Diagnosed with Hypothyroid

[limewave]

I've just been diagnosed with hypothyroid. It came as quite a surprise. I went to see a new dr. about my bad back but, before I could be a patient, she had to do a full physical. I had bloodwork done last year on my thyroid and it came back normal. This dr. diagnosed me from noticing cracks on my heels and then running through a list of other symptoms: cold hands and feet, waking up at night, fatigue, weight gain, hair loss. She said I had all the classic symptoms.

The fatigue has been horrible. Every time I see someone they comment on how tired I look. DH is skeptical that my tiredness is from thyroid and he thinks (although has not outright said it) that I am becoming lazy. He doesn't understand that it takes every once of motivation within me to do one simple task. He said he gets tired too but he just pushes through it. I wish I could push through this . . .

Has anyone else had this problem? Does it get better with treatment? I'm worried I'm going to be really tired the rest of my life.

[Zen]

I would guess there are plenty of us here who have hypothryroid but such extreme fatigue from just that makes me wonder.
Did you get full blood labs?
Did she check liver function?

DH is skeptical that my tiredness is from thyroid and he thinks (although has not outright said it) that I am becoming lazy.

That doesn't exactly help matters

[Dianyla]

Has anyone else had this problem? Does it get better with treatment? I'm worried I'm going to be really tired the rest of my life.

Do a quick search on thyroid and you'll see a bunch of us here are working through some of these issues. I do recommend that you work with a doctor who can diagnose this properly with lab tests and adjust medication dosing conservatively. Even though doctors in the past have tested you and found nothing, the right tests should show a problem that explains your symptoms. I found my doctor via this link:

http://www.thyroid-info.com/topdrs/index.htm

Oh, and give hubby a whack upside the head while you're at it.

[LBTC]

I work with a girl who has been on medication for hypothyroid for a couple of years. You would never guess from her appearance or how she acts that she has any health issues at all.

My only other experience with thyroid disease was my dear cat who was hyperthyroid. Both my cat and my co-worker took drugs, possibly even the same one: tapazole. With my cat I know it took some fiddling with the dosages to get it just right, which was sometimes humourous to watch for us, but was probably not as much fun for him. At least you will know what's going on!

I'm glad you have a diagnosis, and I hope it is correct. Once you get the meds figured out you should have a normal energy level again!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[maillotpois]

Curious how old your kid(s) are and whether your symptoms started up after having a baby? Hypothyroid after childbirth is not uncommon - especially the auto immune stuff like Hashimoto's that may come when your immune system is in hyperdrive from childbirth, nursing, etc. That's what happened to me.

I pretty much decided I was just going to be tired and miserable forever once I had my daughter and was trying to work full time. A year later, an alert GYN noticed my large thyroid and ran tests. Within a few weeks of being on the correct dosage I was my old self again. 10 years later, all is well. I'm still on a little pill every day, but I feel SO much better!!

Good luck !

[limewave]

I have had the full lab work and have been officially diagnosed. Monday I have another appt. to talk about treatment. After talking to my mom, I learned that she has been on medication for hypothyroidism for almost 45 years and my grandmother had it too. Why she never shared this with me before . . . So, who knows how long I've had it, but the fatigue has definitely gotten worse since I had dd. I'll do a search of the forum and see what else comes up. I think I just need some encouragement as DH is so skeptical right now. Although, I can't blame him . . . he puts up with a lot

[Dianyla]

Oh good, I'm glad to hear you had full labwork. While I believe in the importance of symptoms, I get a little leary of docs who only go by symptoms without the tests to back it up. And that's too funny (in an annoying way!) about the family history. "Oh yeah, didn't we tell you about that?"

My BF was also a little skeptical of things as well. As he is starting to observe improvements he is coming around.

[Triskeliongirl]

Happy to report that I am one of those doing very well with treatment. The fatigue is real. When my meds are off I end up on my office floor sleeping in the afternoons. Finding optimal treatment isn't always easy. They will probably start you on synthroid (T4), and slowly titrate up your dosage. It takes *time* to see results too. Even though T4 normalized my blood work, I needed a T4/T3 combo therapy to have my symptoms controlled. I think my mistake was letting my internist treat me, rather than going to an endocrinologist sooner. FYI, I do best with 150 ug of synthroid (T4) plus 5 ug of cytomel (T3). T3 is the active form of thryoid hormone that is made from T4. For some reason, that small amount of T3 that was added to my dosing makes a big diff (it was actually not really added but replaced 25 ug of T4 since it is 4X more active).

[divingbiker]

The tiredness is very real--when my meds are off, I feel a deep-down-in-my-core exhaustion that can't be cured with sleep or "pushing through it." I'm at the point now that when my endocrinologist asks how I'm doing, I can guess at my TSH values fairly closely based on my energy level.

The good news is that hypothyroidism is well understood, and the treatments are fairly standard. Most people take T4/levothyroixine (aka synthroid or levothyroid) and for many that's all they need. I and several others on the board also take T3/liothyronine (cytomel).

Unfortunately, despite my thyroid being controlled, I still struggle with achieving a healthy weight. Just know that feeling good is possible, but it may take a few weeks for the medications to kick in.