Newly Diagnosed...I think
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| Wed, 09-15-2004 - 9:12pm |
Happy to find this message board. I was just this week put on levothytoxine and am a little confused/concerned/ not sure what is really going on with my body. For background info, I have an issue with listening to my body as at the age of 16 I was rushed to the ER as I thought my ovaries were going to pop out, but discharged with "Can't find anything" with not a word even uttered from the doctors to my parents. Then at 22, I really thought I had a stomach ulcer as the pain was unbearable, but went to the doctor and got ...take some Tums. Needless to say, I have a habit after those two experiences of just chalking it up to it is in my head. However for the past 8 months I have been experiencing some symptoms that I finally had to say " My body is talking to me and telling me something is wrong." I was suffering from constant chest pains that occassionally became very sharp for mere seconds. For a long time I just chalked that up to stress, anxiety, etc. But a few months ago I began to notice that in my arms and leg I would get either the pins and needles sensation for no reason whatsoever, or that they would feel like they needed to be shaken as the blood wasn't running through them. I became very tired all the time. I usually do not need much sleep at night and all of a sudden I found myself sleeping during the day and dragging myself out of bed after 8-9 hours of sleep at night. I became less interested in my work and less interested in doing anything really. Two years ago I lost a significant amount of weight (35pds) but have managed to put that all back on plus some...but not for lack of execise or eating more. I have always see sawed every few years on the weight issus so again, just chalked that up to the way my body is. Even with all this, I just thought it was in my head, or I was going through a minor depression or something..I really wasn't paying attention to all the physical conditions like my cold hands, and pins and needles. However two weeks ago, I noticed that my feet and ankles had significantly swelled; probably about 3 times there normal size. With the circulation issues and chest pains that I convinced myself were in my head, I actually became concerned when my feet swelled. That has never happened. And I had caring enough friends to say, "Really, you need to see a doctor about those Bilbo Baggins feet". So I went to my doctor. She took blood, sent me for a chest X-Ray..the works. Went back yesterday for a followup and she was mumbling through my file said something a long the lines of this is a little low, this is a little high. I asked "What in God's name are you referring to?" She said sorry she shouldn't mumble like that. Anyhow, the visit ended with, your thyroid is slow. I am going to put you on some medication. It may take sometime for you to feel better. Any problems call me. I will see you in six weeks. HMM. Of course, I am not sure what all that means, really. I mean since yesterday I have certainly learned that your thyroid is basically the thermostat of your body..and I assume her saying my thyroid is slow mean that I am hypo. I am just really wondering if anyone has had similiar symptoms. What the effects of taking levothyroxine on the body is? What I should, shouldn't take it with? How long does it take to feel better? When visiting your doctor do you go by the "numbers" from lab results? I didn't get mine. Should I? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated...Sorry for the long post too. I just thought I should put it all out there and I have a lot of concerns...

Why do I feel so strongly about this? Because everything that you have been going through is related to your thyroid and the fact that it is underactive. The symptoms are classic and many of us have experienced some or all of them. Many of us wondered what was going on and din't have a clue. I suffered with undiagnosed hypothyroidism for 2 years before finally going to the doctor and when I told her I thought I was hypo, she said, "Oh, I'm sure you're not". I am on my 3rd and final doctor now - I finally found one that is more than competent, that is caring and well-educated regarding thyroid issues, he is also willing to treat me - ME - not a number on a blood test, but me. Everyone needs to keep changing doctors if that's what it takes until they find someone who knows what they're doing. Read the post on the AARDA and you'll see that it takes someone with an autoimmune condition - which most hypo is - an average of 6 years and 6 doctors to finally get
diagnosed and properly treated. So you are not alone on this - not in any way.
The effects of taking the thyroid medication is that it is replacing what your body isn't making anymore. It's just that simple. It's the thyroid hormone that you're body needs to function well. There really aren't any side effects of the meds except that with synthroid, you may experience some hair loss -which is also a symptom of hypo in itself; and not taking *enough* medication also can result in hair loss. Too much thyroid medication can result in long term bone loss but that isn't usually an issue as most hypo is undermedicated.
It can take anywhere from 2 weeks and up to 3 months to begin to feel better. You will notice different symptoms improving over time. Your medication will be checked and adjusted if necessary over the course of that time, usually at 6 week intervals. YES, you want and need to et your blood test results, in numbers. Don't let them tell you you're "normal" or the doctor says you need more medication so she's increasing it etc. You need to know what your TSH level is, at the minimum, for a number of reasons. You'll be better able to gauge how you feel at different levels so that you'll be able to tell when you're TSH is rising or falling without a test, just over time, if thre are any changes. You need to become sensitive to that so that if the fatigue returns, you'll know your TSH must be rising and you need to be retested. Aslo, a true normal thyroid TSH reading is between 1.0 and 2.0. But lab ranges for normal can vary greatly and can go up to 5.5. At 5.5, your doctor may tell you that you're normal but you still may have all your symptoms. So 5.5 is NOT normal for you - someone else may feel fine at that level. But you need to know where you feel well and where you feel symptoms and the only well to tell that it to get your results. That's when it's important to have a doctor that treats you and not a tset result because if you don't feel good, then they can increase your medication and/or run other tests to see what's up.
In case your doctor didn't tell you, take your meds first thing in the AM on an empty stomach. Don't eat anything for an hour afterward. Don't take any other medications with it. And don't take calcium or iron supplements for 4 hours following your medication. This will give you the best absorption possible. I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask whatever else you want to know. And check out the links at the top of the board, plus other posts on the board. They are really filled with lots of good info! Cathy :)