Symptoms

[lorna16]

I am taking 75mg of levothyroxine for my underactive thyroid. I have had my bloods tested at doctor when have said it has come back satisfactory however I still have symptoms. I am cold all the time, tired and really forgetful / confused. Anyone got a similar story?

[crimple]

When were you diagnosed hypo? What were the actual numbers/results of your blood tests. In order to help you the people on here need a bit more info.

[lorna16 in reply to crimple]

Sorry I was given any numbers just told it was satisfactory. Should I ask? Really don't understand - nothing has been explained to me! Sorry

[crimple in reply to lorna16]

you are legally entitled to receive a copy of all blood test results that your doctor has asked for. You should have TSH, T4 and T3 tested,. However the current state of NHS means you will be lucky to get TSH tested. What the GP calls normal is probably considered far from normal by most people on here

. You also need to have ferritin, folate, iron, Vit B12 and Vit D tested as many hypothyroid patients suffer from low stomach acid and therefore poor absorption from their food leading to deficiencies.

If you can afford to pay many on here, me included, opt for private blood tests, done by finger prick and you get results back very quickly. Look at Blue Horizon and Medichecks. Might also be worth getting your antibodies tested, TPO and TgAb When you have the test results put them up on here so members can comment and help you.

You will find it is a steep learning curve and you have to learn and know more than the docs if you want to be symptom free. It is not a quick fix but it can be done. Read some posts on here to get a better understanding of your situation.

[dang]

Hi Lorna. You'll find this is a very common story with hypothyroidism. Often this is caused by under-medication (some doctors play it too safe, some really don't know what their doing). It can also be caused by inability to convert the medication well (levothyroxine has to convert to T3 hormone for our bodies to use). Also hypo patients often have other vitamin and mineral deficiencies that need to be correct (incredibly common).

My recommendation is to post your recent thyroid results here so we can help you, without them nobody can really give much advice. It's important to include the numbers in brackets (called ranges) as different labs use different ranges. Feel free to include also any vitamin and mineral results too, especially if you have B12, vit d, ferritin and folate.

When all of these things are corrected patients often are able to live much better lives with fewer symptoms. Unfortunately most doctors don't go beyond prescribing levothyroxine.

[lorna16]

Thanks will have to go back to my doctor and request them.

[richard123]

Sounds just like I was, improved a fair bit after 6 months.. although I really struggled to increase the dose I was blessed with advice here and now on higher dose I am improving, it's been and still is a struggle but I'm getting there

Wish you well

[lorna16]

Thank you. Will ask him.

[silverfox7]

If you look on the Thyroid Uk site you will find lots of interesting info on what helps and what doesn't etc. if there is anything that you can't get your head around then shout out! Lots of us happy to help plus we have all been where you are now and it's taken us a while to get Or heads around it.

So glad you have found us!

[Margjean]

I was the same ,upped my dose to 112.5 one day and 75 the next. Got pain in my left foot, and left thumb, could hardly walk. Like gout. Went for blood test TSH 0.07. Doc told me to go back to 75 a day. Which I am doing. Will have another blood test in a month to see how it is going. Vit D was low so taking vit d again and fish oil,niacin vit b.Also have now developed lactose intolerance.Cant win. I am still cold all the time,even increase in thyroxine didn't make much difference. Never gets above 65.5 no matter what I take. And I live in Oz.

[Margjean in reply to Margjean]

I also have been eating 2 or 3 Brazil nuts a day. have to be careful of nuts as also got diverticulosis as well.