Miserable symptoms with Hashimotos

[miserable_mom]

In my doc's eyes I am managed with my Hashimotos disease and he doesn't know anything else he can do for me. I am presently on Armour a split dose of 2 grains a day. I have been on Synthroid and cortef in the past.I however feel as I'm just a shell of a person who suffers day in and dayout. I'm truely a miserable person and I know I must be hard to live with. I do not work because I am unable. The fatigue is so severe. I go through periods of either not being able to sleep even though extremly tired or excessive sleepiness where I have to take two or three hour or more naps throughout the day. I havn't felt refreshed from sleep for more than three years. My eyelids always feel heavy. I suffer from eyelid twitches(more than 6 months)extreme muscle spasms occurring anywhere in body on a dailey basis. Frequent headaches, sore achy muscles, extreme brain fog with periods of zoning out. I get depressed because I have a hard time dealing with all of this. My resources feel so low and I know I am not being the mother or wife that I should be.(also o% sex drive, I could care less if I ever have it again)
I'm truely miserable and I just want some relief. I've dealt with varying degrees of syptoms for 10 years now.(I'm almost 35)I feel I am too young to feel this tired and weak. When I do exert myself even a little it usally results in being in bed for days. I feel like I am at my wits end. I have done a lot of research in the past(I mean a lot)but I just can't help myself anymore I just feel too weak.  Thanks for letting me vent. My 1600 char. are gone. -D

[Cattie]

I really sympathise with what you are going through and really can't imagine feeling like this for ten years.  I told the directors of my company today that I didn't feel I could do my job (I co-run the company) anymore and would have to quit.  But instead of losing me, they are not prepared to let me wait for however long it would take for me to get an endo referral on the UK health system, and are paying for me to go private.  I've always been so stoical, but it's liberating to finally admit I need help and for it to be there for me.  Hopefully this is a breakthrough.  I'm angry at being dismissed by doctors, and really hope going private will isolate what's actually wrong this time.

[miserable_mom]

Yes ditto what Shannon said. Thanks for your time!

[ShannieK]

Thanks for getting back.  Just making sure it was still all thyroid related, and not dealing with anything else.  Thanks for your comments, and thanks so much for taking the time to help all of us.  Shannon

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

unlikely that breast cysts are related to thyroid

the breast fullness in hypothyroidism is sometimes caused by an increase in prolactin production by the pituitary - this is the "milk let-down hormone" that increases so that women can breast-feed after pregnancy.  In the case of underactive thyroid the pituitary increases its TSH production and sometimes the prolactin production also increases.

[miserable_mom]

Now that ShannieK
has brought up that topic I am kinda wondering the same thing except I actually have what they said was probably a benign sisks in both of my breast. I go on Oct. 5th for a 6 month follow up ultrasound. Is this symptom indeed something that can be linked to the thyroid or some other endrocrine disorder?

[miserable_mom]

Hi Cattie,
I'm sorry to hear you are going through the same things. I knew I wasn't alone and my heart goes out to everyone who suffers like this.  Yes, I too suffer terribly with IBS. I've also been labeled ADD, witch I can trace back through childhood, but it makes you wonder if I just havn't always had thyroid problems. I was first DX w/hypothyroidism during the pregnancy of my 2nd child-who's 10 now(hypermesis gravadurium w/ both pregnancies)I was giving synthyroid. Over the years I have been DX with many things
and been given various prescriptions for(band-aids) but now I know that everyone of them can be linked to the Hypothyroidism/Hashimotos.
My Dr is a GP but claims to have treated over 600 thyroid patients and they are all doing great except me. I went to a Endo once and it was such a nightmare! First off it was an hours drive one way, I only got to meet the Dr once and then it was always the NP, got my slew of bloodwork mixed up with another person w/ my same name(they had their own onsite lab)and prescribe me a 6wk dose of mega high vitamin D that I didn't need(which was caught and stopped in the 4wk by me with I requested a copy be sent of my labs)plus the staff was really unfriendly and treated us like cattle. He also didn't believe in Armour so I went running back to my GP but I have lost faith in him awhile back also. I live in a rural area and I am bound by network Drs as determined by my ins. co. I however, do not seem to be getting any better by switching to the Armour either following 1000's of others in other forums who advocate self treatment and herbal supplements and various vitamins. I have only been extremely bad for the last three years. I think I could put up with all the other symptoms if I just could get some relief from always constant fatigue that plagues me. That's what I can't take, I would rather live with a constant toothache for the rest of my life. I pray each and every day for me to be able to wake up and snap out of it.
My plans now are to seek out another Endo on my plan and pay the specialist co-pay whitch I don't have because at this point I'm not a lot of use to my own family let alone to an employer, and hope that I get someone like the Drs on TV who make it their personal mission in life to see to it that i get a better quality of life and not another someone who will stick yet another Band-Aid on it.-  
I know I am ranting and that's just what I have been reduced to these days. I surly don't what to worry others
w/ my nightmare and I hope that my experiences have just not been the norm.
I know this has been long and if you've read this far "God Bless Ya" I will keep you and the countless others in my prayers that we will all be able to lead normal lives one day and that even if it last all of our days here it still won't be forever.
-D
I'm just mad with our healthcare system and why no one is working on a cure  or at least a better quality of life for us. I sometimes wish I had a more recognized disease that mega research dollars are poured into and we had better options in our treatment and that people have heard about. (My experience is people don't take thyroid problems as a bonafide debilatating disease)
If there is anyone out there that has been where I am and now leading a healthy productive life I want to talk to you!