hashimotos or other hypothyroidism

[Anonymous]

I have been informed that I may have some kind of low thyroid problem. TSH is in range but T4 and T3 are too low.

Hashimotos is a possibility - can anyone share experience? What were your symptoms? What tests or imaging was done to diagnose? How lo g to get a diagnosis? What treatment? Did treatment help?

[Anonymous]

It is pretty straightforward - you get medication based on blood tests, then they re-test after some time to see if meds need to be adjusted. Once you are stable, they run regular blood tests every 6 months-1 year. Treatment absolutely helps, but meds likely need to be taken long-term and may occasionally need to be adjusted.

[Anonymous]

Did they test for TPOs? If present you have Hashi’s. It’s super common. I’ve taken different doses of T3 and T4 for a decade. It helps immensely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did they test for TPOs? If present you have Hashi’s. It’s super common. I’ve taken different doses of T3 and T4 for a decade. It helps immensely.

How did you feel before and after medication - what differences did you see?

Do you take T3 and T4 together? Or are those separate treatments over time.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did they test for TPOs? If present you have Hashi’s. It’s super common. I’ve taken different doses of T3 and T4 for a decade. It helps immensely.

How did you feel before and after medication - what differences did you see?

Do you take T3 and T4 together? Or are those separate treatments over time.?

Before & After meds:
Before - exhausted physically, couldn't exercise due to exhaustion, brain fog, weight gain, dry hair & skin, depressed.
After? reverse the above.

I have mostly taken T4 (Levoxyl), but also took T3 for a year+. At fist T3 (cytomel) 5mcg, then 10, then down to 5, and stopped. I was having lots of brain fog, low energy, etc. despite TSH being stable. T3 kicks in faster and you know within a day or two if it helps. In my case, it did - immensely.

I've noticed that as I have gone through different hormonal changes and - now - entered peri menopause that my medication levels have needed adjustment. When I was put on T3 to supplement the T4, I had just had a few miscarriages, 2 additional rounds of IVF, etc. I was a wreck all over. My levo/T4 needed to be increased and then adding in T3 helped even more. As things leveled out over a year, I needed less of the T3 and kept the levo at the same level for several years.

I'm solidly in peri menopause now and for the first time ever, needed to decrease the levo because I'd gone too far into hyperthyroid. And I felt better again (insomnia disappeared, mood improved, heart palpitations stopped). We'll see what happens when I get to actual menopause. Always interesting, this stuff!

The trick iMO is to find a doctor that doesn't just go by labs, but will treat according to labs AND symptoms. I think the reason that so many with Hashi's continue to struggle is due to doctors going strictly by labs vs considering alternative routes such as adding in T3.

[Anonymous]

I was high risk Hashimotos - family history. So was tested every year from when I was about 37 years. I was finally diagnosed at 51 years. The symptoms really crept up on me. I have an intense job with a lot of late night public speaking. Some nights I could barely keep my eyes open. I just blamed it on how intense work was, until my results came back and we saw how different 12 months had made to my condition. Now I feel amazing. I am quite shocked actually - just felt like I was getting old and couldn’t cope prior to that.

[Anonymous]

I was thirty when I was diagnosed with Hashimotos -- I had a LOT of stress in my life at that time and I think that contributed to my condition. I had a huge goiter and ultimately had my thyroid removed. Now I take meds on a daily basis. And I can always tell when the meds are off -- I'm cold, brain fog, weight gain, tired. When my medication (levothyroxine/synthroid) is the right dose I feel so much better, brighter and able to function normally

[Anonymous]

Thanks all PPs - very helpful info.

I have never been tested for TPOs. I've been to family doctor and endocrinologist over the years complaining about being tired, losing my hair, bruising easily, feeling cold and unable to lose weight. I also have another autoimmune disease linked to increased thyroid problems & a family history of thyroid probs. Docs have only ever ordered TSH, which is usually normal, once was hyper, but then went back to normal.

T4/T3 were only tested due to my participation in a medical study, and that's when I found out they were low.

Have any of you had a thyroid ultrasound? I recently had one for suspected hyperparathyroidism but it also noted "non-enlarged multinodular thyroid w benign findings ". Is the multinodular thyroid common with Hashi's?