TSH 31.55!!!!

Thank you!

Yes, 31.55...and it is extreme.  They have ruled out cancer, but I am also anemic and have been for nearly a year.  Somewhere I am bleeding but no ones knows where.  I do have copies of all lab work, as I keep one for myself.  Unfortunately, my thyroid problem is autoimmune as Hashimoto's Disease and I also have Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid, Psoriatic and Osteo Arthritis.  Autoimmune disease runs in my family. 

 

I'm so sorry to hear that. I am in your same situation, it runs in my family, as well.

Besides medication, I think it's even more important to stop intaking gluten which makes your body attack itself. Get your vitamin D up above 60 and eat paleo. That's what I have been doing and I have noticed a significant improvement. I also quit eating soy, all artificial sweeteners, anything and GMO. Now I am reading that not only do we have to stop eating gluten, but also anything that the body may recognize as gluten. Like GF oatmeal, even though it's GF, the body still sees it as gluten and may attach they thyroid. My diet is very limited now. Everything I eat is as organic as I can get and only lean meats, seafood, veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds and healthy fats

I hope this helps.

Thank you, a new lifestyle I suppose!!!

Totally new lifestyle....it's not easy, but feeling this much better, it's worth it!!😃

I'm glad you are showing improvements...I can't wait for my energy to return.  Thank you!

 

Doctors are either completely for or completely against bioidentical thyroid replacement.

All I can tell you is I have been on both for literally years and the synthetic failed me. I felt like I was going to die, but the lab work showed I was fine. I have been on natural for a year and recently at a higher dose on natural and I am starting to feel like myself again. I had inflammation all over my body with several diagnoses. I got my dose right on the bioidentical and all issues resolved. I also made vitamin and food changes that I have posted about.

Wow, I can't imagine!!!!  I have days I don't even want to lift my arms!  I hope Thyroxin is the key for you.

 

It's good to know there are others out there too! I started on thyroxin 100 so hopefully that makes a big difference. Fingers crossed! After reading so many comments and blogs about how different medications didn't work I am now really nervous... Was almost excited before, as I felt it was all fixable. Now a bit tentitively excited but scared at the same time. I'm so nervous it'll make no difference. How has everyone else gone when first put on the meds?

Brian, don't be nervous, if you stick with it and research, you will figure it all out.  When I was diagnosed in the 80s, I didn't have the internet.  You have all the information you need at your fingertips. 

When you first go on the meds, you get better for a while and then crash.  Synthetic replacement to me was like barely surviving.  It only gives you a synthetic version of T4.  It gives you no T3.  With my condition (Hashimoto's Thyroiditis/Autoimmune disorder) I nearly died on Synthroid (UK version is Levothyroixin). 

When mine started I was a teenager, small symptom, ingrown toenails (who knew!) then I gained 40 pounds, did every diet in the world to lose the weight, all the while I was constantly sick, caught every cold that came my way....my gallbladder failed, I had to have that removed.  I was cold all the time, my hair became brittle and thinned out every passing year.  My feet/heels, the dry skin was so severe my heels cracked and bled ...come to find out it's because your body isn't working and your blood is not circulating to your feet or your head, that's why your feet are cold and your head is foggy....you'll feel stupid, can't focus, can't stay awake, fall down a lot, very clumsy, cold hands and feet and head will itch....in what I call the end stage, for me at least, this was the last straw, my normal bodily bathroom functions stopped, I would eat food and it would not digest.  I accumulated fluid everywhere on my body, feet, ankles, hands, chest, face...that's just some of what I've been dealing with over the course of 30 years. 

I was on natural dessicated thyroid replacement for 6 years and I was doing great.  The dose became to too high, I became hyperthyroid.   My doctor moved and I went to another doc and he irradiated my thyroid (I could kill myself for letting him do that) and he put me on Synthroid as opposed to natural.  That's when most of those symptoms above began.  When I was on the natural Armour before, I was fabulous (until the dose was too high) 

In hindsight, had I done research instead of listening to the doc, I never would have let him irradiate my thyroid. 

I suffered for so long, I go on these blogs and try to help people not go through what I did. 

You will have to figure things out for yourself, it is a lot of work, but if I did it and I am well now, you can do it, too.  I just hope you are quicker than I was.  Don't suffer with symtoms for too long before you get help.  I listened and trusted doctors, I don't now....I do my own research and trust how I feel.  If your numbers are good and you feel good, then you're on the right track.  Don't let anyone tell you:  Your labwork is perfect.  I don't care how you feel, the numbers don't lie.  Do what you have to do to get healthy. 

The thyroid is a mystery to many physicians.  I had a GP who I loved up until the point she told me synthetic thyroid replacement gives you T3 and your body creates T4.  I knew she was wrong as I had already done my research and I switched doctors and found the best one I've ever had. 

Good luck and you can always ask me anything 

First things first, you need a diagnosis.  What is causing your numbers to be so out of whack.  Once you figure that out, it'll get better. 

Did you get a definitive diagnosis?

I have done a lot of research.

Look into the difference between Synthroid and Armour.  Synthetic thyroid replacement has been around since the 1950s.  Bioidentical natural dessicated thyroid has been around since 1821 and continues to be in use today.

Here are some more symtoms I forgot...... muscle cramps. 

I was contantly sick with colds, flus, sinus infections, bronchitis. 

I have been to two podiatrists for plantar fasciits and in pain my andles and feet and cortisone shots, that was hundreds of dollars.  I had to wear a brace at night for the plantar fasciitis to keep my foot from cramping in order to be able to walk and survive the next day. 

I have been to an one orthopedist and one neurologist for my back and hip pain.  Neurologist found that I had zero reflexes, another symptom.

I had to get massages every two weeks to survive and continue working at my job.

I had to have my gall bladder removed (sorry, I repeat) because I had acquired stones...multiple calculi layering dependently.  That was thousands of dollars.  The ER visit was scary, I thought I was going to die, the pain was so intense.

I have seen a gastroenterologist who came back with nothing, negative results, but my stomach would not digest food and I was in pain and miserable.

Doctors are just realing now, 2014/2015 to see diagnoses as symptoms, not individual diagnoses.   Every one of those things I went through on my own alone were diagnosed by my GP and I was sent to specialists.

I couldn't fall asleep or stay asleep and i was always exhausted.  Now I fall asleep at night within one minute and I sleep like the dead and I wake up like a normal person and my days are productive. 

There are 300 symptoms of hypothyoidism.....you can research that, as well.  Look, you'll find it

Thank you so much Terese! I too have Hashimoto's Autoimmune disorder. My numbers was amazingly bad... My doctor said it was the worst he had ever seen. My numbers (I forget the codes) for the antibodies were both over 100 and meant to be under 60, my TSH was 70.8 and my T3 and T4 levels were nearly non-existant. Every single one of your symptoms you listed I have, plus a couple of my own lovlies thrown in. I had no idea though. I thought they were all seperate issues and was managing the symptoms, assuming they didn't have a common cause. I got regular pins and needles in extremities and in my hips, particularly when laying in bed, but throught that was my spine so was seeing a chiropractor, I developed breathing issues which we assumed was adult onset asthma, I was so heavily lethargic and getting sick all the time that we assumed it was just my immune system fighting off bugs, my hair was getting thinner but I always have had so much hair I didn't think anything of it, the skin on my feet has become horribly horribly bad but I just assumed it was because I wear so many high heels. The list goes on.

I have been on synthetic thyroxin 100 for 3 days so far and already, I can't believe how well I actually slept last night. I can't remember the last time I slept properly, and I woke feeling awake, also can't remember the last time.

I have struggled with weight for a long time but was exceedingly fit and healthy beforehand so have fought it with every inch of myself for the last 5 years (we believe my thyroid stopped working properly about 5 years ago and has gone undiagnosed). I have managed to keep my weight down to being 85kgs (only 5'5) and the dr was impressed I had any hair on my head at all and had maintained so healthy for so long.

So I am sticking to a really healthy diet, with heaps of exercise, keeping up all my symptom management like chiropractors until all sorted, but as of last night all my pins and needles seem to have eased.

It's a little scary when I think of how far it went undetected and how severe it got without even myself noticing. For the first time in years today I am feeling metally alert and I didn't even realise I hadn't been feeling that way...

I will have a look into Armour. How frequest do the various side effects of medications occur? To add to all of this, we found it during a pre-pregnancy blood test. Were hoping to try for a baby soon... Guess that is being put off until all my levels are back to healthy again. Bit sad, but we will get there. That will need a whole lot more research and management on dealing with it through pregnancy...

Thank you so much for your reply. It really makes the biggest difference knowing there are others that have gone through the same thing.

B, I'm sorry my replies are always too long and get sent for moderation. Maybe they'll make the cut, maybe not.

ALL those symptoms i listed and we share I had while on synthetic T4 only. Synthetic doesn't work for me at all. I can't convert T4 to T3. There are many more issues I have suffered with that I didn't mention....asthma/breathing issues, also and unrelenting jaw clenching.

I will never go back to synthetic. Definitely check out the natural version. It's been around and used and successful treatment for many since the 1890s

Good luck with everything