Ladies, what has your experience with hypothyroidism been and did medication put things right or will it be an ongoing issue?

I have trouble losing weight. My hair is very thin. I tend to be underactive. I don’t think medication is all that helpful. I have been thinking about getting Armour (the natural sort) to get T3 as well as T4. The Broda Barnes Foundation is very helpful.

I have hypothyroidism also. I take Synthroid for it and have my medicine level checked twice a year. Other than that, I really haven’t noticed anything
else I can’t attribute to another health problem. The first two questions my doctor asked me before diagnosing me were did
I have trouble losing weight and was I often tired. That’s it. For me, anyway, it really hasn’t impacted my life at all. I don’t remember it taking any time at all to be diagnosed or to be treated after convincing my doctor that I could have it. (Absolutely no idea why!)

I can’t seem to get a straight answer from the experts just what the hell is going on with my thyroid, and this has been going on for over 20 years. One will assert that it’s working just fine; another will look at my bloodwork and inform me that my pituitary gland is screaming at my thyroid to wake up already (it “screams” in the form of increased TSH production). I could go find my latest workup if you want actual numbers. It’s nearly impossible for me to lose weight (the next person who brainlessly bleats about “burn more calories than you eat” is gonna get my foot broken off in their ass!), it’s hard to string thoughts together, etc. etc.

And now they’re saying the implications of a wonky thyroid is not just inconvenient, it can be downright dangerous. Is that medical progress, or just another episode of “You’re DYYYYYYING, Americans! OMG!” It’s so hard to tell anymore… :S

I have been getting treatment for an intermittent malfunction thyroid for 40 years. Most of the time I am fine, and the regular testing of my TSH looks good, but every once in awhile I feel myself get out of balance hormones. I feel tired, get confused easily, and my hair starts to fall out. This only lasts about a week.

I probably had the problem long before I started receiving medication, but the doctors I had said it was just female problems. I finally got a female doctor, and sure enough, she knew what to do.

The only time I felt truly healthy, with lots of energy, was when I was taking a medication called Prempro, but my doctor made me stop taking it because of the risk of breast cancer, heart attack, stroke, or blood clot. My Father had an aneurysm and my son suffered a severe stroke seven years ago.

Now I’m back to just blah most of the time, not sick, but very low on motivation and energy.

I highly recommend doing some research to find the best endocrinologist in your area. It is most likely something u’ll have to take medicine for, for the rest of your life with some adjustments.