Can you tell me about your first hand experience with Hashimoto's disease/syndrome?

My mother and close friend have had it since their late teens and both have been able to control it well with Synthroid.

I am hypothyroid for the last 12 years, which basically is the same in the end, and I was very difficult to stabilize, plus I’m allergic to something in Synthroid, I take Unithroid instead, it has the same T4 hormone. I have to take 88 five days a week and 100 two days a week, and then every second it third week I increase the 100 to three days a week.

I added T3 now, which has helped a lot in controlling my hair staying in my head and any skin or eye dryness.

I am very symptomatic when I’m out of my normal range. M normal (feel good) range is a higher TSH than most endocrinologist shoot for.

You have to watch your own lab work, do not rely on the doctors. When you feel great run in for a blood test. Learn the range that is optimum for you. When you change your dose, don’t wait 8 weeks for a retest.

You will hear generics aren’t as good. The thing about the generics is each thyroid drug as it’s own level. What I mean us 88 in Synthroid might actually have slightly more hormone than 88 in Unithroid or vice versa, but that particular drug stays constant. What is important is you stay with the same drug, same manufacturer, while trying to figure out your optimum dose.

And your symptoms, and their severity or not? What were/are they, please?

I have it. I have nodules on my thyroid. No discomfort. I take Synthroid or a variation of it. I’m fine.

I have Graves disease. Anyone with thyroid disorder has my complete empathy.

My symptoms when I am both under-medicated and over-medicated are dry hair, eyes, skin, my hair starts falling out and my thyroid begins to grow.

Under-medicated I also get high blood pressure and my heart rate slows down. I need more sleep, and feel less motivated in general to do anything.

Over-medicated My blood pressure gets low, my heart rate goes way up, I can feel my heard pounding when I’m just sitting still when I’m really over-medicated, I’m more anxious, more angry, more hungry, and my sleep is disrupted.

When I get symptoms like my hair falling out I’ll start taking my blood pressure and usually within a few weeks try to get a blood test to know really where I am at if I feel like I’m out of whack. My problem is a lot of symptoms are the same with too much and too little medicine, but the blood pressure is a clearer indicator which way out of normal I’m headed.

Some people have very few symptoms.

One thing to keep in mind is sometimes you don’t realize how crappy you’re doing until you change your meds and feel better.

What happened to me more than once was being under-medicated, the doctor changed my dose to a higher dose daily, I felt incredibly good around week 3 and 4, and then everything goes to shit. It’s because I sailed right through normal into over-medicated eventually. This happened in the reverse direction too. Finally, a nurse practitioner helped me by telling me to change by dose by only one day a week until I could really get very close what I ideally need.

Tons of women I know have trouble stabilizing, but many many don’t have that trouble. Most doctors prefer to think you suck at taking your medicine. That’s been my experience. What they were failing to see, think about, was my pattern was perfect. Just the one pill sent m going higher in higher, or lower and lower consistently. If I was consistent in my medicine it just would have been all crazy all over. Skipping pills or eating with your meds or double dosing won’t give you a consultant pattern.