Just found this group.
Also a Hashimoto's girl, since age 10. Now 38. Current med- Levothyroxine (I think) 112mcg 2 tabs for a total of 224mcg- yes its a hefty dose! And I still feel tired all the time. I am not always the best at taking the medication...so I have really been trying to stay on top of it the last few weeks. It was interesting to read about some of the various medications people take. I have never even heard of some of them. Maybe I need to have a talk with my Endo. I hope to lose 35 pounds and feel better down the road.

I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism lst winter. I take PTU. It has caused me aches and pains and weight gain. Not to mention it's damaging my liver! Anyone else on PTU?

I used to take PTU before I had to have my thyroid totally removed. I'm pretty certain it damaged my liver. I absolutely hated it. The weight gain, the distended feeling all the time. And, it did nothing for my TSH levels. Once I had my surgery it took about 8 months for my distention to alleviate.

I have met several people who do well on the stuff, but I sure as heck didn't.

Hi, I was diagnosed with under active thyroid last year. I am on 150mg of levothyroxine which i take in the morning with water and leave an hour before breakfast.

I am still symtomatic and feel really low about it all but feel the thyroxine has made a huge difference to how i felt from last year.
At the momment my tsh is supressed at 0.06 and my gp has just taken bloods to test for t4 (labs dont always do t4, dont ask lol) He said as long as my t4 is within range and i am still symptomatic he will increase aslong as i am aware of the possibility of becoming over medicated.
I am really hoping for a 25mg increase next week as my last increase i have felt no effect at all.
My Dad is hypo too and is on levothyroxine and on 100mg although he feels he would like an increase but his gp says no as his levels are within range (dont know what they are).

I am currently on Levothyroxin 75mcg. I take it as soon as I wake up. In 2000 my OB saw a lump in my throat during a post c-section appointment. I had a tumor on my thyroid. I had the tumor and 1/2 my thyroid removed. I was put on synthyroid (can't remember how much). I was okay for years but went to my family doc when my hands started to hurt. When I woke up, they were swollen, stiff, and sore. After many tests, turned out to be my thyroid levels were off. Took a few months of trial and error to find the right dose. But all is well now. I have blood work done when my script ends just to make sure i'm still on the right dose.

Synthroid .88 mg but stopped 10 days ago due to weight gain (10 lbs since November 2011!). Previously had been on .75 mg but also stopped due to weight gain (7 lbs over several months time) - the weight came off without me changing another thing - mostly good eating, some bad - mostly exercising, but no gym rat. This time I am tracking food and being faithful to 3 miles / day on elliptical trainer because of the bloated, uncomfortableness of the recent weight gain. History - I had no symptoms of hypothyroidism - only blood work due to age routine screening. Does this seem familiar to anyone else?

So what happens when you go off your meds? If I did that, my thyroid levels would go sky high and I wouldn't be able to get out of bed. I don't think it's the meds that cause the weight gan. It's your metabolism, controlled by your thyroid. Synthroid is just a replacement T4 (an inactive hormone). It really does nothing for your metabolism. If your body can convert the T4 to T3 (active hormone), your metabolism will probably be ok -- but in many, many cases the conversion to T3 is flawed. That's why you can take Syntrhoid and still have hypo symptoms.

If your body can convert the T4 to T3 (active hormone), your metabolism will probably be ok -- but in many, many cases the conversion to T3 is flawed. That's why you can take Syntrhoid and still have hypo symptoms.

After my most recent bloodwork (about 2 weeks ago) I asked my GP to switch me to Armour. He said that my T3 levels looked okay, and were almost on the high side so he didn't want to do that. However, I have not been able to lose any weight at all since starting on medication in April 2011. Does anyone know if your T3 can be high but still have a low T3/RT3 ratio? Also, is it normal to only test T3 and T4? Seemed odd to me.

I had an appointment with a new doctor yesterday and she gave me a prescription for Armour alternating between 15 and 30 mg every other day. She told me she wanted to get my thyroid in check before checking adrenals.

I'm on 2.5 grains of Efra (Armour type) and finally starting to feel human again! Levo really didn't help me at all which is why I was switched by my amazing thyroid specialist to natural as the synthetic doesn't help everyone. It's so frustrating for everyone who suffers from this as you think you've found the cure but diagnosis is only the start and it often takes up to a year maybe more to get the correct dose for you, but you will find that point and life will seem so much better, good luck everyone

great to know there is hope! I had just started on Armour, but it's not agreeing with me. So he told me today to stop - he's going back to the drawing board :-(... I am yearning for the solution to my thyroid -- it's been 15 years!!

I take methimizole, 10 mg daily.

I have Hypothyroid (hashi's)
I take 30 mg of Armour Thyroid. I've been on it since Feb 2. So far I have no bad side effects, and a lot more energy than I had 2 weeks ago. I didn't think I'd ever be able to get my butt off the couch.

My dr gave me the option between synthroid and armour thyroid, I told him to give me whatever he thought I should have. He told me to go home and do some research, and then let him know. Thank god he told me that, or I would have probably chosen synthroid because everyone I know with hypo is on synthroid. I don't think it would have worked as well as fast for me.

I was taking 112 Synthyorid till 3 weeks ago when I finally talked my nurse practioner into letting me try Armour. I am taking 90 mg of it (equivalent of 150 Synthyroid) It is working so much better for me! (In fact I am up at 3:13 AM & just did 1.25 miles on the treadmill.) I haven't read all the posts here yet but do be aware that the TSH normal ranges are so wide that just being "in range" does not mean you are well. I feel best with mine at around 1.0... if mine hits 2.0 or higher I'm exhausted. I also quit smoking 10 weeks ago which caused me to gain the usual 10 pounds so I've come back to Myfitnesspal... lost 30 pounds between 7/2010 & Jan. 2011 using weight watchers & MFP. My goal is to lose 25 pounds by May 12 (my vacation).

EDIT: After looking through some of your posts may I suggest the Facebook pages : Stop the thryoid madness and Thryoid Sexy. Both these groups are filled with amazing people who can help with support and knoweledge regarding Hashi's & any other thryoid issues. I was able to find so much help there & am finally getting to the point of feeling alive again due to being able to talk to others with the symptoms & finding a doctor (nurse practioner) that will listen to symptoms & not just your TSH levels.