Newbie: I have Hashimotos hypothyroidism how long... - Thyroid UK

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Chanelle17 profile image
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I have Hashimotos hypothyroidism how long will it take for me to be hypothyroid again since I have been taking 50mcg for 3 weeks and having symptoms of puffy eyes and depression and tiredness and constipation heavy periods diagnosed 2011 thanks in advance.

TPO antibody >1500 (<34)

TG antibody 387.5 (<115)

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Chanelle17 profile image
Chanelle17
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eeng profile image
eeng

I'm afraid it will take you some time before you feel completely better. You can help yourself by becoaming knowledgeable on the subject - read the posts on this forum. It takes 6-8 weeks for the Levothyroxine to build up in your system, so your doctor should have told you to go for a repeat blood test 8 weeks after you started the Levothyroxine. Then he/she should be increasing your dose of Levothyroxine until your TSH level gets down to around 1. TSH varies throughout the day, so you need to have your blood test first thing in the morning, and don't take your Levothyroxine until after the blood test. If you take your Levothyroxine in the evening don't take it the night before. You should always take Levothyroxine on an empty stomach, 2 hours away from any other medication or supplements. At your next blood test get your doctor to test Vitamin D, B12, folate and ferritin because these are often very low in people with hyopthyroidism, and your Levothyroxine will work much better with healthy levels of these nutrients. You are highly likely to have low ferritin because your periods are heavy. Depression and tiredness are symptoms of hypothyroidism and should improve once your TSH comes down to a normal level. Always ask for a copy of your blood test results (with the lab ranges for each one) - we are entitled to them.

I hope you feel better soon.

Chanelle17 profile image
Chanelle17 in reply to eeng

Thanks I have been taking levothyroxine since 2011 but I am taking reduced dose and told vitamin and mineral levels are normal

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

So you have been on Levo since 2011

Have you just had dose reduced? If so from what and how long ago?

do you have test results from earlier?

Chanelle17 profile image
Chanelle17 in reply to SlowDragon

Thanks I have been on levothyroxine since 2011 and I have had dose reduced from 150mcg levothyroxine and I am responsible for it because I believed myself overmedicated. I did this 2 months ago then restarted levothyroxine 3 weeks ago and I will post over medicated results below

TSH 0.02 (0.2 - 4.2)

Free T4 22.9 (12 - 22)

Free T3 4.6 (3.1 - 6.8)

Chanelle17 profile image
Chanelle17

Have been getting symptoms of slow movements breathlessness chest pain radiating to back and shoulder blades and pain in ribs as well

eeng profile image
eeng

When doctors say that your vitamin levels are 'normal' they usually mean within, of just below, the lab range. These levels might work for some people, but for people with hypothyroidism we need healthy levels - half way up the range at least.

I see you have very high antibody levels. This will cause fluctuations of FT4 levels in your blood. When you felt over medicated it was probably an antibody attack causing your thyroid to dump large amounts of T4 into your bloodstream. Some people find going gluten free makes them less susceptible to these attacks. Usually after one of these attacks your body will need more Thyroxine than before because a bit more of the thyroid has been destroyed. In your place I would start taking a higher dose now - maybe 100 or 125mcg, and don't rule out returning to the 150mcg eventually.

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

Read as much as possible about Hashimoto's

Medics don't often understand it

Hashimoto's affects our guts causing poor vitamin levels

Low vitamin levels stop thyroid hormones being used

Then you can get mixed symptoms of hyper and hypo

Have you got test results for vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 - if not get GP to test

Always get actual figures and ranges

Post on here on new post

Hashimoto's also very very often means we are gluten intolerant. Changing to strictly gluten free diet has helped very very many

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

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