If you're suffering from low thyroid function, don't worry - you're not alone! We've created this page to share a few of the experiences that readers send to us.
If you'd like to provide a little support to other sufferers, go to Share your experiences, and we'll add your story to this page straight away.
After being diagnosed with hypothyroidism in 1991 and beginning treatment with Synthroid, I continued to feel bad - classic underactive thyroid symptoms, abnormal TSH levels. In 2005, I was diagnosed with celiac disease. I went on Armour and stopped eating gluten. Since then, my TSH levels are usually within the normal range around 1. My endo tests everyone for celiac disease, as there seems to be a strong correlation between the two diseases. Wish I had of known this years ago, as it would have saved me a world of grief.
I was in my early thirties before I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. The only reason I found out was because my husband and I were trying to have a baby. Before that, I had symptoms of heart palpitations and very painful bowel movements. I went to a doctor in my late twenties and he said it was stress. At 31, I was diagnosed with endometriosis and then the thyroid problem a year after that. Now I am hypothyroid and although I was doing well in my thirties with Synthroid, in my early forties, not so well. I have weight from my second child that I have been trying to get off for four years with no luck whatsoever. Fatigue, a little down in the dumps and sad that I look the way I do now. Also, its hard to keep up with a 6 and 4 year old when you feel tired. Hopefully I can get some answers and maybe find a dosage of med right for me, but I feel it will be a struggle.
Weight gain and could not lose it despite great efforts. Cold intolerance. Memory loss. Felt bipolar at times with my attitude. For two years consulted my family doctor and Ob-Gyn about symptoms I was experiencing. Was told it happens to everyone after 30 and that I was working too hard. I ended up developing a severe breast infection and all the lymph nodes on the right side of my body from my neck to my navel became inflamed. Before my levels were tested that determined I had hypothyroidism. Got an emergency call and was told to come in to doctor's s office so they could start me on meds. OVERNIGHT. That is how fast I got relief. I didn't realize how much fluid I was retaining until I looked in the mirror day two after starting meds and saw a new person. Weight loss is still an issue and I learned to make sure I take my meds daily. My periods are hit and miss. I am not a walking ice cube anymore and I do sweat now. That is a blessing.
The usual: fatigue, poor sleep (long sleep onset and waking way too early, unable to fall back to sleep), depression/crying/irritability, constipation, heavy periods, memory problems (could talk with a new client for an hour and barely remember it the next week), but also an ability to "snap out of it" for a brief period of time, such as a party or social event, but as soon as the event was over, the "blahs" returned and I felt completely apathetic about everything. I also had a "normal" TSH; thank goodness for a savvy doctor. More testing showed antibodies off the charts, and within a few months on Armour, I was back to my old self!
