when will i start to feel normal again?

[milosmummy]

i had a total Thyroidectomy on 12/3/13 started on 100mg of Levo day after surgery, at 6 weeks review surgeon increased Levo to 150mg per day, still so tired, slept 13 hours straight last night but still tired on waking, poor concentration and memory, can anyone give me an indication if this is normal?

[Clarebear]

I haven't had a TT, but there are lots of people here on the forum who have, so hopefully they will post.

However, in the meantime, please could you post any thyroid blood test results that you have, together with the ranges (these need to come from your own report, as they vary a lot by lab). This will hopefully help us to see whether you are on sufficient medication, and whether you are converting the T4 (levo - a storage hormone) to T3, which is the active hormone needed by every cell in your body.

I would imagine from the symptoms that you describe, that you are under-medicated. xxx

[milosmummy in reply to Clarebear]

at my review with surgeon on16/5/13 my levels were TSH 3.2 and T4 10.3, my thyroid was removed along with a colloid goitre which weighed 234 gm, my breathing and swallowing have improved 100% and the scar has healed well, still a little swollen after exercise, but i feel constantly tired, my limbs feel heavy ans my joints ache. i have to drag my self through a full day at work, house is a mess,

[Clarebear in reply to milosmummy]

A TSH of 3.2 is way too high for someone on thyroid replacement medication Most people seem to feel better when their TSH is below one, at the lower end of the reference range, or even suppressed (mine is <0.02). You haven't included the range for your fT4, so it is hard to tell where in the range that is. the range at my lab is 12-22, so that would be very low, but your range may be quite different. Just by your TSH though you look under-medicated.

You really need to have your fT3 tested too, as this is the most important of the thyroid hormones. I suspect that this is low too.

I'm glad that your other symptoms are better. Has your doctor suggested an increase in thyroxine? xx

[Mumtoboy]

Hiya- I had mine a month before you and felt almost normal about a month post op. I do still crash out at night though. Do you know what your levels were pre op? If you felt well then, then the docs should be trying to match you up to that again. Obviously if you didn't feel well before the op, then that won't help.

I know that I need a low tsh and high t3 and high t4 to feel well- maybe you need the same?

Other people on here suggested to me that I should be also having t3, vitamin d and vitamin b12 tested when I posted about crashing out at night.

Anyway, hang in there and don't give up fighting to feel well again- you defo should be aiming to feel well! Aching , tiredness and forgetfulness is not normal ! Xxx

[France1]

Mine was January 2013 and still not right. I am now on 125 Levo, was on 137.5 but they reduced it as my TSH was too low and my heart rate too fast, but I feel very under-dosed. They then said I have fibromyalgia which was causing the problems with pain and tiredness. So I am completely at a loss, it seems that I just get more drugs to take - started on the drugs for fibromyalgia last week and passed out twice in the garden at the weekend - never done this in my life before. So stopped taking it.

No idea what my T3 and T4 are - does not get tested.

People tell me it is still early days to expect to be well. Well I do expect to feel better than this. It seems to me that life is now just going to be like this and I just have to put up with it.

I hope in a couple of days I will feel more like battling with this and I will be looking for solutions again rather than just accepting the situation.

xx

[Clarebear in reply to France1]

Please try to get your FT3 and FT4 tested as well as TSH and then post the results on here. Its sounds like you may need to have some T3 added to a reduced dose of T4. xx

[Brockersfaye]

Hi

I had my thyroid removed nearly 5 years ago now and remember feeling pretty washed out for at least 6 months after surgery. My dose is now 175 mcg and unless I really overdo things I feel pretty good most of the time. To start with I had to rest alot and used to catch up with sleep at the weekend. I still jokingly say that I can sleep like the dead! I think you just adapt particularly once your dose is stable. I put on over a stone in weight to start with, but with some effort on my part that has now come off again. I was hyper for years with a massive appetite and I think I continued to eat the same amount after surgery, so that didn't help along with the shortage of thyroxine too to start with, so don't panic!