hypothyroid

[snapdragen]

Every year when we do the test I insist they do the full thyroid panel, I've learned about that...it is also not enough to make certain you take it daily, but that it is taken properly. So many things can cause it to not be absorbed by your body, can't take it with a Vitamin C supplement (or is it calcium? I never can remember). Better to just take it on as empty a stomach as you can, so many things interfere with that.

Yes, I do need to take it every day, this has been a struggle for the last 27 years...sigh

It's calcium. I had a couple of years of yoyo thyroid levels. I finally discovered I should not be taking my calcium at the same time as my levothyroxine.

[nscrbug]

I literally wake myself up at 3:30 AM in order to take my 88mcg of levoxyl on an empty stomach then fall back asleep for another hour...because I wake up at 4:30 and eat something right away. It's a PITA, but it's the only time that I can take it without something else interfering with it.

[indysteel]

Linda, you are one disciplined woman! I would find it challenging enough to get up at 4:30, let alone to wake up at 3:30 to take a pill!!!

[sookiesue]

For anyone using synthroid who is having any negative effects, I suggest you try the Armour thyroid. It is naturally (pig) derived and I have recently heard they have a generic out there now - I have not tried the generic, I don't want to mess with what I know works for me, and Armour is not that expensive. I tried synthroid for a time and it made me nauseated so I went back to Armour.

[snapdragen]

Armour didn't work well for me, my levels would never stabilize.

[VeganBikeChick]

I liked Armour but had a problem with it ethically so am back to Synthroid.

[RubyTuesday]

Can someone explain the normal values for TSH. Mine has always been in the normal range according to my doctor at 3.89. I do have many symptoms of a thyroid issue and both my sisters and my Mother were on synthroid.

[indysteel]

Can someone explain the normal values for TSH. Mine has always been in the normal range according to my doctor at 3.89. I do have many symptoms of a thyroid issue and both my sisters and my Mother were on synthroid.

It depends on which guidelines you use, but by at least one signfiicant guideline, you are hypothyroid. This article might help.

I would discuss that article and your symptoms with your doctor and ask for a full thyroid blood screening that measures not just TSH, but free T3 and T4 and antibodies. If yoru doc is unwilling to treat you, then ask for a referral to an endocrinologist.

Prior to my TSH coming back as low, previous bloodtests showed that I was on the high end of normal, with some readings over 3. None of my docs every mentioned this to me. I really wish they had.

[Dannielle]

the older guidelines for normal tsh are 0.5-5.0....the newer guidelines are 0.3-3.0. My endo says most people feel best under 2 (so not as high as the newest guideline of 3) so that's his average treatment goal. I've been treated for thyroid cancer so my tsh levels need to be a little extra suppressed.