To have brought this on myself?

[ExhaustedTiredzzzzz]

I'll be honest in that I'm posting in AIBU for traffic....

So, I have an under active thyroid and suffer from depression. I am prescribed 125mcg levothyroxine and came off Sertraline 2 months ago.

I have always struggled to take medication because I struggle with my memory.
If I'm watching TV and the adverts come on, I cannot remember what I was watching. I cannot name famous people or singers, yet would recognise a picture of them. I cannot remember history that most people know, such as when wars took place, political stuff, I don't know where in the world places are.

I struggle to take my medication because I forget. And I think by not taking medication this makes me more forgetful.

Anyway, a few days ago I realised I'd gone 10 days without remembering to take a single pill. I only realised because of how ill I'm currently feeling.

I've tried alarms, reminders, leaving tablets at work, even the chemist put them in blister packs with days of the week.

I've now got them on bedside table with a bottle of water to try and help me remember them. Day will hopefully be my third day in a row of remembering to take them.

I guess my questions are:
What else can I try to ensure I don't forget to take them each day?
How long am I now likely to feel so ill before feeling normal again?
Is forgetfulness and memory issues caused by underactive thyroid? Depression? Both?

Not even sure why i posted. Guess I'm feeling sorry for myself as I'm exhausted, but can't sleep because I feel sicky and gross.

Alexa tells me to take my tablet and I do it as soon as she says it.

I'm suffering from depression and anxiety and some weeks I really struggle to remember to take my medication. The tablets are marked by day and am/pm. I have reminders on my phone. I still forget them sometimes. I can see the reminder then a get a drink and pick up my tablets and still forget on a bad day. It's so hard.

There is NO NEED to be putting levothyroxine in the fridge. Advice may differ if hotter countries. Unless your house is over 25c.

I've never put my thyroxine in the fridge either. I have coffee every morning and leave my pills on top of the sugar container, no one uses it so they are always there. My memory is really bad without it and that's when I get my levels checked because I recognize it as a symptom for me.

It’s habit.

I take 34 tablets a day:-
One lot when I wake
One lot in the afternoon
One lot before bed

Tablets are always kept in the living room, in the same space with a drink. I automatically after 8 years wake and go in the living room, turn on the news and take my tablets.
Afternoon is always around 2pm, so my alarm goes off. I take them straight away.
I run the tv off for bed, then I take my tablets as I have to lean overnight them to turn off the lamp.

I don’t take the same meds as you, but will become unwell if I don’t take them. I have gone out come home and forgotten, then woken at 2/3am sweating, anxious and feeling all ‘wrong’, I know straight away I’ve forgotten to take them.

Also my dc (late teens and adult), my dp (who I don’t live with), my exdp (I still have a good relationship with him), will all if I say I’m not well check I’ve taken my meds. If I am unwell with flu etc, they will all text to check I’ve not slept through them. It takes a village and all that lol.

You can get a pillbox with an alarm

Exhausted, I'm so sorry.

It sounds to me as though your medication and treatment regime needs a thorough overhaul; please do try to get an appointment at the hospital as soon as you can be insistent. They're there to help you.

Much of what you say describes typical side effects from antidepressants. Your thyroid condition certainly doesn't help.

Doctors can only do so much, they try things which have proved successful in some people but not everyone is the same. It is really up to the patient to go back and have medication reviewed, otherwise the medics won't know.

All the very, very best.

Thank you so much for all of your comments.

I do see my doctors regularly but he has explained that until I'm taking my medication as I should they cannot up my dose although he has stated he thinks it will need upping again gradually until my levels are stable.

Which makes sense. My blood test results won't be accurate until I manage to take my medication everyday for a certain period of time.

I'm trying hard right now to ensure I do take them as I know I'm really not helping myself.

I hate feeling how I feel currently. I'm so exhausted and nauseous. Just getting the kids ready and being a mum and working 40 hours a week is so hard going at the moment. But I'm feeling proud of myself for actually managing to do these things and managing to keep up at work.

Now it's the weekend though I feel like my body has given up after the working week, so I'm going to take it easy and try and catch up on sleep as I've no kids at home this weekend.

I'm just really hoping that taking my medication properly starts to take effect very quickly as I do hate feeling like this.

My weight was fairly constant, but I had put on 3 1/2 stone between thyroid operations (yes, they removed it in 2 operations ) and I have never really shifted it. This year, my weight has increased, but I have been really symptomatic, but because I am now menopausal, everything is put down to that. My bloods are apparently always 'fine'. All the doctors are in a lather to get my dosage down, but I can't function on less than 125mg, so I am now avoiding getting bloods done. Thyroid care is really shit in the UK.

Thyroxine needs to be kept in the fridge or it does not maintain its full potency. It needs to be kept in a "cool dry place", not necessarily a fridge.

If you have breakfast/hot drink with milk in the morning, then by keeping it stored correctly you should remember to take it as you grab the milk/butter etc from the fridge, as you’ll see it sitting on the shelf. Having it sit next to the milk in the fridge was the only way I could remember to take it too. It's potency is affected by calcium or iron in the food you eat. Advice is to take it at least 30mins before breakfast, and 2 hrs before any medication containing calcium or iron. Using the act of getting the milk for your drink as a trigger to take the tablet isn't the best idea.

I've never heard of thyroxine needing to be kept in a fridge.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3139142/ You can take thyroxine at night before bed

Thanks IvyKaty*. I've read that before but I nod and smile at my GP.

What I think is quite interesting is why I have taken levothyroxine for 30 years without a problem and no symptoms yet others have a devil of a job to feel well. I wonder if there's much research about that?

I still struggle with my weight definitely even though my levels have been normal at every blood test I've had in the past 15 years. I seem to have to be dieting (without any veering from it at all) in order to lose a small amount. If I have a bad week I can put on a few pounds which has taken me 6 weeks to lose. Holidays give me a ten pound gain and I spend months trying to lose that again. It's quite depressing

Exhausted, thanks for the update but please do insist on referral to a consultant or even two (one endo, one psych), you are entitled to that and a GP can only go so far. In the end, your GP may be right but you need to know because you feel flipping awful!

I have a little pill purse with 2 in it.
I often forgot to take my steralyn.
I have a little chalk board in the kitchen as a reminder, my problem is I remember many times a day but put off taking them.
I find having a nice chilled drink in the fridge is a good reminder.

Do you remember to brush your teeth?

Add it to something you do remember.

Phone reminder.

Can you buy a watch with a small pocket.
I bought tiny jewellery bags from Amazon a 6 pack so I keep one in my work bag, one in my day bag and then i bought a fancy clear ornament on the kitchen counter so I spot the pack.
It is shit the months I have stuck to the dose 100% my PMDD symptoms are much milder.

I take mine at night as don't want to wait to eat in the morning. When I go up to bed I put my glasses and mobile phone on the bedside table, see my levo tablet and take it.

If you're on 125mcg your body will definitely miss it. It's down to you to work out a way to take it for your benefit. There's loads of suggestions here.

I take mine each morning with decafe latte then eat about 2 hours later, my blood results wouldn’t indicate any effect from the soya milk

We live and learn, now you know the consequence of missing pills you'll make a more conscious effort to stop it happening again.
I hope everything settles soon.

Levothyroxine can be stored out of the fridge for 14 days, even in Australia.

Routine, I take mine when I make the tea every morning. If I don't I forget.

I take levothyroxine, I set my phone to go off at whatever time and the message comes up about medication.

I like APerkyPumpkin's idea...

"You really need to log this, visually, on paper or card, ticking the box each time you have taken each medication. Keep it up in the kitchen so you see it many times a day, on a clip board with a pen so you don't forget."