I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism last Wednesday. I went to the doc about something else and my blood test results had come back. Just to put you in the picture I have been caring for my mother who has dementia for 10 years and my weight has ballooned and my stress levels have been very high. Last July I moved in with my boyfriend as I could no longer care for mum. She has gone to a home.
For the last few years my energy level dipped and I suffered depression. In January 2012 I woke up one morning to find I was blind in my right eye temporarily. I had it happen less severely on 2 other occasions. Saw my doctor who thought maybe it was a stroke. Saw the optitician and my eyes were normal though my near sight was a little blurry. They put it down to me being in my early 40's.
Ever since it has felt like my eyes want to pop out. My outer edge of my eyebrows had thinned my tiredness got worse and the depression eventually led to a fogged brain, scary mental confusion and quite bad memory loss. My periods went from my normal very heavy to extremely light 2 months ago.
So the blood test came back and the new doctor asked if I had ever had a thyroid issue. I said no and she replied "well you do now." She printed off some notes, gave me a script for levothyroxine and said come back in a few weeks to have a.further blood test. They will test TSH. That was it. No time to digest it before I was out of the surgery. She told me none of the readings or really explained anything other than it's fine.
Reading up on the net it seems I am probably quite a late diagnosis, last thyroid test was about 5 years ago.
I am so scared. I am putting a brave face on it but remembering the look on the docs face I wondering how bad this is. I am on 50mg daily for thyroxine. Not sure what I should be asking or what foods and.drinks and.stuff I should avoid as different places on the net say different things.
All advice gratefully received.
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DaizeeFoo
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Basic stuff till someone with experience pops up - Make sure you are taking your levo with water only, at least half an hour before food and well away from any supplements.
Keep a diary of how are you feeling vs test results, vs dosage.
Hopefully, you will be going back for testing in 4-6 weeks time...?
Make sure to get a copy of ALL thyroid test results, including the ranges. They should AT LEAST be testing FT4 as well, ideally FT3 and thyroid antibodies too.
Hi Do not worry, I had it 20 years before i had to self diagnose. Good that the GP found it. Lots of help available . It may take a while to be better, especially as been so long probably.
Best wishes,
Jackie
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Hi, it's good that you're on the levothyroxine now. It always takes a few weeks before your thyroid levels start to go up, so you may not notice an improvement immediately.
You'll have another blood test in a few weeks and they might increase your prescription until your levels are normal.
You can take your meds in the morning, half an hour to an hour before having breakfast, or you can take them before you go to bed, an hour and a half or two hours after eating. I take them just before bed, because I didn't have the time to wait an hour for breakfast.
I was taking in the morning but read good things about taking at night so today I am leaving it til bed time.
Just found out my TSH level is 10.23 - not good and will be picking up the full blood test results later. I am going to see the doc on Friday to have a chat about future blood tests. What do I need to ask for as the form just says TSH - do I need her to do a T3 and T4?
There is no history in our family of this and feel this may have been brought on by stress having recently put mum in a home and moved but obviously need to be sure.
They can't give large doses of Levothyroxine straight off as it can cause heart problems. As said above you should be going back in a few weeks for another blood test and this amount of Levo will be raised.
My TSH level was 44, and I started on 25 Levo which was increased every 4 weeks. I am now on 125mcg. I asked for another 25mcgs as I thought I needed it.
I started to feel a little better about 6 weeks ago. Diagnosed in October 2012.
You can join some nice groups on Facebook too who also belong ThyroidUK.
Chatting to others, I found has really helped me. X
Hi, glad they've diagnosed you. I had the same problems with my vision which is why I kept insisting it wasn't just depression or tiredness. It's very scary when it happens isn't it. The first time it happened to me my sight didn't start to return for 20mins or so and then my eyes were never back to normal until i started thyroxine.
Hang on in there, I started on 25mcg around 18 months back and I'm now on 125mcg. I feel so much better and hardly have any problems with blurred vision any more.
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