Hi, I have been diagnosed with under active for 5 years however suspect I've had it for years. I have been taking 100mg for about the last 2 years, I use to take 150mg but the docs said I was over medicated so to reduce. When I was taking 150 I felt awake, alert & suffered much less constipation. For the last 2 years I have felt cold, tired, regular episodes of brain fog & constipation. I have also had regular periods of sickness/nausea where I sleep for days, almost like a bug or virus but it's becoming too frequent for my liking.
I have asked my doctor for a referral to the hospital to speak to someone who understands hypothyroidism but they took a blood test & refused.
Anyone else feel like this? Are there any supplements I can take? Any advice??
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Asnm78
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Ask your GP receptionist or practice manager for a printout of your recent thyroid results with the lab ref ranges and members will advise whether you are optimally medicated.
Ask your GP to test vitamin D, ferritin, B12 and folate as hypothyroid patients are often deficient or low in them and this can present with musculoskeletal pain, low mood and fatigue. Post your results with lab ref ranges in a new question and members will advise whether you should supplement.
Welcome to the forum. Good advice from Clutter. Dropping down from 150 to 100 is quite a drop. Did your doctor give any reason for that? I've found that dropping just 25 on one day a week can make a difference to how I feel. I expect you were not sent to see someone because your results are in the 'normal' range but this may not be right for you. We shall be able to help you more when you post your results but glad you have found us!
It would be helpful if you could put a bit on your Profile of your background re hypo as it means you may not get asked repeat questions.
The first thing to do is to get a print-out of your latest blood test results, with the ranges from the surgery and post them on a new question for members to comment on them. If you've not had a recent one make an appointment as early as possible and don't take levo before it, take it after and leave around 24 hours between the last dose of levo and your blood test. Ask for a full thyroid function test, i.e. TSH, T4, T3, Free T4 and Free T3 (he may not do them all but ask anyway). If you not had a B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate done for a while, ask for these too as a deficiency can cause symptoms.
The problem is that your GP had no right to adjust your medication due to your TSH as doing so has resulted in you getting clinical symptoms again especially reducing meds by a third so that you 'fit' into the range rather than asking if you are well.
By so doing he has allowed clinical symptoms to reappear and you're not well.
We usually feel best with a TSH of around 1 or below and Dr Toft has written an article which you can discuss with your GP. Email louise.warvill@thyroiduk.org for a copy and highlight question 6. Maybe send him it first so he can read it as many don't like to read things at the appointment. Dr Toft was the President of the British Thyroid Association.
Go to the date January 2, 2002 on the link below to read about adjusting meds.
Always get copies of your blood test results with the ranges for your own records and you can post if you have a query.
Try this for constipation (which if on right dose of meds should resolve). Juice from1/2 lemon in warm water (unsweetened) and a couple of pieces of fruit about an hour after levo (when taking levo first thing with 1 glass of water, we shouldn't eat for around an hour) with a couple of pieces of fruit.
Thank you so much for everyone taking the time to reply. I have made an appointment to get my bloods done on Monday and will ask them to do the other tests if they can and will repost when I get the results. Thanks again!
I agree, Glynisrose, in hindsight, but the problem is, we are brought up to believe that these GPs know what they are doing. I never really had problems with levo until I moved house and my GP said I should reduce to 125 from 175. I tried this briefly and it was awful, I brought it back up to 150 but somehow can't manage to get 175 to work for me anymore. So I'm now trying NDT.
Natural Dessicated Thyroid. It is usually from pigs and comes in tablet form but is not readily available in the UK. We are not allowed to say where we get it on the forum but you can send a message to Louise Warvill here who has lots of information, or some of the other guys might message you information if you want. I can only tell you what I did, but happy to do that if you want. Very new to all of it.
Can't agree, we were all bought up with the idea that you had the same GP from the cradle to the grave that is not the case these days and most people seem to have adjusted to that. Now surgeries have 'practice managers' who it seems do their darndest to recruit as many patients as possible to boost the finances of themselves and the doctors, wrong very wrong....
I know this is not the way it should go, but I would gather the money together to have a private consultation with an endocrinologist and see what they say. GPs do not seem to understand the greater need of some of us. Although I am full of admiration for my new GP my previous GP was not interested and did not have a clue about such things as T3. Unless the GP knows what tests are required you will simply get the regular ones, which do not suit all. One does not fit all of us!
I had exactly the same situation. Ive had an underactive thyroid since the age of 9, im now 42. I was taking 150mg for years i felt good, i had my routine blood test and was advised im been over-medicated i was advised to reduce my meds down to 100mg. After a few weeks i felt like a walking zombie, i could of slept the clock around, headaches everyday, aches, feeling generally rough. I went back to the gp and i was advised to increase my meds to 125mg a few weeks later i felt slightly better, still not great but better. I asked to be refered to an endocrinologist as i felt i need to see someone who knows about Thyroids. I got refered but i have to say she was as clueless as my gp. Only after getting advise from this forum have i got the answers i was looking for. Follow your body and how you feel, ive gone back onto 150mg and although it takes time to feel the benefit, i have started to feel better already. P.s get your blood results and post them on the forum you will get ppl on here who are very knowledgeable who can help.
Quite clearly your doctor is fixated by 'Our Holy Miracle of the Infallible TSH Test'. I had a similar problem... The doctor looking at blobs of ink on a Lab report, instead of making a clinical judgement upon Symptoms! Your level of FT3 (especially) and FT4. FT4 should be above the middle of the reference range and FT3 in the top 25th percentile. It is actually OK for TSH to be suppressed, so long as it is not completely suppressed. Always ask for copies of Lab reports. I do!
You could do what I did/do:
1. Take advantage of the TSH Circadian Rhythm (TSH level reaches its peak around midnight an its nadir around midday), by turning up to the lab as soon as it opens in the morning. I turn up at 7am!
2. Furthermore postpone your Thyroid dose until after the serum is drawn at the lab. T3 has a short life span in the body. A normally functioning thyroid secretes hormone throughout the day, but for someone on thyroid hormone there is a large spurt of hormone shortly after taking the medication. By midnight , your TSH is screaming at the thyroid gland to produce more FT4 and FT3! So if you wait until after the very early lab test before taking your pill the TSH will most likely go up. This may work for you as it worked for me
You could try natural porcine thyroid if your doctor is willing to prescribe it
If your doctor still insists upon being a dickwit,go somewhere else!
TSH fixation is a problem most doctors have. The poor souls being lobotomised at medical school.
I live in New Zealand where thyroid sufferers must endure the same stupidity and ignorance!
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