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499534 tn?1328704178

Timeframe for feeling better from thyroid

I have been getting a lot of messages from a lot of you who keep asking the famous question "When will I start to feel better??"
Unfortunately the thyroid is not a quick fix but one that takes insane patience and time. I am hoping that all the members here will chime in on this one and give their short stories of how soon they felt better and those that are still struggling.
Myself- I get to feeling good and then the hashi's does more destruction, so my good feeling gets squashed. I use to get very upset but now know that it will not last forever....it has to stop eventually. I am on 90-120 mgs of Armour now which would be equivelant to at least 150-200mcgs of synthroid. So I figure I shouldn't have much longer before the hashi destruction is complete...hoping! Everytime I get a longer taste of feeling good and able to do more, I get encouraged. I try to no longer think to myself that I will live like this the rest of my life!
So for all of you that are in that frame of mind that you cannot remember what it feels like to feel good.......please know and be patient. The thyroid takes a looooooong time for some of us to heal. The most important thing to remember is to have a GOOD doctor, don't give up, make demands for proper tests and treatments. If it isn't working in 6 months....try something different! Don't give up!! Give yourselves a break and accept the fact you are going to have some limitations for a while.
This poll is asking how long you have been dealing with thyroid issue......
19 Responses
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231441 tn?1333892766
I've been hypo for 9 years (diagnosed), and a few years before that prior to getting diagnosed.  Took me a long time to feel good, and complicated by other endocrine issues.

My doc reluctantly agreed to let me try armor about 2 years ago (not available where I live and I had to get it from overseas) and it made a huge difference to how I feel. T4 only meds it's like the lights came on again.  Added dessicated and it's like the colors came back.   I currently take a combo of dessicated and T4.  My TSH tends to be very low, but I've trained my doc not to worry about that as long as my FT3 and FT4 are mid normal range.  I tend to get very depressed if my thyroid levels are low so that's also a good warning...

My doc is a good guy, not perfect, but we generally have a decent dialogue and work together - and he's been my doc for about 6 years now.  I am now 8 1/2 months pregnant and am pretty happy with how it's all going...

Do be persistent and proactive.  Some things are also lifestyle like exercising and eating well, so don't blame all on thyroid either...

Happy new year to all.
Helpful - 0
648987 tn?1231201877
Do I ever know exactly what you are saying. And I believed this to be true also up until this last year, that is to accept the way I feel. I hate that doctors have total control of our health, that scares me. They need our help to be a success, you would think they would want that in thier portfolio.

I live in rural Iowa, let me tell you the choices of doctors is so limited. And quite frankly I don't feel well enough to drive 2 or more hours away, YET. But please please please consider trying another doc.  You may be let down with one, try another, and another.

My daughter has begged me to see an endo, I actually did once years ago. It just takes an open minded doc. not necessarily a specialist.  I asked my pharmacist what doc  perscribed Armour, which usually means one who thinks out of the box a little more. You could try that.

Or search the internet for docs in your area. You can call and interview them, they work for us. And it looks like I will once again will be doing what I am preaching. I will do a lot of asking around, word of mouth is good. Too bad we didn't live closer, we could march together and find that doctor. It is scarry to find a new one, it took me 15 years to leave the one who knew everything about me and my family, felt so safe. Then I got angry.   thanks for sharing your life, not always easy to do.(hugs)
Helpful - 0
499534 tn?1328704178
What I want to know is why the Plus 2 years and feeling great piece of the pie is so darn small!!! lol  I cannot wait until I can put myself at that ranking.....oh how nice it will be.
I actually had a really good day today...of course I was at my higher dosage today.
If any of the 2 people who polled in the plus 2 feeling great would like to give a short summary, I know all of us would appreciate hearing how long it took to feel great.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hang in there.

TSH is all my doctor tested for Monday. I never speak to my doctor either, it is always the nurse calling me back.

Thyroid effects so much,,,,unfortunately not all doctors believe that.

I guess I have settled for this is how it will be for the rest of my life, I think because my doctor has settled for it. What else can I do? I am at their mercy....Yes I can go to another doctor, but what is the point, majority of them here treat the lab numbers. I have decided not to complain anymore to my doctor and be the perfect patient and only go see her when I am literally dying, I mean something that is visible, not how I feel in the inside.

I do have other issue going on (health issues), so I guess I am in a crappy mood...at the moment...
Helpful - 0
648987 tn?1231201877
I know better than to post today because of my mood, but sizing this up gives me the courage to not settle for how I feel, so........ sorry for the bad attitude. Been working with Amour now for almost a year (been diaganosed hypo 20 yrs now). Unfortunately my doc is treating by my TSH only, leaving T4 & T3 comfortably( for them) at bottom of range.

I come here for strength. After talking with the nurse today about my symptoms verses labs, she pretty much told me "thyroid works just the opposite of what you think, when your labs are low, you need less".  I am sure they have written on my charts "confrontational" cause I told her she was wrong. and that my free's needed to be at least midway for me to feel good. She is referring to the TSH only.  Since the nurse called when I requested the Doc, I asked again if the doc could call me, she told me to make an appointment. I thought her and the Doc were pretty unprofessional.

I will get there, just needed a shoulder to wine on today.  Through this last year, I did have glimmers of hope when feeling better, I know it is possible, it was the first time in six years I had that ray of sunshine, I too know I will not have to live this way forever.
For those of you feeling like I do today, don't accept how you feel, no one knows your body like you do, we are not crazy hypocondriacs, just hypo not optimized.

Cheers, here's your virtual glass of wine, to a healthier 2009.
Helpful - 0
393685 tn?1425812522
Yep - that is true ..................you do have an impressive journal.

Too bad the quarter theory isn't validated   ( bummer)

Happy New Year
Helpful - 0
213044 tn?1236527460
Four years ago I started taking Levothyroxine because I was hypothyroid. I felt better off and on.

Two and a half years ago I had a thyroid crisis that put me out of work for the summer and left me ill and damaged. I lost five months of work and a lot of other things.

A lot of bad things followed and my thyroid was ablated in january this year. I haven't worked since October of '07 and bad things are still going on.

LOL!!

11 months later my meds seem to need changing for the fourth or fifth time. But it's real close.

I just started cardio therapy and that is going well. I will graduate to more strenuous exercise in a few months and hope to be able to work by June.

As soon as I pick a new career.

Go read my journal. It's got drama and confrontation and stirring rambling...er...oration. It's in High Def, too.

Click on the blue AR-10 and read my journal.
I get a quarter every time someone reads it.
Helpful - 0
369861 tn?1306275686
I have known something was wrong for about 6-7 years, however I could never get anyone to listen to me.  Everytime I had an episode, and the blood came back ok, they thought is was in my head.  

Next, I got sick enough for the doctor's to see and they thought I had Cushings.  I was tested for cushings and was told all was well.  I just kept right on nagging.

Finally, I got sick enough and didn't bounce back. This made the docs do more testing and walla... I was hyper (0.06) thus more testing and on to the endo.

The more crappy I feel and try to explain to the endo, the dumber he acts.  If I gain weight he says,"cut back on your eating.  I have been hoarse for almost a year, he tells me last week, "at least its not from my treatment, maybe its the weight"?

I just wanna scream long and hard enough for the thyroid to just the the hyperhe// out.
RAI was one year ago and my levels are not in the "normal" range yet.

I am taking synthroid 100mcg 4 days a week and synthroid 112mcg 3 days a week..tbc.

Happy New Year
Terri
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
It has been well over 14yrs since my TT. I was okay for the first 10yrs (taking 200mgs of Synthroid). Then out of the blue my body started changing (old age maybe), and my body started acting like I was hyper, the last two years have been changing dosages or trying to find the correct one. Being over medicated is not any fun. Yes I was regularly being tested. Never had any abnormal readings until the last two years.

Last TSH reading was .44 , doctor lowered my dosage from 125mcg to 100mcg, I actually went in yesterday to get blood drawn again to check levels. Won't know anything for about a week on the results.

I guess as you age your hormones change therefore affecting TSH as well.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i have been a hashi patient for over a year now. switched to Armour about 4 month ago. just when i thought finally this time i am okay, i started to feel bad again. i was on half grain but now increase to one and half.. better but not great. i guess the anti-body decided to attack me hard this time.
Helpful - 0
676032 tn?1315674063
Looks like 2009 will start with a few blood tests and me feeling crappy! Just hope it doesn't last all year LOL!

Oh and happy new year to all!!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
From what I can gleam from all of you is that this is going to be a very long process of hit and miss until I start to feel somewhat human. I know my body got used to feeling lethargic, confused and mentally declining with the non-performing thyroid, but sometimes that seems better than how I feel on these meds. Today I lost my job of 2.5 yrs because I cannot function very well on the meds, cannot drive far, isolating....sux.....one day at a time...gm
Helpful - 0
393685 tn?1425812522
I am a probably one of the longest standing ill patients until I stabilized. I was ill for 6 yrs after RAI in 2003. I never was optimal until I switched medication and educated myself on what I needed to get my body in better shape.

Yes 6 yrs and almost dying twice.

Thankfully I am better now than I ever was ( knowing something was wrong with me for 15 yrs prior to the DX of Graves)

The answers will come - key to how soon it will happen is:

* knowing what labs to have done and getting them
* making sure your doctor is not just a number watcher and listens to you
* have appropriate testing on mineral and Vit deficiencies
* tracking your symptoms and comparing it to labs to see where YOU feel best at.

Those are top on my list not EXCLUDING - you learning about your condition and understanding the process you must go through both yourself mentally and physically and being able to communicate this information as intelligently with your practioner so s/he can offer the best treatment possible.

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I might add tho,that if I would have lived at the same place for the last 7 years I may have made a lot better progress. But I have lived in 5 different communities and have been on the go as volunteer even from those communities. A lifestyle I had wished for at one time, but which was totally out of reach before I started thyroid meds. PTL for a clear brain, and energy, and the ability to be outside any day and not just rainy/cloudy days. God is so good!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I've been on 150mcg Levoxyl for a couple years now, with 6 month bloodwork. Been working with thyroid for close to 7 years now, but even though I saw a major difference within a week after beginning meds, it took about 2 years to get to the place where I could handle the heat and sunshine properly, and then things have continued to improve every year. Its almost like you can't see progress unless you look at it a year at a time. i still am looking forwards to being able to lose weight, lol.
Helpful - 0
519035 tn?1348275773
June 08 a little over 6 months. Been a long emotional year. I have been out of it all of my life. My symptoms , all of them still. One huge one leaving. My inner ears . I am happiest hypot patient alive right now! I have skin color. But that is about it. I probably wouldn't even care at the moment if and when any of the other symptoms leave. I have a check up tomorrow to see where I am at with the hashi's symptoms.  stlil on 50 mg of synthroid. Should be having blood work done soon
Helpful - 0
649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
I was dx in June 08 with hypothyroidism; then just a couple wks ago with Hashi's.  I'm on Synthroid 75 mcg right now.  Some of my symptoms started going away almost right away (I started out with 100 mcg), my skin wasn't so dry, my hair almost stopped falling out and I have periods when I actually have some energy and feel pretty good, then about the time I think I have it whipped, wham - I get hit big time and it seems like I'm back to square one and the exhaustion is almost unbearable sometimes.   I've had some problems with my PCP - trying to blame all my symptoms on "stress", not wanting to work with me, etc, but through my ENT, I have now been referred to an endo, whom I will see toward the end of Jan and I'm putting a lot of hope on him being willing to work with me to get my levels optimal and get on the right track; maybe try different med other than synthroid, which my PCP seems to be stuck on.  Just plugging along day after day; trying desperately to learn exactly what is happening to my body, why and what I can do about it.  
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
thank you...I have been felling real crappy for awhile, just diagnosed in Sept w/ Hashimotoos, cannot stand how the meds make my head and body frrl. New rx for the Armour I start tomorrow instead of the synthroid or the levothroid, I just can't handle either one of those. Your posting gave me hope that someday I will feel better...thank you....gm
Helpful - 0
499534 tn?1328704178
I also forgot to add that your body cannot start to heal until you have reached your optimum level and have stayed at that level for months....it sometimes takes months just to find your optimum level.....it is a slow even process and cannot be rushed as much as we wish it could.
Helpful - 0
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