hypothyroidism - very worried

[amandaburfoot]

Good afternoon everyone, my name is Amanda. I have only been diagnosed with hypothyroidism for 4months and I have got worse.
I have a tsh of 15 but was 7 3 months ago!
I have no energy and where I was losing weight steadily I am now getting bigger, the doc said with a tsh that high I will not lose weight.
my body hurts it's the only way I can describe it, I am soon to be tested for lupus and ME, I'm so down I've gone from a 33 year old woman with bags of energy going to the gym four times a week, walking to the school to someone who struggles walking around town for 20 mins!
Is there anyone in my situation? apologies for my long winded post!

PS every time I've felt like something was different, something has been different, and I've needed further tests and/or some form of treatment/management.

Amanda sorry about my last post. It wasn't aimed at you, I do hope you understand that!

I don't know about the gastro pain - I get constipation and diarrhoea related to Hashimotos, and terrible period pain (probably because of related anaemia) other than that, I don't get a lot of gastric trouble myself.

As delasi says, keep going back to the GP and try to see what information you can yourself to point your GP in the right direction.

I did have an overactive Thyroid gland in 20s and it was horrendous as wasn't diagnosed for a long time. Gp said it was nerves.
Yes I did lose weight, but I felt as if I had permanent PMT 100 times magnified. A pulse rate of 160 just sitting still and was a nervous wreck. Paranoid, and thought I was going mad. Very irritable all the time. Later, my feet,ankles and whole legs swelled up to massive proportions later in the day.
Eventually I was so weak and couldn't get up the stairs without taking 15 seconds to get my breath back after each one, my eyes bulged and my Thyroid swelled up. My body wasn't absorbing Vit C due to the rapid rate of metabolism and got scurvy in the gums.

Not worth attempting to try and take it just to lose weight.
Decades on I have been diagnosed with a heart problem , most likely caused by the Hyperthyroidism in my 20s.

digerd That's so bad, words fail me. Feel so on your behalf.

My best friend at school had hyperactive thyroid, terrible periods, (seriously) low weight, etc. She didn't find out it was her thyroid until much later, but not until SS had 'investigated' to see she was being fed properly. After that the school accused her of making herself ill.

Newly diagnosed here too its a complicated condition so I am still getting my head around it all too, there is lots of info online but everyone is an individual so one dose type of medication will not suit everyone.
I have had to stop all activities, like you was busy active person and am struggling to keep going at work at the moment I am waiting to see another specialist, just wanted to send hugs and say you are not alone its incredibly frustrating to have no energy when everyone looks at you and thinks your fine, but we have to keep on pushing to get the right medication to get our lives back x

Another one with hypothyroid although actually was diagnosed with coeliac disease first. Was on 50mg for ages and still felt very unwell, fought to get an increase which took months and then they doubled it to 100! Felt better but then worse and had to then struggle to get it reduced, now on 75 which seems right for me as feeling much better now. Docs rely on blood results not on how you tell them you feel unfortunately.

All I can say is persevere! I felt really really dreadful for quite a long time and as others say had to give up things I enjoyed like exercise and socialising. Docs even thought I had me or cfs but I felt that it was more likely to be related to the 3 auto immune diseases I have! Other one is early menopause which can also be autoimmune so I'm also on HRT.

I really hope you get the help you need soon but it can take time to recover and giving yourself time to rest is good though I understand how frustrating that is when there is so much to do, have a look at 'pacing' which is advice for living with cfs but also applies to thyroid problems which are not optimally treated,in my experience. It helped me to cope but what really helped was the right treatment and it is not in your head - I was having massive anxiety problems before levothyroxine reduced to 75 and anxiety is a definite symptom of over medication but docs wanted me to do cbt and take beta blockers.... Hope you feel better soon.

away (love the nn) am glad to see another person with diagnosis and treatment, too many people are made to put up with the symptoms. It is an individual thing, you're right, despite it affecting so many of us it can have a rather isolating effect. I had an active job which I had to give up (have another part time job/business now). It is good to have those hours in the day to rest when I need to.

X posted with you, Ruby. I had a similar experience with levothyroxine levels. I am trying out 50 microg and have some 25 micrograms if I feel the need to raise or lower the dose. For now though, it is nice to get used to the same daily dose. I still don't feel quite right, some days terrible and my tests showed a predispisition to other auto immune diseases, and beginnings of arthritis. I could probablt get a referral to an endocrinologist from the Hashimotos test, but is that going to help with finding out about any other auti immne problems?

yeg. Thanks for your sympathy. Some of my family members thought I wasn't eating, but I didn't stop eating.
It was a long time ago and am now slightly underactive but did not notice any symptoms other than the usual ageing ones. Gp put everything down to my age. 50 mcs of Thyroxine I take and due to the heart problem GP will not increase it.

Rather be slightly under than over as highly strung/anxious by nature.
I have general old age- arthritis, at least that is what the GP thinks is causing it.
Hope you soon feel much better

yeg yes I have diagnosis and treatment now on 75 levothyroxine and I am better but still not well,some days terrible too just like you said, , was on 100 but it has been reduced still felt tired on 100 and still feel tired exhausted on 75 going back to specialist hopefully soon, today feeling very wiped out , I like so many others put up with being told I had normal thyroid blood test until I saw specialist who tested me for antibodies and found I had auto immune thyroiditis it has taken a while, there is a lot of info on internet but its good to connect with people who just know what you are going through, hope amanda, yourself and the rest of us can get the proper help we need x

away thanks for replying. Did your specialist prescribe thyroxine when you had a normal TSH test result where the GP would not?

There is tons of information on the internet, a lot of it is useful but a lot of it is conflicting advice.

At the rate we are going, and the number of people affected, we could all have our own MN thyroid ongoing thread.

yeg dont want to hijack Amanda's thread! but this info may help her in some way Gp kept saying it was Chronic fatigue as blood tests "normal" so asked for referral the specialist saw me listened for 5 mins, then asked for antibody test, which was positive and with other signs TSH borderline high and T4 and T3 levels consistently low diagnosed autoimmune thyroid disease but I had to go private to see him!! NHS specialist refused to see me even though GP sent a letter, she showed me the letter back from them which said there was nothing wrong with my blood tests refused to see me. Thankfully had husbands private care which allows me some treatment but not a lot, thats how I got the diagnosis and treatment if left to NHS I would be even more ill and clueless as to why. A mumsnet ongoing thread would be a great idea, like you say so much info but when GPs don't do correct blood test or know about new treatments its an uphill battle It was recently debated in Scottish parliment about bad treatment three brave woman are campaigning for better care you could google as I dont have links I am currently trying to see another specialist due to ongoing thyroid problems exhaustion being main one but it all takes so much time and we all struggle on. Thanks Amanda for starting this thread x

Signing in here - unfortunately - I started levo at the end of March (tsh 11) and although I have felt a bit better with each increase of levo, 3 weeks ago I went up to 100mcg and I think I am going backwards now . I feel chronically tired, achy and low. Last tsh was 2.9 so the next tsh test due in 3 weeks will almost certainly come back as under 2 and therefore 'in range'. I will need to ask for a referral then I think - as lovely as my GP is, I don't think this treatment is helping me at the moment.

Yes Ghoulden just because you are in range doesnt mean you cant feel terrible I say to my Gp yes I'm better but I'm not well and thats how I feel I wonder if something stops us absorbing it have read a bit about none dessicated thyroxin but tried to speak to GP she said she had never heard of it

All posters on this thread, please come and be a founder contributers! Free flowers to everyone who posts on the first page! over here. GhouldenGreen please come and join the new thread. That happened to me when I went up to 100. I had a full thyroid blood screen which showed the thyroxine had made me hyperthyroid, so have stepped it town to 75/100, then 75/50 and now 50/25 until it stabilises. I probably rushed at it and pushed to get it stepped up too quickly in my case, but I don't know for sure.

Away yes, I agree, I don't want to hijack Amanda's thread either. Let's keep this thread for Amanda's news.

When I first got diagnosed and got my results of (slightly) low thyroid function, I did a search on MN and only found a thread about someone's sister trying to lose weight using thyroixine. (I hope that makes some sense of my other post on this thread) I know there must be a lot of other people reading for whom thyroid function affects everyday life, or who think they might have a related problem and don't know whether to go to the GP, or what to say.

Ah, that should be free for new posters on the new thread I've started a new thread

over here.
over here.