If you have an under active thyroid

[MintIcecreams]

How long did it take to get your dose right? I was diagnosed in December and put on 50mg. I just got my blood result this morning and it was worse than the original diagnosis. I know I’m on a tiny dose but I was expecting some sort of improvement!

Me. I got diagnosed a few years ago although it wasn’t a surprise as it’s hereditary in my family.

within 3 months, my results were back to ‘ok’ but it did take me longer than this to feel better - maybe 6-9 months fully. I’ll be honest, this wasn’t just the medication in my opinion. It was consistent hydration, vitamins, exercise and being kind to myself.

It can take quite a while to get the right dose and even then it can fluctuate over time.

I was put on 100mg and felt better quite quickly.
I had suffered from an underactive thyroid for ages but the first time I said to the doctor I was exhausted all the time he said that’s because you are getting older.
Then I became so forgetful I thought that I was getting early onset dementia.
It was a great relief when an under active thyroid was diagnosed.

Most people are under medicated I think.

50mcg is a starter dose and will have knocked out what is left of your own thyroid function, rather than topping it up.

Ask for a retest every six weeks or so and an increase until you feel well.

Also make sure you're taking the medicine properly, eg not eating for 30-60 minutes after, there are also certain foods that you shouldn't eat for a few hours after.

I have hypothyroidism. but there's a lot of misinformation about it. What you do have OP, 9 times out of 10 is an autoimmune disease called 'Hashimotos Thyroiditis'. Hashimotos is the primary cause for most hypothyroid conditions( graves disease is the equivalent if you are hyper). Doctors rarely recognise this, so it's pointless trying to explain it to them. They just want to medicate you up and keep an eye on your dosage. . Once you understand you have an autoimmune disease, rather than just a thyroid issue, you can and find ways to prevent the flare ups which leads to your thyroid gland being attacked.

What @ukgone2pot said,
Most common triggers are gluten, sugar, alcohol and caffeine.
Try cutting these out and it will improve the autoimmune attack on the thyroid.

I'm hypo too.

Now I'm an old peri menopausal lady I guarantee I have to get up in the night at least once for a wee so I've started taking my thyroxine on my way back to bed, circa 3am ish. The water also helps top up what I've lost during the night sweat Silver linings and all

Thanks all. Dr said it's probably autoimmune. I had read that it should be checked after 6 weeks but mine insisted I wait 3 months. I wondered if the low dose would stop my thyroid bothering at all so it is interesting to see what happens when the dose increases.

The NICE clinical guideline recommends:

Consider starting LT4 at a dosage of 1.6 micrograms per kilogram of bodyweight per day (rounded to the nearest 25 micrograms) for adults under 65 years of age with primary hypothyroidism and no history of cardiovascular disease.

Also, have a look at this. There's stuff there you can print and wave at your doctor.

Also, if he thinks it's probably auto immune, why doesn't he test your TPO and TgAb antibodies and make sure? I'm one of the 10% that isn't.

@TheOtherHotstepper thanks. I did get the TPO which was negative but she said she couldn't test the other. What causes it in the other 10%?