To ask you to please share your experiences of Hypothyroidism

[PaddleBoardingMomma]

Posting for traffic, I'm at the start of the diagnosis process and its all rather overwhelming and confusing!

What made you seek out a diagnosis?
How did your symptoms start?
Did you get the correct support and medication?
Have you found anything that helps you outside of medication?
Did your symptoms improve much after diagnosis?

Any experiences and advice very welcome and much appreciated!

I had a hemithyroidectomy to treat thyroid cancer and hypothyroidism runs in my family so was expecting it. Symptoms started with fatigue, low body temp and weight fluctuation. Started on 25mg of Levothyroxine then upped to 50 when TSH levels continued to rise. Getting to the right dose takes some trial and error but my symptoms are now under control and have no major impact on my daily life.

It's reassuring to hear you both feel ok when the dosage is correct and you're taking the medication regularly.

I'm a little bit down about the prospect of life long meds (but I'd do anything to feel better) and I've read over and over again on some forums where people say the meds just don't work for them, so hearing some positives is lovely, thank you for replying x

@PaddleBoardingMomma I felt exactly the same at the beginning but it's just part of my daily routine now. Plus you get free prescriptions for life

Always always cold. Even in the middle of summer, on a beach on the med. Cold.

Tired beyond belief. Napping every day after work. Tired at work, never woke up feeling rested.

Then pretty much all of the textbook symptoms. Itchy legs and awful dry skin. Nails that were always soft. Wierd eyebrows. My weight crept up by a stone and I just couldn't shift it. Brain fog. And oh man, the constipation.

Just generally shit. Ended up at the GPs saying I thought it was either perimenopause or low thyroid. She agreed with thyroid, sent me for a blood test and I got my 1st prescription 10 days later. 25 increased to 50 3 months after that.

Gentle easing of symptoms. Less tired and not needing to nap. Skin less itchy. Nails not bendy any more.

The lifelong meds thing is a bit shit, I agree. You do get an exemption card which means free prescriptions (which was handy as I was diagnosed with frozen shoulder about 6 months later and saved literally hundreds of pounds in prescription costs).

I've been a bit hit and miss with the pills recently due to a bereavement and I definitely feel the difference.

I've been taking it for almost 18 years now. Mine stopped working when I was pregnant and after I had her I was very overweight, exhausted and sleeping all the time (I have almost no memory of the newborn days) freezing all the time. One blood test solved all my problems tho and was medicated well after that. Never been able to lose weight since then tho. Not at all. Got heavier and heavier over the years and now struggling. Eating healthily and working out regularly has no effect on my weight.

I have been diagnosed since having covid in January. I felt terrible after and so they did my
bloods. Currently on lowest dose and still feel symptoms (terrible pain in hands and other places, dry skin, brain fog, tiredness). Need to book another blood test.