[GlamourGirl827]

Hi All! I haven't been on in a while, and I decided to come on today and saw this thread still going! A little update:
I was plugging along (no meds) until about mid January, and I just seriously started slowing down. I stopped running or doing any exercise (I was too tired to even think about exercise), started napping during the day, which is soooo not like me, and I just felt like I was barely getting through every day. The fatigue was aweful!! I have two kids, and I was struggling to stay awake to take care of them. I was also eating a lot of sugar and caffeine in an effort to stay awake. In about a month I put of over 15 lbs. (I'm not sure if my ticker reflects my current weight, I'm going to change that so its correct) I was so swollen, my eye lids were actually swollen from the water retention (a symptom of HYPOthyroid)...so I went to my Endo...

My TSH had been like 1.3 over last year, but when I went in Jan it was 2.6...which is "normal", but my Endo, thank goodness, believes in treating symptoms, not labs and put me on a very low dose synthroid, 25 mcg. I've been on it since the frist week in Feb and I feel soooooo much better.

I feel like myself again. I am amazed at how such a small increase in TSH can have such huge effects on someone. I just keep wondering how many people are "normal" in their labs but would benefit from treatment.

I go back to see my endo in April and he'll check my labs then. I'm aware of the HYPER symptoms to watch out for should my TSH get too low, but the doctor said the dose I was on was so low that the chance of that happening is unlikely. I am aware that in the future I will need to increase my dose as the Hashi's progresses.

I would tell anyone to find a doctor that treats the SYMPTOMS not the labs. Seriously, I just can't relay how great it feels to feel like a person again.

I'm back here, because now that I have my energy back, I now have to work on losing the weight I put on. Plus I still had like 10 more pounds let to go when I regained the 10-15 lbs from not leaving the couch for like a month!
Ok I'm going to change my ticker weights now...

[shananigans]

GlamourGirl827, that's great that you've found a doc that is willing to work with you and take how you're feeling into the "big picture", it really is important.

My doc, who is a GP but did consult with endo when my TSH was 10-13 for the first year of being on meds despite dose increases after every lab, seems to think TSH is some magic number and as long as the lab is normal everything should be fine. I finally had a normal TSH last August after the endo got me on the correct weight-based dose of levo. At my 6 month check in Feb my TSH was a little low at .21, so the nurse called and said the doc wanted to lower my med dose. Thing is I haven't been feeling any of the symptoms of too much thyroid hormone (actually been feeling decent, nice for a change!) so I asked the nurse to tell the doc I wanted her to order a complete panel. Lo and behold all my other numbers, including free T4, are in the normal range. Sorry for the ramble, but it's just been really frustrating. I know every patient has to be his/her own advocate, but a lot of people would have trouble interpreting labs and pushing back when a doctor wants to change their medication. I feel like I should have been referred to endo immediately when I was diagnosed. I like my GP for most things, but this is clearly not her area of expertise.

[Marniadec]

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's when I was 19. I'm on 125 mg of levothyroxine and I have eleventy symptoms. My arms feel like dead weights if I so much as lift them over my head for a few seconds, my eye-lids are swollen, I sleep as much as they will let me (I actually make my mom call me when it's time for class or I won't get up, no matter how long I've been asleep), I'm tired all the time. I'm sitting on the couch right now and I feel winded. I'm also very depressed, my hands are always shaking, I feel cold all the time, which I never did... And there's definitely more.

Another problem is that my iron and ferritin levels are extremely low and have been for years and the doctors I've seen won't really address it. They say that it's because of my period, but I don't think that's true because I stopped getting my period for 2 years when I reached my highest weight and then again for another year after I got burned and my they kept dropping. Iron deficiency and hypothyroidism have lots of symptoms in common and low iron affects the thyroid.

I'm trying to figure things on my own with the help of google, but it's not easy... So, I remain one big mess, even though I do know that it could be a lot worse and I'm glad it's not. Be glad you have a doctor that treats your symptoms and try to educate yourself. Don't completely rely on anyone, that's one thing I've learned.