Advice and opinions wanted

Hi Jackie, your list of symptoms sure sounds like thyroid disease. I will give you the advice that no one will give. Having been through the whole thyroid disease thing and on the other end of it, I can tell you that thyroid medications are not a great solution.

You are better off making some dietary and supplement changes to relieve your thyroid symptoms. Thyroid medications have many side effects, are extremely difficult to regulate because they affect your own thyroxine production, and in the long run suppress your own thyroid function.

My best recommendation is to go ahead and get all the tests done to check for thyroid disease. Do you want to full thyroid panel and you also want to check your reverse T3 levels and your antibody levels. You would also be smart to have your vitamin and mineral levels checked when you get blood work done. Things like B and D vitamins, magnesium, iron, vitamin E levels are helpful to know so that you can supplement. If your blood work still doesn't show any indication of thyroid disease, you'd want to rule it out completely by doing a thyroid ultrasound to check fir nodules. Once you establish a baseline for your thyroid, you can look into what foods will help and harm your thyroid and what supplements would best benefit you.

Thyroid disease is affiliated with many other health conditions including chronic pancreatitis, food sensitivities, gut problems that lead to malnutrition, diabetes, poor gallbladder and liver health to name a few. Magnesium deficiency symptoms parallel hypothyroid symptoms almost exactly. prediabetic conditions can also have overlapping sumptoms with hypothyroid disease.

What many thyroid patuents do us troubleshoot every aspect of their health. Because, as you suspected, hypothyroid disease causes a bunch of different problems. Best to troubleshoot your health compketely before starting meds, as the meds themselves cause a bunch if symptoms.

You could argue that tge meds work, and that I was just a fluje. but after trying more than ten different medications, I found that all I get is an initual bump in thyroxin, followed by worse hypothyroid symptoms, and combinations of both hypothyroid and hyperthyroid symptons at the same time.

In the end, all the meds dud was sultess my own thyroid and cause a bunch more health problems. When docs say the thyroid neds can cause bone loss, and geart orobkems, they aren't kidding.

After several years of waiting for thyroid meds to work, they never did: I'm left 70 pounds heavier, and with chronic broken bones. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop on the heart disease. I'm sure that'll be around the vorber.

Hi Jackie, has the Doctor actually done any blood tests for thyroid? If they have can you post the results and ranges so we can see what they are. Some symptoms seem like thyroid related but without the blood test we are in the dark. My GP only tests TSH ( thyroid stimulating hormone) and T4

There is more to the Thyroid than that and I end up doing private blood tests for my thyroid and my vitamin levels. If you are hypothyroid it is important that your vitamin levels are optimum - you need Ferritin/Folate/ Vitamin D/ B12 - also TSH/T4/T3 and Antibodies. I get mine from Medicheck ,.full thyroid plus vitamin testing. I would advise you register on Thyroid UK site, lots of help and advice from people in the same boat.

Hello Jackie,

The logical path to securing an answer to your problems is the one you have chosen.

See the doctor, all doctors are not the same,, they are human as we all are, but definitely get yourself checked out thyroid wise. its a simple blood test.

If you are hypothyroid then it will take some time and patience to get back to normal.

No everybody can see it this way and expect a solution in a month/s or even a few weeks, it will generally take longer but you will arrive there especially with understanding from yourself. READ UP.

Once started on medication it may be a low dose at first followed by a increase over time, possibly followed by a decrease later until your body is satisfied. you will need blood tests to confirm you have arrived in the band of acceptably, guessing is not a method.

Staying on the same brand IS IMPORTANT but your doc may not be up on this, ask him/her to read up, nicely because its hard enough for a GP to be aware of everything. Bioequivalence between brands has been shown to be unreliable (READ UP). Your doctor needs to be understanding, sure he/she will be.

If you are hypo then depending on your symptoms it may take some time,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, for all of them to correct, be patient.

Best regards,

specie 8472

Hi Jackie,

Sorry you are having such a tough time. I am not a medical professional at all and don't want to say you are hypothyroid just can say that your symptoms do have a lot in common. Because everyone has different symptoms my advice is definitely get your blood tests done by your PCP.

I am 48 and felt like I was in a fog. Eye problems can also be caused by Graves Disease. I first thought it was the changes but my OB said I wasn't going through them yet. I had muscle pain and weakness, vision problems and pressure, headaches, numbness and pins and needles especially at night in bed and when I woke up, got way too skinny even when eating a lot, up all night, missed periods, heart palpitations, sore throat, I was no fun, anxious all the time, depressed, annoyed, lower back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, chest pains and the list goes on and on. I basically thought I was dying of something serious. My hair did thin and lightly fell out but not enough for others to notice, and my skin felt thick. I have Graves Disease and had hyperthyroidism. Went on 5 mg of methimazole. It is the lowest dose. Then my Endocrinologist put me up to 10 mg a day with a 25mg betta blocker. Eventually I went to Hypothyroidism. I cut back my dose of methimazole to 5mg five days a week (skipping Wednesdays and Sundays). I did begin to feel better for a week here and there but when I first went from Hyper to Hypo I was a mess because I went to Hypo rather quickly (according to my Endocrinologist). New ailments and fears I had that the doctor didn't find what was really wrong and I had a serious condition went through my head constantly.

I have been at this battle since Jan 2019 and it is now June. I was feeling sick for a while before Jan but not bad enough to rush to the doctor and waiting to feel better, but I didn't. Today, I do feel amazingly better than when I started so there is HOPE!!My advice is find a doctor that will listen. Do your own research. I did and it helped me greatly, but be smart when reading online stuff because some of it will have you thinking your are dying and drive you crazy! I thought patients stories helped me most since its real people who have had the same symptoms and feelings as I did. Doctors sometimes give a list of symptoms but it is not the emotion we get from other patients and every patient has different symptoms. The stories help us feel not alone and that we are NOT CRAZY!

Find the best doctor for you! I went to one Endocrinologist and then to another because I didn't get a feeling like the first was listening to me and I waited 3 hours before I was seen at my first appointment. My new Endocrinologist doesn't' keep me waiting and he listens. He is a minimalist when it comes to medications, and his goal is to get me off all medications as soon as possible while trying to get my thyroid levels back to normal. I don't like taking medications because they too have side effects. Everyone is different and has different reactions to them too. Listen to your body and when you feel like something is wrong get it checked.

When I began this journey I went to my OBGYN and had all the tests: Mammogram, and biopsies. I went to my PCP and had a physical and blood work to find my thyroid problem. I also went to an Orthopedic Surgeon, Eye Doctor for new glasses, and even had my whole body scanned for skin cancer by my Dermatologist . I had an MRI for my back and xrays. I just knew I wasn't well. I learned your thyroid affects just about everything. Your throat, your weight, your muscles and nerves, skin and hair, eyes, heart rate, and even your mind and emotions. Many people suffer from thyroid problems and are on antidepressants thinking that its mental. Yet, its all related to their thyroid and they don't even know it, and on the wrong medications.Search for a doctor you feel comfortable with, even if it means trying more than one. This is the worse illness I have ever had to experience due to all the emotion, fear and just feeling unwell. I didn't have answers and the unknown of what was wrong with me is clearly difficult to live with. Do what is best for you and find the best doctor that makes you feel that way! Be your own advocate, and remember no one knows your body better than you!

I hope this helped you in some way. I wish you the very best of luck and hope you find out soon and get on the road to feeling better!