Aa
major brain fog and memory issues
Hi everyone,
Has anyone here suffered from horrible memory and brain fog problems. I am a college student, always an A/B student. Now I have hypothyroidism and I'm being treated with 50 levothyroxine. Most symptoms are slowly going away, but this brain fog thing has hit me bad. I have great study habits, but nothing sticks and I'm afraid I'll flunk out, which is totally stressing me out. It's a vicious cirle. Anyway should I think about supplementing with T3?? Help!
Has anyone here suffered from horrible memory and brain fog problems. I am a college student, always an A/B student. Now I have hypothyroidism and I'm being treated with 50 levothyroxine. Most symptoms are slowly going away, but this brain fog thing has hit me bad. I have great study habits, but nothing sticks and I'm afraid I'll flunk out, which is totally stressing me out. It's a vicious cirle. Anyway should I think about supplementing with T3?? Help!
Hi,
Don't drop out of school. This is your future you are talking about.
Adjusting thyroid meds takes some time, and you need to be patient to get that done properly.
You do need to increase your thyroid meds though. Ideally the FT3 and FT4 are at least in the upper 1/2 of the range, instead of near the bottom as yours currently are.
YOu may be amazed how much a small increase in dose can make you feel better. But it does take about 4 weeks to see the full effect of any change in meds dose.
Don't drop out of school. This is your future you are talking about.
Adjusting thyroid meds takes some time, and you need to be patient to get that done properly.
You do need to increase your thyroid meds though. Ideally the FT3 and FT4 are at least in the upper 1/2 of the range, instead of near the bottom as yours currently are.
YOu may be amazed how much a small increase in dose can make you feel better. But it does take about 4 weeks to see the full effect of any change in meds dose.
It's good that your doctor tested you for FT3 and FT4, along with TSH. FT3 is the most important thyroid hormone test because it largely regulates metabolism and many other body functions. Scientific studies have also shown that FT3 correlated best with hypo symptoms, while FT4 and TSH correlated poorly. I only see one of the two tests regularly done for the thyroid antibodies. Did they also test for TG ab?
From the symptoms you still have and the fact that both FT3 and FT4 test results are in the lower part of their range, it appears that you need to increase your meds. Just because the results are within the ranges does not mean they are adequate for YOU. The ranges are far too broad for that to be the case. Many of our members report that symptom relief for them required that FT3 was adjusted into the upper part of its range and FT4 adjusted to at least midpoint of its range.
A good thyroid doctor will treat a hypo patient clinically by testing and adjusting FT3 and FT4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels. Symptom relief should be all important, not test results. Even if your TSH should become suppressed below the range limit, this does not automatically mean that you are hyper. You are hyper only when having hyper symptoms due to excessive levels of FT3 and FT4.
I think reading this link will give you some good insight about clinical treatment. The link is a letter written by a good thyroid doctor for patients that he is consulting with from a distance. The letter is sent to the PCP of the patient to help guide treatment.
http://hormonerestoration.com/files/ThyroidPMD.pdf
From the symptoms you still have and the fact that both FT3 and FT4 test results are in the lower part of their range, it appears that you need to increase your meds. Just because the results are within the ranges does not mean they are adequate for YOU. The ranges are far too broad for that to be the case. Many of our members report that symptom relief for them required that FT3 was adjusted into the upper part of its range and FT4 adjusted to at least midpoint of its range.
A good thyroid doctor will treat a hypo patient clinically by testing and adjusting FT3 and FT4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels. Symptom relief should be all important, not test results. Even if your TSH should become suppressed below the range limit, this does not automatically mean that you are hyper. You are hyper only when having hyper symptoms due to excessive levels of FT3 and FT4.
I think reading this link will give you some good insight about clinical treatment. The link is a letter written by a good thyroid doctor for patients that he is consulting with from a distance. The letter is sent to the PCP of the patient to help guide treatment.
http://hormonerestoration.com/files/ThyroidPMD.pdf
Ok, here are my latest results:
FT4 0.83 (0.77-1.61)
FT3 295 (230-420)
TSH .76 (.34-4.82)
B12 - 657
THY Per ABS 10 (35)
Cortisol 16.3 (4.0-22)
Again most of my symptoms seem to slowly going away and I feel pretty good. But right now the "brain fog" & my memory issues are so bad, I want to drop out of school, whch stresses me out even more.
Has anyone been able to find something to help out with this horrible symptom.
And thank you so much medicmommy. I needed the laugh!!!
FT4 0.83 (0.77-1.61)
FT3 295 (230-420)
TSH .76 (.34-4.82)
B12 - 657
THY Per ABS 10 (35)
Cortisol 16.3 (4.0-22)
Again most of my symptoms seem to slowly going away and I feel pretty good. But right now the "brain fog" & my memory issues are so bad, I want to drop out of school, whch stresses me out even more.
Has anyone been able to find something to help out with this horrible symptom.
And thank you so much medicmommy. I needed the laugh!!!
It will help members respond if you will post your thyroid test results and their reference ranges shown on the lab report.
Hmmm...Can't say I remember...:P ~MM
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