hypo help!

[ozzy1000]

hi, i'm a 30yr old man, i'm fit, i surf, walk alot, eat well, and am not overweight. i went to my Dr a couple of weeks ago as i had had a cold for a couple of weeks whichb wouldn't go away, also i had been feeling fatigued for as long as i could remember, plus had headaches for as long as i could remember.. usually i feel like this in winter and usually i feel better, fitter and lighter in summer. my Dr tooks some bloods and they cam back saying i'm hypo, TSH 39.65, T4 12.9... i was pleased as i had bored my self so much with my moaning that it was nice to know that there was a reason for it that was treatable. however the first 5 days i tried to take 50mcg's of levothyroxine were hell, i felt like i was going to explode, i really think if i'd persisted i would have become psychotic. today i took just 25mcg and it was abit better, i think i can just about bear 25mcg. 50mcg was unbearable, i couldn't breath and just felt like i needed to escape my body....

given that i still have some degree of normal t4 porduction, what are the health risks of me not taking a sythetic t4?  is it not possible that seasonal fluctations could be the cause of my hypo? it seems that my dr is only interested in 'stabilising' my hormone levels, surely they're not naturally 'stable'?? could it be that i need a little t4 boost in winter, but at other times i might not need anything?  

[jd2]

hi owain,
i used to hate winter, before i was diagnosed. i think that being hypo makes me colder (like my body), so the seasons could very well affect us! i used to always be cold and winter made me miserable! but now its ok.
i tried armour, but only for a day. it wasnt good for me, i ended up with chest pains and going to the hospital - but i think it might have been because of the t3 (which works straight away) on top of my synthroid dose (which would have been what i took 2 weeks before) which was already too high. so sorry but im not the right person to ask about armour.
oh yeah when im hypo i feel like im fat, heavy and slow too, and im not overweight either.
ps im learning to surf its great! and soooo much easier and less scary now im on a good dosage

[ozzy1000]

jd2, cheers for the input, to be honest i've never felt very hypo, its more like lately i feel stodgy more often than not, i feel like i'm fat, heavy and slow, when i'm really not over wieght at all, then usually in summer i feel abit better, its funny looking back, about 5-6 years ago i was completely into my surfing, i lived in my tent and surfed every day, i felt really good; fit brown and like there was spring in my step, the last few years i've just felt like i'm ageing before my time; grey, sluggish, my body has gone a bit softer. what do you make of armour?? i've read alot about it and people seem to tolerate it better than straight syth t4, i'll try cutting my 25mcg in half and see if  this wierd feeling goes away,

cheers, all the best,

owain

[ozzy1000]

cheers hypogirl,
i was doing some homework and found a couple of papers suggesting that thyroid function seems to be seasonally effected, the studies were in humans, rats and aligators and all showed significant seasonal variation. the 25mcg seems to make me feel abit scatty, not fatigued anymore, but its not a feeling i'm totally comfortably with, hard to describe, almost like theres a bit of pressure in my chest and belly, i find my self sighing alot and consicously having to take deep breaths, also like i have a metalic/snythetic taste/feeling.. will this settle down as the rest of my thyriod system adjusts to the addition of synthectic t4? i'm getting all the thyriod tests done on my next blood test. on exercise, i think i might have been hypo for years and have always felt crappy in winter but during summer when i'm more active have felt 100 times better, i allways put it down to sunlight/exercise, do you know anything about diet, beneficial foods and foods to avoid??

o x

[jd2]

hi!
they started me on 50mcg/day and i was so hyperthyroid and sick i couldnt even walk up the stairs at home. eventually i reduced it myself down to 12.5mcg/day and im fine - i feel pretty normal! most of the doctors ive been to dont understand how i can need so little, but my specialist now agrees that i do, coz when i dont take it i feel terrible! (really hypo).
i agree with hypogirl, and suggest trying to find the dosage that is right for you, rather than letting yourself get sicker and sicker.

[hypogirl80]

Your TSH is high (usually normal range is 0.3 to 3.0), but your T4 is normal,  you do have some hypo symptoms, but without more detailed blood tests, it is hard to say what your thyroid function currently is. Does the 25 mcg lev help you with your cold and fatigue conditions ?  if 25 is still too much for you, cut it down to 20 or 15 (you can break the pill, or take one every other day...) No one knows how much (or any) T4 you need now, but if you don't get your thyroid hormone into the normal range, you will have all kinds of problems.  So, I suggest that you take a full thyroid panel blood test (including Free T3 and Free T4). and also watch how do you feel when you adjust the dosage of Lev. when the dosage is correct, you should feel much better.
Summer or Winter, I don't think your thyroid knows that, but every one is different, I heard excerise may make it a little different.