Thyroid Disease suffers

[birdnutz]

I've had hypothyroidism for around 15 years. It seems like it's always been a fight with the doctors. I've since found a wonderful doctor that actually listens to me. She told me that there is such a wide range of normal that only the patient (me) cna tell when I'm close to normal for myself. I was on Levothyroid for years. Now I take the Armour now. I have since lost 25 pounds,my cholestrol is still high but slowly coming down. My good cholestrol has come up fantastically. I also feel alot better.

 

[Chicabee19]

so happy to hear from someone else who has had success! thanks birdynut!

 

[Highlander]

This is really interesting to me. I have underactive thyroid (diagnosed 18 months ago) and was put on Levothyroxine. Was started off on lowest dose which made no difference to my symptoms and was told when I returned to docs that I was on the right dose and it was probably M.E. that was making me tired!! What!??? Changed doctors very quickly and am now on 125mcg and although I feel "better" I still don't feel "right" even though the blood tests show that I am in the "normal range" The different brands of medication that have been mentioned here interest me as here in the UK as far as I am aware we are only prescribed Levothyroxine. I am unsure if I could request another type as due to the NHS system we have, anyone with Thyroid problems that needs lifelong medication gets their meds for free. While I am extremely grateful that I don't have to pay for my meds, it's not much comfort when you cannot function properly each day and the doctors tell you that you are "fine".

 

[AllChookUp]

outtathebag - What are you referring to when you say "M.E."?

I'm very interested in this thread, as I struggle with energy, as well as some short-term memory loss. Just looking to improve my situation. Thanks, all - Great thread!

.

 

[Highlander]

Quote:
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (sp?) or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as I think they call it now.

 

[HenSpa]

I, too, was given a generic form of Synthroid (unknowingly by pharmacy when I had already been on Synthroid). All the sudden, I noticed pain in hands, legs, arms. My thyroid started to "ache" again, where my cyst/lump is. My mother told me to check to see if they had slipped in the Levo. generic brand. They had. My doctor put on the prescription now, NO GENERIC. Made a big difference to switch back to Synthroid.

For the people who say their doctors say that their levels aren't significant enough to be put on meds, but you feel physically different, here's my advice: switch doctors. Find a pro-active endocronologist who will MOVE on this. My levels are in "normal" range, but they're low enough combined with all the other symptoms to make acting on it smart. My doctor can read the low normal level, put it together with other stuff, and say you've got this going on, you need this medicine. You know your own body and how it feels. So find a doctor who doesn't down-play it.

 

[HenSpa]

Quote:
Be very careful about stopping Thyroid meds on a dime, as in abruptly, on your own. You can cause a stroke by doing this. Hormones are powerful things, as we all know! Yes, is hereditary. My mother has the same hypothyroidism. How I realized I had mine: all the sudden I felt this "lump" on the inside of my throat when I swallowed (couldn't feel with my hands). It was painful. And my hands/feet/legs/arms had been aching for awhile. Got in with doc, did ultrasound and radio scan.

Though it was tumor for awhile. Had to watch it over a period of time, do tests. Anything to do with diagnosing the thyroid is SLOW if you haven't figured that out yet! LOL...now he believes it's just a "lumpy, bumpy" thyroid. Typical of hypothyroidism.

 

[wegotchickens]

My daughter was in tears last night as we talked about her tiredness and the options for what to do about it. It's very frustrating that we have a good doctor now, but can only be seen once every 6 months. The synthroid is not really helping and DD is very unhappy.

I'm thinking some kind of cortisol therapy would be really helpful for her. I'm going to print a list of questions to ask the GP tomorrow. We're seeing him about getting a form filled out to let her have more flexibility in classwork at school. She can't stay awake in class and is really struggling to keep up. We're thinking about home school until we can get the chronic tiredness resolved.

DD is very resistant to changing her diet around to try and alleviate some of her symptoms. I know teenagers want to eat & drink what they please but HEY! She's not a normal teen any more.
Sure hoping the counselor can give me some support on all this because my daughter is really emotional about it all.

 

[reallemons1]

Glad , well maybe not glad, but relieved that I'm not the only sufferer. I've had autoamuine hypothyroid for 22 years. I was under treated with synthroid and levoxithroid for at least 15 years before changing doctors to be able to get Armour and better treatment. I have many thyroid related problems including overweight by a lot, high blood, cholesterol, carpal tunnell, planter fasiatis, endometreosis, body aches, fatigue and.....well you get the idea. At times I have been so exausted doing anything more than just a shower is a day's work. And my first doctor told me I was just lazy.

I was bloated, BP was sky high, and was too tired to walk through the grocery store and he says just lazy??? Thyroid disease is under diagnosed and under treated. I am 47 and on 8 meds! Even so, life goes on, and I want the most I get out of it.

 

[HenSpa]

I'm sorry about your daughter. So hard.

I also have PCOS in addition to thyroid issue. I've heard several people on here say that diabetes is concern for future, as with me because of PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). Here's a tip: get the cinnamon pills at Sam's Wholesale or Costco. It's just cinnamon in pill form. Cinnamon is know to lower blood sugar significantly is you take every day. They just realized this a year or so ago. Lowers cholesterol and helps blood sugar. If you have PCOS, you have problems with both.

It really is terrible to have the double bullet when it comes to weight gain; thyroid and PCOS. Frustrating to keep it off.