Weight loss, tired, depressed, lightheaded. - Thyroid UK

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Weight loss, tired, depressed, lightheaded.

Funnygembunni profile image
16 Replies

These are the symptoms I cannot get rid of. I am now becoming depressed and no longer want to even get up or out of the house. Driving is scary, the lightheaded is constant. I can even feel like I'm spinning while laying down with eyes closed. I walk and when I stop the room looks like it continues to move. I have double and blurry vision. Been on 50mg of Armour. Taking selenium, magnesium, vitamin D and B complex supplement. Reading more and more about the long term effects this can have in overall health and can't help but worry that I'm just slowly dying. Anyone else feel this way? I am going to start pushing these American doctors to remove my thyroid as here in this country they wait for people to fall into a thyroid crisis before removing it, I don't want to wait for that day and have a half of a life in the meantime. Is the lightheaded feeling and dizziness normal??? Nothing seems to work and doctors here are shooting in the dark. I'm not about to have heart failure at 33 years old because they are ignorant. Gluten free didn't even make me feel better.

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Funnygembunni
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Clutter profile image
Clutter

Funnygembunni, as you've got Hashimoto's you'll probably need to try gluten-free for 6-12 months before you notice improvement in Hashi symptoms or see a reduction in antibodies.

What are your thyroid levels on 50mg Armour?

You'll be hard pressed to find a doctor who will remove your thyroid unless you have thyroid cancer or a goitre or nodules impacting breathing or swallowing.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

I am not a medical professional and this information is not intended to be a substitute for medical guidance from your own doctor. Please check with your personal physician before applying any of these suggestions.

Funnygembunni profile image
Funnygembunni in reply to Clutter

Thyroxine Free (FT4) 1.44- normal range (0.80-1.73)

T3 Total

(Thyronine). 123- normal range (72-180)

Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) 0.770

Normal range (0.18-4.53)

These were my last drawn labs two months ago. Two weeks after starting Levo, I was switched to Armour around this time. No improvement in symptoms noticed. I'm just very tired of being afraid. These symptoms are scary. I don't want to go into thyroid storm or anything crisis related as the hospital where I live wouldn't know what to do about it. I struggle every single day now to stay awake or even do normal activities. I feel confused and disoriented. I'm afraid to walk far. I'm 33 years old and this isn't who I used to be. My own endocrinologists which I've seen three cannot tell me if these symptoms are even normal.

Funnygembunni profile image
Funnygembunni in reply to Funnygembunni

I have ordered a liver detox supplement as well as chromium and an adrenal supplement. I have got to find a way to get my body back on track because I have a serious sense of impending doom and it's not pleasant and I just want to feel comfortable in my own body again. Even for a day

Clutter profile image
Clutter in reply to Funnygembunni

Funnygembunni, Thyroid Storm is something hyperthyroid patients suffer, not hypothyroid patients.

Your FT4 and TSH were okay on Levothyroxine but you should retest to see whether you are optimally medicated on NDT now you've been taking it 2 months.

Funnygembunni profile image
Funnygembunni in reply to Clutter

I will def request blood work this week. Thank you for your replies. Are these symptoms usual?

Clutter profile image
Clutter in reply to Funnygembunni

Funnygembunni, no they're not. They're possibly related to undermedication, Hashimoto's or diabetes.

______________________________________________________________

I am not a medical professional and this information is not intended to be a substitute for medical guidance from your own doctor. Please check with your personal physician before applying any of these suggestions.

Funnygembunni profile image
Funnygembunni in reply to Clutter

Diabetes has been ruled out and hoshimotos has been a def with TPO over 600 and growing nodules of the thyroid. I just would love for there to be a definite way to feel normal again like yesterday

Clutter profile image
Clutter in reply to Funnygembunni

Funnygembunni, symptoms are very likely due to Hashimoto's. I recommend you try gluten-free for at least 3 months, longer if possible, to see whether symptoms improve.

Thyroid nodules are usually asymptomatic but should be checked via ultrasound to see the size and if they are >1.5cm a fine needle aspiration biopsy should be done to rule out thyroid cancer.

___________________________________________________

I am not a medical professional and this information is not intended to be a substitute for medical guidance from your own doctor. Please check with your personal physician before applying any of these suggestions.

Funnygembunni profile image
Funnygembunni in reply to Clutter

Thank you I appreciate all you're knowledge more than you know. Ever heard of these symptoms appearing within one day? I woke up one morning fine, and then went into some sort of thyroid crisis where my TSH was over 10 and ended up in the ER with new feeling of my legs and heart rate of 160 that couldn't be controlled. Never been the same since that day.

Clutter profile image
Clutter in reply to Funnygembunni

Funnygembunni, I've not heard of someone feeling fine one day and in ER the next. Usually with TSH 10 the symptoms will have been building over months/years.

Clutter profile image
Clutter

Funnygembunni, as you're experiencing weightloss, lightheadedness and fatigue it may be worth having HbA1C tested to rule out diabetes.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

I am not a medical professional and this information is not intended to be a substitute for medical guidance from your own doctor. Please check with your personal physician before applying any of these suggestions.

Funnygembunni profile image
Funnygembunni in reply to Clutter

That I have had done. I don't have issues with blood sugar. I also am able at work to check my blood sugar in the middle of my worst symptoms. It's always perfect. My A1C was normal the last I had it checked a few months ago

Jacquid profile image
Jacquid

Why were you changed to Armour after only two weeks on Levo? Two weeks is a really short time to assess anything thyroidwise....

NDT doesn't suit everyone, it made me lightheaded, dizzy and hot....it also supressed my natural thyroid function, on 50mg my levels were the lowest they'd ever been after 2 months. And it was impossible to take more, my body just couldn't take it. T3 is powerful stuff....

Much happier on 50mg Levo....

Funnygembunni profile image
Funnygembunni in reply to Jacquid

My end I switched me to Armour as once I started to take the synthroid I felt worse and quickly. The lightheaded feeling has been here from the start even and especially the 9 months it took me to get a diagnoses and then the 4 months after that to convince them I needed medication. It never goes away. No matter if I'm medicated or not. My weight decreased by 20 pounds in one month and when I started the Armour it leveled off and has been holding.

Jose651 profile image
Jose651

Have you had B12 and Folate tested?

phoenix23002 profile image
phoenix23002

funnygembunni.... Sorry you are having such a rough time of it. I am in the US also. Have you had your iron checked? And how do you manage 50 mgs of Armour? One grain is 60 mgs and is a very, very small dose. 60 mgs is usually a starting dose and we raise from there.. 1/4 or 1/2 grain every two weeks or going by body temps and heart rate.

Have you been tracking your body temp and heart rate? Have you tried raising your dosage? I know.... lots of questions but one final one. Have you tried another brand of NDT like WP by RLC Labs or NP by Acella? Your dizziness and light-headedness sounds like my symptoms when I tried the Thailand brands of NDT and the 'new' Erfa. I had to get off f them and finally ended up on WP brand.

Then again, did you say you were light headed and dizzy before taking any thyroid meds? Have you thought about stopping any medications (except for very necessary ones such as heart meds etc) and supplements for a day or so and see if that might be the source of your problem? Being dizzy this length of time is NOT normal. Maybe it is time to see a neurologist and get to the bottom of this.

There is a benign vertigo where the little stones in our ear(s) gets displaced or dislodged and this can cause severe vertigo but it rarely lasts for months and months, usually just a few weeks. Do you take fluid pills? They can sometimes mess up your electrolytes and that can make you feel rotten.

The selenium you are taking is protective of your thyroid and should be lowering the high antibody numbers somewhat.

Regardless, it is time for you to get some labs done... iron, ferritin, thyroid, especially antibodies, Free t4 and Free t3 and Reverse T3. Don't take any meds the morning of the blood draw (12 hrs w/o thyroid meds) and try to get done as early in the am as possible. I sure hope you can figure this out. God bless...

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