<p>I had a physical last week and found out that my thyroid levels are out of sync. I had been feeling tired and unfocused for the past few months, but wrote it off to hitting the big 50. </p>
<p>After only 6 days on the new meds, I feel like a different person.</p>
<p>Addendum to this: If your primary care physician does a thyroid panel of tests and they come back in the “normal range,” sometimes it pays to still follow up with an endocrinologist. I suffered for a long time with hypothyroidism and all the symptoms that went with it … but my numbers kept coming back normal. When I moved, my new GP suggested that I should see an endocrinologist because all my symptoms went with having a thyroid issue even though the numbers were within the normal range. Long story short: what’s normal for one person is not normal for another regardless of the “normal range.” Several growing nodules found on my thyroid even after being put on medication to stop their growth. Thyroid eventually removed (suspicion of thyroid cancer), not really working anyway … sigh, and I feel tremendously better with the medication I’m on. This went on for a few years, however, and I felt horrendous during that time.</p>
<p>zebes</p>
<p>Yes, I have been hypothyroid for decades (since early 20s) and I feel my best when my medication maintains me at the lower range than at the higher range. But this was a relatively recent discovery and for many, many years I was at high normal on meds and would experience fatigue fairly regularlly. Everyone’s “symptoms” are different, also. It takes a pretty long time to figure out where you feel the best. I can pretty much “tell” my physician what my level is without seeing my lab results because I now know my body and how it reacts so well at whatever level I am at. It’s become a bit of a game with us, he’ll ask “where do you think you are” and generally I’m pretty darn close to spot on. I can go long periods of time (years) relatively stable and then I’ll go through a period of time where it bounces around. My dose rose constantly for several decades and now my dose is decreasing as I age. It also impacts other aspects of your general health, so best advice is to have a good working relationship with your doc. It is very easy to put on weight, so don’t allow yourself to gain weight, it’s very tough to take it off. While being hypo doesn’t make you gain more than a couple pounds there’s the double whamy of aging and of having a slower metabolism when you are hypo which can make it very easy to lose control of the weight situation. Been there, done that.</p>
<p>What zebes said.</p>
<p>I “internet diagnosed” myself as hypothyroid, but my normal doctor took a blood test and said it came out as normal. About six months later I went to an allegist for what I thought were severe allergies - I was getting hives all the time. The WONDERFUL allergist talked to me a long time, discovered my family history of autoimmune issues and said she thought I was hypothyroid. She ordered more extensive blood work and she had nailed the diagnosis. I now see an endocrinologist several times a year.</p>
<p>Jilian Michaels, the trainer on The Biggest Loser, is hypothyroid and on medication. In her new book, she talks about how her diagnosis was shocking, yet almost a relief. She’d thought she was going crazy.</p>
<p>Yup, all the women in our family. My thyroid doesn’t even function anymore and D’s is on its way out too now. Interestingly enough, in D’s case, she had all the symptoms of hyper- not hypo-thyroid…but there it was in the blood work. As said already, everyone’s symptoms can be different. And it can make a world of difference on every level.</p>
<p>Thank goodness for modern medicine.</p>
<p>I was hyper-thyroid for a couple of years. I was losing weight and felt great. Unfortunately, I knew it was too good to be true. The endocrinologist wanted to kill my thyroid with radiation, but I refused, deciding to stay on medication. Eventually, my thyroid went back to normal, but I’ve gained all my weight back, plus another 25 lbs. Ugh!</p>
<p>Well, speaking of big losers - I have TWO autoimmune disorders: hashimoto’s disease (autoimmune disorder of the thyroid, making me hypothyroid) and late-onset Type I diabetes. You don’t want to know how many pills I take.</p>
<p>I always get a kick out of reading the symptoms of hypothyroidism - fatigue, dry skin, weight gain. Excuse me, that sounds like middle age in the Midwest to me! I can always tell when my thyroid levels are out of whack by my memory - when my levels are off, so are my mental faculties…</p>
<p>I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s at age 9. Hypothyroidism can cause depression and mood swings at any age. I can’t tell you how much worse it was during puberty.</p>
<p>Ooh, another Hashimoto’s here, too. Mine was found by an alert physician before I had any symptoms based on her suspicions regrading my blood work. I can sure tell when my medication needs to be adjusted based on how tired I get. Never really thought about it affecting my mental faculties, but that might explain a lot :)</p>
<p>I also have suffered from hives occasionally over the years, and although a cause could not be determined, I always figured it was because of my hypersensitive/wacky immune system.</p>
<p>One of my son’s eyes is higher than the other, which can cause double vision (although it has not yet). This can be due to thyroid problems, but he was tested and they said it was normal. Anyone else every had this problem?</p>
<p>Can a normal primary doc do the deeper battery of tests?
I have some of the symptoms of hypo - but my last tests came back normal.
My doc is pretty cool so I think he would be open to doing more if I asked him…</p>
<p>Another with Hashimoto’s since the birth of my youngest. Keep in mind that recent (it’s actually not all that recent anymore) research suggests that many women feel better when their TSH is closer to 1-2 end of the range. Although an internist can do all the same blood tests, in my experience the specialists generally do a more thorough and comprehensive work up, if they think it’s warranted. They are also IMO better at the physical exams (feeling for nodules, enlargements etc.).</p>
<p>I have regular ultrasounds of my thyroid. Not nearly as exciting as the ultrasounds when I was pregnant!</p>
<p>Another hypothyroidism and late onset Type I diabetic (for over 20 years) here. I see an endocrinologist, an internist, a gastroenterologist, an opthamologist (diabetes and eyes, you know) and I think that’s all, besides the routine gyno… when I was in the hospital for emergency colon resection earlier this year, it was like a medical convention in my room! I don’t think I have any parts left that haven’t been poked, prodded, or removed… </p>
<p>My endocrinologist is very good but sometimes I feel like my thyroid levels are low and the tests come back that they aren’t. What other detailed testing should I be asking for if this happens? It’s hard for me to know if fatigue is from thyroid, diabetes, working, or middle-age-ness. I do know if I don’t take my throid medication in a timely way, I get a headache.</p>
<p>Magnoliamom, are you getting the T3, T4 and especially TSH checked regularly?</p>
<p>Also, are you meticulous in taking your medication every day? Do you make sure you take it at the same time and at least an hour before to three hours after eating anything? Do you make sure you keep it away from multivitamins and especially iron preparation? I have a form of anemia and one of the fun parts is that I take iron supplements several times a day and have had to work out the timing carefully because of the conflict between iron and thyroid replacement.</p>
<p>Also, calcium, antacids and some diabetes oral medications and insulin can decrease the efficacy of thyroid replacement.</p>
<p>Mine is Hashi also, but I feel absolutely the best at .8</p>
<p>I take 150 and 175 mcg on alternating days.</p>
<p>This is enlightening. I’ve been taking the medication so long now, almost as long as I’ve been diabetic, that I’m not sure what tests my endo runs, I only know that it’s a blood test but I’ll ask specifically this next visit.</p>
<p>I am meticulous in taking my medicine every day. The only time I haven’t is when I was in the hospital and they had me off of everything except insulin for a few days. I take it first thing in the morning, same time each day and I don’t eat until at least an hour later. I didn’t know about the multi-vitamin thing until my internist was reviewing my list of meds after my surgery and he’s the one who told me that I shouldn’t take them together because it would interfere with the absorption of the thyroid medication, after all this time.</p>
<p>I’m on a wagonload of meds prescribed by internist at the moment for a stubborn respiratory infection and have been concerned about the interactions of all these meds but I bring my list everywhere with me.</p>
<p>Hashimoto’s also, diagnosed after the birth of my first child. I looked in the mirror when he was 11 weeks old and saw I had a lump in my neck the size of a tennis ball! It was a goiter, which has to be possibly the ugliest word in the English language. That was almost 25 years ago, and the amount of my meds keeps going up and up and up. I’m on 175 now. I see a wonderful endocrinologist twice a year, who also treats me for osteoporosis.</p>
<p>For those that have tests saying the right dose, you might try switching when you take it. I went from a before bed dose (as had been recommended to me), to a first-thing-in-the-morning dose. It didn’t impact my levels but for some reason I feel much better on it that way and my D says she feels better taking it before bed.</p>