants me to eat talk me out of following it, but I always go back. I have to keep my sodium in check. I also can't have too much sugar.

    I refuse to take Synthroid. I think it's horrible that it's the first thing they try to put you on. I cannot go on enough about the wonders of natural dessicated thyroid and what it has done for me. I just had my meds increased a little over a month ago after my T4 plummeted from 1.0+ to .88 following the stress of the death of my mother in May. Stress messes me up more than anything, I think. I'm pretty sure that higher dose is kicking in, because I'm starting to feel really good again. I've also found myself having to take pretty decent sized doses of glucosamine because my joints, particularly my hips and knees, are extremely painful otherwise.

    I'm gearing up to start weight lifting after the first of the year. I want to lift heavy and put on as much muscle as I can (which will be fairly substantial for a woman... it's genetic) to help myself become more metabolically active. I also want to gradually replace my walking with jogging and eventually running.

    Being healthy and keeping your weight down with thyroid disease takes even more diligence and effort than if you're normal (and that's saying something, because it's super hard for normal people), but it can be done.
  • 1953Judith
    1953Judith Posts: 325 Member
    I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at the age of 12. Keeping it in balance has been a periodic challenge of the years. Fortunately, my family, friends and I are all tuned in to some of the less obvious symptoms that the thyroid is out of wack again. My doctor monitors me regularly now too. It is amazing how many components of our body is regulated by the thyroid hormone. My advice to those new on medication is to work with your doctor to monitor it to the right dosage. Check it at a minimum annually and check it if you lose a significant block of weight rapidly.
  • shakybabe
    shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
    Glad you finally got diagnosed I was born with mine not working and they didn't find it until I was 23 months old and only investigating cos I wasn't reaching development milestones.. couldn't even sit up on my own when I should have been crawling, trying to walk and talk.

    I was also told I must take my tablets as if not I'd go into a coma and die as my thyroid can't make its own at all. (my mum had blood poisoning whilst she was pregnant with me, cos she was RH- and I was 0+ (guess they didn't think to do transfusions back in 1969 if baby might be different blood group to mother) so it never developed properly.

    tbh I never had weight probs as a child but my pediatrician always kept me on high dose so as not to stunt development and my mum always kept me active. It wasn't until I started having mobility probs in early thirties and probs with T3 conversion that I started piling on weight then had difficulty losing it.

    Now the involuntary muscle spasms from my condition (I have Ataxia and Dystonia together) are becoming more prevalent I'm finding it easier to get weight off as I'm constantly burning calories and only completely still when I'm fast asleep.. I suspect my next problem will be maintaining my weight when I get to my goal weight!

    I have to say after having to be careful about what I eat for the last 8 years or so I'll be kinda glad when I can eat more brownies and chips and not having to worry about piling the weight back again!!
  • HMD7703
    HMD7703 Posts: 761 Member
    I take 125 mcg of Synthroid every night before bed. I read online that you should not take it with vitamins or anything containg calcium (which I was doing). It was a hassle to take it in the morning, wait to take my vitamins and wait to eat. It would be lunch by the time I did all that. So my Dr let me switch to taking it at night.

    I get my blood tested every 6 months now - although I strongly disagree with that. I have lost 75 lbs in the last year and think I need to be tested every 6 weeks again (as your levels can change with weight loss).

    I am cold, pale, dry skin, with hair falling out too. Pretty much the norm now. Sigh
  • panda0920
    panda0920 Posts: 29
    I take 125 mcg of Synthroid every night before bed. I read online that you should not take it with vitamins or anything containg calcium (which I was doing). It was a hassle to take it in the morning, wait to take my vitamins and wait to eat. It would be lunch by the time I did all that. So my Dr let me switch to taking it at night.

    I get my blood tested every 6 months now - although I strongly disagree with that. I have lost 75 lbs in the last year and think I need to be tested every 6 weeks again (as your levels can change with weight loss).

    I am cold, pale, dry skin, with hair falling out too. Pretty much the norm now. Sigh

    I actually believe you can take it with vitamins. And I'm at 137 mcg and they don't really have a bad effect. But the one supplement you shouldn't take with thyroid medication is iron. It can reverse the medication.
    I was anemic for awhile and I had to eat the iron in foods, instead of take supplements but it created really similar symptoms to Hypothyroidism in general.

    Hmm, I only get tested ever 6 months. I hope my levels don't do anything wacko.
  • gloriann1
    gloriann1 Posts: 27 Member
    I was diagnosed as hypothyroid after a long bout of depression. I figured it was just a part of my personality (and I actually thought that my depression was caused by my weight!) After a semester of college spent sleeping, bundled up, and drinking a lot of hot soup and beverages, I finally went to the doctor. I am now on 1.75mg of levothyroxine, and all of those symptoms are gone.

    But, I do have one side effect: I gained 30 pounds AFTER I began to be medicated. I was already overweight, but I became MORE overweight when my levels were righted. I was actually around the lowest weight I had ever been before I started the medication.

    Has anyone had this side effect?
  • Germerican_Ang
    Germerican_Ang Posts: 18
    Any of you take the natural stuff, RAW THYROID? I have before and am going to get me some more today, I am so tired of this up and down its ridic! I feel if my thyroid isnt regulating my metabolism right all the work and effort I put into losin weight is just for the dogs -_-
  • gloriann1
    gloriann1 Posts: 27 Member
    Any of you take the natural stuff, RAW THYROID? I have before and am going to get me some more today, I am so tired of this up and down its ridic! I feel if my thyroid isnt regulating my metabolism right all the work and effort I put into losin weight is just for the dogs -_-

    Are you getting this from your doctor? Thyroid hormone is not a supplement, you can really mess yourself up if you don't get a good, regulated dose from a doctor. I am a natural foodie all the way, but my hormones are not something I am willing to mess with.
  • Germerican_Ang
    Germerican_Ang Posts: 18
    No ma'am from a health food store, its natural stuff nothing like the prescription kind
  • Germerican_Ang
    Germerican_Ang Posts: 18
    http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=382605&catid=183319&aid=338666&aparam=382605
  • LadyNeshoba
    LadyNeshoba Posts: 159 Member
    I was diagnosed as soon as I hit puberty which was when I was around 12-13.

    We knew I was going to end up having because my Bio mother had it BAAAAD.

    I've lost weight before even though I have Hypothyroidism....it's possible. Just takes a bit more work then most people have to do ^.^
  • LJGmom
    LJGmom Posts: 249 Member
    I was diagnosed after I took my 5 th child home from hospital. She was born at 25 weeks 1 lb and 10 oz. She went thru multiple surgeries and had feeding tube. It was so stressful, that I thought it was th e reason I was so tired and *****y. I was a BIG *****. That is the only word that describes it. I had to take naps all the time, and gained 15 pounds in 6 weeks. I wasn't eating much. I went in for a physical, and my dr knew right away. He has known me since my first child and knew I was physically fit, upbeat, and positive person. Synthroid didn't work for me. I am now on natural throid and t3. It's amazing how well I feel.

    Night sweats were awful until I found right dosage as well.
  • jessilyn76
    jessilyn76 Posts: 532 Member
    In 2007, during a routine physical, my physician found a small nodule on my thyroid, within a few months it had grown significantly and another was detected. To make a long story short, I had three malignant tumors and my thyroid was completely removed. I am completely dependent on levothyroxine. I had to wait between my surgery to take medicine for a radioactive iodine treatment. So I went without medicine or a thyroid for about 1 month. I was exausted, starving, freezing and gained 20lbs. It was the worst that I have every felt. I regularly took 125mcg until I got pregnant. At that time my dose went up to 225mcg, which is where it has stayed since my daughter was born in 2009.
  • Bridget28152723
    Bridget28152723 Posts: 372 Member
    Yeah I have it too, Mine's from Hashimoto's , which is when my body attacks my thyroid until it doesnt function anymore, which is now, finally got on Levothyroxine only 25 mg. to start , it helped a tiny bit, waiting for labs and an increase! My mom had commented on me sounding like I was slurring , mom's know their kids!
    I was like a sleeping beauty , always dosing off while watching TV, my husband would say I acted like I was on herion , because I was like drowsy ...LOl no, I never have taken herion before..Depression is something Im dealing with too, along with a feeling of I cany handle my house/kids anyore, how did I do it years ago? My oldest is 15 my ypungest is 9 months.
    I was diagnosed a few months after having my daughter this year, barely lost any of my pregnancy weight which is not like me.
    my hands are dry right now, my hair was very thick, now its kinda thin...Im kinda tired of cleaning up all my hair in the sink when I brush my hair. I just want to be "normal" again, enjoy my kids and keep my husband happy, and lose about 20 pounds... I guess all of us have to be patient and hang in there! Hope you get on track soon!
  • latinahada
    latinahada Posts: 168
    I have it...When I was diagnosed almost 2 years ago, I had a baby at home, as well as a 5 year old & my husband worked out of town, I was working full time & taking call with my job, so I used all of that as my excuse for being tired, but all I wanted to do was sleep. I was having problems concentrating & began having memory issues. Finally what made me see the Dr. was heart palpitations & my BP was also high...I was put on a 24 hour heart monitor (due to the palpitations) and lab was drawn. That night I got VERY sick, to the point I thought I was seriously going to die, throwing up, heart palpitations, not hardly being able to move. Anyway, I called the Dr. the next AM for some Zofran for the continued nausea I was having and he gave me my lab results, with my TSH being 36.47 & my thyroid antibodies also being extremely high. Within a week of taking my Synthroid I felt 100% better!! My palpitations finally went away & I don't have BP issues, all of the symptoms I was experiencing were related to the hypothyroidism. Needless to say, I am very diligent about taking my medicine, as I never want to feel miserable like that ever again!!!!! I also should add that I have thyroid nodules...I have a sono of them every 6 months to monitor them.
  • Crowhorse
    Crowhorse Posts: 394 Member
    I have it, but not nearly as bad as you did...that sounds awful! For the longest time I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what. I was very emotional, moody, tired, knees were aching...stuff like that. I didn't gain very much weight...maybe close to 10 pounds, but I was eating a lot then too (it was over the holidays). One day I saw Dr. Oz on TV talking about hypothyroidism symptoms and I stood there in amazement as he listed everything that I had been going through. I often wonder if I had not seen that show how much longer I would've 'suffered' not knowing what was wrong.

    Fast forward to now, I've lost 20 lbs, feeling pretty good and oh yeah, I quit smoking too, it's almost 5 weeks now!

    Congratulations on quitting smoking! That's such a bad habit I'm so glad to be done with! I can hardly believe I used to love smoking so much...

    There were a few other hypothyroidism symptoms I totally forgot about when I originally posted. I was FREEZING all the time, so I was constantly bundled up. I never wanted to get a shower because that meant getting undressed and exposing my body to the cold. I had ZERO libido. It was pretty awful. I'm so angry about how my original doctor only tried to treat the symptoms by prescribing me provigil which cost a ton of money and didn't do all that great a job of keeping me awake.

    Thanks, everybody, for posting. It was good to hear your stories.
    . This is me. In the 70s and I am freezing, no libido, dry skin, excess hair, depression. They think pcos because blood tests come back low normal. I think thyroid because it runs in our family and when they go on it their symptoms start going away.
  • Bridget28152723
    Bridget28152723 Posts: 372 Member
    Hi, I quit smoking nearly nine years ago (yay the ex-smokers lol! :laugh: ), that's where I gained my weight. Around 3-4 years ago I was overweight from quitting smoking and eating loads, but was also super fit, running half marathons etc but putting ON weight instead of loosing. All of a sudden I couldn't climb the stairs without being breathless, was sleeping during my lunch break, my hair was thinning, my skin was scaley and dry, I was depressed, I had no sex drive whatsoever and was having some awful "women's problems" at my time of the month.

    My doctor suspected hypothyroidism, she was right, I was very suprised (I work in the health care sector and rarely get sick). The medication certainly didn't help at all in loosing weight, but now my energy is back to normal (it took a long time to get the dose of meds right though).

    Following Low GI (Glycemic Index) principals and continuing to exercise has really helped the condition. The irony is that it makes it harder for us (and other people with metabolic syndromes such as PCOS etc) to loose weight, but whn we do loose weight it improves our condition. Keep sticking at it, nourish your body with the best foods you can afford and you will be great. Feel free to add me as a friend :smile:
    Im an ex smoker too! I was pregnant, had my baby, got diagnosed with Hashimotosd after a lot of tests , and my thyroid is slightly protuding, but no nodules, yay! Every symptom you mentioned I have , I only got on Levo 25 mg. in Nov. 2011, Im getting labs soon and maybe an increase on my levo. I was always fit too, thats why I knew something was wrong! I love this site and am hoping to lose about 23 pounds thru lots of exercise and a healthy diet. Every women in my family has had some sort of thyroid problem, I do wonder why so many people are getting thyroid and autoimmune diseases recently????? I have read to stay away from flouride, raw peanuts ,raw broccoli and cauliflower, cabbage and strawberries :( Hpow long did it take for your meds to be regulated?
  • Bridget28152723
    Bridget28152723 Posts: 372 Member

    Im an ex smoker too! I was pregnant, had my baby, got diagnosed with Hashimotosd after a lot of tests , and my thyroid is slightly protuding, but no nodules, yay! Every symptom you mentioned I have , I only got on Levo 25 mg. in Nov. 2011, Im getting labs soon and maybe an increase on my levo. I was always fit too, thats why I knew something was wrong! I love this site and am hoping to lose about 23 pounds thru lots of exercise and a healthy diet. Every women in my family has had some sort of thyroid problem, I do wonder why so many people are getting thyroid and autoimmune diseases recently????? I have read to stay away from flouride, raw peanuts ,raw broccoli and cauliflower, cabbage and strawberries :( Hpow long did it take for your meds to be regulated?
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